Tifa, 2B, Rem and Ram, Chouzuki Rio, Furina, Kasumizuki Hina, Aponia, Atago and Takao, Hoshimi Miyabi...
So many people cosplaying at once, naturally it was many small groups combined.
But the largest small group was still the idols from the idol agency, many young, lively beautiful girl idols made up most of the newcomers.
And among them, the ones who undoubtedly occupied the first tier were the mermaid songstress group, world-class super popular idols Ayla, Elsie, and Elio.
"Minister-sama, no, Producer, it's finally our turn."
"Cough! Cough! Good afternoon, I'm Sangonomiya Kokomi. I just thought of a nice pose. Want to study it together?"
"C-Commander! Thank you for your hard work on the shoot! Is there, is there anything Janus can do for you?"
'Oh no!'
'This is bad!'
Seeing the yellow, pink, and blue mermaid songstress idols step out from the idol group, Ijichi Nijika, who had been watching Hachiman take photos while forcing herself to stay silent, felt it was beyond saving.
Originally, after seeing that Kanzaki Moemi and the others were fine after being photographed, she'd already breathed a sigh of relief.
That black-tech camera's effect wasn't as potent as the shared-sense collar, it wouldn't make people lose self-control, so she shouldn't need to worry too much.
But now that the mermaid songstresses had come out... she felt the situation couldn't be maintained anymore.
The vast majority of idols at the idol agency weren't familiar with Hachiman. Even if their bodies felt a bit "uncomfortable," they couldn't possibly lose their minds in front of everyone, they could push through with a little endurance.
Because with so many people needing cosplay photos, each person's shooting time couldn't be long.
But if it was the mermaid songstress group... even without the black-tech camera they might not be able to shoot steadily, let alone with the black-tech camera's influence...
Ijichi Nijika didn't have any objection to the mermaid songstresses, it was that she'd truly seen how fanatically obsessed these three mermaid songstress idols were with Hachiman.
If not for their small numbers, plus the fact that they often had to hold concerts to repay fans' support, they probably would have had a chance to compete with the elf princess and the others...
"Elio, Elsie, Ayla, do you know what's going on with this camera?"
Looking at the three mermaid songstresses who came to his side beaming, Hachiman didn't immediately prepare to photograph them, but first asked about the pink camera in his hands.
Everyone he'd photographed in cosplay had shown abnormal reactions, how could he, the photographer, not have noticed.
It was just that this abnormality was nothing much in the Service Club, far less impactful than directly activating shared senses, so he'd continued photographing everyone according to the originally set game flow.
But now that Elio and the others were here, he could ask.
The others might not know, but the mermaid songstresses were also members living at home. They just held touring concerts during the day and teleported back to the Service Club to sleep at night. Even if their time living at home was short, it was more than his, so they should know something.
"This portrait camera... Princess Lala prepared it specially for us."
Elsie, cosplaying Sangonomiya Kokomi with her fair shoulders and flat stomach exposed, naturally took Hachiman's arm, looked at the pink camera in his hands, and with a grin leaned close to his ear to explain softly.
"The portrait camera can display the subject's true state, convey the emotions the subject wants to express, and truly reproduce the person's appearance."
"I don't know the specific principle, but though it sounds complicated, in practice it just helps everyone quickly enter the shooting state, so they won't be too nervous or shy when you photograph them, Minister-sama. After all, many newcomers are seeing Minister-sama in person for the first time."
"Mm... because we're shooting in cosplay outfits, needing to restore the character setting in the cosplay state and express emotions that aren't originally ours... there might be a bit of a side effect."
There was one thing Elsie didn't say, because every person's cosplay outfit character setting was pre-set, even characters who seemed to have no romantic relationship with Minister-sama were set to like or secretly love Minister-sama in their character settings.
So knowing they were playing such character settings, every time Minister-sama took a cosplay photo of them, in the cosplay state they would accumulate one more bit of fondness toward Minister-sama.
But after all, the portrait camera was only made to help them enter the cosplay state better. It wouldn't really make them fall in love with Minister-sama just like that.
Mm... as long as Minister satisfied them, it could eliminate the accumulated "fondness" in their bodies.
And eliminating the accumulated fake "fondness" in their bodies would, in the process, generate real fondness.
Considering so many people were watching around them, she didn't say the relationship between the portrait camera and the cosplay outfits. Even Shiba Miyuki, who was responsible for guiding Minister-sama through the game, hadn't explained it.
"Mm... Commander, don't worry. It's probably just that the effect is too strong, and entering the cosplay state consumes a lot, causing some discomfort..."
Elio quickly glanced at Kamisato Ayaka among Ijichi Nijika and the others, saw she was just quietly smiling and watching them, and also softly chimed in.
These were all arranged before Princess Iris left, so Ijichi Nijika didn't know this either. But they happened to be in charge of the idol group segment, so they knew the portrait camera's specific situation.
Actually though, this thing's impact wasn't big. It was just "fondness" accumulated in the cosplay state. How could that compare to their own genuine fondness for Minister? Ijichi Nijika was so panicked only because her sister Ijichi Seika was among them. She herself hadn't been affected much at all.
"No wonder they were panting after just a few poses. So it was consuming their own physical strength to enter the cosplay state..."
After understanding the portrait camera's general effect, Hachiman recalled the earlier shooting scenes, thoughtful.
This portrait camera didn't seem to have appeared in the original work, he only knew Lala had made x-ray glasses in the original, along with other black-tech props that sounded very mystical.
As expected of Lala, the universe's number one genius scientist. This portrait camera in his hands sounded a bit close to the black-tech products from system rewards.
Except system task rewards, regardless of effect strength, generally weren't limited by strength and leaned toward conceptual. Lala's inventions focused on concrete effects, without conceptual growth.
For example, the shared-sense bracelet could extend infinitely and couldn't be destroyed. Once worn, if he didn't allow it to be removed, it couldn't be removed.
The shared-sense collar and shared-sense wristband Lala researched also had strong effects, but were easily destroyed, with relatively limited shared-sense range. It was just that his activity range wasn't large either.
"Rather than those unimportant little things, Minister-sama, let's take photos quickly, I can't wait anymore!"
Elsie swallowed impatiently, her hands holding Hachiman's arm rubbing faintly, letting Hachiman's arm brush against her snow-white lower abdomen, her words full of anticipation.
Whether it was the natural-type pink cute idol on stage, or the Sangonomiya Kokomi she was cosplaying now, neither was her own personality.
She really, really wanted to be in love, really wanted to sleep with Minister-sama endlessly, staying in bed all day without getting up.
But she didn't think there was anything wrong with herself, it was purely that they'd been fed too little.
Aside from that initial period, Minister-sama had assisted them afterward too, it was just that the frequency of this assistance was hard to describe.
Not only because Minister-sama was being targeted by more and more women, but also because as idol songstresses they had to hold concerts during the day and basically had no chance to participate.
At night they had to join the service game to get any, one could say they'd long been starving.
"Producer, no, Commander, thank you for your hard work. Now Janus and everyone will help you relieve stress..."
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