Since I Became a Woman, I’ll Do Cosplay

Hayoon barely managed to avoid being late and somehow made it to school just in time.

The blurry memories of her middle school days, the occasional conversations with girls she barely knew, and the sight of Hayoon, now a girl, wearing a skirt and going to school were all taken as normal by everyone around her.

As everyone else sat down to take attendance, only furtive glances were cast toward Hayoon without anyone questioning her presence.

Hayoon wondered…

‘Is my seat over there…?’

She confirmed the printed seating chart attached to the teacher’s desk, grabbed her bag, and placed it on the hook of her assigned desk before sitting down.

‘Ugh…’

From then on, deep contemplation ensued.

“Kim Moon-kyung.”

“Yeess!”

While the homeroom teacher called out names for attendance, Hayoon quickly reviewed her current predicament.

‘I’m Min Hae-yun, right? And now I’m a girl?’

The world seemed to regard this transformation as utterly natural, without a shred of doubt.

It must be because of this cursed Status Window.

And if that’s the case…

‘The Status Window can make me a furry?’

It had thrown her back in time, into 2019, and even changed her gender to female. It stands to reason that it could transform Hayoon into a female furry.

“Ugh…”

The thought was terrifying. If she were to become a female furry in a fantasy world, her basic survival would be under threat. In modern society, she might even be captured by a research facility for interspecies breeding experiments with humans.

“Min Hae-yun.”

“…”

“Min Hae-yun?”

“Oh, yes?”

“Answer immediately next time. Next, Sung Su-ah.”

“Yes.”

Lost in horrifying thoughts, Hayoon had absentmindedly completed attendance, and so she returned to the main issue…

‘Ten million won? I need to gather it, right?’

[Alternative Mission!]

– You, ‘Min Hae-yun,’ are an illustrator with strong convictions! We respect such strong beliefs. We will honor your aspirations. In exchange, earn 10 million won from illustrations before the year 2019 ends!

Success Reward: ???

Failure Penalty: You will become a furry.

This damnable Status Window offered a mission…

Gather ten million won by the end of 2019…

‘This shouldn’t be an overly difficult task.’

Hayoon’s style of drawing had long been perfected and proven commercially viable.

Though industry-specific leaks had prevented her from earning profits in the hundreds of millions, she had always had a loyal fanbase which consistently brought her a few thousand won every year.

The problem was the equipment.

“Hmm, my money…”

The meticulously saved-up money, used to purchase an almost million-won worth liquid stylus tablet was…

Now gone.

At least she had a Note 10 courtesy of her parents so she could draw anytime, anywhere, but…

‘This seems a bit lacking…’

Even so, switching from an advanced liquid stylus tablet used by professional illustrators to a smartphone for drawing isn’t ideal. Poor posture while using it could also strain her back.

“Perhaps I should check if there’s anything usable at home…”

Even finding an old iPad lying around would help her get by, so she thought it would be worth checking at home.

“Um… Excuse me.”

“What is it?”

“We need to go to our music class…”

“Oh…”

Hayoon nodded to the class monitor, holding the attendance book with a nervous expression, grabbed her recorder, and headed towards the music room.

#

It took exactly eight hours from when Hayoon left her house at 8:40 a.m. to when she returned home.

“And I’m back… Ah, they’re not home yet, I see.”

Indeed, her parents were not home at this hour.

Her father was a regular company employee, and her mother ran a model photography studio.

Letting out a sigh, Hayoon went to her room, threw her bag aside, and sat down on a soft mesh chair.

“Phew…”

Truly, it had been an exhausting 8 hours.

How had her past self endured wasting so much time in school? Hayoon felt more inclined to look into correspondence exams now.

Even before becoming a girl, her parents had already taken the stance that as long as she earned money well, attending university was unnecessary.

“Hmm, if I ask once, I think they’ll probably say it’s fine not to go to high school too…”

What mattered now was not a high school equivalency test.

It was already the beginning of October 2019, with less than 90 days until January 2020.

“Ten million won…”

She had to earn 10 million won within 90 days.

This could be difficult for any middle schooler, but it wasn’t an impossible task for Hayoon.

She could rely on her unique style and, with some promotion, generate decent earnings.

“First, I need to create a Pixiv account.”

Hayoon opened her laptop, navigated to the search engine, and entered ‘Pixiv.’ She quickly registered using her usual username and password.

Though registering with a social account like Naver would be easier, to prevent income tracing and exposure of personal information, caution was key.

Since drawing adult art could sometimes land one in trouble, she’d always been careful about privacy.

“Hmm, though now that I’m female, I guess even if flagged, it won’t be that big a deal…”

Still, being safe was better.

She’d also taken some steps to control variables.

Now it was time to choose a pseudonym…

“Hmm…”

Back when she was male, her name online had been “Natsu,” meaning ‘summer’ in Japanese. She liked summer herself, and also, selling adult art meant avoiding any Korean identity cues.

However…

“I can’t use ‘Natsu.'”

Hayoon realized the seasons could easily provoke negative reactions in the future when simply declaring, “I love summer” might result in backlash.

Perhaps using ‘Haru,’ which meant spring, would be better.

The illustration market was vast. Her style was popular both in Japan and Korea.

Considering the Status Window might demand more, approaching Japanese fans with a Japanese nickname could open more opportunities.

“Of course, some will criticize, ‘Why is a Korean using a Japanese name?'”

Yet by 2022, Japanese-style names would become commonplace, especially in the streaming world. Many streamers and YouTubers adopting Japanese names would quickly reduce that backlash.

“Even if criticized, it’ll pass. Maybe after 2-3 years?”

Hayoon was familiar with the market.

People who disliked this would most likely have no interest in the illustration market anyway. On the contrary, those knowledgeable and appreciative of illustration markets wouldn’t see using a Japanese name as a blemish.

“Maybe if it gets viral, the Pixiv algorithm might work in my favor, and I could earn even more than before.”

The more Hayoon thought about it, the more convinced she became about using a Japanese pseudonym.

Using a translator, she entered her pseudonym, ‘Haru,’ in Hiragana and proceeded to create both FanBox and Patreon accounts as well.

“Monthly sponsorship at about 8 dollars should be sufficient…”

Next came the issue of generating income earnestly.

“One thousand sponsors would mean 8,000 dollars, which is approximately 10 million won, but it’s unlikely that I’ll get a thousand sponsors right away. If I can collect around 250 sponsors in the first month and then increase by 100 each month, this might work?”

Of course, this was a very optimistic calculation.

No matter how skilled one was, it’s difficult for debut artists to immediately attract a thousand sponsors. Trust between the artist and patrons matters, and how many would sponsor a new artist 10,000 won a month?

So…

“Outsourcing too.”

To avoid solely relying on sponsorship income and potentially failing, outsourcing could be a good fallback strategy. With her level of skill, many would likely drool and scramble to hire her.

She could sell her work for around 400,000 won on domestic outsourcing platforms like Art Cafe.

“Selling ten pieces would make 4 million won—surely I can raise 10 million won.”

Seemingly without any worries, Hayoon finalized her account setup and began searching for an iPad or similar among her parents’ unused gadgets to create portfolio art.

“Ah, here we go.”

Finding an old iPad and a pen in the storage room, she wasted no time in starting her work.

After uploading three portfolio-worthy pieces to both the domestic Art Cafe and Pixiv, it was exactly one month later…

“Hmm…”

Hayoon, with an uneasy expression, stared at her Status Window.

[Current Earnings / Targeted Earnings]

1,304,891 ₩ / 10,000,000 ₩

The actual income fell far short of expectations.

Only about 60 days remained.

Still needing at least 8 million won, the situation didn’t look good.

It was vital to secure additional revenue streams immediately.

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