Chapter 99
After proposing a cosplay advertisement with Curry, I spent several days eating and playing around.
Understandably, I had sent an email regarding the ad contract, but there was no reply at all.
“Barcode, I’ve finished discussing the advertisement with Pax Shop.”
“Excuse me?”
Suddenly, Curry called me on my phone instead of a Discord call and said that.
After hearing the details, it seemed that Curry had talked to Pax Shop the very day I suggested the ad.
I met with the advertiser and carefully checked the contract Curry had signed before adding my signature at the designated spot.
“Thank you for your cooperation.”
After shaking hands with the representative of Pax Shop, I left the building and contacted Curry.
Once the contract was over, we planned to go to Curry’s house to broadcast as we browse through various cosplay outfits on Pax Shop’s website.
– Barcode, did you finish the contract?
“Yes, just a moment ago. Where are you?”
– I’m in front of the building, across the crosswalk.
I turned my head in the direction Curry mentioned.
I spotted the car that had given me a ride to Pax Shop.
I stood in front of the crosswalk and waited for the signal to change. As soon as it did, I moved forward.
Thud-
I opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat, looking at the moving Curry.
As I stared for a while, Curry glanced at me nonchalantly, and I let out a small laugh.
“What’s up? Why are you so amused?”
“Just because.”
I covered my mouth with my hand and continued quietly.
“I just can’t believe how funny you look.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Sigh… Seriously, how did I end up like this…”
Curry, unable to continue, fixed her gaze forward.
Since she wasn’t glancing over anymore, she didn’t show any amusing reactions.
Losing interest, I shifted my attention to my phone.
I accessed Pax Shop’s website and browsed through women’s cosplay outfits.
I came across an image of a model wearing the highly provocative Masquerade Evelynn cosplay outfit.
At that moment, the car hit a red light, and I moved my hand to block Curry’s view with my phone.
“What, what is this?”
Suddenly, a rather wow-inducing image appeared in front of her, prompting Curry to yelp in a trembling voice.
Seeing her blush at the cosplay model made my emotions a bit tangled.
While observing Curry’s unexpected reaction was enjoyable in this boring situation, I didn’t like that the source of this enjoyment was a photo of someone else in cosplay.
“The light will change soon. Move it.”
“Do you like it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“This outfit.”
I leaned in closer and whispered in Curry’s ear.
“I could wear it too, you know?”
“…”
Curry showed no response to my words.
No, to be exact, she was putting on an act of being completely unresponsive.
Just looking at her reddening face showed how much she was holding back her emotions.
“Huh? I could wear it for you.”
Seeing her flustered expression made me instantly even happier.
Saying something I would never normally say, I tried to grab Curry’s attention and distract her.
“If you keep provoking me here, something might happen. Seriously.”
In the end, Curry surrendered and sought mercy.
Having enjoyed enough, I righted my posture again.
Curry let out a sigh of relief and took a few deep breaths.
It seemed she was holding her breath when I got closer.
Feeling like watching a child resisting futilely made her seem both silly and adorable.
After going through all that, we finally arrived at Curry’s house.
*
The official advertisement broadcast that Curry and Barcode were conducting as a collab stream attracted surprisingly a lot of attention.
Both Curry and Barcode were known for not doing advertisements, and most viewers already knew what the ads were about.
[Ka Ha]
[Ka Ha]
[Barcode is here too]
[Ba Ha~]
[So today’s the ad broadcast?]
[Let’s dive into cosplay~]
[Please do pop star Ara cosplay 1st try]
I waved to greet and Curry started the broadcast with her usual opening statement.
Of course, it wouldn’t proceed exactly like her usual streams as it had the ‘advertisement’ purpose.
“Everyone, in three days, Barcode and I will go for a cosplay shoot advertisement. We haven’t decided what we’re wearing yet, and our wonderful advertiser has given us the option to choose what we want. Let’s celebrate the light, everyone!”
“…”
I had never seen Curry do an advertisement before, but she was enthusiastically promoting it more than any streamer.
Is it honesty about money, or should it be considered that she takes responsibility strongly?
Thinking it was preferable to being awkward, I shifted my gaze to the screen.
Curry continued naturally as she moved the mouse and entered Pax Shop’s official website.
“We will have two types of outfits for this cosplay shoot! Huh? You want a viewer poll? Are we crazy to leave that up to you guys?”
[Me]
[Rock]
[Me]
[Rock]
[You have no sense of democracy]
[Fact: Majority rule is common sense learned since elementary school morality classes]
[You’re out of your mind, Curry]
[Rock]
Despite the chat room being flooded with countless criticisms, jeers, and negativity,
Curry continued her stream, seemingly unfazed.
“First, let’s check out the outfits I’ll be wearing. What? Is this really going to be a disaster? You guys are ridiculous! When eating school lunch, you always save the tastiest side dish for last!”
[Wrong]
[Oh wow]
[That’s a really outdated mindset]
[Did I smell false teeth?]
[^Wrong^]
“Why is this wrong? Doesn’t everyone do that?”
Curry smoothly redirected the attention elsewhere and began to look through the male cosplay outfits one by one.
“X-Force Isreal? No matter how I see it, this outfit screams disaster. How on earth can anyone wear this in reality?”
“True Damage Ekko. This outfit is pretty hip, but I don’t think it suits my hair. Do they even provide a wig?”
“High Noon Lucian. He looks cool in the game, and he has done well in reality too! I really want to try this on.”
“Of course, there are fewer types of male cosplay outfits than female ones.”
“Barcode, what champ cosplay would you like me to do?”
Curry threw me a question, and I pointed to one of the outfits on the list.
“I want to see that one.”
It was the Psyker’s X-Force Isreal, one that had all the elements she would dislike.
The moment I mentioned that outfit, the look on Curry’s face twisted in an unhappy manner, making me feel delighted.
However, karma comes around.
“Well, now let’s take a look at the outfits you’ll be wearing, Barcode.”
Seeing the sneaky grin behind the mask made me chuckle.
It felt burdensome how determined she was to get an eye for an eye.
If I were Curry, I would certainly have been waiting to unleash my vengeance.
“Oh wow. The first outfit on the first page is Bunny Girl Ribbon. That would really suit you, Barcode. Right, everyone?”
[For real]
[Please turn on the ad stream]
[My heart’s pounding]
[Just imagining it makes me nosebleed]
[Everyone, keep your hands off the keyboard!!!]
[Be careful with the angle, kids]
Even the chatroom wasn’t on my side but on Curry’s.
I had to watch the risque cosplay outfits she listed off.
“Pop Star Ara. This is truly a classic skin, and it feels like you’ve done Ara cosplay before, what do you think?”
“Or the ‘Psyker’s’ series, Psyker’s Lux cosplay that you highly recommended! This one looks good.”
“All the pretty costumes among the cosplays seem to be Ara’s. The Soul Flower series has good design skins as well!”
…
…
…
I continued to be bombarded with one-sided recommendations for the cosplay outfits.
When the viewers started polling who was more exciting or mini-games asking for certain champion lines,
the advertisement collab I thought would finish quickly went on longer than expected.
However, during that time, there was no clear winner, and in the end, everyone left with some battle scars as Pax Shop’s first advertisement collab came to a close.
*
On the day of the cosplay shoot.
Upon arriving at the filming location, I first received makeup.
“Your skin is so nice; it’s like I don’t need to wear makeup at all.”
After listening to the makeup artist’s flattering remarks, the basic makeup was finished.
As I moved to my personal waiting room, two previously determined cosplay outfits caught my eye.
One was the Mafia Miss Fortune cosplay I wanted to try, and the other was the Soul Flower Ara cosplay that Curry actively wanted.
I put on the Mafia Miss Fortune cosplay first and stepped out to meet Curry dressed in the Psyker’s X-Force Isreal cosplay.
“Pht!”
“When I wanted to see it, you laughed right in my face…”
Curry, wearing a yellow wig, sighed.
Personally, I thought the ill-fitting yellow wig was the defining point.
Thinking they would actually go on as is for the shoot, the director must have thought otherwise, as Curry removed the yellow wig.
“Huh…”
Still, once she took off the yellow wig, she looked somewhat decent.
Ignoring Curry immersed in the ad filming, I shifted my focus to my own task.
“Can you slightly raise your gun there.”
“Give me a hint of a scoffing smile.”
“Perfect! Just like that, hold still.”
Click-!
“Perfect! That’s great!”
As it was my first time, I was a bit confused initially,
but I gradually got the hang of poses and emotion acting as time passed.
After swiftly completing the Mafia Miss Fortune cosplay shoot, I returned to the waiting room.
There, I changed into the more extravagant Soul Flower Ara cosplay.
Among Pax Shop’s cosplay outfits, the less extreme were the Soul Flower Ara and Mafia Miss Fortune.
It was something I had to choose, but I picked Soul Flower Ara since it was also Curry’s favorite costume.
Once again stepping out to the filming area, this time, I was met with Curry in the High Noon Lucian cosplay.
The quality of the High Noon Lucian cosplay was so stunning it took my breath away.
Of course, considering the outfit’s vibe, it didn’t fit Curry at all, but I contained my true thoughts.
Curry was precious and thankful to me, as she had continuously gifted me with immense joy lately.
“How do I look?”
“…You look great. Truly.”
As she leaned slightly against the air, I replied while Curry murmured shyly, glancing down.
Feeling bashful, she hurried to her filming spot, leaving me to smile as I embraced the joyful spirit of cosplay filming.
So, the cosplay advertisement shoot wrapped up after just four hours.
Before leaving the studio, I took the outfit that I had requested in advance from the advertiser.
*
After the cosplay ad shoot wrapped up, Curry planned to visit Barcode’s residence for the first time in a while.
Initially, I thought I would return home and take a rest after the shoot,
but after Barcode’s sudden call, Curry felt a bit strange but headed towards her house.
Arriving at Barcode’s residence.
Since about a month had passed, I didn’t feel awkward at all.
Ding dong-
While waiting after ringing the doorbell, the housekeeper working at Barcode’s residence opened the door.
“Barcode is waiting for you in her personal room on the second floor.”
“Oh, thank you.”
I wondered why she called me over right after the shoot ended.
Holding onto that question, Curry climbed the stairs and knocked on the door to where Barcode was.
Knock knock knock-
“Come in.”
Upon hearing Barcode’s voice inviting her, Curry slowly opened the door.
Though the scenery revealed was familiar, the woman sitting in front of the computer was not.
In a provocative outfit Barcode would never wear.
The outfit Curry had thought of as merely playful three days ago in the car suddenly emerged as a reality, leaving her stunned momentarily.
‘Is she streaming?’
Glancing at the monitor revealed a streaming program on the screen.
Upon closer inspection, Barcode indeed seemed to be live streaming without the cam on.
Just as she was about to ask what was this surprise or event, Barcode placed her index finger slowly on her lips.
As if to say, “Just stay quiet and watch.”
Curry found herself involuntarily silenced by that gesture, as if entranced by unexplainable magic.