Volume 4 Chapter 23: Cosplaying as Myself?
Lin Lin hesitated for a while, but in the end she nodded.
“Okay! Then… how much does it cost? I—we can pay for it together!”
“Huh? Hehe~ Xiao Lin, you’re really thoughtful. But this time, you don’t need to pay. I’ll pay for it myself. After all, I’m the one who wants to stand on the stage the most. How can I let you pay? You can just come on stage with me, hehe~” Du Wenmei said with a smile.
“Ah?”
Lin Lin was surprised.
This… made her feel a little embarrassed.
Even though Sister Wenmei kept saying it wouldn’t cost much, Lin Lin didn’t really care about the money. If she was going to join, she was willing to pay her part. After all, she would also be on stage.
It didn’t feel right to let Sister Wenmei handle everything alone while she just showed up and performed a little.
“We should pay together, Sister Wenmei. Even if it’s cheap, it’s still money. If we’re all going on stage, then we should all share the cost.”
“Um…”
Du Wenmei didn’t expect Lin Lin to insist so much. She scratched her head awkwardly.
“But I have more fans than you, and I’m already an adult. I have my own income. You and Xiao Ye are still students. You don’t earn much from streaming. How can I let you pay?”
“I can afford it!”
Lin Lin said seriously.
Well… in fact, she really could. She had received donations from Dog Bro and some money rewards from the system. She wasn’t short of money. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to buy two VR devices.
And as for Gao Ye… that girl had plenty of pocket money too.
“Um… well, since you insist, okay~ I’ll send a group payment request in the chat later…”
Du Wenmei nodded reluctantly.
Lin Lin caught an important word in what she said—
“Also.”
It seemed that Gao Ye had already said something before.
“Well, there’s one more important thing. Ah, Xiao Lin, you’re so considerate that I almost feel embarrassed to say this. We have to pay for the comic convention tickets ourselves. That team managed to get a booth, but they couldn’t get free tickets. So we’ll have to buy tickets to get in.”
“That’s… not a big deal~”
Hearing this, Du Wenmei nodded in surprise.
Ah…
Looks like Xiao Lin really has quite a lot of pocket money.
When she was in school, she couldn’t even afford a few movie tickets.
“Ahem, let me secretly tell you something. I heard that if you wear a cosplay costume, the ticket price will be half off. How about it? Do you want to cosplay a character at the convention?”
“C–Cosplay what?! I don’t even have a cosplay costume! Buying one would cost more than the ticket itself. That’s not worth it. And… we’re going there for the live stream, right? Why bother with that?”
“It’s fun~ I’d love to see you wearing Ari-chan’s outfit and standing there in person~”
Sister Wenmei covered her mouth and laughed, then suggested,
“How about it? Hehe, then the on-stage and backstage versions of you will become one. Maybe a lot of people will even ask to take photos with you~”
“That’s even worse!” Lin Lin quickly shook her head, trying to stop this terrible idea, even if Sister Wenmei was just teasing her.
“I—I—wouldn’t that expose my real identity? No, no, absolutely not!”
“Just say you’re a fan of the Little Vampire, right? Hehe~ Even though you don’t have many fans now, your fans are very loyal. No one would guess that your real voice sounds so different from your avatar’s voice.”
Du Wenmei raised her eyebrows and continued, “Or… don’t you want to try wearing the Little Vampire’s cute and charming outfit in real life?”
“Um…”
For some reason, this suggestion made Lin Lin’s heart move a little. Her breathing became a bit faster, and her heart felt restless.
Wearing… the Little Vampire’s clothes in the real world.
Lin Lin thought quietly for a moment.
Yes, she had always had special feelings for the Little Vampire avatar. Or maybe it was more like emotional attachment.
To her, Ari-chan was another version of herself. A version that was different from her past self and her present self.
A lively, cute, and charming version of herself.
Deep inside, she still felt a little shy and insecure. That was hard to change. Sometimes… Lin Lin even wondered if she was the “gloomy type” now.
But the Little Vampire was different!
The Little Vampire was cute, charming, an idol in her fans’ hearts, and also the kind of person Lin Lin wanted to become.
Right now, she was acting as Ari-chan. In the future… she also wanted to become like Ari-chan. Not necessarily becoming a super cute girl, but… becoming more cheerful and more popular!
In simple words…
She also wanted to become someone who has a fun and happy life.
And she wanted to stay an otaku, keep her hobbies, but still become popular!
Something like that.
Lin Lin sighed.
This dream… well, maybe not completely impossible, but at least it sounded a bit unrealistic.
Anyway…
Seeing that the girl was clearly tempted, Du Wenmei smiled. She tilted her head and asked,
“So? Are you a little tempted now, my cute Xiao Lin? Ahem, don’t be shy. It’s not too late to join! I’ll contact a shop to make a custom cosplay outfit for you!”
“Um… you can try.”
Lin Lin blushed. She still felt a little embarrassed, but after thinking carefully, everyone at the comic convention would be strangers. No one would recognize her. And besides, Sister Wenmei was right. She could just say she was a fan of the Little Vampire.
Uh…
Maybe she was overthinking. Maybe people wouldn’t even know which character she was cosplaying. After all, she didn’t have that many fans. It was quite a niche character.
Then… let’s do it.
Cosplay… for the first time in her life.
She couldn’t help it. Ari-chan was just too tempting.
“By the way, don’t just talk about the cosplay outfit. For the 3D live stream… we need a model, right? How are we going to solve that?”
“They said they’ll provide it. Oh right, Xiao Lin, send me your Live2D avatar files later. They need it to build the 3D model and try to make it as close to the original as possible.”
“That sounds pretty professional. Um… but I need to go home first to send the files. They’re on my computer. I don’t think I saved them on my phone.”
“Okay, okay~”
After they finished talking about the details, Lin Lin and Du Wenmei quietly drank their coffee.
Lin Lin knew the meeting was almost over. Just as she was about to say goodbye, suddenly, a figure she wasn’t very familiar with walked into the cafe, and slowly came toward her.
Yi… Yi Xiao?!