Since I Became a Woman, I’ll Do Cosplay

– Jingle.

Arin entered her usual café and stepped inside.

The café’s distinct aroma of rich coffee beans greeted Arin, and she casually looked around to find a seat.

She thought if she had arrived first, she’d save the seat, and if not, she’d naturally join whoever was already there…

“Hmm.”

Arin paused.

While looking around, her gaze locked onto someone specific.

There, a woman was sipping on an iced coffee.

Dressed in a dark violet coat, with her tall legs stretched out and her head tilted, she casually sipped through a straw—it was the kind of posture that didn’t seem good for the back, yet…

Her eyes kept lingering on the sight.

Don’t people often say that celebrities radiate an aura?

Arin thought this must be what an “aura” looked like and let out a subtle sigh.

‘I’ve lost…’

She had taken some effort to look nice today, thinking that when she did, she was among the most beautiful women—usually because she didn’t put much effort into her appearance normally.

But seeing that aura radiating from Hayoon made her feel her own pride take a hit.

“Can I have a café latte, please?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Hiding her uneasy feelings, Arin accepted her café latte and joined Hayoon at her table.

“Hayoon, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct. I’ve been waiting.”

Hayoon greeted her with a bright smile, and Arin, who had a hand covering her lips, lightly tapped them.

‘It doesn’t feel right…’

Arin was just about eighteen this year.

Since Hayoon had mentioned she was younger, Arin was trying to act mature, but without having worked in any kind of social setting, honorifics like “ssi” or “yang” simply didn’t feel right in her mouth.

So,

“Firstly, I think we should settle on how to address each other before we talk…”

“Ah, sure, that works. How do you want to handle it?”

“To tell the truth, using honorifics feels awkward, so would it be okay to just drop formalities?”

This would have easily drawn complaints in a typical working environment for being too rude.

But,

“Sure, no problem.”

“Thank goodness… Thanks, you can feel free to do the same…”

“Do you think we should?”

Hayoon didn’t particularly care about such nuances. She readily accepted Arin’s somewhat impolite suggestion, took a sip of her coffee, and then took over leading the conversation as Arin still felt awkward.

“First, I’m not sure where to start… Should we begin with introductions? I’m Hayoon, Min Hayoon, seventeen.”

“My name’s Arin, and I’m turning eighteen.”

“Yes, nice to meet you. Uh… Oppa.”

“Me too, ni… Nice to meet you.”

After a quick exchange of names,

Swish, Swish.

Hayoon, who had been browsing the web, pulled up her Pixiv page to show Arin.

“Did you know from our previous conversation that I’m the type who does these kind of drawings?”

“Umm, yeah, I knew that…”

“So, you probably know I receive donations through Patreon and Fanbox, right? And you’ve also seen me sell merchandise at Comiket before?”

Nod, Nod.

This time, Arin answered with a nod instead of words, and Hayoon carried on.

“Now, here’s the question, why do I do this?”

“Hmm…?”

“To be honest, I like money.”

“Ehh…”

That was a fact without a shred of falseness.

Hayoon liked money.

Not because the status window forced her to earn it and thus irritated her, but why would anyone in their twenties or even teens bother separating their earnings into particular sectors and saving them?

Hayoon just liked money.

So, she also studied extensively about financial management influenced by Min Jeong-kyun.

Anyway.

“So, I’ve been thinking about how I can earn even more money.”

“Did you…?”

As Arin inquired about the outcome, Hayoon this time pulled up an individual app, showing her Arin’s account.

There were all sorts of animations uploaded by Arin.

They were of quite remarkable quality.

Due to using only copyright-free illustrations, her artwork might have lacked some refinement, but Hayoon could instinctively tell:

By looking at how Arin managed to create a smooth animation effect with these illustrations, it was certain she was a prodigy in this field.

“Or maybe it’s just her effort.”

Whichever it was, Hayoon had found someone who possessed the Live 2D skills she was targeting in Arin.

With endless potential for growth too.

Thus,

“Will you work with me on something?”

“What kind of job?”

“Making a game.”

“A game…?”

“Yes, since you’ve been to AGC, you must know a thing or two about mobile gacha games?”

“I guess… I know?”

Arin didn’t play gacha games herself.

After all, animation majors don’t have time for that; they need to focus on honing their animating skills…

Still, she had often looked into staging to gain ideas related to Live 2D, and thus had a fair knowledge of most gacha games.

“In these kinds of gacha games, Live 2D technology is commonly used, and I need that. From what I’ve seen, I think you could help with that, right?”

“Me…?”

“…”

The silence between them didn’t last long before Arin realized what it implied.

“Are you serious…?”

“Is there any reason for me to be lying?”

“No, that’s not it… But I’m only a second-year high school student, you know?”

“I’m a first-year high school student. Age and skill don’t matter, and…”

“And…?”

Let’s be straightforward.

Considering her unique skill set, Arin’s animating abilities were far more special than Hayoon’s when she was a second-year.

While there are many talented drawers, there aren’t a lot of people in this age group who can transform those drawings into animations.

Let alone those who can do it well.

“Your skills are already usable in commercial applications from what I can see. You’ve been uploading works so regularly; it seems like your practice has been very consistent.”

“R, really?”

“What about them?”

“Are you saying my skills are good enough to be paid for…?”

“Exactly.”

Hearing Hayoon’s affirmation regarding her skills,

Arin was genuinely moved.

At eighteen, now in her second year of high school, thanks to the unique nature of Meister High School, it would be hard for her to attend university at this stage, and she no longer had much in common with her middle school friends, so their conversations rarely flowed well.

In this situation, for Hayoon, a complete stranger, to affirm her skills like this made her feel good.

Yet,

“But what exactly are you trying to make? Isn’t it common knowledge that developing a gacha game takes at least three years?”

Even as she acknowledged her skill recognition,

Arin slightly disagreed with the idea of making a game.

After all, isn’t that right?

“Isn’t it time for you to start high school? Aren’t you attending?”

“No, that’s not the case.”

“But how can you manage to make a game while going to school?”

“It’s totally possible. Seriously.”

“Umm…”

At Hayoon’s claim of making a game while attending school,

Arin felt perplexed. She wondered what kind of confidence the girl had.

“Does it have to be a game? I mean, eventually, if I work, I’ll likely enter a game company’s art department and end up making stuff endlessly anyway…”

“It has to be now.”

“Huh?”

“Because I’ll die if it’s not now. Really, I feel like I’m going to die.”

“Uh…?”

Die? Saying she’d die if she didn’t make a game…

Arin’s eyes widened in wonder—what on earth was she talking about?

“Here’s my condition. You don’t need to be involved in the entire process like storytelling or casting voice actors. All I need is your animation work. It won’t interfere with your studies. Naturally, I’ll take full responsibility for production costs.”

“So…?”

“For each Live 2D-applied illustration, I’ll pay you 200,000 won. I checked the market rates for outsourcing, and even former company animators tend to do it for about 250,000 won per piece.”

“Umm…”

200,000 won.

It’s a large amount for a rookie animator like Arin, yet it could be considered small too.

However, from the perspective that she wouldn’t have to bear the production costs, it wasn’t a loss—quite the opposite, it was beneficial.

Besides, creating a game would count as experience on her resume, whichever way it went.

Arin’s contemplation deepened.

“I’m not asking for a decision right now. I’ll have a few concept illustrations ready for you to animate. If you’ve thought it over, just reach out. Even if you don’t, I’ll probably reach out anyway.”

Hayoon gave a slightly sarcastic response and left hastily after taking her leftover coffee to go.

Alone, Arin wondered,

“Where does she get this confidence from…?”

While marveling at Hayoon’s impressive drive, she also felt an urge to work with her at least once.

“Her illustrations really were good…”

If her touch could be added to Hayoon’s illustrations,

It was bound to be a work of impeccable quality.

#

Meanwhile, after parting ways with Arin,

Back home, Hayoon immediately turned on her stream.

And today’s stream title was…

[LIVE] I’m about to start high school, any advice?

“Yes, let’s go with a clear clickbait title.”

Viewers started to trickle in.

Now, it was time to leverage the collective intelligence. If there were no concrete results by the time she contacted Arin again, this side would have nothing to offer.

She aimed to quickly nail down the concept for the first work and move into the illustration phase as soon as possible.

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