Chapter 31.2 Emotional Crisis?! (2)

One could not simply withdraw early from the global competition, so Bai Rong waited out the last 20 minutes in place before the blond man announced the end of the competition.

“The competition has ended. All participants, please insert your spell cards into your respective drawers located in your tables immediately. Just a reminder: Please do not attempt to stall for time. The drawer will automatically lock itself after a minute has been exceeded.”

Bai Rong looked at the drawer that suddenly popped out of the table and immediately placed his two virtual spell cards inside. A few seconds later, the drawer pulled back by itself.  

The moment the drawers were locked shut, the white walls around Bai Rong had slowly descended.

At the same time, complaints rose and fell in succession throughout the competition hall.

“I’m finished. It’s over. I was only able to successfully make one card. The second card was a complete failure. And by the time I was handling the materials for the third card, time was up!”

“This competition is too difficult. There was simply not enough time. I still had several strokes left to draw on my second spell card!”

“The time was too short. I was too anxious when I drew on the second card, so I’m afraid it would only get a D-level marking…”

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“Zsw nswzed’v qkde kv?”

“Od, yryav qasx vbl ldlatu nyae yde vbl okde nyae, obyv prlzz nyae nswze vbl alxykdkdt xyvlakyzp xyjl lmynvzu…?”

“…..Rv’p y vbwdela nyae yb!”

“……” &dcpr;

Mbl czsde xyd’p hsknl aydt swv sdnl ytykd. “Uswze yzz vbl ryavknkrydvp rzlypl zlyhl vbl hldwl yp pssd yp rsppkczl.”

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Gqvla iwknjzu ryppkdt cu vbl ‘bwxyd alqaktlayvsa,’ Jyk Ssdt zlqv vbl byzz okvbswv vyjkdt ydsvbla pkel tzydnl.

After all the participants had left, all six supervisors stepped off the stage as they took out their individual portable spell card detector and competition result inputter.

“I’ll check this row.” The blond man walked past Vivian and arrived at Bai Rong’s table.

“Oh? The sun has finally risen from the west. Has Grace surprisingly taken the initiative to come and do the testing?” Vivian laughed, teasing Grace.

Grace ignored Vivian and took out a card that unlocked the table’s drawer. It contained two spell cards that promptly popped out.

“Vivian, don’t make fun of Grace, or else he’ll ignore you.” A brown-haired man jested with a smile.

“Hmph! If he wants to ignore me then fine. It’s not like he’s never ignored me before!”

“That’s enough, guys.” A middle-aged man cleared his throat. “Even though the broadcasting camera is off, the surveillance cameras are still on.”

“It’s alright, Berg. The surveillance cameras are only for the eyes of the organizing committee. It wouldn’t be leaked out…Oh my god!!” Vivian suddenly cried out loud, her eyes growing big. “Thi-…this is an actual S-Class card?!!!”

“S-Class card?!” Four other people heard Vivian’s exclamation and shifted their attention as they quickly hurried over. “What S-Class card?”

“Wind Card.” Grace’s expression, however, remained the same, but the shock seen from the depths of his eyes spoke volumes. He took out the wind card from the detector, picked up the thunder card in the drawer, and placed it into the detector slot.

“Another S-Class?!!!”

Vivian and the others were completely dumbstruck.  

“How many A-Class Spell Card Masters are participating in this competition?” Vivian looked at Berg.

“Not a lot. 30 should be the maximum, and they’re all assigned at the Center City. For the others…. Hadn’t they been arranged as supervisors for the competition?” Berg shrugged, taking the wind card and gently rubbing it between his fingers. “Besides, which A-Class Spell Card Master wouldn’t you recognize? This person is definitely not included in that group.”

“That means this person is a newly advanced A-class Spell Card Master in the competition?!!” Vivian couldn’t close her agape mouth, the shock inside her heart threatening to burst out. She knew how hard it was to advance into A-Class. A-Class Spell Card Masters also needed sufficient and ample preparation to make an A-level or S-level virtual spell card but this guy just casually made two…..

“Sigh. He’s probably a dark horse then.” Berg sighed before chuckling. “This is called, competition is odious¹It means that everyone has strengths. But if you always compare your weaknesses with others’ strengths, it will only increase your troubles. It can also be used to compare other things, such as financial resources and power.” .

Everybody knew that the current population of Sheng Ya Star Region was around a hundred billion, but the number of Spell Card Masters was less than a million. There were 800,000 spell card masters in the main Sheng Ya Planet. The rest were from 30 different subsidiary planets adding up to merely tens of thousands.

There were only 10 S-Class Spell Card Masters in the entire region. Nevermind even mentioning the only 2 SS-Class Spell Card Masters, Master Xiao Mu and Master Huo Fusi.

Grace took back the wind card from Berg’s hand. “You should all go back to work.”

“Hey, how can you be as opportunistic as the ones from the organizing committee? Can’t you…” Berg abruptly stopped talking mid-sentence and raised his head to look at the surveillance cameras that were still blinking red lights. He awkwardly coughed, pretending to not have said anything while telling the others, “Let’s go. Let’s go. Time to do some work….”

…..

After leaving the Union Building, Bai Rong headed straight to the flying station, preparing to rush back to Sai Ya City.  

After waiting for half an hour, Bai Rong finally managed to board a D-Class aircraft. As soon as he got on, he chose a window seat and immediately shut his eyes to rest, not even paying heed to the screen in the middle of the aircraft, which was broadcasting the virtual spell card competition.

He had been studying so strenuously these past few days that the amount of sleep he got was too pitifully little, so he was genuinely exhausted at this moment.

Once Bai Rong had estimated the duration of the trip, he set up an alarm clock to ring after two and a half hours and exited the virtual city. Bai Rong eagerly drilled back into his small quilt and fell into a death-like slumber.

Bai Rong’s sleep was so heavy that he wasn’t even aware that Kuku had slipped into his bedroom.

Even if he were completely unaware of it, it was still fine since Kuku merely reached out his hand to caress Bai Rong’s forehead. He also poked his sleeping face, muttering ‘silly little melon’.

It was an interaction that was completely pure, loving, and sincere!

Two hours later, the alarm rang loudly. Bai Rong curled up under the quilt but slowly reached an arm out.

“I’m so sleepy…” Bai Rong sat up in a daze. With his bed-head sticking up in all directions, he logged back onto the virtual city and relied on his strong will to stay awake.

Bai Rong tiredly narrowed his misty eyes and yawned lazily, feeling content with himself.

——Only a manly man can wake up when the alarm rings!  

After another half an hour had passed, the aircraft finally landed at Sai Ya Central Station.

Bai Rong hailed a cab from the Center Station and reached the entrance of a small district.

Once he reached home, Bai Rong lazily flipped through Basic Spell Cards 4 and started making the spell cards that he couldn’t make before due to not having the materials for them.

Since he hadn’t been making any cards at all these past few days, he hadn’t had income coming in, which he regrettably shouldn’t have done.

If this continued, how could he let Mu Chongyan squander his money as much as he liked?!!

He checked the price of an A-Rank Mech, and it ranged from 100 hundred million to 500 million star coins. S-Class Mechs were even more expensive, ranging from about 1 billion to 5 billion star coins. As for SS-Class Mechs, even ten billion star coins wouldn’t be enough to afford it!

Bai Rong listlessly sighed. Being a manly man was already hard enough, but being a manly man who has to support his family and give his wife a lavish lifestyle, was a lot harder!

After a while, Bai Rong had finished making two virtual spell cards. While he was in the middle of making the third one, he vaguely heard the sounds of Mu Chongyan’s return.

The card wasn’t halfway done, so Bai Rong suppressed his urge to run out and greet him. Instead, to finish sooner, he quickened the pace of his actions.

Mu Chongyan briskly walked towards the crystal case. He searched inside and the outside of the crystal case, checking it thrice, before finally confirming…

That the little star pet had indeed not come out and waited for him.  

Mu Chongyan’s originally expressionless face had turned even more unsightly.  

In the past, whenever the little star pet heard his footsteps, he would always run out of the villa and wait for him to pick him up. And every night, he would ask him to play games with him for at least an hour, and would even timidly insist on getting a kiss…..  

Now….he didn’t play with him at night, didn’t want his kisses, and didn’t even wait outside to greet him.  

Mu Chongyan dejectedly stared at the crystal glass case and stood out there for a full 10 minutes, even coughing twice to hint his presence. But sadly, the little star pet still hadn’t come out.

Misery slowly shaded his taut face as Mu Chongyan walked to the side of the sofa and sat down in disappointment.

The author has something to say:

Mu Chongyan: I’ve encountered another emotional crisis…