Chapter 15: The Doujinshi Lottery and the Signing Session

The timid Zhong Tian felt a surge of apprehension.

‘This exhibition is truly astounding… such an immense venue, teeming with people… and it’s only just begun, yet the crowd is already overwhelming.’

Amongst the throng were serious cosplayers, alongside those recreating various meme-worthy Guichu (TL Note: A Chinese internet subculture involving absurd, often comedic, edits of existing media or viral content) scenes, and the vast majority were ordinary otaku just passing through.

And, of course, a certain silly dog.

“Hahahaha, I’m dying of laughter, that chubby guy cosplaying Lelouch has his belly hanging out, hahahahaha!” Ren Dog skipped joyfully across the plaza, and Zhong Tian spotted the rascal from a distance.

“Ren Dog!”

“Oh! Old Zhong, you’re here!” Li Jianren scurried up to Zhong Tian. “Let’s go grab some breakfast!”

“Hasn’t Lin Yu arrived yet?” Jiang Nanjin asked, a hint of confusion in her voice.

“She… she’s probably still asleep,” Zhong Tian replied. “We can pack her some breakfast and send it over later. I’ll give you her hotel room number.”

“Alright.”

Zhong Tian checked the time, noting it was almost seven, leaving him with a little over an hour to spare.

“How about we grab some sandwiches or something, and eat as we wander through the exhibition?” Li Jianren suggested.

“That works for me. What do you think, Little Zhong?”

“I think it’s a good idea.”

With their sandwiches in hand, the trio began to roam freely throughout the comic convention.

“Want to try this lottery?”

Near the edge of the convention, Li Jianren discovered a small stall featuring a raffle, priced at what appeared to be ten yuan per draw.

Zhong Tian observed the words inscribed in various sections of the makeshift spinning wheel.

‘Five-yuan zone: pick one item, Ten-yuan zone: pick one item, Fifty-yuan zone: pick one item, Grand Prize: pick one item…’

Zhong Tian glanced at the five-yuan zone, which was filled with mostly small trinkets: anime-themed tape, calendars, and mini-posters. The ten-yuan zone, however, seemed to feature books… Wait a minute…

‘Weren’t those doujinshi?’

‘Hold on, could items like these really be sold openly here?’

Zhong Tian stepped forward and picked up two, noticing they had been meticulously wrapped in transparent plastic.

‘But the content depicted on those covers was already quite…’

‘—A sharp intake of breath—’

“Boss, I’ll take one draw!”

After surveying the options, Li Jianren cheerfully scanned ten yuan for the stall owner.

“The ten-yuan zone.”

“Yay!!”

‘Hey!’

‘Zhong Tian felt a strong urge to reprimand Li Jianren, who was excitedly picking out a doujinshi with sparkling eyes, but truth be told, he secretly wanted one himself.’

‘It wasn’t necessarily for the explicit content—most of the doujinshi he usually read were digital, so a physical copy felt genuinely novel.’

‘Moreover, the print quality seemed decent; buying one to add to his collection appeared to be a perfectly valid option.’

Li Jianren selected a copy and promptly tore open its packaging.

‘Hold on, have you never seen a doujinshi in your life before?’

‘Is this something you can read in broad daylight, amidst a crowd?’

As he flipped open the thin volume, his expression instantly shifted.

Zhong Tian leaned in for a peek, and couldn’t help but crack a smile.

‘Indeed, it was a doujinshi.’

Li Jianren stared at the endless horizontal lines within, momentarily speechless. With an utterly blank expression, he stuffed it into Zhong Tian’s canvas bag. “It’s for you.”

“Hahahahahahaha—”

Zhong Tian laughed until he was nearly suffocating, clutching his stomach with one hand and steadying himself by gripping Li Jianren’s shoulder, almost collapsing to his knees.

“Oh, I’m going to die laughing… hahaha… I’m dead… hahahaha, my stomach, my stomach hurts so much.”

Zhong Tian declared this to be the most enjoyable moment he’d experienced all summer.

The last time he’d laughed this hard was when Li Jianren had spent an entire night downloading “videos,” only to discover they were high-definition, uncensored episodes of *Calabash Brothers*.

“No, no, I can’t. I need to sit for a bit; my stomach hurts, hahaha.”

“…”

It took Zhong Tian a full minute to compose himself, and even then, lingering spasms of laughter occasionally wracked his body, causing his stomach to ache.

“Old Zhong, it’s almost eight already.”

“Oh, alright then. I’ll go get ready.”

“Okay, I’ll take breakfast to Lin Yu and wake her up while I’m at it,” Jiang Nanjin said from beside them.

Zhong Tian patted Li Jianren’s shoulder, rose from the chair, and headed towards the staff entrance.

****

Zhong Tian donned his badge and made his way to the Mantang lounge.

The staff member at the door glanced at Zhong Tian’s badge, then nodded. “Welcome, Teacher Kezhong. Please, come in.”

Zhong Tian nodded in return and entered the lounge.

The lounge was reasonably spacious, equipped with air conditioning and sofas. Several people were seated, appearing to be fellow manga artists.

Zhong Tian recognized one or two of them, though their names had slipped his mind.

‘My apologies… I usually don’t have much time to read the comics by other Mantang artists…’

‘Since he didn’t recognize them, it seemed best to avoid conversation. In any case, no one else appeared to be in the mood for interaction.’

“Oh, Teacher Kezhong, you’ve arrived?”

Zhong Tian looked towards the speaker, realizing it was Lin Chu.

“Yes, the signing session is about to begin, isn’t it?”

“That’s right, we can head out now.” Lin Chu clapped her hands. “Alright, everyone, follow me. We’ll take our seats first.”

Zhong Tian, along with the other manga artists, exited the room, made their way to the Mantang booth, found their assigned spots, and took their seats.

No sooner had the artists settled than people began rushing to form queues.

‘Hold on, something about the speed at which the crowd is gathering feels off.’

‘Why are there so many people?’

In mere moments, a surging tide of people had gathered before the Mantang signing event, forcing staff members to intervene and manage the burgeoning crowd.

‘And the line in front of him was exceptionally long, already snaking around several corners…’

“Teacher Yuki!!”

“Shunqi, you old rascal! Give me back Shika Rio!” (The fan’s voice was tinged with a wail).

“Teacher Kezhong, you’re the GOAT!!”

“Teacher Qingwu, I’m your fan! Ahhh!” (The cry resonated with fervor).

‘Holy cow…’

‘This sheer scale of this event had far surpassed Zhong Tian’s wildest imagination…’

Zhong Tian found himself growing increasingly nervous, coupled with an inexplicable sense of embarrassment.

The signing session commenced.

“Hello, Teacher Kezhong!” The first person to approach was a girl who appeared to be a high school student, seemingly overcome with excitement. “I absolutely adore your work, *Leafage*—it’s truly incredible! And I never imagined the author would be so young and beautiful! May I please take a picture with you?”

Stunned by this rapid-fire torrent of praise, Zhong Tian froze for a few seconds before finally reacting. “Ah… yes, you may.”

After their photo, the girl swiftly paid and purchased the first volume of the manga.

Zhong Tian, his face faintly flushed, nodded and signed, nearly inscribing his real name instead of his pen name.

‘Whew, cold sweat, cold sweat…’ Zhong Tian didn’t even dare to look up until he had carefully finished his signature.

“Here you go.”

“Great, thank you, Teacher Kezhong! I’ll continue to support your manga in the future!”

Beads of cold sweat trickled down Zhong Tian’s back, yet he maintained his smile, nodded, and accepted the next manga volume.

“Are you Teacher Kezhong?” A tall, slender man standing before him put away his magazine and tugged at the strap of the DSLR camera hanging from his chest. “Is it really you in person?”

Zhong Tian looked up at the man. He was quite handsome, with features that were subtly delicate. His eyes, in particular, were as deep as the sea and as dark as night, yet held an innate, liquid tenderness. Now, they shimmered with a light of pleasant surprise.

“Y-yes…”

“We’ve met before. I took a photo when you cosplayed Lala from *To Love-Ru*…” He smiled faintly.

‘Oh… so it was him. No wonder he seemed familiar.’

He appeared to want to say more, but the young woman behind him intervened.

“Brother… you’re holding up the line for the people behind us…”

“Ah… well…” He awkwardly pointed at his camera and gave an embarrassed chuckle.

Zhong Tian, feeling it would be impolite to refuse, nodded.

The young man quickly snapped a photo, took the signed volume from Zhong Tian, and moved on.

The young woman behind him stepped forward, scanned the code, and made her payment.

“Thank you, Teacher Kezhong.”

She said this softly.

She must be the younger sister of the man before… their features were almost identical, though the girl now before him was even more gracefully beautiful, her long hair falling naturally, emitting a faint, ethereal fragrance.

Zhong Tian met her gaze, and as he looked into her clear eyes, his earlier nervousness and awkwardness vanished. Even the thought of trying to read her mind dissipated. He simply could not bring himself to pry into this person’s inner thoughts.

For some inexplicable reason, Zhong Tian’s heart skipped a beat.

The young woman bowed slightly and departed, clutching her signed volume.

‘That girl… I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before…’

‘Perhaps she’s from our school… from the class next door?’

Zhong Tian took the next volume handed to him by a staff member and signed it.

For the remainder of the session, Zhong Tian was caught in a cycle of receiving volumes, signing them, and occasionally posing for photos.

Zhong Tian himself had lost track of time, simply lowering his head to sign each manga handed to him.

“How do you feel, Teacher Kezhong?”

Zhong Tian looked up in a daze, finding Lin Yu and Jiang Nanjin standing before him. Ren Dog had, apparently, vanished somewhere.

“You two are here.”

“Here.” Lin Yu placed a cup of lemon tea on the table. “Consider it a comfort offering.”

Zhong Tian accepted the lemon tea and handed them two signed volumes. “Thanks.”

“Alright, we’ll see you at lunch then. We’re off for now.”

“Okay.”

Zhong Tian inserted a straw into his lemon tea, took a few sips, rested for a moment, then accepted another volume.

Zhong Tian leaned back in his chair, glancing at the stack of volumes, noting that very few remained.

His morning allocation was nearly sold out… yet many people still remained in line…

But this was also a strategy to maintain buzz, he mused.

Handing over the last volume, he concluded his morning’s work. The staff began to disperse the remaining crowd.

Finally, he could rest.

Zhong Tian stretched, luxuriating in the moment.