“Wow….”
Si Hyun’s eyes widened, and her mouth fell open in disbelief.
Actually, saying it was “out of character” might not be entirely accurate. In fact, she looked much younger and more adorable than before.
However, one peculiar detail was that I also had a similar expression as Si Hyun. With a dazed look, my mouth fell open too, but I quickly snapped back to reality and closed it.
We arrived at the stadium early based on the information that the road would be congested right before the match started. I had planned to grab a meal and explore the area, but…
‘Seems like there’s no time for sightseeing.’
When we arrived, the stadium was impressive enough to make even someone like me, who rarely gets surprised, drop my jaw.
The arena had a dome shape, and the building in the heart of Seoul blended beautifully with the surrounding scenery.
The towering pine trees reminiscent of the Colosseum where ancient gladiators once fought made it feel quite grand. Whoever designed the location and appearance of this building must have had a romantic streak.
But that wasn’t the only thing that shocked me.
– First Abyss Dome Stadium
‘Abyss Dome Stadium?’
So, it has “Abyss” in its name. Does that mean this building was originally built to directly observe Abyss matches?
‘If it’s the First Dome, then are there Second and Third ones?’
There are more of these specialized buildings?
How on earth has this world transformed?
At first, I thought it had grown from a local hole-in-the-wall shop to a decent-sized franchise supermarket.
But the more I dug into it, the grander it became; this was beyond just supermarket level.
Anyway, it was a good thing. Si Hyun was sparkling with interest at the first building she had ever seen, and I was feeling slightly dazed but happy as well.
The match was set to start at 5 PM, and the current time was just a little past 1 PM.
We had just finished lunch nearby. I had never been to this neighborhood before and had no idea where to grab a bite, yet it turned out Si Hyun had researched the local hot spots.
No way.
Thanks to that, I was able to have a hearty meal. Afterward, I thought about heading into the arena, but since they said I couldn’t enter yet, I started to casually look around.
“Hey, I know this guy. His name is Jerome, right?”
Si Hyun pointed at an old character with a scar near his eye, saying she saw him in a video edited by Uncle.
Even so, to point at an old man and call him “this guy” was a bit much. Jerome was supposed to be over 60 according to the backstory.
My inner Confucian dragon flinched for a moment, but I decided to let it slide.
After all, he’s just a character, and Si Hyun was pretty polite compared to her peers.
I was looking around, examining each of the blocks connected from the entrance of the arena.
The First Abyss Dome Stadium. It was decorated appropriately for the name “Abyss”.
There was Jerome, the knight holding a mace and shield just like in the game. Besides him, various exhibitions resembling different characters were lined up.
There was the hero who once adorned the login screen, the dragon that appeared in the cinematic trailer, and even Mr. Oh Hong-kyun, the charming director who had been directing since the early days.
In front of the director giving a thumbs up, Si Hyun tilted her head as if asking, “What is this?”
Passersby, just like Si Hyun, would glance at the statue of the unfamiliar man that seemed to appear out of nowhere, which was quite hilarious.
As I continued walking, I spotted a familiar figure at the end.
A pure white woman boasting snow-white hair.
It was the Snowflake Queen Camilla, not the No-Skin Camilla version. Since it was the newest skin released, the statue seemed to shine brighter compared to the ones I had passed.
Her usual costume had been replaced with a sweater that offered more coverage, likely due to the many children visiting, which was a necessary choice, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed. Still, it was pretty in a wintery way.
“I felt this way last time, but you really look just like your older sister.”
Si Hyun nodded in agreement, already aware of this fact through Jae-jun. She was quite surprised at first by how much I resembled the game character.
She didn’t seem completely unfazed, as she alternated between looking at Camilla and me with a curious expression.
They were alternating glances with a curious expression.
And then came the photo time. Si Hyun had taken pictures with all the characters except for Oh Hong-kyun’s statue. There was no way she could just walk by the obviously pretty Camilla.
“This time, let’s take a picture together, sister.”
“Huh, me?”
The difference from earlier was that she was pulling me in this time.
To be honest, I wasn’t really a fan of taking pictures. I never looked good in them, so it seemed pointless to even try.
Above all, I didn’t have anyone to share those memories with.
Ever since I became this body, I had been spending more time looking in the mirror and taking pictures after wearing new clothes. But still, taking a photo with someone was a first for me.
Up until now, it had only been Si Hyun taking pictures of me, so I was both flustered by her suggestion and secretly intrigued. After all, it was Camilla!
Even though it was just a statue, Camilla was still Camilla — and crafted with quite high quality too.
Having seen something like this, it would be a shame to just pass it by. If I had come alone, I surely would have taken a photo.
Based on that reasoning, I pretended to be unwilling and let Si Hyun lead me over as I awkwardly stood next to Camilla.
With the Snowflake Queen Camilla in the center, Si Hyun and I stood side by side.
“But, who’s going to take the picture…?”
“We’ll just ask someone passing by. Just wait a second.”
Then Si Hyun took my phone and dashed off, bringing back a rather handsome young man.
The young man awkwardly smiled as he was dragged by Si Hyun and then jolted back with surprise upon seeing my face.
As Si Hyun struck a pose, he quickly started taking pictures with my phone.
With the click of the shutter, several pictures were snapped, drawing the attention of the considerable crowd in the exhibition hall.
“That one must be Camilla over there. Let’s go take a picture too.”
“Wow, looks like someone came in a Camilla cosplay? The quality is insane.”
“Hey, where were you just looking? Be honest. I saw your eyes darting around.”
The guy was alternating between studying my face and hair, impressed. It seemed he mistook me for a professional cosplayer. It wasn’t far-fetched, though, since there were plenty of cosplayers around the event.
It wasn’t surprising that I could see it happening quite clearly.
After all, I looked exactly the same as Camilla, just with a different outfit.
I also spotted a woman who was staring blankly at me, then pinching her boyfriend’s side, and groups of students who looked excitedly at me as they approached.
Just when I was about to wrap up my filming and leave the scene where all the attention was focused,
“Hey, would you like to take a picture with us?”
The group approaching me was clearly wearing flashy costumes.
“We came for cinematic cosplay… and it’s a shame Camilla isn’t here.”
“Wow, did you actually bleach your hair? Your eyes are huge too, you totally look like Camilla!”
They were cosplaying various heroes from the cinematic trailer.
There was the gravekeeper Lennok wielding a huge sword, the lively Theodora in her armor, the assassin Dan holding a dagger, and so on….
All of them were the main characters from the cinematic alongside Camilla. And yet, strangely, there was no one cosplaying as Camilla. What kind of coincidence was this?
Were they perhaps all part of a team? The five people were flocking toward me like a herd.
As they sparkled with excitement, I couldn’t exactly tell them I wasn’t cosplaying. But mingling with them for a photo felt a bit daunting too.
“Oh, I came with my younger sibling, but she’s really tired right now—”
So I tried to back out using Si Hyun as an excuse, but when I turned to look, I couldn’t find Si Hyun anywhere.
Turning around, I noticed a kid with a funny expression looking at me and smiling from a bit away. Seriously, this kid had some sharp instincts.
“Sis! Come take a picture with us! You have to take one with your phone too!”
Gone were the polite words I usually employed, replaced by the cheerful shout of that kid’s age group.
The people around me approached with big smiles.
“Since your younger sibling gave the green light, let’s just take one picture, okay?”
“Alright, let’s do it! Should we strike a pose for another one as well?”
“Do you know the Camilla cinematic pose? Oh, you’re good at this!”
After that, we took loads of pictures. For some reason, I found myself getting into the poses with enthusiasm too.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
