Dan Heng followed March 7th with a helpless expression. "Why do I have to come with you to the comic con?"
"Teacher Dan Heng, why not?" March 7th, holding her Polaroid camera, snapped photos of anything interesting. "It's all Stelle's fault. She promised to come with me, but then she said she had some urgent responsibility to take care of."
"Sigh, so why me?" Dan Heng's face was full of resignation, but there was no helping it—who could resist March?
"Hey, Dan Heng, Dan Heng, look over there, look!" March 7th nudged his arm, pointing ahead. "There are four people cosplaying you!"
Dan Heng scrutinized them closely. "Uh, they're cosplaying Imbibitor Lunae, or Dragon Dan for short. But… two of them don't seem quite right."
"Look, there are even girls cosplaying you!" March 7th raised an eyebrow at Dan Heng. "Who would've thought, Teacher Dan Heng's popularity is this high!"
March 7th grabbed his sleeve. "Come on, let's check out the female Dragon Dan."
Dan Heng nodded. "Alright."
A few steps later, Dan Heng stood before the four cosplayers.
One of the Dragon Dan cosplayers glanced at Dan Heng. "Whoa, buddy, your cosplay is so legit! Where'd you get that outfit?"
Another, a female Dragon Dan, chimed in, "Yeah, yeah! If you entered a Dan Heng cosplay contest, you'd easily snag top three."
Then she looked at March 7th. "You're super professional too! You look exactly like the real March 7th."
March 7th scratched her head. "Eh, uh, thanks! But these two female Dragon Dans… they don't quite match you guys. Did they get bootleg costumes or something?"
"No." Dan Heng carefully examined the two female cosplayers.
One had long, jet-black hair and wore a white cheongsam with a red collar as a perfect accent. Her eyes had a touch of crimson at the corners, with golden vertical pupils, making her look like a perfect female Dragon Dan at first glance.
The other had blue hair, adorned with slightly different dragon horn accessories. She wore a white shirt, black shorts, and had a gourd hanging from her waist, occasionally taking sips from it.
Dan Heng recognized them. "They're not cosplaying Dragon Dan. They're Xi and Ling."
March 7th looked at Dan Heng, confused. "Xi and Ling? Is that one person's name?"
"No. They're characters from the web drama Arknights. Though, I can't tell if they're the actual characters or just two cosplayers."
Ling took a sip from her gourd. "Greetings, everyone."
Her gaze drifted to Dan Heng. "The dream of this world lies between clarity and awakening. My heart seeks only its own carefree joy. You know what you are. I look forward to what you do."
Xi spoke to Ling, "Sis, our goal today isn't this. We're here to meet the Wise and Belle siblings."
"Haha, Xi, my dear sister, I almost forgot! See you all next time, we've got places to be." Ling took another sip, waved, and walked off.
After a couple of steps, Ling added, "If we meet again, I'll treat you to a drink. Let you experience the feeling of the grand dream of this mortal world."
Dan Heng let out a heavy sigh. "Until we meet again."
At that moment, a jarring song pierced Dan Heng's ears.
"Tear apart, heart sea, shoulders!!!"
The Dragon Dan cosplayer belted out with raised arms, "The deafening roar of ten thousand thunders!!!"
Dan Heng rubbed his ears. "They got it wrong. It's 'Tear apart, form, liberate'…"
Meanwhile, Stelle was strolling through the comic con, leading Kiana by the hand.
Kiana stretched lazily. "Stelle, do you think we'll find Sister Acheron here?"
"How would I know?" Stelle's sharp gaze scanned the cosplay performances around her, but none caught her interest.
"Then can we finish our baseball showdown from before?"
"No way. I'm busy. I haven't even rummaged through half the trash cans yet. I still have achievements to complete."
"Achievements?"
Suddenly, Stelle's peripheral vision caught something important. She immediately scanned her surroundings.
Finally, she saw it…
It was a grand vision. She even let go of Kiana's hand.
There stood a golden Trash Can King, displaying its majesty to its followers.
Stelle slowly approached the Trash Can King and noticed a cosplayer of herself kneeling on one knee, praising its greatness.
Stelle nodded approvingly. "Lady, you've got excellent taste!"
The Stelle cosplayer stood up slowly, bowing politely. "Sorry, I'm Nan Liang."
Stelle scratched her head. "Whatever makes you happy. So, right now, let's feel the friendship magic of the trash can together!"
"Exactly, let's feel the friendship magic! I feel it, I feel it!" The Stelle cosplayer raised her left hand. "This hand of mine is burning fiercely! It's roaring for me to seize victory! Explosive heat! God Palm!!!"
At that moment, Stelle felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned to see three "Kafkas"?
"Wow!" Stelle licked her lips, eyeing the trio. "What do you three want with me?"
"The popularity voting event is about to end, isn't it? We're here to campaign for Kafka-mama's votes. Dear Miss Stellaron cosplayer, we sincerely hope you'll cast a vote for Kafka."
"Oh? You can campaign for votes? Why didn't I think of that?" Stelle grinned mischievously, slinging her arms around their shoulders. "How about you campaign for 'Stelle' instead?"
"No way, we're Kafka-mama's most loyal fans! And we're guys, so don't get that close!"
Stelle raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't that make it even better?"