After a brief chat on the subway, Aoyama, Akane, and Ayumi arrived at the signing venue without incident.
The signing venue was anything but simple; the atmosphere mirrored a massive comic con.
Cosplayers dressed as various anime and manga characters paced across the floor, outnumbered only by the dense crowds of tourists.
Among the costumes, Aoyama as promised easily spotted Edgerunners cosplayers. David, Lucy, Rebecca, and even Maine made an appearance.
Amusingly, some amateur cosplayers went as far as attempting Adam Smasher.
Since Adam Smasher's height wasn't easy to replicate, and the creators clearly aimed for a comedic look, the rigs looked slightly wonky.
But explicitly, they cosplayed Adam Smasher solely to act as the target of jokes.
Cooperating with David cosplayers, they lay on the floor acting out scenes of getting beaten into paste.
The scene drew cheers from the crowd.
Readers desperately wished this was reality,that David had crushed Adam Smasher in the finale and lived happily ever after with Lucy.
But unfortunately... this was just fantasy.
"Aoyama-sensei..."
A staff member who had been waiting for their arrival nodded toward Aoyama in greeting.
"Hello~"
Aoyama responded politely.
Guided by the staff, he, Akane, and Ayumi moved toward his dedicated signing station.
The con floor was packed, and other mangaka were also hosting signing sessions in parallel.
But Aoyama's session stood distinct from the rest.
With the release of the final chapter, Edgerunners had surged back into the number three spot in popularity.
While the rank looked relatively flat on paper, Edgerunners had reached the status of an industry phenomenon.
It was even breaking into mainstream culture due to the "cyberpsycho" references.
On the day the finale dropped, fans flooded the forums pretending to lose their minds, claiming onset of Cyberpsychosis.
Since then, Aoyama's fanbase had adopted the title of "Cyberpsychos" with pride.
They operated like veterans of the internet, making their presence known in every corner.
Consequently, the layout of this session differed from standard ones.
In the center of the auditorium hung a massive banner: [Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners Standalone Volume Signing Session] .
Massive crowds of Edgerunners fans stood packed around the stage, peering forward and chatting with enthusiasm.
{ "I heard old fox Aoyama is appearing in person today. I'm really curious to see what he looks like." }
{ "Didn't he appear in that 'Flying Man' video? Have you not seen it?" }
{ "That sub-par quality video? You can barely tell anything, other than he looks thin and somewhat decent-looking." }
{ "Uuuu, old fox really does belong in a ward. How could he crush David and Rebecca like that..." }
{ "Look at you guys. It's just a comic. Grow up. Since when do adults cry over drawings?" }
{ "Brother, can you take off your sunglasses before saying that?" }
---
Gazing out at the surging crowd of fans and listening to their chatter, Aoyama felt slightly in danger.
The issue wasn't the fans...
It was the volume.
How long would he have to sign to clear a crowd this dense?
Thankfully, he wasn't thrown into being an emotionless signing machine immediately.
The schedule had placed a pre-session interview segment first.
Upon learning that Aoyama and Ayumi had arrived, backstage staff scheduled the interval to begin in ten minutes.
Ten minutes later, the host stepped onto the central stage first.
"Hello everyone attending our Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners signing session today! We're about to start, so please gather round and quiet down!"
The host's voice crackled through the speakers, and the audience immediately fell quiet, fixing their eyes on the stage.
"Before the signing begins, let's first welcome the author behind Cyberpunk 2077: Edgerunners,Aoyama-sensei, and his dedicated editor, Ayumi Ito-san!"
A roar of applause erupted across the plaza.
Tucked into the cheers were several fans bellowing, "Give me back David!" and "Give me back Rebecca!"
But those were just minor intermissions.
Under the host's guidance, Aoyama and Ayumi slowly ascended the stage.
Seeing Aoyama's actual appearance, readers broke into surprise.
{ "I didn't think... old fox was really this young... or does he just look young?" }
{ "He looks sub-thirty, but you can definitely tell he's the same psycho from the internet video." }
{ "Haaah... that editor is gorgeous. Judging by the name, is she a Japanese girl?" }
{ "To be fair, old fox looks fit. He is actually quite handsome." }
{ "Perfect. That messy hair and weird smile fit my stereotype of a cyberpsycho perfectly!" }
{ "Yeah... he looks fine when keeping a straight face, but when he smiles, it's kinda terrifying..." }
---
As readers discussed in whispers, Aoyama and Ayumi took their designated seats on the stage.
"Welcome to both of you," the host smiled warmly.
"To start things off, why don't both of you say a quick hello to the fans?"
Aoyama gave a thumbs-up and grinned. "Hello everyone, I'm Hayashi Aoyama!"
Both the host and Ayumi sitting beside him froze.
Aoyama had just introduced himself using his FULL legal name.
While his pen name was derived from his name, the regular audience didn't know that.
They assumed "Aoyama" was just a pen name.
Now, Aoyama had essentially self-doxed, revealing his actual legal identity to the crowd.
{ "He's really using his real name to draw comics..." }
{ "Perfect. A real patient never hides anything. His head really is broken beyond recovery!" }
{ "He's just so honest, I'm crying on the spot!" }
---
Things having reached this stage, there was zero point reversing it.
But exposing his name wasn't a world-ending issue anyway.
The host smoothly bypassed the minor accident.
After Ayumi completed her introduction, the Q&A segment began.
"First, for Aoyama-sensei. We know Edgerunners represents the worst possible outcome in a high-tech future. Did you intend for it to end in tragedy from the very beginning?"
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]