The First Convention (5)
5:30 PM.
The lively convention was drawing to a close, winding down into its final minutes.
Aeru and Gina, who had squeezed every last drop of excitement out of the event by running photo lines right up until the bitter end, were walking back toward me from across the hall.
"Gasp..."
The moment I saw the two of them approaching in their twin cosplays from that popular mobile game, reality snapped back into focus, and my hands began to tremble.
Just a moment ago, there had definitely been a mountain of desserts sitting right here.
I had even carefully set aside generous portions specifically for Aeru and Gina.
Yet now that I had finally come to my senses, every single treat was gone.
In an exhibition hall packed to the brim with thousands of people, there was zero chance some ghost had materialized out of thin air just to steal my snacks.
Which meant only one horrifying thing: I was the one who devoured them all.
I actually ate all of that...?
I couldn't believe it.
"There you are!"
"Uh, yeah..."
"What've you been up to?"
"Just... eating desserts."
"Desserts?"
Did my last-ditch stroke of genius work? In a frantic panic, I had jammed two of the three empty dessert boxes right under my butt, sitting on them to hide the evidence.
Thankfully, neither of them seemed to suspect a thing.
"Phew..."
I let out a quiet sigh of relief, covertly stuffing the flattened boxes into a trash bag once their backs were turned.
Together with Aeru and Gina, I headed toward the restaurant we had picked out for our after-party.
Given the sheer mountain of sugar I'd just crammed down my throat, I assumed I wouldn't be able to stomach more than a couple of polite bites at dinner...
Well.
Kimchi jjigae, rolled egg omelet, spicy stir-fried pork with kimchi, and a crispy seafood scallion pancake.
Turns out, every single bite was pure, unadulterated heaven.
"Yaaawn..."
After surviving the convention and the after-party, I finally collapsed back into the sanctuary of my apartment.
I popped out my colored contact lenses, squeezed lubricating drops into my parched eyes, and flopped onto the bed with an enormous yawn.
As the plush duvet gently wrapped around me, a leaden weight settled through every fiber of my limbs.
Back when I was just another sweaty otaku simp, I used to linger at conventions well past closing, hanging around for that golden hour when cosplayers finally loosened their costumes and peeled off their censorship tape, and my stamina had never once failed me.
Yet now, seeing how thoroughly wrecked my body was after just one afternoon, it really sank in that I had become a delicate, fragile woman.
If I'm this exhausted already, trying to run my own photo line would probably kill me...
I seriously began debating whether I should start working out—not for my general health, but purely to survive standing in a cosplay photo line—as I pulled out my phone and opened Dwit-gal.
Even on an ordinary day without an event, Dwit-gal boasted staggering traffic, but immediately after a major convention wrapped up, the page refresh rate exploded into a raging torrent of reviews, memes, and drama.
Because of that, winding down in bed after an event while cackling at the unhinged posts on Dwit-gal had long been a sacred post-con ritual of mine.
Just because I had turned into a woman didn't mean that routine was going to change.
If anything, now that I was an active cosplayer myself, wouldn't I scour the boards with even more obsessive paranoia, terrified that someone might have archived a post dragging me through the mud?
Wiggling my pale, bare toes against the sheets, I tapped into the newly minted trending posts.
• Congrats to An-gi-jwa on joining Dwit-gal's Big Three Villains lol
• Can't that bastard be reported for sexual harassment?
• Next time this gal-bro spots An-gi-jwa, I'm setting his beard on fire
• Why An-gi-jwa is a Complete Fucking Moron
• Who was the Swimsuit Gina cosplayer?
• June Ilco Review 1
• Why the fuck do people pull this shit in the photo lines?
• Every single female cosplayer has a boyfriend, I swear to god
"How many are there...?"
Only a few hours had passed since the convention ended, yet fresh upvoted posts already spilled across two full pages.
And nearly all of them were dedicated to tearing apart a specific individual nicknamed 'An-gi-jwa'—The Carry Bro.
Curious about what on earth he could have done to send the degenerate gal-bros into such a collective frenzy, I opened one of the threads.
[Attached Image: A bandit-looking man covered in dense body hair attempting a princess carry with a female cosplayer]
This bastard came up to my photo line too.
I was just going to snap a quick two-shot with him and send him on his way,
but out of nowhere, he started panting and asked if he could give me a princess carry?
Obviously I said no, but then he started flexing his disgusting hairy arm muscles, striking poses and begging me to let him, swearing up and down that he had insane lifting power... Ugh.
I could tell he wasn't going to leave just from words alone, and feeling bad for the people waiting in line behind him, I gave in and let him do it.
And what happened? He reeked, his arms were shaking like wet noodles, and then he fucking dropped me.
If you don't even have the strength, why the fuck are you pulling this stunt, you lunatic?
Even if I bend over backward to understand that he just desperately wanted to do a princess carry, shouldn't you stop after dropping someone once?
The motherfucker gritted his teeth and demanded it from every single female cosplayer he saw.
He even called one cosplayer who firmly stood her ground a 'fucking bitch' right to her face so everyone could hear lol.
Just get the fuck out of the convention scene.
"Yikes..."
Reading through the posts, the situation was worse than I thought.
Like clockwork, every time the cooldown timer reset, another convention menace spawned out of nowhere.
Shaking my head in disgust, I browsed through the rest of the trending threads.
[Attached Image: Swimsuit Dartin cosplayer posing with an energetic gyaru peace sign]
Oof, Leah-noonaaaa! She was so insanely sweet today, I loved it!
[Attached Image: A girl in jirai-kei fashion looking slightly awkward into the camera]
Looks like she was just an attendee wearing jirai-kei fashion? But she was so pretty I had to ask for a photo... Luckily she seemed happy about it! Though since she probably doesn't get photographed much, her posing was a little stiff.
[Attached Image: Gym Uniform Tina cosplayer]
Her fan service was incredible, she struck so many different poses and her props were immaculate.
"Maybe I should've walked around more..."
Looking at the review photos, I felt a pang of regret over my choices today.
I wanted to take pictures with gorgeous noonas like that too...
"Mmh..."
Resolving that next time, I would prepare thoroughly, hold my own photo line, and indulge in some proper otaku simp activities, I kept scrolling.
Just how much ground had this guy covered? The review thread seemed to go on forever.
"Oh...!"
Then, in the very last photo of the review, a familiar set of faces caught my eye.
It was a review shot of Aeru & Gina, the duo famous for cosplaying as sisters.
Visited Aeru & Gina today as usual.
True con-fiends who never miss a single event, massive respect fr fr.
Every time I see them, I swear they're unprecedented talent in the cosplay world.
They're actual biological sisters, yet one is stacked as hell lmao, and the other is flat as a board lmao.
Absolute perfection~
"They really look great..."
Even when caught on a raw, unedited stock camera, both cosplayers managed to look gorgeous.
To think I had actually become friends with those two—looking back, serendipity was a terrifying thing.
I saved the photo to my gallery and skimmed through the remaining trending posts.
Should I get some sleep soon?
By the time I finished reading the hot board, midnight was already creeping up.
Today I had lived inside the glamorous world of cosplay, but tomorrow morning, I had to snap back to the monotony of everyday life.
Bracing myself for the weekly grind about to repeat, I decided to run one quick ego-search before shutting off my phone.
I typed 'Evrina' into the board search bar and hit enter.
A single new post popped up.
"Huh..."
The moment my eyes landed on that title, my gut screamed that this thread was talking about me.
With my heart giving a slight flutter, I tapped into the post.
[Attached Image: Blurred two-shot photo taken alongside the Evrina cosplayer]
First time at an event and this gal-bro already found his oshi.
She's insane levels of gorgeous, super kind, and her costume quality was unreal.
Can the next convention get here already?
My hands are itching to shower her with snack tributes.
"Ha, this little punk."
The instant I saw the post, I pinpointed the author's identity with one hundred percent certainty.
I had walked around the convention floor and answered quite a few photo requests today, accepting every single one without exception.
However, the only person who took a two-shot at that exact awkward angle was the very first guy who had asked for a picture with me.
Judging by his flustered, clumsy reaction back then, I thought he was a complete greenhorn who knew jack shit about the cosplay scene.
Yet seeing him casually posting on Dwit-gal, it looked like he was diving headfirst into the subculture after all.
"Just how much time does he spend on forums?"
The way he seamlessly trolled the thread by dropping the handle of a male gay cosplayer reeked of seasoned internet degeneracy. To think this guy was a complete rookie who had only set foot in the scene for the first time today.
His natural talent for shitposting was almost terrifying.
On top of that...
"Why's he keeping my handle a secret? What an insolent brat."
Under the ridiculous pretext of keeping me as his 'private indie cosplayer,' he had locked my handle away in a vault.
From a cosplayer's standpoint, every single extra follower was precious.
"..."
I pondered what kind of punishment this premier rookie deserved.
If I really wanted to, I could log into the ten dormant alt accounts sitting in my stash and administer a righteous beatdown for hoarding my handle.
"Hmm..."
After mulling over his sentence, I reached a verdict and closed my eyes with a smirk.
They say the arm bends inward, don't they? Favoritism is human nature.
Since he had proclaimed me as his oshi, I'd let this little simp off the hook just this once.
On one condition, though.
If he ever dares to jump ship to another cosplayer, I will drag him through literal hell.