No matter whether they used daggers or swords to hack at it, the coffin didn’t show the slightest sign of opening.
While Cao Hongtao and the others were still hung up on wanting the Magician’s life, the newcomers were worried from the bottom of their hearts. Anthony wordlessly tried to tear down the coffin with brute force, but regrettably, even the sharp nails of a half-vampire were unable to pierce through the thick coffin lid.
Xu Su was beyond himself with anxiety. “What in the world is going on? Poor Jiu-ge didn’t get captured by a zombified Grandma Yin to become her corpse bride, right?!”
Zhuge An, “…”
This imagination was completely superfluous.
While the crowd remained at an impasse, the vermilion coffin, which had not budged no matter what they threw at it, finally showed signs of movement. It was as though something was about to break out of the coffin, which, backdropped by the gloom shrouding the temple, had an extremely disquieting effect.
Xu Su swallowed his saliva. “Th-that can’t be, right?”
But the very moment the words left his mouth, white smoke abruptly rose from the centre of the temple.
The vermilion lacquer of the coffin surface melted into scarlet, bloody tear streaks, dripping down from the lid, pooling eerily on the ground.
A smouldering fire suddenly flickered, igniting from the coffin lid.
Almost immediately, blazing fire scuttled in all directions. It ravished the coffin wood and raged ferociously, its tongues rising taller than anyone in the hall.
[Holy fuck, why did it suddenly catch fire?]
[I’ve been struck dumb. I’m finding that the live broadcast for famine mountain village turned me dumb too many times. Whereas I’m clearly losing hair in the hospital live broadcast room next door, wishing for them to quickly wise up.]
[+1. The progression in this instance is out of the world. They already ferreted out the mole but they weren’t able to resolve it; there are so many S and A-ranks present, why can’t they handle a C-rank? It’s beyond my understanding.]
[Indeed. But I really like the Magician, he won my heart. As long as the Magician turns out okay, I’ll be happy hehehe.]
[??? What’s going on? Put out the fire, what’s the point of standing frozen there!]
Everyone was stupefied at the sight of this sudden sea of fire.
Only Zhuge An’s eyes turned grim. He rapidly whisked out his Taiji Eight Trigrams dial.
Clear spring water was produced from thin air, changing into a spray that showered down towards the coffin in the middle of the hall.
“Sizzle—” The air spluttered as raging fire contacted icy water.
The torrent of water gradually doused the inferno, leaving humid white smoke.
When the fire was finally extinguished, everyone fixed their eyes on the coffin.
The wood was already charred completely black, and a plank suddenly fell down from the side.
Soaked black debris crumbled to the ground, revealing the insides behind it.
—In the colossal coffin, the interior was unexpectedly completely empty. There was nothing at all.
This time, even Xu Sen was stupefied. “What’s going on? Where is he?”
[This can’t be, did the Magician die?]
[Ah… this really isn’t looking good. The guy has even vanished; it isn’t even too far of a reach to guess that he’s been directly pulverised. Does anyone remember the A-rank instance last time where people were turned into bone powder? /shudder]
[Geez, must you bring that up? That instance is my worst nightmare…]
[Don’t say that!! I really like the Magician, don’t let anything happen to Magician-gege, please!!!]
[I don’t think it’s that bad. That guy’s the winner of Las Vegas, how can he die without putting up a struggle?]
Pc jmaejilas, atf wbgf fzqfglfcmfv nfafgjcr jirb tjgybegfv rlwlijg rerqlmlbcr.
“Cijr, lo tf’r wlrrlcu, tf’r wbra qgbyjyis j ubcfg.”
“Qtja j qlas; la’r tjgv ab olcv j wbgf qgbwlrlcu cfkmbwfg.”
“Tbe mjc’a yijwf er. Lf vlrjqqfjgfv yfmjerf bo tlwrfio. Lf kjr fnfc rb mbcolvfca fjgilfg.”
Gfrqlaf atflg qgfafcalber ajix, atfs kfgf mbwqifafis ecjyif ab wjrx atflg uibjalcu.
Each of the veterans were mercilessly taken as cash cows by the Magician. After discovering that Zong Jiu was the mole, they turned flush with rage and humiliation, which was why Cao Hongtao was able to rally so many people.
These veterans only stood back at Anthony’s warning, resentfully staying their hands.
Although Las Vegas had put the Magician in the limelight, he was still a world away from the S-ranks. So how was he elevated to the status of a distinguished guest of the Night Clan? Was it possible that the leader of the Night Clan, Van Zhuo, standing at No. 2, wanted to recruit him, bestowing him the vampiric bite?
The moment this idea emerged, people almost collapsed from envy.
A C-rank trainee was not only able to fall into the good graces of that revered figure in Las Vegas, but had also got chummy with a bigshot in the Night Clan. How could other trainees not go green-eyed?
Only the veteran contenders knew the sheer difficulty of climbing up for those near the top of the pyramid. Let alone No. 1, hailed as a god by all, never stepping down to walk among them mortals, even getting the vampiric bite from Van Zhuo was an honour that no one dared to imagine.
It was precisely because of this that these veterans were all too happy to see him down on his luck.
Only Zhuge An glanced at the charred coffin with an inscrutable expression. From the corner of his eyes, he glanced at Black-Robed Azan walking out of the temple, then dropped a sentence. “We’re leaving.”
The newcomers were all still engulfed by grief of what Zong Jiu could have encountered, and weren’t able to react for some time.
Before this, Zong Jiu had won support for keeping his word and was unanimously accepted as the leader of the newcomers’ group. Conversely, this S-rank Zhuge An was unabashedly taking it easy. Although they were slightly fearful of the prestige of his No. 3 title, they were all fresh to the infinite loop and were unaware of the ‘glorious’ track record Zhuge An had, so their respect eclipsed their fear.
Hearing him, Xu Su gave a start. “Go where? Are we not going to care about Jiu-ge?”
The dark-haired man indifferently swept a glance at him. “Bring that child.”
But he didn’t give a word of explanation, walking straight out of the temple. Left behind, the newcomers hesitated, looking at each other in dismay.
Zhuge An never liked unnecessary explanations, especially when they were so glaringly obvious that explaining them would practically be a waste of breath.
Although the prophecy did foretell a catastrophe, it definitely wouldn’t be now. The time wasn’t ripe yet.
Zhuge An discreetly tugged down the brim of his bamboo hat.
Before a final identity verification could be made, Zong Jiu’s death was of little concern to him. His death would only mean that he wasn’t the one in the prophecy. He had to survive minimally until the evaluation of the third round before there was any chance of verification.
The instance’s task was also drawing to a close. There wasn’t any difference in when they left, as long as they wrapped it up.
He had to hasten the pace.
…
[A-ranked Instance: Famine Mountain Village. Normal identity card task clear.]
[Please hold as clearance rewards are being settled… The instance is being closed… You will be transferred in 30 seconds to the location: Broadcasting Studio.]
The surrounding landscape of the village in famine immediately stilled, then transformed into large blocks of colour that fitted together.
Everyone standing in the clearing let loose a sigh of relief.
The subsequent close didn’t pose much of a hindrance.
The old woman descended on a shaft of golden light, not only exorcising the environment, but also taking away all bodhisattva soil from the village.
In the famine age, villagers had been consuming soil entrenched with Yin for many years. Their hearts had turned demonic, and when shrouded by Buddha’s halo, they scattered in all directions. Some villagers, like Wang Shou, thought that Grandma Wang had morphed into an evil demon and was after their lives, so they instinctively plunged headlong into the remote, thickly forested mountains like savages, devouring raw meat and fowl. There were even some villagers who, foolishly bearing dreams of immortality, approached the land where the bodhisattva soil once resided, only to have their souls scorched into nothingness by the residual Buddha’s halo, forever cast out of the reincarnation cycle.
The trainees brought the little boy and entrusted the human traffickers, who Wang Shou had arranged to come the next morning, to find a good home for him.
While human traffickers conducted unsavoury business in this day and age, all in all, a young boy was still a treasure in this era and would even receive better treatment than daughters when placed in other families. His only chance of survival was to leave this place.
Though the hearts of the villagers had warped, they still wore human skin and their bodies would also turn into corpses after their passing. They were turned away from hell, not even able to be purged of their sins in the eighteen levels and enter the reincarnation cycle. Their souls would roam on earth until pain dissipated them, which could also be considered a deserving death.
After the dust settled, the newcomers turned mournful.
Even a veteran like Xu Sen, who had grown accustomed to death, was quiet, not to mention a newcomer like Xu Su. The atmosphere was exceptionally heavy as they were transferred to the broadcasting studio.
The clearing began to fragment and restructure. The coloured blocks containing the oppressive gloom of the famine mountain village gradually faded into the distance.
Once again, the dome of the broadcasting studio emerged in everyone’s vision.
Pure gold chandeliers swivelled around the high vaulted dome, diffusing golden patterns across the crimson carpet, gilding this space in a warm hue.
The heavenly deities that surrounded the hall had transformed into the twelve Olympians of the Greek pantheon. Apollo was treading on a solar corona, Artemis was drawing an arrow on a bow, Athena was lifting a shield up high, Aphrodite was tipsy from drinks, and Zeus was summoning wind and rain.
The hall was teeming with people. It was a sea of heads as far as the eye could see.
There was a visible drop in numbers again. The lower the step, the steeper the decrease, but it was still much better than the previous time where the numbers were almost halved. At least, it wasn’t too tragic.
But, everyone’s expressions still didn’t look too good.
As before, some on the E-rank step had burst into tears from anxiety, but at least most trainees were familiar with the process and had an idea of what to expect.
It was a period of waiting now. Every now and then there would be a flash of light on the steps, signalling the transfer of yet another trainee out of an instance, in preparation for the rank evaluation.
Xu Su and the rest stood with their heads hung in grief, until the cold voice of the system resounded in the hall.
[All trainees have assembled. We will now begin the second post-match cum third round of evaluation.]
[At the end of each round, the lowest rank will be eliminated. According to the rules of the competition, trainees who receive an E-rank after this round of evaluation will be automatically sent to the punishment instance.]
The most anxious were, naturally, the trainees standing on the E-rank step.
If they failed to change their luck in the coming third round of evaluation, they would be spirited to the punishment instance.
It was a truth universally acknowledged that after the conclusion of the second round of evaluation, not a single one of the several ten thousand F-rank trainees had made it back alive from the punishment instance. This survival rate was tantamount to calling the punishment instance a death sentence; a place where one would ultimately die, merely set apart by how much longer one had to live.
[Turning on panoramic camera… successfully enabled.]
The live broadcast room for the rank evaluation was opened, and the viewers outside gushed in like a torrential tide.
[Woohoo, the third round of evaluation, here I come! The most exciting moment!]
[Of the entire Thriller Trainee competition, my favourite segment is the evaluation kekekeke.]
[/Whose isn’t. jpg. This is the most engaging part.]
[The instance this round feels easier than the one-man show in the first round, but several live broadcasts saw a total wipeout. The rooms that made it didn’t see many deaths, whereas the rooms that were lost were completely massacred. It’s true what they say, a single misstep is the difference between heaven and hell.]
The bullet chat chittered in excitement, moving their optical drives to swipe across the screen.
The lens covered the entire scene, such that even with several ten thousands standing in the broadcasting studio, the viewers could freely adjust the zoom of the visual to observe every trainee.
Of course, this was limited to the lower-ranking trainees. High-ranking trainees had the option to turn off the permissions for zooming in on them.
[Let’s goooo. Man, too bad that my favourite Magician is gone, /sobbing.jpg]
Instantly, this comment was pushed to the top, and onlookers paled in fright.
[What? The Magician’s gone??]
[Are you pulling my leg?? I dropped off to go into a horror instance midway; I only turned my eyes away for two days and now you’re telling me that my favourite Magician is gone? Ah??]
[That’s not possible, some pompous guy had even opened a forum thread slamming him yesterday, how can he be gone now?]
[Pfft, it’s great that he’s gone, he’s long been a thorn in my sight.]
[Dude, I can’t believe you exist. If you don’t want to watch then gtfo, does it make you happy running your mouth here?]
[You fans are too aggressive, no…? You’re being so defensive, it’s like someone pulled your leg hair. All they did was crack a joke and you’re protecting him like your life depends on it rofl.]
…
[Can everyone stop arguing? Do you guys have problems with your brains? You have the time to argue but don’t have the time to open your eyes and just look? The Magician is standing all fine and dandy on the C-rank step.]
[Exactly. I felt my IQ drop just watching this argument. The person in question is standing right there; I don’t get what you guys are arguing about. Speechless.]
The viewers, in the thick of their three-hundredth round of mud-slinging, all froze. Each of them turned their cameras over to check it out.
Sure enough, amidst the mass of people packed on the C-rank step stood a particularly conspicuous white-haired young man. He looked fatigued and his clothes were creased, but he was otherwise completely unharmed.
No matter whether they used daggers or swords to hack at it, the coffin didn’t show the slightest sign of opening.
While Cao Hongtao and the others were still hung up on wanting the Magician’s life, the newcomers were worried from the bottom of their hearts. Anthony wordlessly tried to tear down the coffin with brute force, but regrettably, even the sharp nails of a half-vampire were unable to pierce through the thick coffin lid.
Xu Su was beyond himself with anxiety. “What in the world is going on? Poor Jiu-ge didn’t get captured by a zombified Grandma Yin to become her corpse bride, right?!”
Zhuge An, “…”
This imagination was completely superfluous.
While the crowd remained at an impasse, the vermilion coffin, which had not budged no matter what they threw at it, finally showed signs of movement. It was as though something was about to break out of the coffin, which, backdropped by the gloom shrouding the temple, had an extremely disquieting effect.
Xu Su swallowed his saliva. “Th-that can’t be, right?”
But the very moment the words left his mouth, white smoke abruptly rose from the centre of the temple.
The vermilion lacquer of the coffin surface melted into scarlet, bloody tear streaks, dripping down from the lid, pooling eerily on the ground.
A smouldering fire suddenly flickered, igniting from the coffin lid.
Almost immediately, blazing fire scuttled in all directions. It ravished the coffin wood and raged ferociously, its tongues rising taller than anyone in the hall.
[Holy fuck, why did it suddenly catch fire?]
[I’ve been struck dumb. I’m finding that the live broadcast for famine mountain village turned me dumb too many times. Whereas I’m clearly losing hair in the hospital live broadcast room next door, wishing for them to quickly wise up.]
[+1. The progression in this instance is out of the world. They already ferreted out the mole but they weren’t able to resolve it; there are so many S and A-ranks present, why can’t they handle a C-rank? It’s beyond my understanding.]
[Indeed. But I really like the Magician, he won my heart. As long as the Magician turns out okay, I’ll be happy hehehe.]
[??? What’s going on? Put out the fire, what’s the point of standing frozen there!]
Everyone was stupefied at the sight of this sudden sea of fire.
Only Zhuge An’s eyes turned grim. He rapidly whisked out his Taiji Eight Trigrams dial.
Clear spring water was produced from thin air, changing into a spray that showered down towards the coffin in the middle of the hall.
“Sizzle—” The air spluttered as raging fire contacted icy water.
The torrent of water gradually doused the inferno, leaving humid white smoke.
When the fire was finally extinguished, everyone fixed their eyes on the coffin.
The wood was already charred completely black, and a plank suddenly fell down from the side.
Soaked black debris crumbled to the ground, revealing the insides behind it.
—In the colossal coffin, the interior was unexpectedly completely empty. There was nothing at all.
This time, even Xu Sen was stupefied. “What’s going on? Where is he?”
[This can’t be, did the Magician die?]
[Ah… this really isn’t looking good. The guy has even vanished; it isn’t even too far of a reach to guess that he’s been directly pulverised. Does anyone remember the A-rank instance last time where people were turned into bone powder? /shudder]
[Geez, must you bring that up? That instance is my worst nightmare…]
[Don’t say that!! I really like the Magician, don’t let anything happen to Magician-gege, please!!!]
[I don’t think it’s that bad. That guy’s the winner of Las Vegas, how can he die without putting up a struggle?]
Pc jmaejilas, atf wbgf fzqfglfcmfv nfafgjcr jirb tjgybegfv rlwlijg rerqlmlbcr.
“Cijr, lo tf’r wlrrlcu, tf’r wbra qgbyjyis j ubcfg.”
“Qtja j qlas; la’r tjgv ab olcv j wbgf qgbwlrlcu cfkmbwfg.”
“Tbe mjc’a yijwf er. Lf vlrjqqfjgfv yfmjerf bo tlwrfio. Lf kjr fnfc rb mbcolvfca fjgilfg.”
Gfrqlaf atflg qgfafcalber ajix, atfs kfgf mbwqifafis ecjyif ab wjrx atflg uibjalcu.
Each of the veterans were mercilessly taken as cash cows by the Magician. After discovering that Zong Jiu was the mole, they turned flush with rage and humiliation, which was why Cao Hongtao was able to rally so many people.
These veterans only stood back at Anthony’s warning, resentfully staying their hands.
Although Las Vegas had put the Magician in the limelight, he was still a world away from the S-ranks. So how was he elevated to the status of a distinguished guest of the Night Clan? Was it possible that the leader of the Night Clan, Van Zhuo, standing at No. 2, wanted to recruit him, bestowing him the vampiric bite?
The moment this idea emerged, people almost collapsed from envy.
A C-rank trainee was not only able to fall into the good graces of that revered figure in Las Vegas, but had also got chummy with a bigshot in the Night Clan. How could other trainees not go green-eyed?
Only the veteran contenders knew the sheer difficulty of climbing up for those near the top of the pyramid. Let alone No. 1, hailed as a god by all, never stepping down to walk among them mortals, even getting the vampiric bite from Van Zhuo was an honour that no one dared to imagine.
It was precisely because of this that these veterans were all too happy to see him down on his luck.
Only Zhuge An glanced at the charred coffin with an inscrutable expression. From the corner of his eyes, he glanced at Black-Robed Azan walking out of the temple, then dropped a sentence. “We’re leaving.”
The newcomers were all still engulfed by grief of what Zong Jiu could have encountered, and weren’t able to react for some time.
Before this, Zong Jiu had won support for keeping his word and was unanimously accepted as the leader of the newcomers’ group. Conversely, this S-rank Zhuge An was unabashedly taking it easy. Although they were slightly fearful of the prestige of his No. 3 title, they were all fresh to the infinite loop and were unaware of the ‘glorious’ track record Zhuge An had, so their respect eclipsed their fear.
Hearing him, Xu Su gave a start. “Go where? Are we not going to care about Jiu-ge?”
The dark-haired man indifferently swept a glance at him. “Bring that child.”
But he didn’t give a word of explanation, walking straight out of the temple. Left behind, the newcomers hesitated, looking at each other in dismay.
Zhuge An never liked unnecessary explanations, especially when they were so glaringly obvious that explaining them would practically be a waste of breath.
Although the prophecy did foretell a catastrophe, it definitely wouldn’t be now. The time wasn’t ripe yet.
Zhuge An discreetly tugged down the brim of his bamboo hat.
Before a final identity verification could be made, Zong Jiu’s death was of little concern to him. His death would only mean that he wasn’t the one in the prophecy. He had to survive minimally until the evaluation of the third round before there was any chance of verification.
The instance’s task was also drawing to a close. There wasn’t any difference in when they left, as long as they wrapped it up.
He had to hasten the pace.
…
[A-ranked Instance: Famine Mountain Village. Normal identity card task clear.]
[Please hold as clearance rewards are being settled… The instance is being closed… You will be transferred in 30 seconds to the location: Broadcasting Studio.]
The surrounding landscape of the village in famine immediately stilled, then transformed into large blocks of colour that fitted together.
Everyone standing in the clearing let loose a sigh of relief.
The subsequent close didn’t pose much of a hindrance.
The old woman descended on a shaft of golden light, not only exorcising the environment, but also taking away all bodhisattva soil from the village.
In the famine age, villagers had been consuming soil entrenched with Yin for many years. Their hearts had turned demonic, and when shrouded by Buddha’s halo, they scattered in all directions. Some villagers, like Wang Shou, thought that Grandma Wang had morphed into an evil demon and was after their lives, so they instinctively plunged headlong into the remote, thickly forested mountains like savages, devouring raw meat and fowl. There were even some villagers who, foolishly bearing dreams of immortality, approached the land where the bodhisattva soil once resided, only to have their souls scorched into nothingness by the residual Buddha’s halo, forever cast out of the reincarnation cycle.
The trainees brought the little boy and entrusted the human traffickers, who Wang Shou had arranged to come the next morning, to find a good home for him.
While human traffickers conducted unsavoury business in this day and age, all in all, a young boy was still a treasure in this era and would even receive better treatment than daughters when placed in other families. His only chance of survival was to leave this place.
Though the hearts of the villagers had warped, they still wore human skin and their bodies would also turn into corpses after their passing. They were turned away from hell, not even able to be purged of their sins in the eighteen levels and enter the reincarnation cycle. Their souls would roam on earth until pain dissipated them, which could also be considered a deserving death.
After the dust settled, the newcomers turned mournful.
Even a veteran like Xu Sen, who had grown accustomed to death, was quiet, not to mention a newcomer like Xu Su. The atmosphere was exceptionally heavy as they were transferred to the broadcasting studio.
The clearing began to fragment and restructure. The coloured blocks containing the oppressive gloom of the famine mountain village gradually faded into the distance.
Once again, the dome of the broadcasting studio emerged in everyone’s vision.
Pure gold chandeliers swivelled around the high vaulted dome, diffusing golden patterns across the crimson carpet, gilding this space in a warm hue.
The heavenly deities that surrounded the hall had transformed into the twelve Olympians of the Greek pantheon. Apollo was treading on a solar corona, Artemis was drawing an arrow on a bow, Athena was lifting a shield up high, Aphrodite was tipsy from drinks, and Zeus was summoning wind and rain.
The hall was teeming with people. It was a sea of heads as far as the eye could see.
There was a visible drop in numbers again. The lower the step, the steeper the decrease, but it was still much better than the previous time where the numbers were almost halved. At least, it wasn’t too tragic.
But, everyone’s expressions still didn’t look too good.
As before, some on the E-rank step had burst into tears from anxiety, but at least most trainees were familiar with the process and had an idea of what to expect.
It was a period of waiting now. Every now and then there would be a flash of light on the steps, signalling the transfer of yet another trainee out of an instance, in preparation for the rank evaluation.
Xu Su and the rest stood with their heads hung in grief, until the cold voice of the system resounded in the hall.
[All trainees have assembled. We will now begin the second post-match cum third round of evaluation.]
[At the end of each round, the lowest rank will be eliminated. According to the rules of the competition, trainees who receive an E-rank after this round of evaluation will be automatically sent to the punishment instance.]
The most anxious were, naturally, the trainees standing on the E-rank step.
If they failed to change their luck in the coming third round of evaluation, they would be spirited to the punishment instance.
It was a truth universally acknowledged that after the conclusion of the second round of evaluation, not a single one of the several ten thousand F-rank trainees had made it back alive from the punishment instance. This survival rate was tantamount to calling the punishment instance a death sentence; a place where one would ultimately die, merely set apart by how much longer one had to live.
[Turning on panoramic camera… successfully enabled.]
The live broadcast room for the rank evaluation was opened, and the viewers outside gushed in like a torrential tide.
[Woohoo, the third round of evaluation, here I come! The most exciting moment!]
[Of the entire Thriller Trainee competition, my favourite segment is the evaluation kekekeke.]
[/Whose isn’t. jpg. This is the most engaging part.]
[The instance this round feels easier than the one-man show in the first round, but several live broadcasts saw a total wipeout. The rooms that made it didn’t see many deaths, whereas the rooms that were lost were completely massacred. It’s true what they say, a single misstep is the difference between heaven and hell.]
The bullet chat chittered in excitement, moving their optical drives to swipe across the screen.
The lens covered the entire scene, such that even with several ten thousands standing in the broadcasting studio, the viewers could freely adjust the zoom of the visual to observe every trainee.
Of course, this was limited to the lower-ranking trainees. High-ranking trainees had the option to turn off the permissions for zooming in on them.
[Let’s goooo. Man, too bad that my favourite Magician is gone, /sobbing.jpg]
Instantly, this comment was pushed to the top, and onlookers paled in fright.
[What? The Magician’s gone??]
[Are you pulling my leg?? I dropped off to go into a horror instance midway; I only turned my eyes away for two days and now you’re telling me that my favourite Magician is gone? Ah??]
[That’s not possible, some pompous guy had even opened a forum thread slamming him yesterday, how can he be gone now?]
[Pfft, it’s great that he’s gone, he’s long been a thorn in my sight.]
[Dude, I can’t believe you exist. If you don’t want to watch then gtfo, does it make you happy running your mouth here?]
[You fans are too aggressive, no…? You’re being so defensive, it’s like someone pulled your leg hair. All they did was crack a joke and you’re protecting him like your life depends on it rofl.]
…
[Can everyone stop arguing? Do you guys have problems with your brains? You have the time to argue but don’t have the time to open your eyes and just look? The Magician is standing all fine and dandy on the C-rank step.]
[Exactly. I felt my IQ drop just watching this argument. The person in question is standing right there; I don’t get what you guys are arguing about. Speechless.]
The viewers, in the thick of their three-hundredth round of mud-slinging, all froze. Each of them turned their cameras over to check it out.
Sure enough, amidst the mass of people packed on the C-rank step stood a particularly conspicuous white-haired young man. He looked fatigued and his clothes were creased, but he was otherwise completely unharmed.
