Mark and his friends arrived in the glorious country of anime and manga without encountering any problems. This time, only Sam, Enleed, and Armina were with him, the rest stayed in California. He was vaguely aware of the government agents that followed them, but Mark didn’t care as long as they didn’t interfere.
Their first stop was the mecca, Akihabara. Mark cast the spell Comprehend Language to each one of them and as usual with hardcore otakus, they all went their separate ways to hunt for treasures, since they needed to be alone indulging their dark desires. Mark enjoyed himself immensely shopping for things he wanted to get for a long time, and he had an easy time since he looked and spoke like a native Japanese though he did turn heads since he was incredibly good-looking. He also put all the things that he purchased in his Inventory using private spaces like the toilet, so he managed to purchase a lot of things. Mark also received a lot of invites from Japanese girls and even dudes.
During lunchtime, Mark met up with his friends to eat some sushi and he didn’t forget to put original food orders of the most delicious ones in his Inventory so he could get a copy anytime, anywhere. Mark saw that his friends utilized their storage items, so they didn’t have too many packages with them. They’d all agreed to meet up at the hotel at night then they continued their shopping spree, though most of them needed to stop by their hotel to empty their storage items.
Mark purchased a lot of food, street food or otherwise to make sure that he would have it in his Inventory. He purchased action figures, Mangas, anime DVDs, and even some weird ones like adult toys that were only available in Japan while he shelved his shame away.
Mark and his gang enjoyed themselves immensely doing all the things they could do while they were in Japan. They purchased things, went to different onsens, went to cosplay and anime conventions, basically, all the things that they could think of, and without the language barrier, they had a blast.
Several days of enjoying themselves in the country exhausted Mark and his friends and they went home tired but truly satisfied. Mark decided to go to his mother’s country for a quick visit so he separated from his friends and told them that he would join them at home after a couple of days.
Mark called agent Harper and informed her of his sudden plan to visit his home country for a day or two. Agent Harper told him that it was not on the itinerary that he gave them but as long as he allowed one or two agents to be by his side all the time, they didn’t have any problem for him to do a quick visit. He agreed with Agent Harper and a couple of ordinary-looking guys introduced themselves to him after a few minutes then Mark went to the Philippines.
Arriving in Manila, Mark called his mother’s distant cousin who was always calling him and asking for money, and told her that he was in the country for a quick visit. Her “aunt” excitedly told him to stay at the airport and they would be there after a few minutes.
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After an hour or so, Mark’s aunt came in an SUV. He and the agents entered the car, and his aunt told him that they would be coming into her house, which was newly renovated.
Mark's visits with his relatives were short. He was introduced to a lot of people that, frankly, didn’t take the time to remember. The people that he had encountered had the vaunted reputation of being friendly and hospitable which he expected. To be honest, Mark didn’t know why he visited the country. He just felt indifferent and more than likely, he was averse to feeling anything deep because almost all the things that he encountered reminded him of his mother.
Mark left but he assured his aunt that he would be sending money to the account that was given to him every month up until a specific date and he assured her that it would be a lot. He also asked her to manage it and to give some to any relative who needed help. His aunt assured him that she would make sure that most of the money would be given out to those relatives in need and that she would be very fair. Mark didn’t care; he just came to this country to have one last look and to say goodbye in his heart.
Mark, together with the two agents arrived in California without any issues. He really didn’t communicate much to the agents and their demeanor was very much like a bodyguard. He was calm and relaxed when he left Japan and now, he noticed that he was tense during his stay in the Philippines. He only released the stress when he arrived home and knew in his heart that this place was his home. Unfortunately, this was going to be home for only about eight months left.
His friends welcomed him back and they chatted about everything that happened. They ate the food from the Philippines that Mark replicated from the ones stored in his inventory. They told him that his friends already decorated the house and their rooms with the things they purchased from Japan but unfortunately, they couldn’t go to the 21st floor of the dungeon since Sam wasn’t able to open the dungeon portal.
Mark remembered that he did give the authority back to Sam to open the dungeon portal to the 21st floor but of course, Sam wouldn’t be able to open it since Mark still needed to anchor the portal to a doorway. Mark did just that on the basement door and his friends went to their room to get the things they purchased and immediately went to the villa on the 21st floor to decorate their rooms.
Mark and his friends went to the vacation villa and frolicked for a few hours and after that, he went to his villa on the 11th floor to put the things that he purchased there. He spent several minutes to make sure that the decorations from Japan were well placed and after looking at the finished decoration, Mark felt contented.
After several days, Mark and his friends, together with Donald and his wife and Robert and his family went to the 9th floor of the dungeon. They were able to complete the floor in two days stopping halfway and continuing the next day. They were able to upgrade the dungeon item pieces that needed to be upgraded but unfortunately, they didn’t find any notable item. They didn’t worry too much since they knew that the next dungeon that they would tackle was the dreaded boss’s room.
Mark's healing session with the government also continued without any hitch. On the last healing session, they didn’t even bother to get samples from him anymore since the doctors said they did all the tests they could, and every parameter was normal.
Agent Harper also informed him that they went to the Philippines to investigate his ancestry and didn’t find anything noteworthy either.