I Was Possessed By An Unknown Manga

August 10, 2017.

Friday, 8 a.m.

Normally at this time, after my morning exercise, I would be eating breakfast at the store.

But right now, I was outside the house.

And not of my own volition, but rather due to someone else’s.

“Hehe, I’m relieved that Yu-seong is helping.”

Ms. Maria, sitting next to me while driving the white mid-sized sedan, said that.

“I felt it would be impolite to refuse since you even prepared a costume for me…”

Then Ms. Maria gently smiled and said,

“After seeing you as a cameo in the drama ‘The Blue,’ I thought you’d be perfect. No one else but Yu-seong can play the role of Paewang Baoou.”

“Paewang Baoou?”

I tilted my head at the unfamiliar name.

“Oh, you don’t know? He’s a character from Last Fantasy 7. Perhaps it’s too old?”

Hearing the words “Last Fantasy 7,” I was shocked.

That was because Last Fantasy 7 was a game released well over 20 years ago.

“Anyway, it was hard to find someone tall and muscular enough for the role. I had thought about it but never tried, and then I saw you.”

I understood why they wanted me for the role.

But why…

“Is Rika also here?”

Then Rika, sitting in the back seat, popped her head forward and said,

“Ryu-chan! I’m mama’s chaperone today! Without me, mama might go wild!”

“Oh boy, what does she think of her mom?”

I watched the mother and daughter bickering and then turned my gaze out the window.

It felt like it was going to be a rather eventful day.

---

Comic Market.

Shortened as Comiket.

One of the world’s largest doujin events, Comiket was held twice a year, in mid-August and late December.

The summer event was called Natsu (Summer) Comi, and the winter event was Fuyu (Winter) Comi. This time, we were participating in the summer event, Natsu Comi, specifically c92.

Here, ‘c’ stood for Comic Market, and the number 92 indicated the number of times it had been held to date.

So, this Comiket was the 92nd event in its history.

Considering that it used to be held three times a year and is now held twice, it shows how long its history is.

While riding in Ms. Maria’s car to Tokyo Big Sight, the venue for c92, I read a brief explanation on a wiki site and, realizing I was going to Comiket for the first time, asked Ms. Maria,

“Which day of the event are we participating in?”

“It’s the second day. I was too busy with work to come any other day.”

“I see.”

I was relieved it wasn’t the third day.

According to the wiki, the third day of Comiket, where most of the doujin booths were male-oriented, was the busiest day among all the event days.

Imagining people packed like bean sprouts in a cramped building made me feel like I was going to throw up.

As someone who didn’t like crowds, I would have gone home halfway if I had been told to wait from the beginning.

Fortunately, there was one special perk for cosplayers participating in Comiket.

“Early entry?”

“Yes. Cosplayers can enter early, from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. before the opening time to use the changing rooms.”

“Oh…”

It felt like a great benefit.

Compared to regular attendees, who waited outside for hours, cosplayers could significantly shorten that time.

“Ah, we’re almost there.”

Hearing that, I turned my head.

The sight of Tokyo Big Sight in the distance.

The futuristic building, which looked like two inverted pyramids stacked on top of each other, served as a landmark for the surrounding area.

And in front of it, the parking lot was teeming with people waiting to enter Comiket.

“Wow. There are so many people.”

Ms. Maria then said with a slight smile,

“The number of Comiket participants exceeds a million annually. Almost 100,000 to 150,000 people attend each day.”

Indeed, it was the world’s largest doujin event. The scale was completely different from other events.

Then, Ms. Maria’s white sedan entered the paid parking area near Tokyo Big Sight.

After skillful parking, Ms. Maria turned to me and Rika, who was sitting in the back seat, and said,

“Let’s get out.”

As soon as I heard her, I got out of the car and stretched.

My arms and legs were numb from being crammed into the car with my large body.

It seemed to have taken about 30 minutes to get here from home.

As I looked around and stretched, I saw Ms. Maria pulling out a travel suitcase from the trunk, the kind you’d typically see at airports.

Ms. Maria handed each of us a handle after taking out three such suitcases.

“Mama, what’s this?”

“I prepared something for you, too, just in case. Of course, it’s a custom-made item ordered from someone I know.”

“I stopped cosplaying in middle school!”

“Oh, so you’d be standing in that long line alone?”

Ms. Maria pointed to the long line at the Tokyo Big Sight parking lot across the street.

“Ugh!”

Rika closed her mouth with a frustrated expression.

“Just this time! It’s all because I have to keep an eye on Mama so she doesn’t do anything weird to Ryu-chan!”

“Oh my, this child. If someone hears you, they will think I am really a bad person.”

Ms. Maria jested, and Rika fell for her strategy.

Objectively, it seemed Ms. Maria was the winner, but I decided not to mention it for the sake of the mother and daughter’s peace.

“Let’s hurry up. We need to go before it’s too late to finish the makeup on time.”

Ms. Maria started walking toward the crosswalk, leading the way.

Glancing at Rika, who still seemed sulky, I hesitated before starting to follow Ms. Maria, dragging my suitcase toward the crosswalk.

---

“Wow… there are so many people.”

It seemed incredible from afar, but up close, it was a literal sea of people.

Especially on the second day of Comiket, the line mostly consisted of women, probably because of the sale of female-oriented and all-age doujinshi.

There were some men, too, but it seemed the ratio was about 7:3 in favor of women.

“This is actually less crowded. The third day is usually the busiest.”

Rika, walking beside me, explained.

We arrived around 8:20 a.m., and since almost an hour had passed since the cosplayers’ entry began, we were able to enter the changing rooms inside the building without waiting too long.

Before entering the women’s changing room with Rika, Ms. Maria explained to me,

“Change into the clothes inside, and I’ll do your makeup separately. If you don’t know how to wear the wig, you can ask people around.”

“Okay.”

Reassuring them not to worry, I took my suitcase and entered the men’s changing room.

It was sweltering!

As soon as I entered, my first impression was the overall stuffiness.

Whether it was due to the rain last night or the sheer number of people in a confined space, it felt like a sauna.

I started unpacking my things in a coin locker in the corner.

First, I wanted to check out the costume of the character Paewang Baoou, as mentioned by Ms. Maria.

Thud!

“……”

Then, I belatedly realized one thing.

A character from a game 20 years ago meant the fashion sense was also stuck 20 years in the past.

I was speechless at the sight of the enormously thick and long shoulder pads.

‘They want me to wear this?’

---

After changing into the Baoou costume prepared by Ms. Maria, the quality was even better than I had expected.

The finish looked even better than my regular clothes.

After properly wearing the red wig that came with the armor and putting on a large helmet with horns, I posed in front of the mirror.

It wasn’t bad at all.

In fact, it was great.

I was lost in self-admiration when…

“It’s Paewang Baoou!”

“What quality!”

“Those huge muscles, were they trained just for cosplay?”

People around me started whispering about me.

But unlike usual, the gazes cast on me were not of fear or dread, but mixed with admiration and fondness.

What’s this? What’s happening?

As I stood there, bewildered,

“Excuse me…”

Someone approached me.

Turning around, I saw a man with a pink Mohican hairstyle and a black mask with a skull mark, standing awkwardly.

“Could I take just one photo, if it’s alright with you?”

“What? Oh, sure.”

I agreed somewhat dazedly, and the man, visibly elated, thrust his smartphone forward.

Snap! Snap!

He then quickly bowed in gratitude and hastily left the changing room.

‘This is… well… What just happened?’

It happened so fast, it was a bit disconcerting.

But it didn’t feel bad.

Was this why people cosplay?