Chapter 33
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He refreshed it one more time.
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“Why is it going up so slowly...?”
He had been hammering the F5 key for twenty minutes, and the view count had barely budged by one.
“Lower than I expected...”
It had already been a week since he started serializing it, but compared to the posts he put up on his blog, the response was definitely lukewarm.
[Comments: 22]
“It looks like there are more comments than views, though...”
Still, he didn’t have the courage to click on them.
What if they’re all hate comments?
Maybe he shouldn’t have posted it at all.
Maybe he should just take it down now.
Ugh, forget it. I’ll just stop looking at it.
He was already feeling unsettled, and looking would only make it worse.
Anyway, I’ve got two weeks’ worth of scheduled posts lined up...
He decided not to log in for the next two weeks.
Click-.
He hit the close button and shut the serialization site window entirely.
Clap, clap-.
“All right, everyone, listen up.”
At that moment, Kim Bu-jang clapped his hands and gathered everyone’s attention.
“We have a new team member who’s just transferred to our team.”
Beside him stood a familiar face.
“Hello. I’m Han Su-a, and I’ll be working with Planning Team 3 starting today. I look forward to working with you.”
“Welcome!”
“Glad to have you.”
“Welcome, Team Leader!”
Clap, clap, clap-!
We welcomed Han Su-a with applause.
No one in Planning Team 3 was unhappy to see her arrive.
This wasn’t some big conglomerate where promotions were fixed by T.O. and everyone had to claw their way up against one another.
When a capable team member came in, it meant less pressure on the rest of us and better results for the team, so naturally we welcomed her with both hands.
Kim Bu-jang spoke as if he’d been waiting for the moment.
“You all know the rumors about Assistant Manager Han, right? When it comes to work, she’s absolutely...”
He shot up a thumb.
“No need to say more. She’s top-tier in this company. So trust her, rely on her, and let’s do well together.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And with that said, as a welcome for Assistant Manager Han, let’s plan a team dinner right after work today. Everyone attends, no exceptions. Understood?”
“...Yes, sir.”
Damn it.
Another team dinner.
Last week was the TF team farewell dinner, and this week it was a welcome dinner.
It was obvious why Korea’s liver cancer rate was number one in the world. It had to be because of these cursed team dinners.
“Oh, and Assistant Manager Kang.”
“Yes?”
Kim Bu-jang’s gaze suddenly landed on me.
“You and Assistant Manager Han were on the TF team together, so you two are close, right?”
“...I guess you could say that?”
“Then, since Assistant Manager Han still needs to get settled into Planning Team 3, share the project you’re working on so she can get up to speed and help organize it with you.”
“Ah, yes. Understood.”
***
Knock, knock.
At the sound of someone tapping on my partition, I looked up to see Assistant Manager Han Su-a.
“Are you busy?”
She asked in a small, almost whispering voice.
“Earlier, the section chief said for me to work with you on the ad project you’re handling, but he didn’t give me any details...”
“Ah...”
I thought for a moment, then got up from my seat.
“Shall we go to the break room for a bit?”
“Oh, yes.”
We moved to a quieter spot and started talking comfortably.
“The Seoul Subculture Festival?”
Han Su-a blinked in interest.
“There’s something like that? Anyway, tell me how the work’s progressing and I’ll handle what I can and support you. The important stuff first...”
“Assistant Manager, sorry to interrupt, but...”
“Yes?”
“I don’t think you need to get into the details of the work, honestly.”
“...?”
She flinched, then said in an awkward voice,
“Ah, if you’re worried I’ll end up splitting the credit, you can leave my name out of the report.”
“It’s not that at all.”
I waved both hands vigorously.
“The TF team already gave us plenty of credit.”
After all, both Assistant Manager Park, who was handling this ad, and I were beneficiaries of the TF team.
“Then why...”
“The festival is tomorrow.”
“...Really?”
“Yes. At this point, our part is basically done.”
Our job wasn’t organizing the event. It was the advertising.
The work was finished. Tomorrow, we’d just go to the venue and take a look around, and that would be it.
“Oh, so handover work would only make things more complicated.”
Han Su-a was quick to understand.
“Then should I just tag along?”
“Yes. That would probably be better.”
This job would be finished as soon as we wrote the report in two days, so it would be far more efficient for Assistant Manager Park and me to wrap it up ourselves.
From the next assignment onward, Han Su-a could take the lead while we supported her.
“Then where should I go tomorrow?”
“If you come to Ilsan KINTEX by 8 a.m....”
***
Seoul Subculture Festival.
“There are way more people here than I expected.”
It wasn’t even open yet, but there was already a pretty huge line.
“Ah, I’m excited.”
Assistant Manager Park looked thrilled, then quietly blended into the back of the crowd and got in line.
“...You came here to sightsee?”
“No way. I came to check our work’s results.”
That was hard to believe, considering how much the scent of otaku practically radiated off him.
He had a handheld fan hanging around his neck, a wallet stuffed with cash for merchandise, and even a huge backpack to carry whatever he bought home.
It was almost a relief he wasn’t wearing a plaid shirt.
“No matter how I look at it, you just came to indulge yourself...”
“You have to blend into the crowd and catch the atmosphere to tell whether our project succeeded or not!”
“...Sure.”
“Ah, I’m excited. So excited!”
No matter how I looked at it, this man didn’t seem thrilled about the ad results so much as the festival itself.
Still, for a different reason than Assistant Manager Park, I was nervous too.
Because...
Today’s the day.
It was the first time the outfit I’d made for Yu So-ra would be shown off publicly.
I wonder how people will react.
Yu So-ra herself had liked it, sure.
But what mattered even more was how the public would see it at the actual event.
She said she’d be here around lunchtime, right?
My heart was racing.
Then a message came in.
“...Even her texts are noisy.”
I didn’t even have the energy to reply, so I closed it.
Well, I’d find out when I saw her in person.
***
“Huaaah!”
After sending her storm of texts, the excitable little troublemaker Yu So-ra sat down in front of the mirror.
“All right, time to get serious.”
Back in her element after a long time, her eyes instantly sharpened into a professional’s.
First came the hair.
She rolled her hair up, pinned it at the back of her head, covered her entire head with a mesh cap, and secured it tightly with bobby pins so nothing would shift.
Then she applied makeup to match the character she’d chosen to cosplay.
After that came the long-awaited costume.
Then she put in the colored contact lenses, and finally wore the wig to finish.
It sounded simple when broken down like that, but in reality it was a marathon that took three full hours.
Yu So-ra was a professional.
That was why it wasn’t enough to merely look somewhat similar to the character. She had to achieve perfect synchronization, and not a single mistake could be tolerated.
After her final inspection, she struck a pose in front of the mirror.
“Perfect.”
Yu So-ra smiled in satisfaction.
“All right, let’s head out.”
***
The festival venue.
“It’s hotter than I expected...”
Late November.
It should have been cold, but instead it was warm enough to make me sweat.
Why is it this hot?
It was even pretty humid.
Probably because so many people had gathered here and everyone was moving around so much.
No wonder Assistant Manager Park brought a fan for this weather.
As expected, experts had reasons for everything they did.
“Assistant Manager.”
Han Su-a tapped my arm and said,
“I’ll handle the inside, so you can go out and get some air for a bit.”
“But still...”
“It’s fine. There’s nothing unusual going on anyway. We should be checking the atmosphere outside too, right?”
“Ah, yes. Then I’ll leave it to you.”
With her consideration, I stepped out of the festival area alone.
“Huaaah.”
The cold outside breeze made it feel like I could finally breathe again.
I sat on a bench and blankly cooled down the sweat on my body when I heard two men passing by, talking excitedly.
“Did you see her?”
“She was seriously pretty.”
“Insane.”
“That was definitely a Yuri-chan cosplay, right?”
“Yeah. The sync rate was 200 percent.”
“Did you take photos?”
“Of course. But there’ll probably be a ton of high-quality shots on the community boards today too. I need to save those.”
“Send them to me too.”
Looking toward where they’d come from, I saw a large crowd clustered together and buzzing.
Ah, looks like a new cosplay team showed up.
Rather than unleashing ten teams all at once from the opening time, they’d deliberately staggered the cosplayer teams so they would appear on-site at thirty-minute intervals.
It was about time for the afternoon wave.
Usually, when a cosplay team comes to an event, it’s because some company invited them, so the rule is for them to stay at a designated booth and promote there.
But this time, since they’d been invited by the festival itself, their role was to wander around the venue in costume and keep everyone’s attention.
But there are especially a lot of people over there.
There were a few teams inside the venue, and they’d also placed some well-known cosplayers near the entrance.
And yet, oddly enough, this place, which was supposed to be a rest area, somehow had an even bigger crowd.
Everyone was snapping photos with their phones.
Some people were even holding massive telephoto cameras and continuously shooting their subjects.
Curious, I slipped into the crowd.
Then, parting the heads in front of me, I caught sight of the woman standing at the center.
“...”
A stunned breath escaped me before I even knew it, and my gaze was stolen as if by a spell.
Yu So-ra.
The one commanding the attention of every man gathered here was Yu So-ra.
No, that wasn’t right.
Right now, she had become one with the character from the animation.
She looks exactly like the character I had in mind...
I’d seen her wearing the outfit I made at the workshop before.
But this is on a completely different level.
Back then, I’d been focused mainly on whether the clothes fit, and there hadn’t been any special prep like makeup.
But now it was different.
From head to toe, she had been transformed into the character completely.
So that’s why everyone calls her Yu So-ra...
It was a belated realization, but I could see why she was still the undisputed top cosplayer in Korea.
I wasn’t the only one.
No one standing here could tear their eyes away from Yu So-ra.
How long had I stared at her blankly?
Then she turned her head and our eyes met.
Jolt-!
She gave a small start, then only managed a faint smile before quickly collecting her expression and taking photos with the people in line.
On the side, I could hear live reactions from the venue.
“How is she that pretty?”
“I can’t even tell if this is anime or reality right now.”
“Honestly, at this point, reality might be better than 2D...”
“If we’re talking about our Otaku Sora-chan, she’s definitely wife material.”
“Approved as the legal wife...”
That wasn’t all.
As her photos went up on the community boards, the real-time reactions were just as intense.
Yu So-ra’s form is insane today?
She was already famous for having crazy-high sync rates, but today it looks even more ridiculous.
I’m here at the venue and the sync is genuinely insane. Especially the outfit. It’s exactly like the one from the anime.
It looks good even in photos.
It’s not even the kind of quality that translates through photos. Today she really is the character.
There are other cosplayers here, but she’s on another level.
I saw the photos that went up and there really is a difference...
Yu So-ra is insane. Wow.
Looks like this isn’t the same outfit company she usually uses?
Seems like it, yeah. Up until her last cosplay, it was more focused on just matching the character, so it felt a little plain, but this time the costume really brings out Yu So-ra’s curves perfectly.
She’s just the undisputed top.
Where the hell is that outfit made? I’m seriously curious.
Today the costume is just perfect..
“If this is the reaction...”
It was even better than I’d expected.
“This is pretty successful.”
Beyond the person herself, the outfit I made was getting praise from third parties too.
Thinking about that made my chest itch in a strange, pleasant way.
I guess this is why once you start doing handmade work, it’s hard to let it go...
This side job was getting more and more fun the further I went.
***
Staff break area.
Yu So-ra had sent a message saying she was resting, so I went over while avoiding the attention of others.
Knock, knock.
“So-ra. It’s Kang Seo-jun.”
Bang-!
Before I even finished speaking, the door flew open with force.
There stood Yu So-ra, who had been drawing everyone’s attention just moments before.
She hurried over, eyes sparkling.
“Wriiiiiiiter-nim! Wriiiiiiiter-nim! Wriiiiiiiter-nim!”
Of course, this was nothing like the cool, haughty aura she’d been projecting in front of people.
“You saw the outfit, right? It’s seriously pretty, right? Cute, right? The best, right?!”
“Oh, yes. With the makeup and the extra setup, it definitely looks different.”
“Right?! I’ve been staring at myself in the mirror and marveling nonstop.”
She took another step closer, almost bouncing with excitement.
“Look at this. The details are so alive they practically breathe!”
Flap, flap-!
“S-sorry, but could you maybe step back a little?”
“Huh...!”
Yu So-ra recoiled in surprise.
“I sweated a little, so... do I smell?”
“No, not at all. It’s just that being this close is a little overwhelming.”
“Whoa. Amazing.”
She curled her lips mischievously.
“Your face is red right now, so you totally got flustered seeing Yuri-chan, huh?!”
“No, how would I get flustered by a character...”
“You did, though? You totally did, right? Yuri-chan’s character is incredibly attractive, after all. She’s a humanized fox spirit who lures men in, you know? But if the cosplay is this good, it’s fine to fall for her. Seriously, this is the best cosplay of my life. My satisfaction level is at 20,000 percent right now!”
Just being with her for a moment felt like she was draining all my energy at once.
“...Anyway, there aren’t any problems with the outfit, right?”
“Ah, yes. None at all.”
“That’s a relief.”
She had asked me to come to the break room, so I’d been worried something had gone wrong, but that wasn’t the case.
“Then why did you call me?”
“I just wanted to show off the outfit.”
“...”
“Look at this pattern. The lines hug the shape and bring it to life. And even now, the details are still amazing...”
“Sorry, but I need to use the restroom for a second...”
I fled the room as if running for my life.
I was going to have to drag Assistant Manager Park in here and make him talk otaku with her, or something.
Meanwhile, after Kang Seo-jun left, Yu So-ra shrugged and sat back down.
“Seriously, clothes do make the person. Make the person...”
She marveled at it again, then glanced at the door he’d just used.
“At first I liked him because he was the Scholar-ticon artist, but the more I see him, the more I realize he’s the real deal as a person too...”
She wanted to get a little closer to him.