Since I Became a Woman, I’ll Do Cosplay - Chapter 22

-Clink.

Choi Arin opened the door of her usual cafe and entered.

The strong aroma of coffee beans, unique to cafes, greeted Choi Arin, and she looked around to find a seat.

If she was the first to arrive, she would secure a seat, and if not, she planned to naturally join the other person, but……

“Huh”

Stutter.

Choi Arin’s gaze, which had been scanning the surroundings, landed on a certain spot.

There, a woman was drinking iced coffee.

!!!

She was dressed in a brown coat, with long legs stretched out, sipping coffee through a straw with her head tilted in a posture that looked bad for the back………

For some reason, her gaze kept going back to that scene.

People often say that celebrities have an aura.

Choi Arin thought that what emanated from people like her must be an aura, and she let out a faint sigh.

‘I lost…..’

Seeing that Hayoon had an aura that she herself lacked made her feel needlessly self-conscious.

“One cafe latte, please.”

“Yes, customer.”

Suppressing her mixed feelings, she got a cafe latte and joined Hayoon at her table.

“You’re… Hayoon, right?”

“Ah, yes, that’s right. I was waiting for you.”

Hayoon greeted Choi Arin with a bright smile, and Choi Arin, covering her mouth with her hand, lightly tapped her lips.

‘It doesn’t sound natural…?’

Choi Arin is eighteen years old this year.

Since Hayoon revealed that she was younger, she was trying to act mature, but…….

She was no different in that she had never had any social experience, and honorifics like ‘ssi’ or ‘yang’ didn’t suit her.

So.

“First, before we talk, I’d like to sort out the way we address each other…….”

“Huh? Oh, I’m fine with it. How shall we do it?”

“Honestly, I feel awkward using honorifics, so can we just drop them?”

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

“That’s a relief…. Ah, thank you…. You can speak casually too…?”

“Shall we?”

Hayoon is not the type to care about such things.

She accepted Choi Arin’s somewhat rude suggestion without much thought, took a sip of her coffee, and took the lead in the conversation on behalf of the still-awkward Choi Arin.

“First, where should I start…. Shall we properly introduce ourselves? I’m Hayoon. Min Hayoon. Seventeen years old this year.”

“I, I’m Choi Arin, and I’m eighteen this year.”

“Nice to meet you. Um…, Unnie.”

“Ni, nice to meet you too.”

Shortly after the brief introductions.

Swipe, swipe.

Hayoon, who had been browsing websites, opened her Pixiv window and showed it to Choi Arin.

“You know I draw this kind of stuff, right? We talked about it last time.”

“Ri, right? I know…?”

“Then you know I receive donations through Patreon and Fanbox, and you saw me selling merchandise at Surf last time.

Nod, nod.

This time, Choi Ahrin answered with a nod instead of words, and Hayoon continued.

“Here’s the question, why do I live like this?”

“Well…?”

“I’ll be honest. I like money.”

“Eh….”

This is a fact without a single lie.

Hayoon likes money.

It’s annoying that she’s forced to earn it because of the status window, but what 20-something or 10-something would separate their income into specific sectors for saving and spending?

Hayoon simply likes money.

That’s why she studied a lot about financial management.

Min Jungyun’s influence might have played a part too.

Anyway.

“So I thought about how I could make more money.”

“And…?”

There were all kinds of animations that Choi Arin had worked hard on.

The quality was quite good.

Because she only used free illustrations without copyright issues, the quality of the original drawings was not very good, but Hayoon could sense it.

If Choi Arin could smoothly animate even these illustrations, she must be a genius in this field.

‘Or maybe she’s just a hard worker.’

Either way, Choi Arin was someone who possessed the Live 2D skills that met Hayoon’s target standards.

And her potential for future growth was endless.

So.

“Let’s work on something together.”

“What kind of work?”

“Making a game.”

“A game…?”

“Yes, you went to AGC, so you must know about mobile gacha games, right?”

“I know of them…?”

Choi Arin doesn’t play gacha games.

Well, animation majors need to build up their animating skills in the time they would spend on such things….

Still, to get ideas related to Live 2D, she often looked up things like directing, so she knew most gacha games as knowledge.

“I need the Live 2D technology often used in those gacha games. I think you can help me with that…”

“Me…?”

A moment of silence followed.

Choi Arin soon realized what Hayoon’s silence meant.

“Seriously…?”

“Is there any reason for it to be fake?”

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

“I’m a first-year? Age and skill are not important. And.”

“And…?”

Frankly speaking.

Considering the uniqueness of her skills, Choi Arin’s animating skills were much more special than Hayoon’s when she was in her second year of high school.

There are plenty of people who can draw well, but there are not many people of this age who can create animations with them.

Moreover, the number of people who are ‘good’ at animating is extremely small.

“Your skills are already good enough for commercial use. I see you upload your work very frequently, so you seem to have a lot of practice too.”

“R, really…?”

“You’re saying my skills are good enough to sell for money…?”

“That’s what I’m saying?”

At Hayoon’s words that seemed to acknowledge her.

Choi Arin was moved.

She was already eighteen, a second-year in high school.

Due to the unique nature of Meister High School, it was now difficult to go to college, and she couldn’t relate well to her middle school friends because their situations were so different.

Then, Hayoon, a complete stranger, acknowledged her skills like this, so she couldn’t help but feel good.

But.

“But, what are you planning to make? Don’t gacha games usually take at least three years to develop…?”

Apart from acknowledging her skills, she was a little opposed to the idea of making a game.

I mean, really.

“Aren’t you going to high school? Don’t you go to school?”

“No. It’s not that.”

“Then how are you going to make a game
-?”

“You can totally make it while attending school. For real.”

“Ugh…”

At the suggestion of making a game while attending school.

Choi Arin felt perplexed.

She wondered what this girl was thinking.

“Do we really have to make a game? I mean…. You’ll probably end up making them to death when you get a job in a game department or something…”

“Because if not now, then never.”

“Huh?”

“I feel like I’ll die if not now. Really, I’ll die.”

“Uh…?”

Die? You’ll die if you don’t make a game…?

Choi Arin’s eyes widened, wondering what this girl was talking about….

“First, my conditions are these. You don’t have to be involved in the production process like the story or voice actor casting, just do the animating. Without affecting your studies. Of course, I’ll cover all the production costs.”

“Then…?”

“I’ll give you 200,000 won per Live 2D illustration. I looked up the freelance market, and even animators from major companies do it for around 25 per piece.”

“Hmm….”

200,000 won.

Whatever it was, making a game would serve as experience.

Choi Ahrin’s thinking deepened.

“I’m not saying you have to decide now. I’ll have a few concept illustrations ready for you to animate, so contact me if you’re interested. Well, I’ll probably call you even if you don’t.”

Hayoon answered cynically to Choi Arin, took the rest of her coffee to go, and disappeared.

And, left alone, Choi Arin…

“What is she so confident about…”

While marveling at Hayoon’s formidable drive, she felt an impulse to work with her at least once.

“Her illustrations… are really good…….”

If her touch were added to Hayoon’s drawings….

A work of truly perfect quality would surely come out.

Meanwhile, after meeting with Choi Arin.

Returning home, Hayoon immediately turned on her stream.

[LIVE] I’m a prospective high school girl, need some advice.

“Alright, a good clickbaity title.”

Viewers start to come in one by one.

Now, it’s time to use collective intelligence.

If she doesn’t have a proper product when she gets back in touch with Choi Arin, she won’t have anything to say.

She needs to quickly decide on the concept for the first work and start on the illustrations.