Living with a magical girl, but a weirdo cadre

　Just then, there was a knock at the door. The middle-aged man instinctively thought it was the recipient, so he walked towards the door while replying, "Coming, coming, this is what I wanted to send..."

　"..." Then, the middle-aged man who raised his head saw several burly men surrounding the door, wearing sunglasses and looking at him.

　"Hi……"

　He said hi.

　"Hi!!!" XN

　They said hi.

　……

　Directed by Robert B. Weide

　(On how many movies Robert B. Wade directed)

　Chapter 224 Blue and Red

　In the past, the so-called Wind Song Festival would often involve some priestesses dancing around...

　In modern times, only anime characters cosplaying as shrine maidens have remained.

　In the past, it was common to hire famous singers to perform songs and dances.

　They danced and sang some supernatural songs.

　In modern times, they have become virtual singers.

　It's like... Holy crap! Hatsune Miku!

　That's pretty much it.

　……

　The world changes, and it's hard to say whether it's for better or worse, but there's no doubt that... the Ode to the Wind has entered the public's aesthetic sensibilities.

　It has become a festival suitable for all ages.

　For many young people, it's a large-scale cosplay event... In today's era, many traditions need to change with the times.

　Most people have a few roles they'd like to try out, and ultimately they'll choose the one they're most satisfied with.

　But often it is associated with "popular" characters of the season.

　For example...

　This person is cosplaying a student, holding a magic book, and surprisingly, the cosplay is quite accurate, with a similar face and body shape.

　A crowd of people surrounded her, taking pictures and expressing their admiration and amazement at the cosplayer.

　"Wow, that's awesome..."

　"It's so similar! It's exactly like An..."

　"It's very accurate."

　"It's a pity that Gureya isn't here."

　Hearing the voices around her and the praise from those around her, the girl smiled shyly.

　She is a student at Fuuka Girls' High School...

　Her roommate originally wanted to cosplay as Grimoire, and had even bought the costume, planning to have a great time at the Wind Song Festival, but then...

　My teacher dragged me to participate in a women's cycling race (sad).

　Then, from behind her came a clear, melodious girl's voice—

　"Hey, Cong Yu... isn't that a character from your comics?"

　Then, a male voice responded to her—

　"Idiot, your voice is too loud... Besides, it's 'a character from a manga I'm reading,' okay? I'm not CY-sensei."

　"Huh? But you are..."

　Before Hikaru could ask any more questions, Azuma Nagisa pulled him back, saying, "Hikaru... you'd better not say anything."

　Although he didn't quite understand, Yaochuan Guang, who was holding Xiao Cui's hand, still obediently nodded to show that he understood.

　Then, the group continued walking inside, curiously looking around.

　It attracted a lot of people's attention.

　"Huh? It's Magical Girl Shining☆Channel and Blue Sky☆Channel, and this little girl is also... is she some kind of magical girl character?"

　Wow! The accuracy of the reproduction is so high.

　“It’s very beautiful!”

　"Hmm, but I saw an even more accurate version of Shining☆chan over there before, look... I even added Linx—"

　"..." Yao Chuanguang: "???"

　A more accurate recreation... of me?

　Why? Isn't my reproduction 100% accurate?

　"Ha... So this is what cosplay is all about. Don't make things difficult for them. Some things can be interpreted in a hundred different ways by a hundred different people."

　Cong Yu explained simply that although she was dressed to pretend to be herself, the outfit, consisting of a coat, mask, and hood, didn't look very realistic.

　So surprisingly, not many people approached them.

　Because his handsome face was covered, there were even fewer people trying to chat him up than usual... It was surprisingly quiet.

　I suddenly had the idea of ​​going out like this from now on.

　"Huh? What do you mean by 'a hundred people have a hundred different imaginations'?"

　Yao Chuanguang looked somewhat puzzled, while Lan Tianzhu helped explain: "It means... only a few people have actually seen you fight, and even if they did, you were moving quickly or casting spells at that time."

　"Most people get to know you by watching videos and making assumptions based on your imagination, judging the structure of your outfit and the material of the fabric."

　"So, the you they imagine... might not be the real you, and we don't seem particularly noticeable or special right now."

　As Lan Tianzhu said this, he stretched lazily and then said, "However, it's not very interesting to just wander around and take pictures here. Let's go see the booths over there... and find a place to sit down."

　There's nothing really going on, but wanting to see the booth is a lie; the real purpose is to find a place to sit.

　Xiao Lan is like this: at home, she usually stays on the sofa watching TV and playing on her phone... just like her middle-aged father.

　But if we consider age...

　Lan Tianzhu could indeed be a middle-aged person.

　Because I don't usually drink, go clubbing, sing karaoke, or go to bars, I'm a very honest middle-aged man. So I don't plan to add any cosplay Linx... I don't have that need.

　My only unhealthy hobby is reading comics and spending money.

　If you were to convert him to a male, he would actually be a very pitiful guy.

　What? This is totally me?

　Yes, that's true.

　If we disregard job and income levels, and assume that even if the gender were reversed, one would still live with a "good brother" or a "beautiful woman".

　"Eh? I'd really like to add other Shining☆Chan Linxes..."

　As Yaochuan Guang said this, she, pulled by Lantian Zhu, also pulled Xiao Cui, gesturing for Cong Yu to follow: "Wait a minute... Hey? There are so many people cosplaying as you—"

　Blue Sky Nagisa: "..."

　"That's cosplaying as Blue Sky☆Jiang, not me!"

　Lan Tianzhu corrected her, then shifted her gaze forward, and then...

　...He froze for a moment, then stood still.

　Yaochuan Guang, who was being pulled along, stopped and greeted the people passing by: "Teacher Hong, are you here for the Wind Song Festival too?"

　Hong, who was walking and looking at her phone, was stunned for a moment, then looked at Yaochuan Guang... and Cong Yu, who was following behind Yaochuan Guang and the others at a leisurely pace.

　"Oh, Yaochuan? Hello, little sister... and Congyu, good morning."

　As Hong said this, she revealed an amused smile. She was once again happy that she could openly refer to Cong Yu as "classmate": "Yes, I am also from Fengdu, so of course I would not miss Feng Song Ri."

　"What a coincidence."

　Yaochuan Guang blinked, then happily struck up a conversation with the school nurse: "Is Ms. Hong also a native of Fudu?"

　Upon hearing this, Lan Tianzhu immediately looked at Hong, awaiting her reply.

　"right."

　Hong laughed and patted Yaochuan Guang on the shoulder: "I heard you don't know anything about the Wind Song Festival. Today, let Congyu show you around!"

　With that, Hong said goodbye to the three of them.

　"..." It's not Central City?

　As Lan Tianzhu thought this, she rubbed her eyes, feeling a strange sense of familiarity. But she couldn't recall where she had seen it before.

　"Xiao Guang...who is that Teacher Hong?"

　In response to Azumi Nagisa's question, Yaochuan Guang simply replied, "She's our school's health teacher... and she's very close to Congyu."

　Are you close to Cong Yu...?

　Lan Tianzhu seemed lost in thought.

　Chapter 225 Will the Sleepers drown in their sweet dreams?

　Comic conventions are something like that.

　Actually, Cong Yu isn't very interested... Yes, although he makes a living from comics, he's not very interested in comic conventions.

　After all, in this day and age, the real "comics" are, in terms of sheer numbers, mostly people who prefer to stay at home and become shut-ins.

　Cong Yu is currently living in a rather awkward era...

　Four or five years ago, anime conventions were a bit purer, without so many hidden agendas or convoluted schemes, and there weren't so many self-proclaimed "anime fans" who knew nothing about anything except the "hottest anime of the season."

　If we wait a few decades, the environment will be more similar to the era that Cong Yu is familiar with.

　The number of people who stay at home has increased unexpectedly.

　But by the time of Cong Yu...

　Everyone will stay at home obediently. 50% or more of people will stay in their own "limited private space" from birth until death.

　Randomly matched gene births, federal child support, takeout food, video work, home entertainment, towed away and incinerated, cyber tombstones.

　A person can live their entire life in their own home, or even in their own room.

　At that time, comic conventions didn't matter anymore.

　Going back a bit, even those in the anime/manga community know they're a niche group. So they don't flaunt it, and random people don't jump on the bandwagon.

　Further on, you'll find yourself surrounded by true "homebodies," so there's no need to say anything about anyone... Staying home to watch anime is no different from watching a movie.

　Therefore, the era that Cong Yu is currently in is an awkward one, stuck in the middle.

　But...

　Although he had read about it in books, he only truly understood it now... In fact, virtual singers were already very popular at this time.

　Thinking this, Cong Yu looked at the stage, where a twin-tailed, green onion-shaped songstress was projected into the darkness by a virtual imaging device.

　There were quite a few onlookers around.

　Cong Yu herself rarely watches anime... because from a future perspective, the anime tropes of this period have basically been completely deconstructed and analyzed.

　However, he usually enjoys listening to music.

　The direction of music in this world... seems to be quite different from what he knew, and he hadn't had much contact with music in his previous life.

　Let's find something new to enjoy.

　Cong Yu, resting his chin on his hand, sat in his seat, listening to the songstress on stage singing music that he had probably never encountered in his previous life.

　The style of the piece has a bit of a Jin feel to it... The overall tempo is very fast, and the first note of each measure is rushed.

　The guitar distortion is minimal, giving it a slightly weak sound. However, the clean tones are crisp, and the rhythm is rather "funny." (In English...)

　Um... it was "Fuxk".