Chapter 51
Chapter 51
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Reverse Arcadia Open D-1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"...Why? Does my outfit look that weird?"
Perhaps flustered by me staring at her without a word, Chaeyoung began examining her own appearance from every angle.
"Doesn't seem like anything's off..."
Snapping back to my senses at her mutter, I hurriedly shook my head.
"It's not weird or anything, it's just... the vibe is so different from usual..."
At my words, Chaeyoung seemed to understand why I'd gone quiet for a bit, letting out a sigh with a somewhat awkward expression.
"At least if you treat me like normal, it'll make me feel a little less embarrassed."
"S-Sorry."
"Whatever. So, what about that thing I asked for last time? Did you get permission?"
I nodded at Chaeyoung's question and replied.
"I explained the situation, and they said it's fine. Want me to grab one now?"
"Yeah. Honestly, I'm at my limit sober right now."
At Chaeyoung's request, I pulled a can of beer from the fridge in the corner of the waiting room and handed it over.
"Thanks."
She took the can from me, cracked it open, and chugged it down right away.
I just watched her quietly.
Speaking up now would only make things more awkward, for sure.
As I silently observed her, one question popped into my mind, and I asked.
"By the way, how'd you do that?"
"Huh? Do what?"
"Your eyes and hair. They're not that color normally."
Chaeyoung, mid-sip, smirked at my question and tugged at her hair.
Sure enough, the secretly two-toned dyed strands slid up, revealing her hairnet-covered head underneath.
"Obviously a wig and lenses. They came together in the box."
"No way, for real?"
No wonder the publisher had suggested cosplay first...
They were more serious about this than I'd thought.
"Had enough now?"
"Can't I have just one more...?"
"No, absolutely not."
I shot down Chaeyoung's plea—she'd gone noticeably gooey compared to before—and immediately called our assigned stylists through Tanaka.
And so the makeup session began.
The sensation of getting makeup done for the first time in my life was more awkward than I'd expected.
Having powder slathered on your face and patted with a puff felt all kinds of weird...
Thank goodness it was just basic makeup and wrapped up quickly; otherwise, I wouldn't have lasted.
After makeup finished and the stylists packed up and stepped back, I greeted them before glancing to the side.
There was Chaeyoung, eyes closed, receiving her makeup.
She looked pretty accustomed to it, probably from all her broadcasting work.
Even with the booze helping, though, she hadn't fully steadied her nerves—her hands fidgeted restlessly, never staying still.
Probably because this outfit was way more revealing than her usual clothes...
Watching her, I hesitated a moment before standing and pulling a knee blanket from my bag.
"Senior."
Still mid-makeup, Chaeyoung didn't turn her head—instead, she cracked one eye open to look my way.
"Yeah?"
"Move your hands for a sec."
She removed her hands as I asked, and I draped the blanket over her thighs.
The stylists behind us buzzed in surprise at the unexpected gesture,
and Chaeyoung looked shocked too.
"...What's gotten into you?"
"Just felt bad."
She smirked at my words, placed her hands on the blanket, and closed her eyes again for makeup.
Seemed the blanket helped her nerves more than expected—she looked way more relaxed than before.
"Senior, keep getting your makeup done. I need to talk to Mr. Tanaka real quick."
"Go ahead."
Leaving Chaeyoung to her makeup, I stepped out of the waiting room and ran into Tanaka passing by in the hallway just then.
"Oh, headquarters chief. What brings you out? I would've come to the waiting room if you'd waited."
"Ah, just had something to ask."
"Shoot."
"Y'know that roulette segment in the broadcast content? Where we spin for user giveaways?"
"Ah, yes. There was that."
"The rewards on that roulette—"
Tanaka nodded along half-doubtingly as I laid out the proposal I'd prepared, but I didn't mind.
This approach would be way more effective than just handing out freebies willy-nilly for the open celebration. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The Reverse Arcadia Gallery was experiencing unprecedented boom times since its creation.
Just one day left until game launch.
Plus, with a special pre-open video reveal on the horizon, everyone and their dog had flooded in.
📰 Post — Anonymous Title: One Hour Until Open Celebration Special Video Drop 😱😱😱😱 Any Reverse Gallery dwellers hyped for this vid's concept get an upvote lololol 💬 Comments [Popularity] — Anonymous Lmao fr — Anonymous Upvote lololol 📰 Post — Anonymous Title: Girls Memorial Opens in 8 Days But Reasons I'm Hyped for Reverse Arcadia Broadcast Today... Fact Enson GT's MO is to flood you with free pulls on launch to lower the entry barrier. So expect a ton this time too—wonder how much they'll drop in the broadcast. Pre-reg gives 20 multis guaranteed, plus broadcast freebies = easy 50 multis 😱😱😱 So don't be a sucker diving in headfirst—reroll marathon mandatory. Too lazy? Buy a reroll account. 💬 Comments [Newest] — Anonymous Open in 8 days pfft lololol — Anonymous Fr, they give generously but pickups are frequent too so reroll if you're F2P. ↳ Reply Gacha that harsh? 😱😱😱 ↳ Reply Nah, gacha's generous for a gacha game. Just lots of pickups. Jaehyeon, lurking the community, shared similar thoughts with the Reverse Arcadia Gallery users.
He too had succeeded in a reroll marathon back in Girls Memorial's generous early days.
Imagining which characters to pull via reroll once it opened, he browsed the gallery until the video reveal time snuck up.
A 60-second countdown for the video appeared on screen,
59 to 30, 30 to 10, 10 to 0.
'Oh... here we go.'
Hyped, he popped some pre-prepped popcorn into his mouth, and the video auto-played as set.
The open celebration video kicked off as everyone expected: the trailer.
It was the trailer that built Reverse Arcadia's hype from the start, after all.
Though no one saw Ishida Kei coming out for an interview to hype the game.
The gallery was chaos, fans of Ishida Kei mixing with game fans.
Amused by the gallery frenzy, Jaehyeon snapped to attention at the sudden MC's voice, eyes flicking to the monitor.
"Hello! Nagaoka Kenjo here, hosting Girls Memorial and now Reverse Arcadia broadcasts too! Great to see you all!" Applause erupted as the MC finished his greeting.
He hadn't expected much from an open celebration stream, but they must've invited a ton of guests.
"Before we start, let me introduce our guests. First up, someone very familiar to you all: Ji Hojin, overall director for Reverse Arcadia too. Come on out!" Jaehyeon dropped a few popcorn kernels on the floor as Hojin appeared right after Kenji spoke.
'Wait... isn't that the commander from the trailer?'
"Hello. I'm Ji Hojin, overall director for Reverse Arcadia again. Nice to see you!" Applause burst as Hojin greeted.
Jaehyeon nodded along, recognizing the familiar face from years of watching.
"Next up, someone new to you users: Han Chaeyoung, sound director for both Girls Memorial and Reverse Arcadia. Come on in!" Screen switched right after Kenji finished.
In the video, Henrietta—who'd only existed in illustrations—bobbed her head toward the camera.
Unlike her canon shy demeanor, her cheeks were slightly flushed, adding a lifelike quality that boosted the cosplay's impressiveness.
Jaehyeon stared slack-jawed at the insane Henrietta cosplay quality, then checked the gallery—
The hype had shifted from Ishida Kei bait to Henrietta cosplay already.
📰 Post — Anonymous Title: Sound director?? Lolololololol 【Screenshot of Chaeyoung's Henrietta cosplay】 Thought they hired a pro cosplayer at first lolololol Quality is nuts lolololol Wanted to post praise for Henrietta cosplay but chickened out fr 💬 Comments [Newest] — Anonymous Hnnng eyes... — Anonymous What kinda praise were you planning you freak lololol — Anonymous Daaamn she's hot af lolololol 📰 Post — Anonymous Title: Enson GT << Company Full of Diehard Otakus, Confirmed Ji Hojin aside, this Han Chaeyoung sound director—directors are at least team lead level, yet these execs cosplay and clown for users? What're they missing? This ain't work anymore; they're having fun lololololol 💬 Comments [Newest] — Anonymous Now that you mention lolololol — Anonymous So dept head/exec level folks cosplaying?? 😱😱😱😱 ↳ Reply Lol another one ↳ Reply Imagining it made me hurl fml lololol