Chapter 89: Isn't What's Yours Mine Too?

In the end, as he learned from prior experience, Kimura Kazuki hurriedly returned to the lounge backstage before the girls could get a chance to surround him.

Disappointment could be seen in the eyes of the otaku fans when they were halted by the staff members. Some remained near the entrance, as they were steadfast that Kimura Kazuki would make an appearance eventually. It was evident that Kimura Kazuki's stage performance had left a strong impression on the audience, even their favor toward him rose sharply.

Upon entering the lounge, Kimura Kazuki sighed in relief as he handed Matsukawa Chisato his wig. He entered the changing room to change out of the costume. Honestly speaking, while he may not be used to wearing a wig, the kimono was rather comfortable on the skin. Of course, this could very well be due to the fabric's premium quality. Now that I can earn a living, I should really get some better clothes, Kimura Kazuki thought quietly to himself.

Even though he did not appear beggarly nor were his clothes faded from washing, the quality was poor, and the fabric had a rough texture to it and expected quality from cheap clothing. As he usually wore his school uniform, it did not bother him until now.

"What? Why didn't you go on for 10 more seconds... You could've at least called me in to discuss!"

"Are you blaming me?"

"Uh...No, no, I wasn't..."

Re-emerging from the changing room, Kimura Kazuki saw Matsukawa Chisato staring coldly at Muraoka Hiroshi. Her eyes were unimpressed. Upon laying his eyes on Kimura Kazuki, Muraoka Hiroshi quickly stood up. He cleared his throat and looked at him anticipatingly, "Kimura-Kun, there will be a cosplay activity after this, which will carry on until the end of this manga convention. The duration is approximately 3 hours. I would like to invite you to participate, it has a paying rate of 100,000 yen. What do you think?"

The rate was already double that of other well-known cosplayers in the industry. But Kimura Kazuki's popularity stemming from his skillfulness made Muraoka Hiroshi believe he was well worth the price.

"My apologies, I am merely here for the offline meeting. I will not be staying here for long. I shall be leaving shortly." Kimura Kazuki shook his head, he would not mind making more money, but he had his priorities... Not to mention the thought of having to face the otaku fans outside... Especially those fanatic girls, he felt an almost incomprehensible sense of intimidation.

He contemplated for a moment. Perhaps it was due to his personality. Before crossing over to this world, he was quite a shut-in, a shut-in the Spiritual Academy. His lodging was allocated to him by the Spiritual Academy, his daily life was composed of merely going to one of the two places. In addition to that, the Enchanted Talisman Division itself had a disproportionately large number of male students, plus most girls were not interested in him, he had maintained a perpetually single status.

Hence resulting in his current overwhelmed state when he was faced with such situations. Perhaps a girl or two could still be manageable, but a gaggle of girls made it almost unbearable.

"This... I understand." Muraoka Hiroshi, who initially intended to strike the iron while it's hot, had disappointment written all over his face. After a brief consideration, he handed Kimura Kazuki 100,000 yen as promised by Matsukawa Chisato, along with a name card. "Kimura-Kun, if you have any interest in the Cosplay industry, do let me know. You need not have any concern over the pay."

"Sure," Kimura Kazuki placed the name card in his pocket, though he knew that such a day where he would be interested in the field of Cosplay would never come. What happened today was simply a coincidence. His primary goal was the 150,000 yen contest reward, cosplaying was just an additional part of it.

Even if there isn't any news on the offline meeting, he wouldn't feel any disappointment. The 250,000 yen was probably his biggest catch for the day.

"Right... Mizuno, pack up this set of clothes." Muraoka Hiroshi instructed as he smiled at Kimura Kazuki. "Kimura-Kun, Thunder Master of The Sword Saga matches you very well, so take this brand new set of kimono as a gift at my discretion. Kimono aside, I have also included souvenirs from the manga convention, a set of 8 Sword Saga gashapon clay figures, Muramasa and Thunder Master garage kits, as well as the limited-edition and collector's edition Sword Saga manga, containing a total of 11 volumes. Please do not decline my goodwill; even if you don't like them, feel free to gift them to your friends!"

Muraoka Hiroshi clearly hasn't given up. Even if subsequent collaboration doesn't occur today, there may very well be a chance to collaborate again sometime in the future. As the manager of the Seiki Association, his consideration of different aspects is meticulous. Most importantly, Kimura Kazuki's Kendo skills are beyond outstanding, just this point alone is enough to convince Muraoka Hiroshi to maintain good relations with him.

Perhaps not for his own benefits, but surely for that of Ono Nakamura. As a brother-in-law, he is, by all means, a good one.

"This... Alright." Muraoka Hiroshi's enthusiasm did not give him any room for rejection. He had no need for these things, maybe some members from the [Light Novel Room] might enjoy them. Either way, he would be visiting Chiyoko soon after, perhaps this could be a gift for her.

Kimura Kazuki did not stick around, he bid goodbye to the others and, due to the crazed fans obstructing the doorway, decided to leave the lounge via the back door as suggested by Muraoka Hiroshi. As he arrived at the bottom floor of the UDX building, he picked up his phone and dialed Chiba Shiori.

Within two minutes, members of the [Light Novel Room] arrived downstairs. As opposed to the usual calmness, everyone had expressions of excitement plastered on their faces, and their gazes on Kimura Kazuki were filled with curiosity.

"Kimura-Kun, you were amazing!"

"Kimura-Kun, I recorded your contest with that Ono contestant just now, I could only see your moves after slowing down the video by 2.5x the original speed! I counted, you made a total of 32 moves within 10 seconds, with an average of 3 moves per second, that is inhuman!"

"Gosh... This is terrifying."

"Yeah, not to mention, each move had a different angle under all that speed..."

"This is my first time in real life seeing the kind of moves described in novels, lucky me!"

"Please accept my apology, Kimura-Kun, I always thought you were just being pretentious with your wooden sword, to think your kendo skills were that strong!"

The members of the [Light Novel Room] began discussing in an incoherent buzz all at the same time. The middle-aged guy named Koko appeared particularly excited as he praised Kimura Kazuki's kendo skills tirelessly, the fervent in his compliments and admiration made Kimura Kazuki felt a hint of embarrassment.

In a flash, he had transformed from a rather marginal member to become the center of attention of the offline meeting.

"That's enough everyone, Shiori-chan will be mad if you all keep surrounding Kimura-Kun like that..." Kucha rose her voice over the bustling discussion, successfully toning down the members' enthusiasm a little.

Receiving the Sun and Moon Sword from Chiba Shiori and feeling it's subtle emotions, Kimura Kizuki broke into a slight smile. "Thank you."

"You were really impressive on stage just now," Chiba Shiori's face lit up with a smile, "I took a lot of pictures." As she spoke, she noticed the packages in various sizes lying by Kimura Kazuki's feet. She asked curiously, "What are these?"

"Oh... it's a gift from Mr. Muraoka." Kimura Kazuki replied as he removed the contents from its package.

"These... Could these be Muramasa and Thunder Master's garage kits? And these are clay figures!"

"Oh my god, this must be the limited-edition Sword Saga light novel series - a rarity with only 1000 copies in existence!"

"And there is also the manga..."

Despite feeling surprised, no one asked for the merchandise, after all, these are gifts from The Sword Saga's official committee to Kimura Kazuki.

When Kimura Kazuki noticed Chiba Shiori's interest in the gifts, he smiled, "You can have them all if you like." It was all thanks to Chiba Shiori that he was able to attend the offline meeting in the first place.

Upon hearing this, everyone around started making a racket. This time, no one was jealous of Kimura Kazuki anymore.

"Isn't what's yours, mine too?" Chiba Shiyori blinked.

Kimura Kazuki recalled with a start, they were still pretending to be a couple.