Chapter 46: The Linmen Anime Convention Battle Grandly Opens!

Restricted Fantasy Invasion

Sunday morning.

The vigorous sunlight that had just broken through the horizon climbed the walls of a public housing building in the South Ward, peeking through the windowsill to spy on the east-facing room on the sixth floor.

Inside, a black cat dashed back and forth across the wooden floor, finally stopping at the bathroom door.

It sat down gracefully and let out an adorable cry toward the person inside,

"Meow."

"Almost done, Myau-chan."

In the bathroom, Yan Huan stood before the sink, already changed into his outfit for the day.

A rather loose navy-blue flannel shirt perfectly complemented the versatile white T-shirt underneath, finished off with a pair of black cargo pants.

He set down his razor and splashed warm water over his clean face, highlighting his sharp jawline.

"Whir!"

His damp hair dried rapidly under the alternating hot and cold air, shifting into his desired style thanks to the dryer''s strong styling function.

Finally, he added that last, highly eye-catching touch.

"Meow."

Myau-chan leaped nimbly onto his shoulder, blinking at the handsome youth in the mirror.

"How rare, meow. You actually took the time to groom yourself so meticulously today."

The long black tail brushed past his earlobe before curling high in the air.

"Ah, well, today isn''t just a Student Council team building event. Bai Yi is going to be there too, right?"

"Meow."

Taking one last look at himself in the mirror, Yan Huan hung up the hair dryer and turned to leave the bathroom,

"Alright, all set. Let''s head out."

Changing into his shoes and grabbing his breakfast, Yan Huan pushed the door open and stepped out.

He did not have any large items to bring and didn''t need a bag. He simply stuffed his mobile phone, Bluetooth earbuds, wallet, and house keys into his pockets and hit the road.

Oh, and the ticket prepared for Sakuramiya Hitomi.

While eating the pork floss bread he had bought at the convenience store after work yesterday, he opened Plane and sent a message to Yabashi Ki.

He started with a head-bobbing cat emoji before typing out a question,

"I just left the house. I will take the subway to the station near your place first, and then we can ride the rest of the way together."

"OK."

A large-breasted, blonde, two-dimensional anime girl emoji gave a thumbs-up.

He then sent a message to the large group chat,

"Yabashi and I have both headed out. Shall we meet up at the Golden Lion Exhibition Center in the Kyogo Ward at eight-thirty?"

After receiving affirmative replies from everyone, Yan Huan put in one of his Bluetooth earbuds and listened to music as he walked to the nearby subway station.

It was about a ten-minute walk, and along the way, he passed the closed Ballad tavern.

At a little past seven in the morning, Tong Yingying was probably still asleep.

He finished his pork floss bread and drank a carton of milk, conveniently tossing the trash into a bin at the subway entrance.

Scanning his phone to enter the station, he took Line Eleven heading toward the Kyogo Ward. It was just one stop to the station near Yabashi Ki''s home.

"Ding-dong! South Fifth Street Station. We have arrived."

He exited the station to wait for him. It didn''t take long before Yabashi Ki arrived.

"President!!"

Yan Huan, who was scrolling on his phone at the platform, turned his head at the sound and saw Yabashi Ki running toward him with a face full of excitement.

The guy was wearing a face mask and a gray T-shirt.

He carried a massive school bag on his back and held a stuffed paper bag in each hand.

Given his already weak constitution as a feeble otaku, jogging all this way while carrying a ton of stuff and wearing a mask had practically left him gasping for air.

"Hah... President... Hah..."

"You are crazy for running with a mask on. Do not pass out on me here."

Yan Huan patted his back, urging him to take off the mask and breathe, while shifting his gaze to the bags in Yabashi''s hands,

"What in the world did you bring with all these bags?"

While catching his breath, Yabashi Ki pulled open one of the bags slightly to explain,

"Hah... These... This bag is for freebies, little snacks to hand out to the cosplayers later, along with glow sticks, and a poster I need Ai-chan to sign..."

"Then this bag here has pens and paper, a mat, water, bread, a power bank, and stuff like that. My school bag has all my camera equipment for taking photos of people."

''He brought way too much stuff, didn''t he?!''

Yan Huan raised an eyebrow. He pulled out something resembling a magic wand from the bag and asked curiously,

"What is this?"

Yabashi Ki''s face paled when he saw Yan Huan pull the item out, and he hastily exclaimed,

"Wait a second, President! Do not press that button—your finger!"

But Yan Huan had not noticed the small button right where he gripped it, accidentally pressing it the moment he picked it up.

Then, the small wand in his hand began to emit a voice,

"Excuse me, may I take a picture of you? Thank you."

He pressed it again.

"Excuse me, may I collect a stamp with you? Thank you."

Collecting stamps, in two-dimensional culture, meant ''requesting a group photo.''

He pressed it one more time.

"Excuse me, may we expand lists? Thank you."

It was an internet buzzword meaning to expand one''s friend list, which essentially meant asking to add someone as a friend on Plane.

All of the above recordings were in Yabashi Ki''s voice.

"..."

Clutching the voice-support wand in his hand, Yan Huan stared blankly at Yabashi Ki.

His stare made Yabashi Ki awkwardly scratch the back of his head. He quickly snatched the wand back from Yan Huan''s grasp and explained,

"Social anxiety! I have social anxiety, President! Try to understand!! I do not have the courage to ask those cosplayers to collect stamps, take photos, or expand lists, so I just pre-recorded my voice. This way, I can just press the button when the time comes."

"You prepared a bit too thoroughly for this..."

"Well, I attend anime conventions all the time. Rather than saying I brought too much, it is more like you brought way too little, President."

Yabashi Ki pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting Yan Huan''s face. After observing him for a moment, he pointed at Yan Huan''s face in disbelief and cried,

"Hey, hey, what is with your outfit, President?! That glowing normie aura is practically overflowing! We are not even in the same art style right now..."

As he spoke, it was as if he suddenly had an epiphany. He clutched his head, looking utterly devastated,

"Wait a minute. Come to think of it, everyone in the Student Council is a normie! To think I have actually managed to hang out with you guys for this long... Have I betrayed my own kind?!"

"You only just realized? We started evolving past being goblins the moment you became my campaign partner last semester, kid."

"Huh? What the heck is a goblin?"

The Far Moon Academy Student Council only held elections for the position of Student Council President. Generally, two people would form a campaign partnership to compete against other pairs.

Then, the winning pair would naturally become the President and Vice President of the Student Council. The remaining positions would be nominated by the President and publicly announced to the whole school.

Of course, running solo without a partner was also perfectly fine.

As long as one could handle all the campaign work and garner enough votes to be elected, they could simply nominate a Vice President later.

So why hadn''t Yabashi Ki become the Vice President?

There were two reasons.

The main reason was that this guy had severe social anxiety and completely refused to show his face in public.

During the election, he handled all the logistics entirely behind the scenes without ever making an appearance. This made everyone think Yan Huan was running alone without a campaign partner.

Even though his name had been brought up multiple times, most people had no idea that the exquisitely crafted PowerPoint presentations, the data generated by various scripts, and the animated chibi characters were all the handiwork of this otaku.

Strictly speaking, someone who never showed up for campaign speeches or canvassing activities could hardly be called a campaign partner, but Yan Huan had always treated him as one.

When it came time to nominate him as Vice President, Yabashi had immediately dropped to his knees to beg off, because the President and Vice President were required to take turns giving school-wide speeches.

Honestly, making Yabashi Ki give a speech in front of the entire student body...

Let''s just say, if he gave a speech in the morning, he would be jumping off a building by the afternoon.

The second reason was that the school had someone with strong connections.

That someone was Sakuramiya Hitomi.

To this day, Yan Huan could still remember Principal Hermes, smiling so broadly his face wrinkled like a chrysanthemum, rubbing his hands together as he strongly recommended nominating Sakuramiya Hitomi for Vice President.

"Ding-dong! The train is approaching the station. Please allow passengers to disembark before boarding."

The subway arrived just in time. Yan Huan dragged a completely disillusioned Yabashi Ki—who seemed to still be analyzing how he resembled a goblin—into the train car.

Because they were close to the terminal station, there were not many people around, and they easily found seats.

A message popped up in the Student Council group chat on his phone.

Sakuramiya Hitomi: "I have already arrived. I will wait for you near the Golden Lion Exhibition Center subway station."

Yabashi Ki also saw the message and clicked his tongue,

"That is way too fast. As expected of an Eldest Miss living in the Kyogo Ward."

"Plus, she has a private chauffeur to drop her off."

Yan Huan smiled faintly, replying to Sakuramiya Hitomi with an ''Alrighty'' cat emoji, while his mind started turning.

Bai Yi wasn''t scheduled to take the stage until around two in the afternoon, which would also be the time when the venue was most crowded.

She probably had not even arrived this early, so Yan Huan planned to contact her closer to noon.

He would observe the situation then and make decisions based on what her afternoon stage appearance entailed.

They rode the train for quite a while. By the time they reached the last few stops near the Golden Lion Exhibition Center, the number of peers wearing cosplay outfits began to increase significantly.

"Golden Lion Exhibition Center East Station. We have arrived."

Yan Huan and Yabashi Ki followed the crowd out of the subway exit and up to the surface. Allowing the sunlight to slowly scatter the shadows from his face, he raised his eyes to look ahead.

A colossal building presented itself before them. A golden lion''s head, engraved in the most prominent position, gazed down imperiously at Yan Huan as he emerged from the subway.

On either side of the wide pathway leading to the entrance, rows of banners hanging from the lampposts fluttered in the wind.

They featured logos of participating game developers, popular characters from various anime IPs, and portrait photos of internet influencers and celebrities...

The chattering voices of the youth merged into a bustling stream of humanity, brimming with vitality just like the eight or nine o''clock morning sun.

This was the grand spectacle of the Linmen Kyogo Ward Gaming Convention!

"Alright, time to get to work!!"

The moment they arrived at the station, Yabashi Ki threw his hands in the air and shouted this inexplicably hyped declaration.

He had that same kind of manic energy he usually reserved for pulling his waifus in gacha games.

"What exactly are you so excited about? Do you really love Shijo Ai that much?"

"President, over here!"

At the subway exit, just as Yan Huan was ruthlessly teasing him and preparing to message Sakuramiya Hitomi, a girl''s voice pierced through the crowd and reached his ears.

Yan Huan paused and looked toward the sound, immediately spotting a beautiful girl standing by the railing.

She wore a vintage Gothic Lolita dress, her hair neatly tied back to form a striking black bow shape behind her head.

She held a parasol to block out the sunlight, but not entirely, allowing a few determined rays to break past her defenses and land on her fair, delicate skin.

Framing her slightly illuminated, breathtaking face, loose strands of hair tinged with cherry-blossom pink fluttered gently in the breeze.

When she looked at Yan Huan, she revealed a faint smile.

Her sweeping gaze was like a destructive laser beam, utterly devastating the surrounding men, leaving them blushing and completely disarmed.

It was the Vice President of the Far Moon Academy Student Council, Sakuramiya Hitomi. Yan Huan led Yabashi Ki over to her, slightly stunned by her outfit for the day.

It completely hit Yan Huan''s strike zone!

One thousand percent petite and adorable—that was the Sakuramiya Hitomi of today.

"...Sakuramiya, you are here really early."

"Ah, because my house isn''t too far from here. I was worried there would be a lot of traffic due to the crowd today, so I had my driver leave a bit earlier."

Sakuramiya Hitomi covered her mouth with a soft giggle as she replied.

Seeing Yan Huan''s dazed stare, Sakuramiya Hitomi maintained a calm expression on the surface, but internally, she was practically shouting, ''Just as planned!''

''How scheming~''

The reason she had arrived so early this morning was to scout out the absolute perfect spot near the subway exit.

She had then spent ten minutes meticulously posing, ensuring that every frame of this moment could be captured as a flawless portrait.

The very second the President stepped out of the gloomy underground passage and into the sunlight, he would see a radiant, beautiful girl blending seamlessly with the sun, holding a parasol, and waiting for his arrival...

What an incredible psychological impact that would be?!

Her outfit was carefully curated, exquisite yet unpretentious. Even the parasol had been selected after comparing multiple options to find the ultimate match.

She wore a subtle, everyday ''no-makeup'' makeup look that was nearly impossible to detect, paired with a hairstyle that perfectly unified her aura. It was nothing short of perfection.

Most importantly...

She even wore daily disposable color contacts.

She was in full combat mode, at the absolute peak of her maidenhood!!

With everything fully prepared, she had simply stood there, smiling, maintaining the elegant posture of a refined Lady holding her parasol.

Motionless, she waited for Yan Huan to appear.

In reality, given her frail constitution, holding that stationary pose had caused her legs to ache terribly.

It felt just like the stiffness in one''s legs after standing at attention for hours during military training, where her limbs simply refused to obey her commands.

''But you averted your eyes, didn''t you, President?''

''Because you saw my absolute beauty today...''

''Eh?''

''What is this?''

''What is going on with the President''s hair today?''

''Did he blow-dry it? Did he style it?''

''I have never seen him like this before!''

''It actually looks really good!! Paired with the President''s face...''

At that thought, the perfect smile Sakuramiya Hitomi had been maintaining began to crack.

Beneath her skirt, her numb legs rubbed together slightly. Her gaze darted away, no longer daring to look at Yan Huan, and she quickly murmured,

"...Yurianna and the others will probably be a bit late. They said they would be coming together."

"I see."

The look of disbelief that Yabashi Ki initially had toward Yan Huan gradually spread, and he ended up staring at the both of them.

He even started to question whether inviting this bunch of filthy normies to an anime convention was the right move after all.

''Hello, is the high priest there?''

''Please come pick me up and take me back to my cave. Thank you!''

Meanwhile, seated not far behind Sakuramiya Hitomi, Nara—dressed in a qipao and sunglasses, eating her breakfast—helplessly covered her face.

''That is it?''

''Did you not say you would effortlessly make the President surrender? In the end, he didn''t even say a word and you completely melted?''

''You did all that flashy preparation, only to get your defense broken with a single glance.''

''I helped you meticulously adjust your pose for so long, and it was all for nothing. How embarrassing!''

Sipping her coffee, Nara thought to herself, utterly speechless.

''Well, there are still plenty of other elaborate setups the Eldest Miss arranged inside the exhibition center.''

''With so many traps laid out, Yan Huan is bound to fall for at least one of them, right?''

Nara swallowed the last bite of her breakfast and uncrossed her legs.

With a swish of her qipao''s skirt, Nara stood up and silently made her way toward the exhibition center.

Today would be another busy day working for Eldest Miss Sakuramiya.

"Ah! The ride-hailing app got the location wrong! The President and the others seem to be on the east side, so why did we get dropped off on the west side?! Ahhhh!!"

"Huh?! Are you an idiot, Yurianna? How do you even mess up the GPS location?"

"I—I''m sorry! Ashley, boo-hoo! It is all the satellite''s fault! Maybe the satellite was affected by the Earth''s magnetic field, causing a signal deviation..."

"Why don''t you just say the Earth''s magnetic field messed up your brain? I swear, I have had enough of you."

On the west side of the Golden Lion Exhibition Center, Spencer, dressed in a tracksuit, was crouching by the entrance of a milk tea shop, watching a cartoon on her mobile phone.

She seemed to be waiting for someone.

But since she was only wearing one Bluetooth earbud, she managed to catch the conversation of the two girls passing by.

''President?''

Hearing the keyword, she raised her eyes and looked in their direction.

She saw two cosplayers, one in blue and one in red, dressed in magical girl costumes. They were staring at a navigation app on their phone, walking briskly in a certain direction with expressions as if they were about to cry.

''Those two... aren''t they the Disciplinary Committee Head and the Secretary of the school''s Student Council?''

Spencer was especially familiar with the Disciplinary Committee Head.

Just because she dressed up as a magical girl didn''t mean the clever Spencer wouldn''t recognize her.

After all, she had already been caught by the Disciplinary Committee for breaking school rules several times this week alone. There was no way she could misidentify the Disciplinary Committee Head!

''Eh~''

''Judging by what they said, President Yan is also here today?''

Turning off the cartoon on her phone, Spencer watched the two of them leave with an intrigued expression on her face.

''I really came to the right place...''

"Um... Sorry, I did not keep you waiting too long, did I, Spencer?"

Right at that moment, a timid, meek voice reminiscent of a small animal sounded beside her, making Spencer turn her head.

Standing before her was a girl bundled up in thick clothes, wearing a face mask, and clutching a paper bag in each hand.

Except for missing the massive backpack, her gear was practically identical to Yabashi Ki''s. She clearly looked like a veteran otaku as well.

Even though she had styled her hair differently, that submissive demeanor and the subconscious habit of lowering her head allowed Spencer to recognize her at a glance.

It was An Le.

Just kidding.

Spencer didn''t know how to read people''s auras. In truth, she recognized An Le purely by spotting her massive chest.

"You are finally here. I waited forever for you."

"I am sorry, there was a bit of a traffic jam on the way, so..."

An Le hastily waved her hands and apologized to Spencer.

"It is fine. Let''s head inside."

Spencer didn''t mind too much and turned to make her way into the exhibition center.

But as An Le hurriedly trailed behind, she couldn''t help but look at Spencer''s back and ask curiously,

"Um... Spencer, why... why did you give me such an expensive ticket? I saw online that they cost over a thousand each?"

Glancing back at the cautious An Le, Spencer pondered for a moment, seemingly searching for a suitable excuse.

After thinking for a long time, she came up empty.

She simply let out a huff and said quite impatiently,

"Hah, it is just because I do not know much about this kind of stuff, and you seem to know a lot, so I am just consulting you. It is not like I am specifically inviting you out on a date or anything, so do not get the wrong idea."

"I see..."

An Le was wearing a face mask, making it impossible to see her true expression.

But as Spencer turned her head back around, she pouted and thought for a second, seemingly feeling that her words had been a bit inappropriate.

She gave another soft hmph and added,

"Besides, it did not cost me any money to come here anyway, so it doesn''t matter."

"..."

An Le blinked. Actually, she hadn''t realized there was anything wrong with what Spencer had initially said.

But looking at Spencer''s back, with her hands resting on her hips, An Le couldn''t suppress a smile beneath her mask.

On her shoulder, a white snake poked its head out and flicked its tongue.

It eyed Spencer for a few moments before offering a merciless assessment,

"Is this person an idiot?"

"H-how can you say that about Spencer? Even though she isn''t very honest with her feelings, she is still quite cute."

"Heh. So are you."

"Ugh, Little Finger..."

Kyogo Ward, inside a luxurious villa.

Numerous pieces of equipment, makeup mirrors, and racks of clothes were arranged in a spacious room. This was Bai Yi''s studio, doubling as her preparation room before events.

At that moment, several makeup artists surrounded Bai Yi, finalizing her look for the afternoon event.

Nearby, her agent Ji Lin rolled in a rack of clothes and asked,

"Yi-yi, take a look. Which outfit do you want to wear this afternoon?"

Hearing this, Bai Yi turned her head and scanned the dazzling array of trendy outfits hanging on the rack.

Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Zuo Jiangqin walked in through the doorway,

"Let me see first... Aren''t these a bit too flashy? Didn''t we establish her persona as the pure and innocent type? Do you not have anything more plain?"

"Sister Qin, it is mainly because today''s convention is full of young people, and there is a heavy emphasis on two-dimensional culture. Wearing something like this might be more appropriate."

"What two-dimensional nonsense? This is ridiculous. I am going to see if there is anything else."

"...Alright, Sister Qin."

Zuo Jiangqin turned and marched out of the room. Ji Lin shot a helpless glance at Bai Yi, who sat expressionless in front of the mirror, before silently wheeling the clothing rack back out.

Bai Yi seemed completely accustomed to this and showed no particular reaction.

She simply gazed in front of her. Resting on the table was a USB flash drive and a piece of paper covered in lyrics.

It contained the backing track for her newly recorded song, along with the lyrics she had rushed to finish over the past few nights.

She also had a copy saved on her mobile phone. Originally, she had planned to send it to Yan Huan to let him take a listen, especially since he had claimed to be eagerly waiting for her new release.

But staring at the chat window, she hesitated for a long time, ultimately lacking the courage to hit send.

"..."

Just as she was blankly staring at the USB drive and the lyric sheet in front of her, Zuo Jiangqin suddenly walked back in and aggressively swept the items off the table with a single motion.

Bai Yi finally couldn''t help but frown. However, when she turned her head, she was met with her mother''s even more severe expression.

"Pick from these hair accessories and clothes. Try not to wear anything too seductive—maintain your persona. And watch what you say later. Do you hear me?"

"..."

Looking at her mother, Bai Yi pursed her lips and averted her gaze.

"Did you hear me?"

It was not until the other party demanded an answer once more that Bai Yi finally opened her mouth to softly ask,

"Later on stage... I want to sing a song. Is that okay?"

Zuo Jiangqin froze for a second, and then her brow furrowed even deeper.

She simply slammed her hand onto the jewelry on the table and declared in a cold, decisive voice,

"No.

"You stick exactly to what we rehearsed."

Bai Yi opened her mouth, but then silently turned back to the mirror, saying nothing more.

"Tick... Tock... Tick..."