"By the way, do you have her picture in a cosplay?" Nifuji just couldn't imagine how that gloomy girl, Ririsa, would do in her cosplay.
"I do."
Mayuri quickly took her latest iPhone, which was bought by Nifuji, and showed it to him. "Here."
"Let me see!"
As Eli was also curious, she also moved closer to see the picture, and naturally, Nifuji did the same, before they were stunned.
Ririsa's beauty in cosplay is not just described as "cute" or "sexy"—it is portrayed as divine and transformative.
The "breathtaking" quality comes from the fact that she doesn't just wear the costume; she completely sheds her human insecurities to become the living embodiment of the character Liliel.
If Nifuji hadn't seen Ririsa before, he wouldn't be surprised, but the gap between her when she was in the cosplay and when he met her before was too huge!
In reality, Ririsa is a shy, gloomy girl with bad posture who hides behind thick red glasses. She thinks of herself as "plain" and invisible.
However, when she puts on the Liliel costume, she stands tall. Her shyness evaporates, replaced by the noble, innocent confidence of an angel.
Seeing a quiet girl suddenly shine with such intense charisma creates a "Gap Moe" that hits him hard.
If he had to further describe it, "it is like an Angel Descending."
She wears high-quality colored contacts that turn her eyes a piercing, crystal blue.
Yet, the part that made anyone unable to look away from her was that smile of hers. It isn't a fake "cheese" smile; it is a gentle, benevolent one that seems to forgive the sins of the world.
This specific expression is what usually stops everyone's heart, but when Ririsa saw Nifuji, Mayuri, and Eli, she quickly stopped her act and waved her hand excitedly.
Unfortunately, this time, Ririsa hadn't worn her cosplay, and she dressed like before.
"Sensei! Nifuji-san! Eli-san! Here! Here!"
Okumura, who was practically standing still like a stone, also quickly woke up and greeted the three similarly.
"Sensei, Nifuji-san, and Eli-san.
However, unlike Ririsa, who showed a bright, charming smile, Okumura practically bowed his head, seemingly trying to avoid eye contact.
Yet Nifuji felt that Okumura's act was directed only at him, which made him uneasy.
Still, he wasn't someone who bothered with those kinds of things, and Okumura probably had a bad memory about something, and somehow his appearance might have triggered it.
"How is it? Have you sold your ROM?"
Nifuji looked at their booth, a simple table stacked with copies of her ROM.
"N-Not yet..." Ririsa quickly lowered her head, but she still tried to smile.
"..." Nifuji.
"Ugh!"
Nifuji felt his sides being nudged by Mayuri and Eli, who looked at him sharply. However, inwardly, he wanted to ask them, "Is it okay for a 27-year-old guy to buy the ROM, which is filled with the collection photos of a high school girl in cosplay that exposes a lot of her skin?!"
Still, as he glanced at them calmly in return, and even sent them a chat directly, Eli and Mayuri were silent.
The two might not care since they were female despite being adults, but Nifuji was the face of a company; he had an image that he had to keep.
What would everyone think if they discovered that he bought Ririsa's ROM?!
Whether it was his boss or the followers, if they discovered him doing this, they would look down on him inwardly. Even if he tried to appease the situation, explaining everything, he would be looked down upon, but then again, he didn't fear them.
Still, it was quite troublesome.
"Well, I will buy one." Mayuri decided to buy Ririsa's ROM.
"Me, too." Eli nodded, then asked, "How much is it?"
"One is 2,000 yen."
"Okay." 2x
To them, that amount of money was nothing, since Nifuji gave them a lot of pocket money each month.
"Thank you very much!" 2x
Ririsa and Okumura quickly bowed their heads and handed the ROM to Eli and Mayuri, then looked at each other with smiles, having sold two copies!
"How many copies have you made?" Nifuji asked curiously, as he looked at the plain ROM without any covers, making him even hesitate to buy one since, unlike Eli and Mayuri, who spent his money, he would use his own money, and frankly, 2,000 yen was quite a good sum of money, as it was enough for his daily food, so to use it on such a plain ROM, he just felt that it wasn't worth it, especially when he looked at the side booth, who had their ROM covered in the picture of a sexy, lewd cosplay.
No, or rather, the cosplayer on the booth on the side wore a lewd, sexy cosplay with a bikini-like outfit, and fox features such as a tail and fox ears.
"..." 2x
As the female cosplayer looked at him with a dreamy, seductive look, Nifuji was stunned in a daze, as he had never expected to find someone else who could trigger his system, but—
"Ahem!" 2x
Nifuji quickly looked away with a solemn expression while looking at Okumura, waiting for his response.
"Er... we have prepared about 50 copies."
"50 copies, hm..."
Nifuji started to count how much the profit and cost were, and if Okumura and Ririsa couldn't sell all of her ROM.
Yet, he also had to say that the ROM didn't take up much room.
If Ririsa couldn't sell them well, Nifuji was sure that she had to take them back to her room, and it would fill the space directly. Also, when she saw all the ROM, she definitely would have a bad memory, thinking that it was such hard work.
"I-Is there something wrong?" Okumura asked nervously.
"No, it's fine."
Still, Nifuji wouldn't remind them since it was a good lesson for them to prepare, and he suddenly felt a good chance for a business, especially when he saw that the ROM was in the form of a CD.
The inventory was kind of a problem, so if there was a way to minimize the space taken by the physical CDs, it would definitely make a lot of money, Nifuji thought.
As he thought so, suddenly someone came to their booth.
"Excuse me."
"Ah, yes."
Nifuji, Mayuri, and Eli quickly stepped aside as Okumura and Ririsa faced the customer.
"Are they a cosplay ROM?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"Liliel from Ash's War Chronicles."
"Old!" The male customer was startled, but then he looked at the ROM's physical CD for a while, and asked, "Is there a naughty photo inside?"
"...." Everyone.
Yup, as expected, having a cosplayer girlfriend was definitely out of the question.