The Freak Show Foreman

After giving a rough explanation, Wonderstein looked at Maya.

From the moment she heard the explanation, she had been lost in thought.

Now, it was the area she had to figure out.

In fact, Wonderstein didn\'t know much more about the veiled masterpiece than what he had just explained.

It was just something he had seen passing by on the broadcast.

Even that was only possible because of Wonderstein\'s superhuman vision; otherwise, it would have been difficult to capture.

All he could do was provide clues like this.

In reality, the method the Silver Veil used was much more effective than what was seen on the broadcast.

He couldn\'t produce an immediate and powerful effect like the murmuring people in front of the store, as if under the influence of some hypnotic or suggestive magic.

It was some magical force unknown to him.

While Maya was lost in thought, Ella, beside her, jumped around angrily.

"This is a violation of the rules!"

She repeated the crumpled piece of paper she had read dozens of times, holding it up.

"Look! It\'s clearly stated in the rules! The use of psychoactive substances and mental magic results in immediate disqualification!"

"Shh! Be quiet. People are staring. Shouldn\'t you remember? Participants who spread malicious slander or incite others in other teams are also disqualified, right?"

With Yurakne\'s comfort, Ella barely managed to catch her breath and calm down.

The thought that unfair trickery had infiltrated a fair competition made her lose self-control.

Wonderstein sensed a flash in Maya\'s eyes, who had been lost in thought.

"Maya, can we consider this mental magic?"

All eyes were now on Maya.

She was a top student at the magic academy.

Although she didn\'t acquire the desired illusions, her theoretical knowledge was outstanding enough to make academy professors marvel.

Maya recalled the five types of mysteries related to human spirit and communication that she learned at the academy.

Surface Phase (?), Active Spirit (?), Structured Mind (?), Projection of Essence (?), Essence of Deity (?).

Among them, \'Surface\' required for unfolding illusion magic was the mystery closest to the edge of the mental realm, half belonging to the material realm and half to the mental realm.

The act of conjuring illusions belonged to material realm magic.

Reading and opening someone else\'s mystery belonged to mental realm magic.

The act of seducing others was certainly mental realm magic, but creating beauty through mystery and seducing others in that way could not be considered mental realm magic.

The method the Silver Veil used seemed to play on that boundary.

"It\'s on the edge."

"Will this lead to disqualification?"

"No, at least not immediately according to the definition of mental magic in the magical world."

She explained the system of mental magic called \'Surface Disturbance of Mind\' and various magical theories about how the Silver Veil influenced the higher mental realm through mystery.

Others couldn\'t understand her words.

What nonsense is this?

Ella rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on.

Wonderstein was in the same position as them.

It would have been better to just answer yes or no but bringing in theories made it difficult to interrupt.

Finally, Maya\'s explanation came to an end.

After finishing her response, she scrutinized Wonderstein\'s expression.

He nodded as if satisfied.

"Well, Maya, you are indeed remarkable."

Smiling broadly, he looked at her.

Seeing him smile so happily, Maya sighed inwardly.

She knew that the ringmaster had a genius perspective that anyone would find difficult to follow when it came to magic theory.

Although he had not received formal education due to his circumstances and environment, Maya did not show any lack of respect for him on the day of the opening ceremony. No, she even developed a greater sense of reverence.

He must have had all the answers in his mind just now.

A man who had penetrated all of Silver Veil Arno\'s techniques would certainly be familiar with the basic forms of mental magic.

However, instead of immediately providing an answer, he gave her time to think.

Through a series of questions and answers, he allowed her to draw her own conclusions.

It was as if he was guiding a disciple onto the right path without asserting himself, turning the attention as if she had organized the theory herself.

As if she had developed the new illusion magic.

He knew.

That even if he presented magical theories without a recognized status, without coming out of school, and without knowing how to use magic, he would only be laughed at in the academia.

He knew he could lose the theory and be chased away if he made a mistake.

Or maybe he didn\'t even know what betrayal felt like.

So, he might have given up altogether.

Yet, whenever he had the opportunity, he tried to pass something on to her.

Like this sketchbook, whose origin was unknown.

It was a perfectly prepared item for her.

Although she rejected it, she could not call him that way, but she considered him a true master.

"Have you heard the explanation? So, it is."

Ella looked at Wonderstein, who was smiling obliquely, and pursed her lips awkwardly.

She wanted to refute, but since she couldn\'t understand what was being said, she had nothing to say.

She endured it because she felt like she might hear a headache again if she teased.

Maya, who had only explained the theory, suddenly became annoying.

Her explanation somehow sounded like praising the magician.

Of course, there was also anger at herself for feeling frustrated by her \'learned feeling\'.

Wonderstein seemed to see through her feelings and asked her a question she could answer confidently.

"How about it? If you compare Silver Veil\'s Kinema with Pandora\'s Escape Show? Just talking about the performance."

Ella stopped being angry.

And for a moment, she closed her eyes, calmly evaluating every element of the show she had just seen from start to finish. She excluded even her own antipathy toward the illusion show.

She soon opened her eyes and said one number.

"75%."

"You said Pandora\'s Magic Show was 81% just now. Is Pandora really superior?"

Wonderstein also thought that she might not say that after watching the show.

He did admire the sophisticated illusion.

But that was only in the early stages and moment by moment.

In the end, the essence of Kinema was like theater.

The acting of the characters and the content of the script are important.

In that respect, Kinema was much inferior to ordinary theater.

The expressions and movements of the characters were impressive from a distance but not natural when enlarged.

The story, to speak kindly, was universal, and to speak badly, somewhat childish.

Since there were limitations in the expression of characters, naturally, emotions had to be dealt with as shallow as possible, and the narrative had to be shown more in action.

Compared to Lweeni\'s show, which perfectly grasped the breath of the stage and captivated the audience without realizing the passage of time, it was somewhat lacking.

"Then, will this competition end with the victory of Pandora\'s Magic Show?"

"There\'s that implied effect just now."

"Haha, I\'ll just take Pandora\'s side if I win the bet!"

"Well… More importantly… No. We\'ll know after some time."

Naturally, Ella, who was confident that the Escape King would win, spoke with a somewhat uncertain voice.

The meaning of her delaying the answer could be understood by Wonderstein on the third day.

What the Escape King presented that day was \'Escape in the Flames\' and \'Rock Breaking Escape\'.

Ella, with a slightly tired expression, walked out of the hall and said.

"67%."

No one asked Ella why her ratings had dropped.

On the second day, there was uncertainty, but now they all felt it.

That the Escape King was exhausted.

Ella sat in the snack bar, looking around at people and said,

"In a performance, consistency is the next most important thing after perfection."

She sighed slightly as she saw the food Yurakne bought from the snack bar, which was lemon cheesecake and honey soda.

She hesitated to be drawn to the intention of the Silver Veil, but it seemed her sister couldn\'t stand it anymore.

"No, in a way, it\'s more important than perfection. Regardless of where, when, or who performs, the quality of the performance must always be maintained consistently."

She picked up the food, resisting the claim that lemon cheesecake was delicious.

"Pandora Magic Show relies heavily on the skills of magician Lweeni. This is very fatal in terms of consistency. If Lweeni stumbles, the show is over. There is no one to replace him. So, he must always manage his body in the best condition. But this time, he didn\'t do that.

Logically, a solo stage that lasts almost 10 hours a day is exhausting enough to collapse in a single day. But Lweeni repeated it for three days straight, dragging his old body."

Today\'s fire magic also included the \'escape failure\' acting seen in the glass escape on the first day.

Originally, he would have his body engulfed in flames, frantically running around, rolling on the floor, and pretending to die before exploding and appearing in the audience.

But this time, Lweeni skipped the burning and rolling reactions and appeared in the audience right after the explosion.

His movements were not natural, and the break time was considerably longer compared to the first and second days.

His tired expression was evident on his face appearing in the empty space.

Clearly, his stamina had dropped.

"An illusion show stands in complete contrast to that. It must have a consistent quality that is so difficult for humans to imitate."

The group nodded at her words.

If you replayed the memory disk, the same video would play whenever. The illusion show maintained almost perfect consistency.

While there were roles for the director to adjust in the middle and the assistant director, compared to other performances, it was overwhelmingly easy to maintain a certain quality.

Originally, Lweeni would delegate the middle part to his disciples for stamina management.

But this time, it was a short-term match lasting only six days, so Lweeni forced himself to raise the tension.

But he overestimated his own stamina.

Lweeni\'s skills dropped to the 50s on the fourth day.

Eventually, the afternoon performance that day was taken over by other acrobats from Pandora.

A man with iron chains all over his body showcased glass craftsmanship using a red-hot metal rod with a chain-tail, drawing fiery trails in the air.

The woman holding the cube, who appeared with Lweeni in the draw, was a master of escape art. She bent her waist almost in half, twisted her back, and tucked her legs and feet between her back and waist, demonstrating the trick of fitting into the box she was holding.

Ella evaluated them at 46% and 39%, respectively.

They were inferior to the Escape King\'s magic, but thanks to them, Lweeni\'s burden was reduced, and his escape magic could maintain a rating in the 70s.

In this way, it seemed that the veil had the upper hand.

However, that was not the case.

Maintaining consistency was not always a plus in a performance.

Silver Veil\'s Kinema maintained an almost perfect consistency.

In other words, it became a statement that it was not worth watching repeatedly.

People who owned high-value coins in the VIP audience had a significant impact on this match.

They mainly bought a 6-day pass.

Unlike those who bought tickets for the day or 2 days, they enjoyed the show for several days in a row.

Silver Veil\'s Kinema quickly became boring.

Since there was no room to change the scenario repeatedly, they had to watch it again because it was the same, so there was little value in watching it again.

On the other hand, Pandora Magic Show was enjoyable even if it was the same type of magic.

Lweeni\'s eloquence and charisma in the industry provided a different kind of fun each time.

"This is the power of a master!"

Ella clenched her fist.

So, for the first five days, the performance of the two was outstanding.

Slightly, Pandora seemed to have the upper hand, so Wonderstein and Maya each had to pay 200 Zirco Coins for the betting fee.

The confrontation between the two who reached the top of the industry was excellent enough to worry about comparing the participants of the second week.

So, the last day of the sixth day finally came to an end, and the time for the announcement of the results was approaching.