Zong Jiu wanted to praise his own intelligence—no one in the universe could match him, truly.
Referencing the Devil’s hateful face in his memory, he shortened his overly long black hair, tied a low ponytail, and mussed his fringe. For the parts that were supposed to be fixed in place, he did so with a semi-permanent setting.
After styling the hair, he easily picked a black suit as per what No. 1 was perpetually wearing, matching it with the same charcoal grey vest and dark red tie. Even details such as the hot gold stripes on the tie knot were taken into account. There was also the tie clip and the silvery-grey ancient Egyptian cross symbolising eternal life at the chest; even the length of the chain hanging down was exactly the same as the original prototype. The likeness was incredible.
This did not pose much difficulty for Zong Jiu. After all, one should keep their friends close and their enemies closer.
As a qualified arch-enemy, even without the help of sight, Zong Jiu could recite No. 1’s wardrobe at the drop of a hat. He was confident that the No. 1 he dressed up as would not be far off from the original! This was the nature of sworn enemies!
After putting on the black leather shoes, Zong Jiu looked at himself in the water mirror and fell into an awkward silence.
It must be said that the effect of No. 1’s general appearance coupled with Zong Jiu’s own face was rather disturbing, to the point that people would be frightened by it.
He quickly picked a regular black mask that he fastened at the back of his head. After that, seeing the model in the mirror, he could finally sigh in relief.
Glancing at the water mirror again, his hand reflexively clenched into a fist!
Zong Jiu enlarged the model in the water mirror and then adjusted the finer details bit by bit.
It was also at this time that the fashion boutique prompted him to retain three distinctive features; his face did not count as one.
Zong Jiu fell into contemplative silence.
Unable to come up with anything, his long fingers gently slid over the auto-generate option on the water mirror to see what it would suggest.
[1. Retain your unique scent.]
Zong Jiu, “…”
He lowered his head with a complicated expression, sniffing himself, yet wasn’t able to smell anything unique.
Since the system said so, however, then so be it. Since Zong Jiu couldn’t tell himself, could anyone else really do it?
He hesitated briefly before confirming that option.
[2. Retain the Magician’s hands.]
Zong Jiu glanced at his hands in the mirror.
His joints were defined, and there were visible calluses on his thumbs and index fingers. It was apparent that they were hands that frequently handled cards, distinctive of the Magician.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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The Thriller Trainee competition was nearing its first anniversary. It was normal that a thin layer of fresh calluses had formed over his fingers.
The calluses of a magician were special, differing from those formed from the regular use of guns. It was not unexpected that the system had put in this suggestion.
In any case… Another trademark of No. 1 was also his black leather half-finger tactical gloves, which would conveniently cover half of his fingers. Zong Jiu tested it and observed that the system didn’t warn him against hiding his distinctive features. So, he happily confirmed this option and put on a pair of gloves at once.
After that, when Zong Jiu looked down, he saw that there were also various options ranging from those suggesting that he adjust his height back to those suggesting that he retain his excellent body proportions.
Zong Jiu: No way! Height was out of the question for sure!
With the Devil’s height, anything less than that would immediately seem off. It was most definitely not because Zong Jiu himself wanted to give the feeling of looking down on others a try.
He compared it before deciding to retain his skin tone. The primary reason he believed could get away with it was that though No. 1 was crazy, he covered himself up from head to toe with a proper three-piece suit and gloves.
After finishing the makeover, Zong Jiu followed the Devil’s style and struck a few flashy poses in front of the water mirror. Satisfied, he saved it, and then exited the fitting room.
The stylist who had been guarding the door was still waving his handkerchief and shouting at him, “Mister, are you sure you won’t consider it?! Your body type and appearance are the best I have ever seen; I guarantee that you see a makeover under my hands. There’s no in-between when it comes to women’s clothing; it’s always or never. You will fall in love with that feeling!!!”
Zong Jiu: Thanks but no thanks.
He felt his own idea was much better than cross-dressing.
First, based on the status that No. 1 held among the contenders, there was definitely no other who would dare to dress up as him.
Next, upon learning of the masquerade, deliberately dressing up as a famous trainee definitely wouldn’t be the first thing that people would come up with. Rather, it was more natural to think of cross-dressing and going for strange outfits.
Furthermore, Zong Jiu felt that dressed like that, he would even be able to intimidate the people around him and be left in peace.
Most importantly, just like how No. 1 had used his authority as an instructor to hold this masquerade, he was in fact secretly issuing a war declaration to Zong Jiu. In other words, it was a blatant challenge.
How could Zong Jiu resist the blatant challenge issued by his nemesis?
Challenging him back was the only way to go!
Since No. 1 was openly baiting him, then Zong Jiu should return tit for tat.
He refused to believe that the Devil wouldn’t come up to him after seeing him dressed like this.
What was Zong Jiu’s mission?
Find No. 1 from within the crowd and expose his identity before everyone.
If the Devil were to come straight for Zong Jiu, wouldn’t he be giving himself away? He seriously felt that he was a genius for concocting such an effortless method to taunt his opponent whilst having some fun.
He was highly anticipating what expression No. 1 would make after seeing this.
—
Zong Jiu was extremely free for the rest of the month.
It was time set aside for trainees to rest, but it felt too long to Zong Jiu, who would rather have found some entertainment in an instance.
So, he didn’t do anything, growing mould in his room every day. He moved a lot of books over, sitting cross-legged in front of the fireplace while stroking the cat. The days passed by leisurely.
Other trainees had much more fun than Zong Jiu. The trainee dormitories were outfitted with all kinds of facilities. Even after the King’s Game and the Halloween events ended, the Sky Bar and the Rainbow Amusement Park remained open.
Quite a few trainees returned to the Rainbow Amusement Park to experience it again. Previously, they were too stressed by the task to enjoy themselves, but now they could. They had a blast. According to hearsay, there was also a trainee who went on an underwater exploration, almost accidentally meeting his end at the bottom of the sea.
It would be quite a tale if a trainee had survived instances and special events only to die during the intermission.
After about ten days like this, bored, Zong Jiu went to visit his allies in their rooms.
No. 2 Van Zhuo was not in. Supposedly, the Night Clan leader brought his subordinates to play on the golf course every day. It was a rather unique hobby.
He wasn’t able to find Zhuge An, either. After asking around, he then found out that the other would regularly clock in at the shore by the Rainbow Amusement Park daily, leisurely fishing from a floating platform the whole day.
This hobby was characteristic of Zhuge An.
Though No. 4 the Exorcist was in his room, and even invited Zong Jiu in to look around.
As soon as Zong Jiu stepped in, he was surprised by the dim medieval witchcraft-esque room. Inside, other than the variety of strange props, some were also actual special props that emanated a chilly aura even from afar.
If it had to be described, the deco style was very much like the exorcist’s dirty basement in the horror film Annabelle.
The Exorcist warmly explained, “Ah, the others all know about this little hobby of mine, so it’s rare for me to entertain guests here. Please, make yourself at home.”
Zong Jiu accepted the tea and chatted with him for a while before bidding goodbye.
Next up was No. 10 Tsuchimikado. But unexpectedly, Zong Jiu didn’t find him in his room.
It was really strange. The previous times that Zong Jiu sought him out, the Yin-Yang Master was always holed up inside, gaming. He was the type of homebody who was all stocked up with supplies and would lose his sense of time.
He shook his head and then checked Xu Su’s room along the way.
Xu Su also wasn’t in.
Since that previous incident, Xu Su was like a changed man. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he had aged a whole decade.
Before, if he had spare time, he would be at the amusement park, in his room gaming, or trying out the various avenues of entertainment in the indoor city. He was hyperactive.
Now, Xu Su rarely stays in his room. Zong Jiu asked a few days ago and found out that he had spent survival points for the system to open up a VR training room, where he practised black magic every day, often forgetting to stop to eat or rest. Many such as Zhong Yiyuan and Anthony were also affected by his spirit. Purportedly, they had been following along recently and taking care of him.
It could be considered a good sign that he was able to find the energy to train so diligently.
Zong Jiu sighed, intending to return to his room and carry on reading his unfinished book when he unexpectedly caught sight of someone surprising behind him.
The person was dressed very strangely. He had an eye patch over one eye, while the exposed eye flashed with hostility.
His costume appeared to be like those of ethnic minorities. Strings of tinkling silver ornaments hung from his hair and the corners of his clothes. His waist was exposed, and his wide pants looked more like a long skirt. He was also wearing cloth shoes.
After a cursory glance, Zong Jiu lost interest and looked away, continuing on his way.
But what he didn’t expect was that the A-rank trainee would take the initiative to speak, contempt heavy in his tone.
“Are you the Magician Zong Jiu?”
Tch. There were not many who would speak to him like that in this day and age.
The white-haired young man inclined his body over, measuring him up. “And who are you?”
While the curt sentence wasn’t damaging, it was utterly humiliating.
The A-rank trainee instantly flushed. He gritted out a few words, “…I’m telling you, that S-rank throne is mine.”
This guy was delusional. But since he jumped up to make such a bold claim, Zong Jiu did end up remembering who he was.
After the last instance, three A-rank trainees had gotten double S evaluations; this, in front of him, seemed to be one of them.
Zong Jiu shrugged. “Well, good luck to you.”
After saying that, he didn’t pause before walking off, hands stuck in his pockets, nonchalantly showing his back to the other.
Translated by 🎏
Edited by Ashen, snoflakesun
Good luck unknown player…hahahaha. Thanks for the update ❤️🤣❤️🤣❤️
ahahahaha as soon as that description started with the one eye blind folded and tinkling silver ornaments I was like Hua Cheng?? What are u doing in here? but then the way he spoke broke it. Anyway, can’t wait for the masquerade chapter, really want to see Nr. 1’s reaction to Zong Jiu’s “disguise”. Thank you so so much for the update <3
Well, no- Tbh, you could relate it to Hua Cheng but reading the description only made me think it was a pirate-themed costume. A character could have black hair and you’d be like “oH tHaT SuNg JiN-wOo cUz hE hAs bLacK hAir wHat R u dOinG heRE??”
Me too
…he thinks dressing up as No 1, people will leave him alone? With how fanatically they stare at him…? Also, No 1 will probably be able to tell who Zong Jiu is immediately, and he might also dress up as Zong Jiu, and is he’s feeling mischievous he might even make his version of Zong Jiu cross dress.
In other words, I believe that as long as it involves the Devil, Zong Jiu won’t have a peaceful time.
Thank you for the chapter~
I also thought that no.1 would dress up as ZJ🤭
ZJ- with a perfect memory of every single tiny detail of the devil’s outfit and desperately hoping his outfit will attract the devil’s attention: listen, this is just normal, average, adversary stuff. And if, as his adversary, we have to dance in a romantically charged moment, that is a sacrifice I am willing to make 😌
Oh poor baby boy
Thank you for your translation ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
I really like Anthony’s charac development