Chapter Ch59.2 - Third Elimination Match
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
The White Moonlight Battle Team had lost in the Star League and halted in the top 16 of the Azure competition zone. Regardless of whether it was the company, the trainees, or even products endorsed by the team, they had all been called into question and had been under pressure for the past month.
Wu Jin, as a White Moonlight trainee who had suddenly become popular, was even more eye-catching.
Some people on Azure Edge questioned, “Wu Jin’s gun level is below average. The Crosson Show has changed from drafting for talent to selling good looks.”
Even before White Moonlight’s PR department could respond, the girl who had gone from star chasing to becoming a fan had already quickly formed a group to fight back.
“Brother Little Witch participated in two elimination matches. In the first round, he ranked in the top 25 and was the champion in the second round. Can you do that?!”
“The evaluation match rating was given by the big guy Blood Pigeon. Also, the Crosson Show isn’t stupid... seriously, there are wins and losses in any competition. Battle teams are battle teams, and trainees are trainees. Tossing blame around every day and even shooting down newcomers... is being a hater really fun?”
However, this ‘hardcore audience’ was also good at fighting and quickly found new points to pick on.
“Building a support group even before your debut? I’m begging you to switch professions and become an idol; you won’t lose a single fan that way. Just let it go after getting your wave of popularity from the survival show, alright? A dynamic target average of seven rings is only at the F-level––I’m waiting to see your demotion.”
“Previous poster, there was someone else who said that in the last round––go take a look at the Crosson special edition. That person has already changed from being a hater to a fan.”
“Is it fun to pretend to be a fan? How many water armies have been hired to act out this hater to fan scene? I’ll give double the amount for you to perform turning from a fan to a hater, do you want it?”
“... Can’t afford to provoke you, really can’t afford to provoke you. If you have the ability, why don’t you go clutch at other people’s mama fans? They’ll all come over to your Star Blog. What’s the point in grabbing at passersby in the forums?!”
Inside the Crosson Show director studio.
After seeing the related traffic flow jump up and increase in response, the program producer showed a happy smile.
Ying Xiangxiang had just finished putting together her look for the elimination match according to the main theme. A simple beige evening gown was decorated with nothing but a Pisces brooch. Her hair was dyed a light flaxen color, and she wore a garland woven with flowers and jewelry. At a glance, she already gave off a strong mystical sense.
Blood Pigeon was currently looking at a batch of newly generated evaluation forms for the contestants. His eyes were fixed on one spot, and his expression was surprised. It was a long time before he moved his gaze away.
The two of them chatted on and off, and Ying Xiangxiang suddenly mentioned the recent trend of public opinion on the Star Net, “Little Witch’s mentality should still be alright?”
Blood Pigeon handed over the evaluation chart in his hands, “Take a look.”
The dynamic target accuracy of seven rings remained unchanged.
Ying Xiangxiang nodded and was just about to say something about how he could just maintain his state and take it slowly, when Blood Pigeon suddenly interrupted, “The data isn’t right.”
Ying Xiangxiang was surprised.
Blood Pigeon: “It’s a very stable seven rings result––there’s no deviation in twenty shots. There’s only one possibility.”
Ying Xiangxiang figured it out swiftly, “He––He’s using a tenth ring level to produce a seven ring result?! Is Little Witch hiding his power?”
Blood Pigeon nodded, and the corner of his mouth twitched, “I think his state is too good.”
Ying Xiangxiang: “Why?”
Blood Pigeon explained, “In order to gain the upper hand in the competition and have the element of surprise. You’ll see. The players who dare to take him lightly during the match and really initiate a fight with him––they’ll definitely regret their decision.”
Early in the morning of the day of the game.
The smell of food circulating in the canteen surprised all the contestants.
Based on the quality of the meal alone, the third elimination match would definitely not be any easier than the previous one.
Many people even took out their tarot cards to perform a divination in the canteen&#k2013;&#k2013;but the results were a jumbled mess of everything.
Some people claimed that they had calculated a &#k2018;supersized moth’, and some even pulled out three reverse minor arcana. During this period, some contestants speculated about the competition system, and felt that there might be a &#k2018;Death God’ trainee with &#k2018;absolute execution power’ over other players.
By the time they entered the preparation area, Zoe’s brain was aching, and he expressed that he didn’t want to see another card ever again after the game.
Two hours before they were to enter the arena, the program producer finally announced the rules for team formation.
The trainees were free to form teams of their own, and each team would be equipped with remote communication equipment––
Zoe quickly looked at Wu Jin.
As Wu Jin had guessed, in order to increase the chances of encounters, the entire team would be split up in different parts of the competition field. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be required to wear communication equipment at all.
The four members of White Moonlight gathered together again and quickly discussed a series of combat signals such as ‘enemy attack’, ‘secure up ahead’, ‘group fight’, ‘strange developments, stop fooling around’, and so on.
If they weren’t able to say anything when they encountered danger, then they could make other sounds with their body instead of with their voices.
Wu Jin installed the communication equipment and made an ‘OK’ gesture to the others.
Then, he looked along the crowd of trainees to the very end. Red was jumping up and down in a corner against the wall as he shouted, and Wei Shi was leaning lazily against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
Wu Jin glanced over a few more times, then looked back with a little round face full of happiness.
Onstage, the program producer pulled out a loudspeaker and signaled for silence.
“Now, we’re going to announce the results of the audience’s votes––in the third elimination match, we’ve cancelled the starting time advantage, and all contestants will enter the competition together.”
The field quickly grew agitated, and trainees with low votes breathed a sigh of relief.
The program producer continued, “Did you all get that? Alright. Let’s start from the first place and draw cards one by one. First of all, first place in the vote rankings, Contestant 300012, Wu Jin.”
Wu Jin stilled as thoughts quickly flew through his mind. It turned out that the rule at the start really was to draw cards. That meant that the meaning of each card was built into the map. The difference was––he looked up in surprise.
First place, Contestant 300012, Wu Jin.
On the virtual screen, the votes for each trainee were announced one by one. Wu Jin had surpassed Wei Yan, who had been at the top of the list for two months, by a narrow margin.
There was an uproar amongst the trainees in the field.
Wu Jin responded and walked up to the center of the field.
The youth’s eyes shone in the early summer morning light.
Blood Pigeon nodded to him and smiled as he said, “This position represents the audience’s support for you, and it will also result in more pressure. Little Witch, are you ready?”
Wu Jin nodded.
When the camera swept over, Wu Jin suddenly showed a small smile and bowed to the camera. His mouth moved and formed the words “Thank you, wait for me.”
Ying Xiangxiang, sitting in the judges’ area, chuckled, “Did the scrolling comments get stuck?”
The small manager nodded readily; it was obvious that this was a common occurrence. Their tone was calm but firm, “It’s stuck.”
On the screen, the youth’s eyes were full of energy. His face was clearly still just as small and round, dimples showing from his smile, but there was something new that made fans scream more vigorously.
“Oh, he’s grown up.” Ying Xiangxiang felt quite emotional.
The order for drawing cards was fixed, and the divination master, Sinra, was late as usual. This time, he also brought an assistant––a boy who looked to be 15 or 16 years old, with dark, healthy looking skin.
Wu Jin looked closely at the movements on the stage––
Sinra took out three brand-new tarot decks from his bag of cards, shuffled them, then laid them out. He smiled slightly, “The two instructors can draw first.”
Blood Pigeon’s expression was surprised, “We also need to draw?”
The divination master Sinra nodded and said in a warm voice, “Just keep it as a souvenir.”
On the other side, Ying Xiangxiang reached out quickly––her bright red fingernails picked out a card from the scattered pile. The other side of the card couldn’t be seen on the camera, but there was a smile on Ying Xiangxiang’s face.
Blood Pigeon rolled up his sleeves, and his movements as he drew a card were more forceful than Ying Xiangxiang’s. It seemed that he was a little nervous. Perhaps it was because it was his first contact with the metaphysical, and he didn’t know whether it was credible or not.
Blood Pigeon was obviously a little stunned when he looked at the card he drew. Sinra, on the other hand, was rather high-spirited, “The last card of the major arcana––The World, signifying completion. It means success and new life. If you were just thinking of your family in your heart––your wife will surely have a smooth birth.”
Blood Pigeon let out a sigh of relief and looked at Sinra gratefully.
Sinra smiled lightly and called for his assistant. He took out 300 cards from the remaining cards, then asked the players to draw cards one after another.
Wu Jin’s hand speed was very fast. After drawing his card, he thanked Sinra and covered up the image on his card.
The trainees went up onto the stage one by one. Wu Jin narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what cards everyone had gotten from their expression––but it was fruitless. Almost everyone was completely confused, and there was no way to confirm what the card in their hands represented in the game.
When they were about to set out, Zoe asked quietly about the cards they had––and immediately turned towards Caesar in astonishment.
“This fool is really lucky.” Zoe lamented.
Caesar immediately exulted, “What does this card mean? Does it mean that my wifey is also going to have a baby...”
Zoe kicked him, “You have a wife?”
The card in Caesar’s hands was exactly the same as the one Blood Pigeon had pulled out. Major arcana––The World.
Wu Jin also nodded, “Brother Caesar’s card’s pretty good.”
Caesar: “What does this mean...”
Zoe: “Enough, enough. You’ll forget in two minutes after I tell you anyway.”
Wen Lin, on the other hand, was smiling broadly, “Caesar, perhaps you’ll be the champion this round.”
A quarter of an hour later.
Wu Jin entered the lift unit according to the program staff’s instructions. As expected, he was separated from his teammates.
In front of the hill of the Crosson Show, dozens of aerial cameras suddenly rose up into the morning sky.
The curtain for the third elimination match arena finally lifted up––
All the contestants and live broadcast audience members couldn’t help but suck in a breath of air.
The huge gothic style building was dazzling as it stood there in the sun. The spires were towering, and colorful glass was embedded in the glass murals. The lines of the building were straight and rigid, and seemed to stretch up straight into the clouds.
Each player held tightly to their card. In front of them was the sharp arch with ridges that led into the arena, and the interior was filled with overlapping layers. Outside the entrance, the flying buttresses and pillars were surrounded by elaborate reliefs, light and shadow intertwining as they circled up––
Wu Jin looked up, only to see that the top of the spire was illuminated by the sun, like a piece of paradise separate from the world.
He retrieved his gaze. His eyes shifted slightly as he walked inside, holding the short machine gun that was his starting weapon.
Inside the entrance arch was a quiet cloister. Light sprinkled in through the grandiose glass windows and spread out beneath Wu Jin’s feet, like the image of a god scattered over shifting water.
Wu Jin looked towards the stained glass window––
“Hermes.” He murmured.
The setting for the third elimination match was clearly not a church. It was more like an altar––
Offering up sacrifice to the god Hermes, the progenitor of mystical philosophy.
At the end of the corridor, behind the closed main door, came a faint noise that sounded like a bell or a horn.
An envelope with the Crosson Show logo was placed at the entrance to the first instance.
Crosson Show director studio.
When the camera moved away from Wu Jin, Ying Xiangxiang was full of appreciation, “The first player to recognize Hermes––Little Witch must have done a lot of homework.”
“The god Hermes represents the origin of alchemy, astrology, and magic between the 14th and 19th century. It can be said that without him, there would be no competition today.”
“The theme for the third elimination match is divination––the fate of the players will be up to them. I feel that this is the charm of divination. A destiny that can be seen, is hard to touch, yet can be changed by one’s own hands.”
At this time, the rose-gold colored cross-shaped mechanism could be seen rotating in the camera as the competitors scattered around the entrances each picked up the envelopes in front of them one after another.
The program producer shouted from outside the arena, “Aerial, switch to the aerial camera and give the sponsors exposure––quickly!”
The camera view switched, and the huge gothic structure gradually rotated and shrunk in their field of vision. The complex and scattered architectural spires formed a strange pattern from the aerial view, like a cross with an inverted reflection.
To one side of the building was a familiar sign:
“Crosson Show 3rd Elimination match, sponsored by the Centaurus Society of Metaphysics, Numerology, and Astrologists––Celtic Cross Deck.”
Juurensha: Well, let’s see what all the cards mean!
xiin: round three, start!
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