I will never give in to Miss Death

They came in Cosplay costumes.

Two girls who look like college students came out to eat breakfast in Cosplay costumes. How much courage does it take?

When I worked in other restaurants before, I had seen customers wearing strange costumes, but they almost always appeared when there were events in the city, and they usually came in a large group, because there was a comic convention that day, or some store in the city was holding an event, and there were a lot of people playing Cosplay, and everyone dressed like that, so no one was embarrassed.

The problem is... there are no comic convention-related activities in Kamihama City today, and the people coming to the cafe are all ordinary people.

What surprised me the most was that the characters that these two girls were cosplaying were Kazuto Kiritani from "Sword Art Online" and Maple from "Because I'm So Afraid of Pain, I Focus on Defense".

Kirito's clothes are the long hair style in the second GGO chapter, and he holds a lightsaber in his hand. Maple next to him is the very classic dragon image in the game, holding a large shield. When she walked in from outside the store, she hid behind the shield the whole time, looking very shy, and immediately attracted the attention of most of the customers in the room.

Kirito and Maple, if this combination is real, according to the game setting... I really can't think of any villain who can deal with you.

"You two..."

I slowly walked towards the two female college students who were cosplaying. I resisted the urge to ask them about their looks and led them to a couple's seat by the window: "Come sit over here."

"Uncle loves loli."

At this time, the "Tongzi" spoke, and I couldn't help but turn around when I heard the name: "Huh?"

"I knew it. I always suspected that you were a woman."

When I turned around, "Tongzi" showed a smug expression to "Maple" behind him: "See, you lost again."

"Eh?"

The girl holding the shield at the back looked very shy: "She really is a girl..."

"You owe me again."

Clearing his throat, "Tongzi" turned to me.

"Uncle, oh no, Nuo'er, Yin Nuo'er? That's the name, right? I'm the one who killed all the Tong people in the group."

As she spoke, the female college student, who was about twenty years old, stabbed the shield of the girl behind her several times with the sword in her hand.

"This is my wife. We live in the same dormitory. She has been reading your book for two years. Her ID in the group chat is Maple. You should remember her, right?"

"..."

……

No. 118 Shangjing Cat Cafe, log in!

I still have deep feelings for the book club that I created several years ago.

Although...well, in a sense that group is no longer the original book club.

When I first created the group, I clearly remember that most of the members were old friends I met on the Tieba forum at that time. Later, perhaps because everyone started a family or lost interest in novels, the original "founders" left the group, disappeared, and disbanded.

This situation continued until my novel was recommended and received a large wave of traffic. Someone in the book review area asked if there was a reader group. I thought that there were not many people in my own novel group anyway, so I slightly modified the name and announced it.

Later, when the novel reached a certain number of words and was put on the shelves for routine recommendation, more people read the book, and more and more people joined the group. However, some people joined the group and were surprised to see so few people. After a few days, they found that the atmosphere was different from what they had imagined, or they had a quarrel with someone in the group, so they left the group one after another.

Over the past four years, the number of my readers has remained at around two to three hundred people, making it a small gaming group with a good overall atmosphere.

As a lazy author who reads the backstage complaints, comments and messages, and various monthly ticket rewards whenever I have free time, I remember very clearly the IDs of people who often complain in the book review area or talk and brag in the group.

In this reader group related to my two novels, group members are generally divided into three factions. The first faction is the largest and most active, namely the game party. They usually play competitive and funny games, such as 300 Heroes, World of Warships, World of Tanks, and CS:GO. When they play games, they will directly open the voice chat in the group. They call this behavior "driving". The rule is that no matter who cheats, they cannot scold, and whoever wants to play can directly enter the voice chat and "get in the car".

In addition, people in this faction usually chat about various games or mobile phones and computer installation in the group. For example, one day someone went to a relative's house and saw that they disassembled their unwanted computer and found a graphics card that had not been used for several years and made a few thousand yuan by reselling it, or they drew a card in the game and got an SSR with a flash of golden light, etc., or they discussed that a certain manufacturer was playing tricks on them during this year's 618 and the flagship phone of a certain manufacturer had plummeted in price, so they should buy it quickly.

This faction is mainly composed of group manager "天下一梦", Bingling, Physics Duck, and Kill All Kirito. Their IDs are very familiar to me. If I remember correctly, the ID "天下一梦" is modeled after a certain video host, and the ID Bingling seems to come from a game called "Dragon Nest". The corresponding ones are "Fire Dance", "Time and Space Lord", and "Dark Queen". The name of Physics Duck comes from Nyako in "Stealth! Nyako", and Physics comes from the weapon "Physics Holy Sword" of the heroine Nyako in this anime. Duck is the abbreviation of the pronunciation of "Nyako", but everyone in the group usually calls him Duck for short. This guy is the funny guy in the group.

The last one is "Kill all Kirito", which seems to be a meme in the game "300 Heroes". It is said that in this game, there are a lot of memes about the hero "Kiritani Kazuto", which is somewhat similar to Yasuo in "League of Legends", that is, happy, easier to target people, handsome, and there are people who choose him almost every time, and the probability of him being a scumbag is particularly high. Then someone issued a call to "Kill all Kirito", and it was promoted on a certain random dating software. At that time, everyone would anonymously go to the software for random matching, and when they met a matched opposite sex, they would send a message "Kill all Kirito?" If the other party was their own person, they would reply with a sentence like "Madoka is extremely strong" to indicate that they are also 300 players, and then both parties would end the "date" at the same time.

As for the "Kill all Kirito" comment in my own reader group, I really never thought that she was a girl.

Because as I remember, she often played games with Bingling Duck and the others, and sometimes she spoke in the group more "greasy" than me. When she saw a pornographic picture, she would say "I'm ready", "Any more? My friend wants to see it" or "White silk looks good", and from time to time she would participate in the action of posting pornographic pictures. Her QQ gender was also shown as "male", and the ID "Kill all Kirito" could not be a young lady at all.

It wasn’t until we met offline that I realized... this person was a female college student, and she didn’t even need to buy long hair to cosplay Tongzi.

As for Maple, she is a typical representative of the second group of readers in the fan group. This type of readers are usually shy, and occasionally pop up to discuss the plot of novels or recent interesting events, share some cute pet videos from Tongmeng.com, etc. They hardly play games, nor do they participate in discussions about games, and spend relatively little time popping up in the group.

At least before this, I had never linked "Kill all Kirito" and "Maple" together. I felt that they were two completely unrelated people in the group.

Kill Light Kirito has a more radical personality. She likes games and all kinds of sexy topics. She can also perfectly integrate into and express her own opinions on topics that boys like, such as computers and notebooks. In comparison, Maple is a pure soft girl. She doesn't play games either. Her name is not in the same style as Kill Light Kirito.

They were roommates in college? Their relationship was a little ambiguous?

I feel like my worldview has collapsed.

"Yes...I have an impression."

In the slightly cool air-conditioned coffee shop, facing the question of "Kill all Kirito", it took me a while to connect this girl with a group friend I remembered in the past few years. I immediately took out my phone, opened the QQ group, and found a member who had a group level of 100 because he often boasted in the group: "Are you...are you sure you didn't make a mistake? Are you Kirito?"

"You can call me Tongtong."

The girl in front of him, wearing the uniform that Kirito wore in the GGO game, didn’t seem to mind the looks from the people around her: “My real name is Cai Jingtong, she…”

After saying that, the girl who called herself Tongtong turned around and glanced at "Maple" behind her. She seemed to be hesitant about whether to say her friend's name. After hesitating for several seconds, she said, "You can call her Lulu or Juanjuan."

What the hell is Juanjuan?

"Lulu's two favorite anime are "Because I'm Too Afraid of Pain, So I Put All My Points in Defense" and "Sword Art Online GGO Gaiden". The full name of the heroine in the latter seems to be Kohiruimaki Karen, that is, Juanjuan. Originally, I planned to let her cosplay the little pink-haired P90, but because this anime is not very popular and the cosplay server is out of stock online, I gave up."

"what……"

At the signal from "Tongzi", "Lulu" at the back shrank back behind the shield again, shyly looked around at the customers who were looking at her with interest, and timidly said, "Hello... Hello, Sister Nuoer, are you really our group leader?"

I...can I say no?

I can accept that Maple is a girl, but if "Kill all Kirito" is also a girl, I really...

At this moment, that emoticon came to my mind - everyone said they were fat otakus, and I believed them. But when I met them offline, they were all JK beauties, and I was the only one who was a real fat otaku.jpg

"So I told you a long time ago that the group leader is a woman. When I recommended this book to you, I also predicted that the author who could describe the heroine's emotions so cleanly and in this style of writing would most likely be a girl. You still didn't believe it."

The girl who called herself Tongtong patted "Maple" on the shoulder and said, "Do you believe it now? I have been with that group pretending uncle for so long and I have enough experience. It's obvious that the group leader is just pretending."

No… ma’am, I really am not pretending.

At least I was a real uncle before, but now...

I don’t know how to explain it to you, but I was indeed an uncle before, but not now.

And to be honest, you are really good at pretending to be an uncle in the group. You have an ID of "Kill All Kirito" and a male Kirito avatar. There is no trace of "femininity" on your profile photo wall. When you play games with others, you can use the voice changer perfectly so that they can't hear any flaws. These points alone make you much better than me.

I told Pippi and the others that I made up the story about turning on voice changers, and you were the only one who really turned on it.

"So, you two..."

To ease the awkwardness, I could only change the subject, gestured to the electronic screen and QR code on the table, and handed over the menu: "Do you want to order anything? Our store is offering a 20% discount today!"

"Uncle... ahem, no, Nuo'er, the makeup you put on today is a little too 2D."

"Tongtong" took the menu and gave face without continuing the topic: "You are so cute that it's a little unreal. Maybe otakus will like this makeup, but normal people will probably think it's a bit overdone. Of course, I think it's good. I'm also a fat otaku."

what?

You... a fat otaku?

I looked at the "Tongzi" in front of me.

The female college student who calls herself "Cai Jingtong" is estimated to be nearly 100 meters tall. She is quite handsome, with small breasts, probably about the size of Miss Death. Her arms and thighs do not appear very thick through her clothes, and she does not have a small belly. She looks like she weighs at least pounds.

Can a girl like this call herself a "fat otaku"?

Compared to her, "Maple" who came after her was a little better. She was about the same height and build as Elodie, with short hair and big timid eyes.

These two...if their relationship at school has gone beyond friendship, then according to the professional terminology in the "Yuri" circle, it's one T and one P, or a long-haired T with a short-haired P.

"Do you have a set meal for two?"

As if ordering for his virtuous wife, "Tongtong" carefully read the various dishes and services on the menu: "Fried chicken, steamed chicken, and milk tea? Free cat petting? One dollar for taking a photo with the maid? It's so cheap here..."

Putting down the menu, Tongtong looked at me in disbelief: "How come taking photos is only one dollar per time? Can you really make money from this?"

"How are you?"

At this time, two girls who were playing with cats not far away came over cautiously and signaled with their eyes to "Kill all Kirito" and "Maple": "Is this... a reserved program in your store?"

"No."

I quickly shook my head: "They are customers."

"We're here to eat and see old friends."

Tongtong sat down on the chair very handsomely and put the "light saber" aside: "My wife and I are about to graduate from college, and I want to go crazy with her one last time, so I ordered some clothes and came over to play."

"Alas!"

Maple, who was hiding behind the shield, immediately poked her head out: "Who is your wife? Don't be like this in public..."

"Look, she can't stand it anymore. It seems that I haven't trained her enough. She's not open enough."

Tongtong glanced at the girl behind the questioner and asked, "Are you guys hanging out together too?"

"Well, I saw an ad on Tongmeng.com saying that you can pet cats for free, so I wanted to come and take a look."

The girl nodded, looking very happy: "It turns out there are really a lot of cats here, of all kinds, so happy..."

"Lulu likes cats, too, but she's a bit shy."

Tongtong pushed Maple next to her and said, "Didn't you keep saying you wanted to play with cats in the car? Why are you so shy now that we're here?"

"what……"

It seems that she is really a bit socially anxious. Maple continued to shrink behind the shield: "I... I'll just watch them."

"The menu says that taking photos here costs one dollar a piece. Can I take photos with anyone?"

The girl next to him interrupted, "Does it cost me one dollar to take pictures of customers... or cats? If someone takes pictures secretly, can you guys find out?"

"You are charged for taking photos with the maids, but you can take photos as you like."

I smiled and said, "Maids refer to the waitresses in the store who wear maid outfits, such as me and the one over there... The one over there with the cat is Xia Mo, and the one over there in the kitchen is Sister Ouyang, our head maid. If she wants to take a photo with us, she needs to pay. She can ask us to pose in any way. After all, it is a project that requires the maid's time, and it is a service fee."

Then, I thought about it and explained, "It's free to take pictures of the store environment, cats, or just take pictures of us. As long as you don't ask the maids to take pictures with you, it's free."

"Wow! Such a conscientious person!"

Hearing what I said, the girl became even happier: "I can pet the cats for free, take photos for free, and use the air conditioning as much as I want... It seems that the discounts in the new store are really great."

“This is not a preferential item…”

I kept a smile on my face and said, "Even if you come to visit in the future, you are allowed to take pictures of the cat maids. There is no charge."

If I'm not mistaken, most of the customers who came to the coffee shop early in the morning on May 10th were UP hosts or anchors, except for a few who got coupons from Tongmeng.com and wanted to come for breakfast.

These video hosts and anchors may still be broadcasting live or recording videos at this moment. If you leave a good impression on them, there will definitely be a large wave of publicity and traffic after the video is released.

"Then something like this..."

The girl who was talking held up her phone and pointed out some of the functions of the mini-app on it to me: "This tipping function, if I tip you directly, how much money can I receive?"

"In full."

I enthusiastically helped the other party click on a section: "It is explained here. If you ask to take photos with the maids, pose, and give tips to the maids in the store, the money will be directly transferred to the maids' accounts. It is not considered as salary. Only when you rent items in the store and buy goods and meals, and spend money in the store, will it go into the coffee shop's company account, and the share will be calculated at the end of the month."

I have done some calculations these days. In a place like the Cat Cafe in Shangjing, the average spending per person is about 30 yuan, excluding small income from tipping the maids and taking photos.

Excluding costs, we can make an average of 8 to 15 yuan from each customer.

During the peak period at noon, there are usually about 20 customers in the store, and about 30 people in the evening. The peak period lasts for 2 hours. On average, each person eats and plays with cats in the store for 20 minutes. During the peak period at noon, there are about 100 people, and 200 people in the evening. Together with the scattered customers in between, there are about 300 orders a day. This is the data before the new store opened a few days ago. According to the best case scenario, the net profit per day seems to be 3000 to 4000 yuan, which is about 10 yuan a month.

Currently, there are two chefs, a waiter, a truck driver, and four of us maids in the store. Not counting Ouyang Xue, there are seven people in total. My basic salary is relatively high, and with commission it is estimated to be more than 7 yuan a month. Ouyang Xue didn't say how much other people's salaries are, but it will definitely not be less than yuan a month. So after paying our salaries, the coffee shop doesn't have much money left to transfer to the company account.

Not to mention the rent of the store itself, as well as the maintenance costs of various items in the store and the cat food and cat litter.

Don't underestimate these cats. Even if there are cheap supply channels, there are 60 cats now. Each cat eats 200 yuan a month, so 60 cats will cost more than 10,000 yuan. Cat litter is also a big expense, and there are also various publicity fees, advertising fees, water and electricity fees...

If we go by the data from the first few days of opening, the cat cafe is 100% losing money this month. Not only is it losing money, but it has also invested hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now it depends on how the video hosts and anchors from Tongmeng.com who come to visit after May 10th promote the cafe.

Although as an adult I am also very clear that big companies like Tongmeng.com will not be interested in such small profits as the coffee shop's turnover, and the people above will not care whether it loses money or makes a loss.

Real capitalists have no interest in this kind of work that requires time and labor in exchange for rewards.

People who play with money only care about stock prices, market capitalization, and market prices.

To put it simply, it is "reputation".

Once the coffee shop becomes famous, it can boost the reputation of the commercial street and increase its popularity. The commercial street can then become prosperous, and then quickly form a chain reaction, driving up the surrounding land prices and popularity.