episode_0103

Todo dodog.

Thin and delicate fingers tapped the typing screen of the cell phone screen.

After writing and deleting several times, writing and deleting again, she quickly pressed the send button with trembling hands.

She texted me a simple sentence saying that I was almost there and where should I go, but the reason she hesitated for about ten minutes was because she was embarrassed to think about it.

“Wow. He tells this guy he’s meeting for the first time to come pick him up. Awkwardly.”

It was a girl with white hair, grunting and looking at her phone.

Yoo Seol, who poured out insults to Lee Jin, who was not present, had reached the front of the convention center where the festival was being held.

I did have a pass that let me into the building just by showing the screen on my phone.

Since the pass was literally just a pass, it was difficult to find the way like Yoo-ra, who arrived first.

So, after much thought, she sent a text message to the number Lee Jin had sent her.

[Seniors. It is fastest if you enter through gate 2.]

Yoo Seol looked around at the reply that came quickly.

“Number 2… Ah, there it is.“

Naturally, the surroundings became quiet and all eyes focused on her striking appearance.

Again and again.

The sound of Yoo Seol’s shoes hitting the stone floor echoed in the silence.

“Wow. Awesome.”

“Is it Kos language? There was a person like that… .”

In “, Emily-chan was in reality… .”

Yu Seol, embarrassed by the attention around him, turned up the collar of his shirt and pulled up his sleeves.

Even though the weather was slowly getting warmer, she did not want to show her skin and stuck to long clothes.

At that time, there was a group of men who approached at a fast pace and carefully blocked Yu Seol’s path toward the gate.

Men with red faces spoke to Yu Seol, holding the camera tightly with both hands.

“Hey, over there. Are you a COS player? Would it be okay to take a picture?”

A man with messy hair who stood in front of the group as a representative spoke.

“Oh… .”

The men, who saw the frozen and confused Yuseol, rushed back.

“Ah! sorry. You were surprised.”

Yoo Seol lowered her guard at the men’s attitude, which was more polite than expected, and bowed her head.

“It’s okay. But I’m not a cosplayer. So, taking pictures is a bit difficult.”

“Ah… .”

The men blinked as if it was an unexpected answer.

There was no particular reason for Yoo Seol to feel that way, but Yoo Seol felt somewhat sorry and continued speaking.

“… Well, I’m an illustrator… … It is. The booth will be open, so come by if you remember.”

“Oh! Is that so?”

The man said with a smile.

“Yes, yes. Well then, good luck!”

Yoo Seol, who was having a hard time continuing the conversation, quickly walked towards the gate.

“I will definitely go!”

After those rumors, a man’s cry was heard.

Yoo Seol, who quickly moved away from the men, clasped her hands.

“Ugh. I said with my own mouth that I was an illustrator… . Well, something feels strange.”

Grandpia Festival.

It was a record-breaking first step for illustrator Yoo Seol, who changed his major from art to illustration.

* * *

Yoo Seol showed his pass to the staff guarding the gate and entered the exhibition hall.

Three unique girls were reflected in her eyes.

The four girls who found each other intuitively recognized each other’s identities.

“Ah. Is there any rumor… Senior?”

“Oh… Well, um. Huh! Are you Jin Lee’s friends?”

The women quickly searched for each other in an instant, and in a daze, they approached each other and said hello.

It was the most awkward first meeting in the world.

* * *

The time for advance notice of the noisy event has passed.

Producer Joo Yong-jin came down from the stage, was given pamphlets under the guidance of the management staff who came up behind him, and then left one by one.

The pamphlet was the same one handed out to the general audience who would arrive shortly.

The schedule was to open the exhibition hall in the morning, enjoy booth tours and experience various small game-related events until early evening, and then start the full-scale cosplay festival in the evening.

“We eat lunch here at the collaboration cafe!”

The manager pointed to a cafe with a cute character waving his hand on the map drawn in the pamphlet.

Although it is said to be a cafe, there is an additional explanation written in small letters saying that there is also a meal menu.

“It’s okay. But won’t it be very crowded?”

“Umm… .”

The manager was troubled by my words.

Senior Jooyong spoke next to the manager.

“Can’t you just get it packaged and eat it in the waiting room?”

“Eight! There is an atmosphere of eating at a cafe.”

Senior Joo Yong slowly retreated as the manager’s momentum became sharper.

“But it can’t be helped because there are a lot of people in the group. There are eight people, including the four here and the four over there.”

“Ugh. I have to think about it… .”

The rumor must have arrived by now.

As I counted the number of people with my fingers, it suddenly occurred to me.

“For now, let’s go back to the booth.”

I was thinking about trying to contact them, but when senior Seongho said something, I put my phone back.

okay. Well, it’s right around the corner anyway.

We stood up from the audience to go back the way we came.

“Hmm?”

However, I saw a vaguely familiar figure in front of me.

“Why?”

The manager noticed my reaction and asked with a puzzled look.

“Ah. Director. Do you see that person over there?”

The manager followed the direction I pointed and tilted his head.

“Huh?”

Then, the person we were looking at turned halfway to leave.

“Ah!“

“Ah.”

The manager and I both let out a short exclamation at the sight of the profile that was visible thanks to that.

“It’s Jenna!”

A cold-looking beauty I met at an off-site gathering not long ago. It was Jenna.

At the manager’s words, the vice manager and general manager’s eyes rolled around.

“Oh. It’s true.”

It was nice to see it in a place like this.

Judging by the fact that he was inside at such an early hour, he must have participated in the competition as a cosplayer.

“Going to say hello.”

We followed the manager and approached after Jenna.

When the distance to hear the voice narrowed, the manager spoke to Zena.

“Sister~ Hello.“

“Huh?”

Jenna noticed a voice calling her and turned around in confusion.

“… what. It’s you.”

Jenna made eye contact with us and muttered dryly.

“Eek. The reaction is cold.”

In response, the manager exaggeratedly pretended to cry.

Zena raised her hand as if embarrassed by the manager’s foolish crying performance.

“No, um. I didn’t do that on purpose.”

I felt it last time too, but I’m just a person who doesn’t show my emotions… .

He was a warm-hearted person.

At Jenna’s reaction, the manager smiled brightly and stopped acting.

“It’s a joke. It’s been a while and I’m glad to see you.”

“Umm… . is it? I don’t think it’s been even a month.”

“Esss. The reaction is cold… … .”

“I’m sorry.”

These two are quite a comical duo.

I spoke to the manager, who was acting sullen, and to Zena, who sincerely tried to calm him down.

“It’s been a while. I was thankful for what happened last time. But, I guess you came alone today?“

“Hello to you too. … Not alone. Yumi came too.”

chyle… … .

Ah, that lively and energetic person.

“He said it was a hassle to go back and forth, so he said he would be waiting in the waiting room, so I could go alone.”

“Ah… . haha… .”

Surprisingly, it seems like there is someone who finds things like this annoying.

I felt like I was so full of energy that I would go see everything.

“Well, there are things like that. The main reason is that my relationship with PD Joo Yong-jin is not very good. I guess it’s because they’re afraid of being noticed. Although I regularly participate in competitions on such topics.”

“Yes? What happens?”

“You know that Grand Pia had a lot of problems when it first opened, right?”

“That’s right.”

Since then, Grandpia has been infamous in the mobile game industry.

Notoriety was the fate of most subculture gacha games, but it was especially famous among them, and in the early days, there was no confirmed hero summoning system.

“So there was a user meeting in the past.”

“Ah~ I remember.”

As complaints poured in from users demanding changes to the system, a meeting was held to discuss countermeasures.

Because it was in the early days of opening, the game was creaky in many areas, including the charging system.

So, in order to discuss ways to solve these issues, we created a place to share opinions between the development team and users.

Now that I think about it, there was an incident that made the Grandpia community excited… .

“At that time, Yumi went there wearing mourning clothes.”

“… … Yes?“

“Mourning clothes. They say your game is ruined.“

“… … Ah.”

The vice-president and general secretary, who were listening to the story next to me, muttered.

“… That deserves to be photographed.”

“He was a great person.”

At that time, the manager, who had been silent, suddenly came out.

“Hehe. That’s amazing! Actually, that was my idea!”

“Yes?”

It was the manager who squared his shoulders and spoke as if he was proud.

What kind of person was the manager of the past? … .

No, actually, isn’t that still the case?

* * *

Meanwhile.

‘When are you coming…? … !’

‘Ugh, ugh. It’s awkward… .’

The four girls were sitting around in the waiting room, looking at each other.

I’m waiting for whoever it is to come quickly.