Chapter 68: Cosplay and the Culture Festival (2)
With all sorts of events and crowds of people flocking in, the “1st National Cultural Creation Festival” opened to great success.
The main reason each visitor had come was different, but there were so many tempting events overlapping all around that it was hard to enjoy only one thing.
As everyone looked around at other events as well, broadening their exposure to new cultures and hobbies, the festival was playing its role quite successfully.
And behind the venue where that feverish festival was taking place, there was a secret space most people knew nothing about.
Bang—!
“My turn’s over now!
I’m going on break, so the next one up, hurry and get out there!”
“Is it finally my turn?!
Haa, haa! At last, I can feel fresh, living vital essence again after so long...!”
“I’ll say it again, don’t cause any trouble, okay?
If you cause trouble, it’ll be a nuisance to us and to Writer Wei, who trusted us with this.
You know we’ll have to go back to the days of eating nothing but tasteless beast essence, right?”
“Don’t worry! I don’t want to live that desperately again either, you know? I’ll enjoy myself quietly within the rules!”
“Good, good. And if you find someone you like, don’t forget to leave a mark so we don’t overlap.”
A succubus cosplaying a magician character in a wide witch’s hat boldly and energetically opened the door and came in.
At the same time she was welcomed, another succubus cosplaying a beastfolk mercenary female warrior character dashed out as if she had been waiting for this very moment.
This place was the hottest topic of the festival.
The exclusive break room for the succubus cosplayers.
“But can’t we just all go out together instead of taking turns?
I bet the others would rather meet people outside after so long than rest, not just me.”
“It’s because more of our kind gathered than we expected.
If all of us went out and drew too much attention, it could affect the festival itself, so we’re regulating it properly.
Our role is to make the festival more enjoyable, not to be the main attraction.”
“Well, true. Even this much is something we should be bowing in gratitude for.
And if we don’t force everyone to take breaks like this, they might get drunk on the essence they’re feeling for the first time in ages, lose their heads, and cause an accident.”
“That’s exactly it. So just rest quietly.”
In truth, rather than a break room, it might have been better to call it a standby room for rotations.
Because everyone wanted to go outside even a little more and show off their cosplay rather than rest.
But as their representative, Lilith, who had made this happen, said.
It was a method they had decided on in advance so that the succubi who had gathered in greater numbers than expected would not interfere with the festival.
And ever since the cultural creation festival had begun in earnest today, this arrangement had been maintained well for several hours.
Because they knew very well how grateful they should be to Wei for giving them this opportunity.
Without a single complaint, the succubi quietly rested as they were told and began chatting about what they had experienced while cosplaying.
“By the way, did you all find someone you liked? Did you mark them?
I left mine on a designated driver who said he entered the [Races Fighter] tournament.”
“You left yours on a designated driver too?
For some reason, a lot of girls are choosing designated drivers.
Are there that many people who look decent?”
“They say knights have always been popular since long ago because they lived devoted to training, so they were healthy and pure.
A designated driver is a knight too, so maybe it’s similar?”
Like who they had used their one allotted marking opportunity on.
“I think I chose a really good character to cosplay.
It fits me perfectly, you know?”
“I wonder if I chose wrong.
I like it, but maybe because it’s a character from a work that isn’t famous, people don’t really recognize it.”
“Isn’t that actually better?
Writer Wei said that if they recognize it even though it isn’t famous, they’re an even more genuine fan!
For succubi like us, that kind of small number of true fans might actually be better.”
“True fan? What is that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t know either! But Writer Wei said it, so it must be a good thing, right?”
Or their impressions of the various characters they were cosplaying, and people’s reactions.
And most of all.
“Now that you mention it, I do think the essence tastes better when you shake hands with or hug those kinds of people.”
“Right, right?! It tasted so good that everything I’d eaten to survive until now was basically food waste. Blegh.”
“That’s why everyone’s waiting their turn so obediently.
Because none of us wants to go back to those days.”
The biggest topic was the taste of fresh vital essence they were savoring after so long.
Of course, it was vital essence obtained through legal means.
The biggest misconception people had about succubi was that they thought succubi could only absorb vital essence by having relations.
That was not entirely wrong, but it was not entirely right either.
If that were the case, the absolute pauper strategy through adult comics would have been impossible to realize.
To get to the point, vital essence could also be absorbed through simple physical contact such as handshakes or hugs.
Of course, the absorption efficiency was incomparable to direct absorption.
But even that alone was the finest delicacy under heaven to the succubi who had been starving all this time.
“If the beast essence we ate until now was just feed we swallowed to survive,
then the essence absorbed through handshakes and hugs felt like eating at least a proper meal meant for humans!”
That was why all of them were so uninhibited with physical contact while cosplaying.
The guests who shook hands with them or received hugs were embarrassed but pleased, and the succubi were able to eat proper essence again after so long, so there was no real reason to hesitate.
Of course, there were some succubi who worried whether it was really all right to absorb essence through direct contact like this, even if it was only handshakes or hugs.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Writer Wei said he personally received permission from the royal family.
He said it’s fine to absorb just a little through slight contact, as long as it doesn’t burden the guests.”
“At that level, it won’t have much effect on their health, and they’ll just think of it as fatigue from walking around the festival.
They said they even brought in rest areas and priests just in case, so it really should be fine!”
When they heard that Writer Wei had personally negotiated with the royal family and obtained permission for it, limited to this festival.
They were able to erase their worries and cosplay happily.
And that was not the end.
There was still a plan remaining to upgrade the effects of the existing adult comic operation.
They were also planning to sell a kind of illustration collection featuring the succubi who participated in this festival in their cosplay.
“What was it Writer Wei called it?
A-S-M-R? Is that right?”
“If you mean the recorded lines of the characters, then I think that’s right.”
And they were even proceeding with a plan to sell character ASMR goods recorded with the succubi’s voices.
If all of these worked, they would not have to worry about going hungry for a while.
Looking forward to that rosy future and those results.
“All right! Then let’s go make the guests happy again!”
“Good! This time, should we be a little more active with our lines and poses?”
“How about characters from the same work gather together and recreate a scene from the story?”
“I’m thinking of walking around holding this sign that says Free Hugs!”
“Ah! Give me one of those signs too!”
The succubi diligently prepared for their cosplay activities.
***
Unlike cosplay on Earth, where people inevitably grew exhausted as time passed.
The beauty and energy of the succubus cosplayers, who had begun absorbing vital essence, did not fade as the festival went on—instead, they shone brighter and brighter.
As their enthusiastic energy spread, the mood of the guests who had come to the festival naturally began rising without end.
“Whoa... They’re seriously beautiful. Just seeing them makes coming to this festival worth it, you know?
I’m really glad I won the lottery.”
“There are different people in every section of the venue, so isn’t it fun walking around and looking?”
After all, beautiful attendants were welcoming people all over the venue, even actively engaging in physical contact. How could people not be energized?
On top of that, the makeup Wade had poured plenty of money into, combined with the succubi’s transformation abilities, made their cosplay nothing short of perfect.
It gave people a mysterious feeling, as if they had come not to reality, but to another world.
And once that sense of mystery was added, the presence of cosplay was firmly imprinted in people’s minds.
“You marked the back of that person’s neck while hugging them earlier, right?”
“Yeah. The essence I tasted lightly was exactly to my liking.”
Small marks were engraved on the hands or cheeks of some guests as well.
“Wow! The armor and hammer are incredibly cool!
The character you’re dressed as right now is Frank, the knight department professor from [The Genius Mage of the Slums], right?
The scene where he smashed down the giant chimera summoned by the dark mages with his hammer was seriously awesome!”
“Hm? Hahaha! You have quite the eye, dear guest!
That’s right! This is the hammer and armor containing Frank’s fiery soul as a man!
If you like, go ahead and touch it!”
“Kyaaaah! This dress is the one the villainess young lady Clarinet wore at the end, right?
The one made personally by the mother of her attendant, Lube!”
“Oh my. You recognized this?
You have an excellent eye.
By any chance, are you interested in cosplay as well?”
And while ordinary guests were often drawn to cosplayers of the opposite sex.
There were also frequent cases where women admired a succubus’s beautiful cosplay, or men admired an incubus’s cool cosplay.
High-quality cosplay had an appeal that drew attention regardless of gender.
To be honest, people like that were of no help at all to the meals of the succubi or incubi.
“Hah! May I really try lifting this hammer?”
“Of course! If you like Professor Frank, then you are my comrade as well.
And one can entrust a weapon to a comrade as much as one likes!”
“Hehe. If you wish, shall I introduce you to the designer who made this dress?”
“Really?! Please, I’d love that!”
Nevertheless, all of them gladly provided fan service and explanations.
They were already in a good mood from absorbing essence from other people, and Writer Wei had also given strict orders to always treat fans kindly.
Most of all, they had affection for the characters they had chosen to cosplay.
So when they met people who liked those characters together with them, they could not help being happy.
Was it thanks to their kind fan service and explanations?
“So that’s what they call cosplay.
...Should I try it too?”
“Fundamentally, it seems similar to stage makeup. Should I look into it through that line?”
Beyond simply watching and enjoying.
People who grew interested in trying cosplay themselves began appearing one after another.
If Wade, who had suggested cosplay, had known, he would have clapped his hands in delight.
Thus, with the active cooperation of the succubi and incubi, everyone was able to enjoy the event together without any particular problems.
Of course, as the wise saying goes, if five people gather, one of them will be trash.
There were also troublesome guests who tried to do improper things to the cosplayers.
“Aaaagh! Stop! Stooop!!”
“Dear guest. You mustn’t do this to our cosplayers.
Aside from the contact we initiate, please enjoy with your eyes only.”
“I get it, so let go! My arm’s going to break!!!”
“Ah! Security, over here!”
The succubi had merely been hungry all this time; they were still proper named demons.
And now that they had even been fed, ordinary people’s strength could not handle them.
Such troublesome guests were immediately subdued and handed over to security.
“You are banned from entering all future festivals.”
“Nooo!!!”
They were expelled from the festival on the spot, and at the same time received the punishment of a permanent entry ban.
The spectators who watched the troublesome guests wail in despair cheered at that satisfying comeuppance and the fiery charm the cosplayers had shown.
Those scenes were accepted as a sort of show, drawing favorable reactions from the people.
Through that process, cosplay gradually came to be accepted as an indispensable element of this festival, and as one of its identities.
“Hey, hey! At the dating simulation game experience area, they gathered all the people cosplaying the love interest characters and are holding some kind of event!
Let’s go see what it is!”
“I heard the people cosplaying warrior characters are doing something at the [Races Fighter] tournament hall too?”
“Where are the people holding the Free Hugs signs?”
At first, people had felt awkward about cosplay or burdened by their beauty.
But before they knew it, they began enjoying the festival together without reservation.