Chapter 154: [Side Story] The Great Comiket Chaos
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 154: [Side Story] The Great Comiket Chaos
August 10, 2017.
Friday, 8:00 AM.
According to my usual schedule, this would be the time I'd be eating breakfast at the shop after my morning workout.
But right now, I'm outside.
And not by my own choice, but by someone else's.
"Hehe, I'm so relieved you agreed to help, Yoo-Sung."
Ms. Maria said from the driver's seat beside me, navigating a white mid-sized sedan.
"Well, you prepared the whole costume for me and everything. It didn't feel right to refuse…"
At that, Ms. Maria smiled gently and said,
"I saw you in that drama, The Blue, where you had a cameo. The moment I saw you, I just knew. You're the only one who could play the role of Overlord Baou."
"Overlord Baou?"
I tilted my head, unfamiliar with the name.
"Oh, you don't know him? He's a character from Last Fantasy 7. I guess it has been a while, hasn't it?"
I was shocked to hear 'Last Fantasy 7'. And for good reason—that game came out well over twenty years ago.
"Anyway, the character is so tall and muscular that it's been hard to find someone who fits the part. I'd always wanted to do it but never could, and then you caught my eye."
Okay, so I understood why she'd scouted me.
But still, why…
"Rika is here too, right?"
At that, Rika popped her head forward from the back seat.
"Ryu-chan! I'm here to keep an eye on Mama today! If I'm not here, she might go wild!"
"My goodness, what do you take your mother for?"
I stared blankly at the bickering mother and daughter for a moment before turning my gaze out the window.
Somehow, I had a feeling it was going to be an eventful day.
*
Comic Market.
Comiket for short.
One of the world's largest doujin events, Comic Market is held twice a year: once in mid-August and once at the end of December.
The summer event is called Natsukomi (夏), and the winter one is Fuyukomi (冬). The one we were participating in was the summer event, Natsukomi—specifically, C92.
Here, 'C' stands for Comic Market, and the number 92 indicates how many times it has been held. In other words, this was the 92nd Comiket in history.
Considering it used to be held three times a year and is now held twice, you could get a sense of just how long its history was.
As I read a rough explanation on a wiki site while riding in Ms. Maria's car to the C92 venue, the Tokyo Big Sight, it finally sank in that I was going to Comic Market for the first time in my life. I turned to Ms. Maria with a question.
"Which day are we participating in?"
"The second day. I'm so busy with work that today was the only day I could make time."
"I see."
I was relieved it wasn't the third day.
According to the wiki, the third day of Comiket is when most of the doujin booths are male-oriented, making it the most crowded day of the entire event.
Just imagining people packed like sardines inside a narrow building made me feel sick.
As someone who doesn't particularly like crowds, I probably would have given up and gone home if they'd told me to wait in line from the start.
Fortunately, however, cosplayers participating in Comiket had a special privilege.
"Early entry?"
"That's right. Cosplayers can enter early, between 7:30 and 9:00 AM, before the official opening time, to use the changing rooms."
"Ooh..."
It felt like a huge bonus.
Compared to regular attendees who have to wait outside for hours, cosplayers could cut down that time significantly.
"Ah, we're almost there."
I turned my head at her words.
In the distance, I could see the Tokyo Big Sight. The futuristic building, looking like two inverted pyramids stacked on top of each other, served as a landmark for the entire area.
And the parking lot in front of it was swarming with crowds waiting to get into Comiket.
"Wow. That's a lot of people."
Ms. Maria smiled slightly and explained.
"They say Comiket gets well over a million attendees a year. It seems like about 100,000 to 150,000 people come each day."
As expected of the world's largest doujin event. The sheer scale was on a completely different level from other events.
Soon, the white sedan driven by Ms. Maria pulled into a paid parking lot near the Tokyo Big Sight.
After skillfully parking the car, Ms. Maria turned to me and Rika in the back seat.
"Alright, let's get out."
As soon as she said that, I got out of the car and stretched. I'd had to cram my large frame into the car, and every one of my limbs had fallen asleep.
It seemed the drive from home had taken about thirty minutes.
As I was loosening up and looking around, Ms. Maria pulled something from the trunk: rolling suitcases, the kind you'd see at an airport.
She took out three of them and handed one to me and one to Rika.
"Mama, what's this?"
"I prepared one for you too, just in case. It's a custom-made piece I ordered from someone I know, of course."
"I told you, I quit cosplaying after middle school!"
"Oh my, are you going to stand in that long line all by yourself, then?"
Ms. Maria said, pointing to the long, long line in the Tokyo Big Sight parking lot across the street.
"Hmph!"
Rika fell silent, a frustrated look on her face.
It seemed that no matter what, she didn't want to wait for hours to get in by herself.
"Just this once! And it's only because I have to make sure Mama doesn't do anything weird to Ryu-chan!"
"Oh, my. Anyone hearing that would think I'm actually a bad person."
Ms. Maria, playing it off, and Rika, who had fallen for her scheme.
From an objective standpoint, Ms. Maria seemed to be the winner, but for the sake of peace between the mother and daughter, I decided not to mention it.
"Alright, let's hurry. We need to get going so we can finish getting ready on time."
With that, Ms. Maria took the lead and started walking toward the crosswalk.
I hesitated, glancing at Rika, who still looked grumpy, before following Ms. Maria toward the crosswalk, pulling my suitcase behind me.
"Wow… there are so many people."
I thought it was incredible when I saw it from a distance, but up close, it was a true sea of people.
Especially since the second day of Comiket focuses on selling female-oriented and all-ages doujinshi, most of the attendees in line were women.
Of course, there were some men, but the ratio seemed to be about 7:3.
"This is actually not that many. The third day is usually the most crowded."
Hearing Rika's explanation as she walked beside me made the place feel even more like a madhouse.
We arrived around 8:20 AM, nearly an hour after cosplayer entry had begun, so we were able to get into the changing rooms inside the building without much of a wait.
Before heading into the women's changing room with Rika, Ms. Maria explained things to me.
"Change into the clothes inside and come out, and I'll do your makeup for you. And if you don't know how to put on the wig, you can ask someone around you for help."
"Ah, okay."
I reassured them not to worry and then entered the men's changing room, pulling my suitcase.
Whoosh!
The first thing I felt upon entering the changing room was how hot and stuffy it was.
I wasn't sure if it was because of the rain last night or because there were too many people in a small space, but it felt as hot as a sauna.
I started unpacking my things at a coin locker in the corner.
First, I decided to take a look at the costume for this Overlord Baou character Ms. Maria had mentioned.
I'd only heard about it; I'd never seen what it actually looked like.
Clack!
"…"
And then, I belatedly realized one thing.
A character from a 20-year-old game meant the fashion sense was also stuck twenty years in the past.
I was rendered speechless by the sight of the ridiculously thick and long shoulder pads.
'She wants me to wear this?'
*
After changing into the Baou costume Ms. Maria had prepared, I found the quality of the outfit was incredible, far better than I'd expected.
I guess you get what you pay for.
The finishing looked better than the clothes I usually wear.
I put on the red wig that came with the armor, and finally, after donning the large, horned helmet, I struck a pose in front of the mirror.
It wasn't half bad.
No, it was amazing.
Just as I was getting lost in my own reflection…
"It's Overlord Baou!"
"What incredible quality!"
"Those insane muscles… did he train just for this cosplay?"
The people around me started whispering as they looked at me.
But unlike usual, their gazes weren't filled with fear or dread, but with admiration and approval.
What? What was happening?
Just as I was feeling bewildered…
"Um…"
Someone spoke to me.
Wondering what it was, I turned to see a man with a pink mohawk and a black mask with a skull on it, standing there with an awkward expression.
"If it's okay with you, could I take a picture?"
"Huh? Oh, sure."
I agreed, caught off guard. The man looked overjoyed and held up his smartphone.
Click! Click!
Then, with a quick "thank you" and a deep bow, he practically fled the changing room.
'Man, what was that all about?'
It all happened so fast, I was a little flustered.
But it wasn't a bad feeling.
Is this why people cosplay?