"Really, it's Valentine's Day soon, why should I be called to work by the store manager, if it weren't for double my salary...... Wow, what is this? ”

Akihabara, late at night on February 13th, about an hour before Valentine's Day.

Harada, who worked at a video store in Akihabara, came to his part-time job and was a little frightened by the scene in front of him.

Although the business of the store where he works is usually quite good, the spectacular situation like the current one still scares him - there are two long queues in front of the video store where he works, which stretches to the intersection.

"Senior, what's going on?"

Finally squeezed into the store as a clerk, Harada eagerly asked about the seniors at his part-time job.

"That's it." The seniors who worked part-time said to the juniors in a tone that I had seen a lot of this kind of thing, "I guess it's Love Live and idol masters." ”

"Love Live? Those two albums? ”

Although Harada is a newcomer, he has heard of two projects that Akihabara has been crazy about recently.

"It's a cartoon song, but it's still so attractive." Harada looked at the long queue outside the door and sighed.

"Shut up boy." The store manager didn't know where to come out of nowhere, and gently knocked Harada's head, "What is a song called a cartoon, that's called a two-dimensional idol!" ”

"What's the difference?" was knocked on the head by a familiar store manager, and Harada could only complain twice.

The store manager put a box of album discs in the designated place, looked at the queue outside the door, and whispered in a voice that can only be heard in the store: "It makes no difference to us, for the fans outside the door, if you say the wrong thing, you will be hung up and beaten." ”

Harada looked at the line outside and shrunk his neck.

There are so many people, one finger at a time, and he Harada is going to see his grandfather in heaven.

"What is this, our store usually opens in the morning." Probably because he found that his voice would be blocked by the glass in the store, as long as the voice was a little lower, the people outside could not hear clearly, and the curious baby Harada-kun turned on the curiosity mode again.

"Oh, those." The store manager is probably a good person, even if Harada has so many questions, he is quite kind to explain them one by one, "Those words, probably a late-night party." ”

"Late night party?"

"Those two albums were only released on Valentine's Day." The store manager said, "This is a contract with the publisher, and if you go on sale early, you will be charged a penalty damages." However, as long as it is on sale on Valentine's Day, it is not a breach of contract. ”

"What is this?" While Harada was working, he received "guidance" from the store manager.

"Harada-kun...... "The store manager has such a dark expression on his face." As long as it is 23:59:59 in the middle of the night on February 13, it will be February 14th. This is the real ...... of this world."

"It's a contract loophole, a contract loophole!"

"What kind of contract loophole, whether it is the publisher or the planner, most of them turn a blind eye to this matter. It's not so much a loophole, it's an unspoken rule, an unspoken rule! The shopkeeper closed his eyes and leisurely enjoyed the pleasure of being a teacher, "Even a lawyer can't grasp the handle." ”

Harada-kun suddenly felt that the world was so dark.

"So, for this kind of hot event, we have to work overtime in order to cooperate with the late-night party." The shopkeeper said.

"Even if tomorrow is Valentine's Day?"

"Valentine's Day?" The shopkeeper showed a lonely wolf-like look, "If you have a girlfriend, it's Valentine's Day, and if you don't have a girlfriend, it's just February 14." ”

“…… I'm sorry. ”

I don't know why, Harada-kun subconsciously apologized to the store manager who had been treating him well.

"No need to apologize, Harada-kun, we're companions......"

"Companions? Why? Harada looked puzzled.

"Why...... Isn't Harada-kun also single? ”

"Ahhh......h Manager, I forgot to tell you. I'm already off the list before Valentine's Day! Harada happily, "Ah, I finally succeeded in confessing to my senior sister before Valentine's Day, and I originally asked my senior sister to go on a date tomorrow, but now the date can only be changed to the afternoon...... Huh? ”

"The bold Harada dares to fall in love privately!"

"Oh God, oh God!"

The voice of the originally kind seniors sounded like wolves in the store, and the head of the store sat on a chair not far away, his hands supporting his chin, and the seeping light reflected in his glasses, and said to Harada with a serious expression that he had never seen before: "Harada-kun, I will leave the cashier job to you, and you can't get off work until the queue is finished today." ”

“……”

Harada looked at the crowd outside the door, and he thought about it seriously, if he called the senior sister who had just become his girlfriend now and begged for forgiveness, he didn't know if it would be too late.

- No, look at the situation again, even if it is a big hit, from midnight to 12 noon, the queue should almost disperse!

For the simple Harada-kun, the store manager patted him on the shoulder, "It's about to start, Harada-kun, you can go to the cashier and rest first." The shopkeeper bared his lonely wolf's teeth, "After all, you won't be able to leave until February 15th." Don't tire yourself ......"

And what Harada-kun didn't know was that at 0:00 in the morning, the first second of Valentine's Day this year, his hell had just begun.

This is probably the price of love.

……

As the bell rings at twelve o'clock on Valentine's Day — ah, sorry, there are no bells in Tokyo — all in all, as the first second of Valentine's Day arrives, both the die-hard fans lining up in Akihabara and the spiritual shareholders of G Company are shocked.

Even if it is a public trust list, it is also well aware of the existence of the late-night party.

So, as we all know, with the arrival of Valentine's Day, the war has begun.

The staff of the public trust chart have long obtained the sales statistics of albums in each store from the POS system of various stores in Tokyo and even all over Japan, and then began to calculate and publish them continuously through computer calculations......

Originally, the sales list of the public trust list on February 14 was supposed to be announced on the morning of February 15, but today there are some exceptions. The first report will be released from 0:30 a.m. for the first time in history.

And the web page access data has also risen wildly from 23 o'clock on the 13th, how many spiritual shareholders of G Society are looking at the late-night phone calls while using their mobile phones to refresh the web page and wait for the results, we don't know.

If there is a person who has a clear understanding of this matter, it is probably Harada-kun who has just confessed successfully in Akihabara.

"Give me a new album from Love Live, μ's."

"3,500 yen, thank you for your patronage."

"I want a new album from the idol master!"

“…… 3499 yen, thank you for your patronage. Harada-kun wanted to complain about what 1 yen was useful for other than causing trouble for him to get change, but looking at the steady stream of people, he didn't have that much time to think about what the ghost price was.

"Idol Master and Love Live have a copy, thank you."

“…… 6999 yen, thank you for your patronage. ”

Gradually, even Harada-kun, who was the cashier, finally discovered the most serious problem.

"I'm going to call." The store manager walked away with a grim expression.