Chapter 373: Observer
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: vb24
Mika seemed to be really getting into things.
Chiaki observed the change in her good friend.
Mika was only influenced by everyone earlier into having higher spirits, but now she seemed like she was being passionate herself now as well. It was likely because she was affected by the atmosphere within this convention.
Chiaki felt that this was a good thing.
As for herself, although she felt that this event was nice, but it was just at the level of "nice" to her, and she even viewed herself as an observer more than a participant.
Well, it wasn't that she didn't have any fun, and she indeed found things interesting here.
There were cosplayers naturally mixed in among the crowd and stall vendors here, and so many manga or anime doujinshi, accessories, DVDs, drawings, and all sorts of products were for sale. Various types of people and their expressions and actions… all of this was quite interesting.
However, if Chiaki had been by herself, she wouldn't have attended such an event.
'Seiji, Yukari, and Kaho… any of them by themselves, probably would have participated in this.'
That was the different between a true participant and an observer.
During middle school, she had been in sports clubs, and she joined the drama club in high school. Although she felt that they were interesting, and she participated seriously in club activities, they were just at the level of normal likes for her, and she wasn't as passionate about them as people who truly loved sports or acting.
It was similar with her other hobbies as well. Although Chiaki was interested in many things, there wasn't a single hobby of hers that she believed she would never give up on and like forever.
That was why Chiaki even believed herself to be a "fake," while people like Seiji were "real," because they were able to truly shine.
Although she believed this, she didn't feel inferior about herself. "Fakes" had their own advantages, such as not being harmed too deeply because of getting too involved with anything.
Mika… was still somewhere in the middle between "fake" and "real," but would definitely become "real" in the future.
Chiaki grinned when she saw some exquisitely drawn boys' love doujinshi which caused her good friend to blush but still be unable to look away for a certain reason.
"The main character of this one resembles Seigo." She picked up a boys' love doujinshi and commented.
"Yeah… no no, he doesn't look like him at all!" Mika's face reddened even further.
"I think they look really similar. Come, Seigo, make a pose exactly like the handsome boy on this cover."
"I refuse." Seiji instantly rejected her.
"I think they look similar as well, just try making this pose." Yukari added her voice to the conversation.
"I think so as well…" Kaho's eyes were shining as she also chirped in.
"Familiar, I permit you to make this pose." Even Hana told him so through the voice chat.
"I adamantly refuse!" Seiji resisted to the end.
The stall vendor who appeared to be a female college student chuckled at this scene. Her eyes were shining as well from seeing this handsome boy who coincidentally resembled the male lead of the boys' love doujinshi she had drawn.
"If this customer is willing to make the same pose as the character on the cover, and allow me to take some pictures, I'll give your group a 20% discount on this doujinshi."
"Ohh, nice offer, Seigo, hurry up and do it!"
"The hell with that! Is my chastity worth only 20%?" Seiji retorted energetically both verbally and in his mind.
Due to his adamant refusal, everyone could only purchase the doujinshi at full price in the end. Yukari, Mika, Kaho, and Chiaki all purchased a copy of this boys' love doujinshi, and even Hana requested Seiji to buy a copy for her.
Seiji received some mental damage from this. But, he was fine as long as everyone was having fun.
They chatted and laughed as they explored the stalls and purchased things. Time passed joyously just like this.
After they finished touring the vendors as planned, Seiji and his friends arrived at the cosplay zone.
Here, they would be able to witness various types of cosplay, with some people dressing up as handsome boys or beautiful girls from anime and manga, and others dressing up as vicious villains or even strange shaped monsters. There were also game characters, movie characters, mascot characters, comical characters, classical characters, and so on… too many types to count.
And more numerous than the cosplayers, were all the perverts… whoops, photographers taking pictures of the cosplayers with cell phones, normal cameras, or even high-class cameras.
The sounds of shutters clicking were everywhere, and the cosplayers kept making various poses and expressions as they allowed themselves to be photographed.
Seiji and his friends participated in this as well, taking photos of the characters they were interested in, or even taking selfies together with the cosplayers. Without realizing it, they split off from each other.
As Seiji took pictures, he suddenly realized that he himself was also being taken pictures of?
At first, it was only a few people, but gradually, more and more people were taking pictures of him, snap snap snap.
"Er… I'm not a cosplayer, so please don't take pictures of me."
He made an explanation and those that heard him put down their cameras and smiled apologetically at him.
However, there were still endless waves of new people that kept aiming their cameras at him.
Seiji gave up helplessly after explaining it a few times to no avail.
"Haha, it's your fault for being so handsome and attractive." Chiaki took a photo of him as well and chuckled as she walked up to him. "You really are quite excellent for modeling, so it's no surprise at all that you'll become everyone's prey now that you're in the cosplaying area."
As she said so, she showed Seiji the picture she just took of him. The handsome boy in the photo had a helpless expression and seemed slightly downcast, as if it were a classic scene from an idols' television drama.
Seiji was rendered speechless.
"This is still only from a cell phone camera's picture. If someone takes a picture of you with a professional camera and just touches it up slightly, that'll definitely be sufficient to fake you as being a television actor or even movie star," Chiaki laughed. "I'm beginning to get scared of just how handsome you are… why don't you just go become an idol! If it's you, I think that conquering the world won't be only a dream~"
"Stop being silly," Seiji sighed. "It's just because this is the cosplay area where taking photos is allowed and even encouraged, which is why they're just taking photos of anyone they like the looks of. You were probably photographed as well, weren't you?"
That was indeed the case.
Chiaki and Mika had both noticed themselves being photographed occasionally. However, the times that this occurred was obviously much lower than Seiji's.
"Even though you can obviously just depend on your face to live off of, you still want to write light novels and make a game and so on. You're such a fool."
"Yep, I'm just such a fool who likes these types of things. Perhaps being an idol will help me become successful, but it's not my type of thing." Seiji smiled as he looked around him. "Here, the cosplayers mostly come here because they like to do such things. They aren't idols, nor are they aiming to become idols. They're only cosplaying because they like to do so. It's what they like to do. I'm the same as them, I write and make games because I like to do so. In the future, I also want to draw manga, and if possible, I'd also like to make anime, make a movie, and make more and more…"
Seeing the handsome boy in front of her become passionately heated, Chiaki impulsively wanted to use her cell phone to take another photo of him.
'You really are different, Seiji.'
'Even though you're also like everyone else and act because of what you like, the result is different because of the different degree of liking. What you're capable of accomplishing is different.'
'Your passion is much deeper than most people, and what you're capable of doing… and where you're capable of going, probably surpasses most ordinary people as well.'
'I shall watch you,' Chiaki thought to herself. 'I shall watch what you make, and how good you're able to make things… I shall always watch you.'
'I am an observer.'
'And you, Seiji… You're the only existence that I want to always watch, until the end of my life.'