"And I was planning such an amazing Rom cosplay too..." a girl muttered to herself, having been doing so for a while now.
Maiko Hayakawa stood in the middle of the convention floor, unsure of why she even came this year. Despite her best efforts, Maiko had been humiliatingly unsuccessful in creating her cosplay, so she was just in her casual clothes. However, looking around at all the other incredible cosplays, she regretted coming to the convention without her own.
"Ugh, I'm just going to go home before I get myself even more frustrated," she muttered to herself.
Something caught her attention once she was outside the front doors: an old lady with weird clothing seemed to be loitering outside. Maiko recognized the dress and parasol as belonging to a character from a popular doujin game, and concluded this must be another cosplay. "What the hell are they doing out here...?" she asked under her breath.
Suddenly, the woman turned and walked around to the side of the building. Being unable to think of anything else to do, and admittedly curious, Maiko followed the woman.
When she turned the corner, Maiko came face to face with the woman and her smirk. Before Maiko could react, the woman gave her a small wave, and then Maiko felt the ground open beneath her feet just before she fell in and lost consciousness.