“We don’t have to stand in line, it’s fine.”
At first, I didn’t understand what Bora was saying, but it didn’t take long for me to get it. Because Bora was carrying me in her arms and walking towards the event entrance.
“Uh… uh…?”
Me, Bora, and Haru were able to enter the event venue without any issues. If the people standing in line saw this, it would’ve been a scene worth protesting.
I was just blankly nestled in Bora’s arms, naturally entering the event venue. I thought the staff would stop or block us, but instead, they welcomed us and made way. The people around us were looking at us with envy.
Is this really happening???
“How did we get in?”
I asked Bora out of curiosity. I thought we had to stand in line, but entering the venue so naturally without being stopped didn’t make sense no matter how I thought about it.
“Our company is one of the sponsors of this event.”
Bora pointed at a poster with the official sponsor logos. Just like Bora said, our Starlight Guild’s logo was prominently displayed. It was much larger than the logos of other companies. It seemed like our Starlight Guild was contributing a lot of money.
If the size difference is this big, then it makes sense. Then, Bora approached a staff member and brought something back.
It was a lanyard with a badge.
On the badge, there was a large inscription.
[VIP]
“Don’t lose it, okay?”
Bora smiled as she hung the lanyard with the badge around my neck. The design was so flashy that I wanted to take it home.
“Reminds me of the old days~”
“I used to watch a lot of these animations when I was a kid.”
Bora and Haru were chatting while putting on their lanyards. The animations Bora and Haru watched were so old that they weren’t popular anymore. No matter how popular they were back then, time waits for no one.
After receiving the lanyards and stepping outside, it was bustling with people running around. The event probably still had a few hours before it started, so everyone was busy with last-minute preparations.
Every time people carried something around, a new booth popped up. There were overwhelmingly many part-timers, but there were also people who seemed to be officials.
“Wow!”
I ran around inside the event venue. There were so many characters from the animations I watched. There was even my second favorite animation character after Lumi. It was a robot that could transform three times. Each transformation was so flashy, it was a joy to watch.
I held Bora and Haru’s hands and wandered around the event venue. It was refreshing to see the booths before they were fully set up.
In the midst of it all, my eyes lit up. I met someone cosplaying as Lumi. Inside the venue, there were many people cosplaying as characters from animations. It seemed like these people were also treated as staff and got to enter the venue early.
I ran over and managed to take a photo with the person cosplaying as Lumi.
This is definitely a keepsake.
Even after looking around the venue for a while, I couldn’t find any Lumi goods. I couldn’t help but feel deflated. My main goal for coming here was to buy Lumi goods.
Not being able to buy Lumi goods was like a steamed bun without filling.
I was peeking at the people carrying stuff, hoping someone might have Lumi goods. But no matter how much I looked around, no one seemed to have them.
Looking around, it seemed like there wasn’t a booth selling Lumi goods yet.
Maybe they haven’t made them yet? That can’t be.
It’s probably because my short legs didn’t let me explore much. The venue was as big as a soccer field, so I hadn’t even covered half of it. I stomped my feet, struggling to find Lumi’s booth.
Once the crowd comes in, buying goods would be nearly impossible. That’s when Bora and Haru grabbed my hand.
“Let’s go over there.”
Could they have found the booth selling Lumi goods? Their height gave them a huge advantage in spotting Lumi’s booth.
Holding hands, I followed Bora and Haru. After walking for a while, I found a booth with a familiar character. My eyes sparkled. Finally, I had arrived at Lumi’s place.
How could I have missed it? The booth selling Lumi goods was huge. It was almost twice the size of other booths. Lumi really is…
Wow, seriously.
It seemed like everything was already prepared. Various goods were displayed on the shelves. Would they give them to me if I asked? I hesitated, just fidgeting in front of them. My mouth wouldn’t open easily to ask.
Haru, who must have seen me like this, looked at me and said, “Hana, go ask the staff for the goods you want!”
“Re… really? They’ll give it to me if I ask?”
I held onto Haru’s leg as I spoke. Haru nodded her head vigorously and said, “Yeah. If you talk to the staff, you’ll get the goods you want!”
“For real?”
“For real~”
As she said that, Haru put her hand on my back and led me to the booth. I had no choice but to go along as Haru pulled me. Even if I tried to stop, Haru was pushing me from behind.
“Uh… um!”
The staff, who must have already caught on, were smiling warmly and looking at me.
“What should we give you?”
One of the staff members smiled and asked me what I wanted. I rolled my eyes around, hesitated, and finally opened my mouth to speak.
“One Lumi transformation set, please!”
I felt relieved after saying what I had wanted since before coming here. Bora was laughing and taking pictures or videos of me with her phone, though I wasn’t sure which.
Bora taking pictures of me with her phone was so familiar that it felt as natural as breathing, so I didn’t pay much attention. All my focus was on Lumi’s transformation set.
Not long after I spoke, the staff brought a box and handed it to me.
“Wow…”
It was a box wrapped in a fancy ribbon. When I held it, it felt slightly heavy, proof that there was a lot inside.
“Gasp!”
Looking closely, the box itself was extraordinary. It looked exactly like the gift that Little Magician Lumi gives to children after defeating villains. I couldn’t contain my excitement that a box like something out of an anime was now in my hands.
I placed the box on the table and pulled the ribbon off. After untying the ribbon and opening the lid, inside was a dazzling Lumi transformation set.
When Lumi, who usually wears a plain school uniform, transforms, she wears a special outfit. Inside this box was that special outfit. Although it was a simplified version, with only a hat and cape, even these were gorgeous.
I took out the cape and hat from the box and put them on. Then, I also took out the magic wand I had brought from home.
The flowing cape fluttered in the wind as I moved. And the large hat sat atop my head.
Holding the magic wand high, I spun around once, showing off my transformed self to everyone. My mood was at its peak. I couldn’t believe I could transform so perfectly!
Bora and Haru cheered for me, giving me thumbs up. Bora was also filming me with her phone, which was just a bonus. I wanted to see myself in a video later. Seeing myself from someone else’s perspective would feel different.
“Yahoo!”
I ran around the booth here and there. Since people hadn’t arrived yet, there was enough space for me to run around. A few people tried to stop me, but they backed off when they saw the VIP badge hanging around my neck. It was completely my world.
However, my actions were stopped by Bora. While I was running around, Bora caught me.
“You shouldn’t disturb the staff here.”
Bora was right. I had been acting too much like a child. Even now, the staff were moving around, doing their work. Some were carrying things, others setting up the booth.
I felt my face turning red and hid behind Bora’s legs. I wasn’t embarrassed to show this side of me to Bora and Haru, but thinking about showing my true self to strangers made me feel incredibly shy.
Even though I’ve graduated from college, look at me now.
