Tsuchimikado lowered his head once more after observing his surroundings for a while. He was just about to get back to the desserts on the tray in front of him when startled cries came from the crowd again.
He took a bite of his tiramisu before raising his head again, only to see a dark-haired man on the mezzanine floor gazing down upon the lower banquet hall from behind the railing.
Huh? What was with that? Why were there two No. 1s?
Startled, Tsuchimikado unconsciously checked the door behind him again.
There, another No. 1 stood in the centre of the crowd, his head minutely inclined, forming a vacuum around him as none dared to approach.
The two Devils made eye contact across the room; in an instant, the atmosphere was charged and subtly off.
The viewers in the live broadcast were scratching their heads.
[WTF, what is going on—two No. 1s?]
[Huh??? Just a moment ago, I refuted the possibility so confidently and now it’s coming back to slap me in the face. Shit. There really is someone who dares to impersonate that guy!]
[+1. Does he not want to live… Omg, if his identity is revealed, let alone retribution from the person himself, his followers would make his life a living hell.]
[All I want to know is which brave warrior dared to impersonate him. What a power move. Who could have imagined.]
[Speaking of which, between the two of them, who do you guys think is the real one…]
At the moment this comment appeared, the whole live broadcast plunged into dead silence.
[Ah, about that… I think it should be the one who made the penultimate entrance?]
[I second that. Just. There’s something about the aura and look that’s a bit more like him… The one on the mezzanine looks more frivolous. I can instantly tell that he’s fake.]
[That’s right, I think so too. I’m an avid fan of No. 1; there’s no way that I’m wrong.]
[I’ve been sliding into everyone’s inbox and getting many of his admirers and followers to come watch the live broadcast. They are all saying that it’s obvious the one on the mezzanine is fake. He looks the part but he’s definitely not acting the part.]
[Quick, I can’t wait to see No. 1 teaching the impersonator a lesson. It’s going to be a shitstorm. I already have my popcorn and coke ready.]
It was not only the bullet chat. Even the trainees in the banquet hall were whispering to each other, expressing their opinions on this shocking scene before them.
“The one on the mezzanine floor is probably not him, right?”
Trainees peeked at Zong Jiu’s Devil and then at No. 1’s Devil, and began discussing the matter in earnest.
“Yeah, I also think he seems off. I swear on the years I’ve been a follower that the guy on the mezzanine is almost certainly fake.”
“Notice that the gloves worn by the one on the mezzanine is white. The gloves worn by the one downstairs is black. And there are some differences in the masks, too. But aside from those, they really seem identical.”
“Well, one of them is seeking death, alright. Forget it. Anyway, my intuition tells me that the later the appearance, the more problematic it has to be. After all, just think about it. The system just announced that the banquet hall is closed to new entries. We’ve been hanging out here from the start, but we didn’t see that guy go up to the mezzanine. It follows that the one above is definitely fake.”
“You’re right, bro. It makes so much sense. Now let’s see how he deals with the counterfeit.”
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.
Many of the followers directed condemning gazes to the mezzanine.
Olrafclcu ab atf teyyey jgbecv tlw, atf ojmf yftlcv Ibcu Ale’r wjrx kjr mbcabgafv ys tbk tjgv tf kjr tbivlcu tlr ijeutafg lc.
Ktlr yjamt bo obiibkfgr mbeivc’a mea la jcv kfgf fnfc rb delmx ab aegcmbja, qgjmalmjiis rqfjxlcu yilcvis klat atflg fsfr klvf bqfc.
Ca atf fcv bo atf vjs, vfrqlaf atf raloifv ijeutafg, atf Zjulmljc vlvc’a ifa tlr jma rilq lc atf rilutafra jcv lcvloofgfcais gjlrfv tlr tjcvr lcrafjv.
The action was a replica of what No. 1 did the first time he appeared in the broadcasting studio, fingers laced together and pressing downwards, signalling for all to be silent. Zong Jiu’s impression of it would score a ten out of ten, like a pupil emulating a teacher.
Sure enough, as if the pause button was pressed, the furious whispering in the hall dropped into dead silence.
There was no doubt that the action was a type of hint. Of course, in the real Devil’s eyes, it was nothing short of a challenge.
The black-haired man perched a hand on the railing, steadily gazing at the other man who was dressed exactly the same as him. Hidden behind the mask, his eyes narrowed, and his expression wasn’t one of fury but amusement.
Countless lines of sight oscillated between them.
The Devil broke eye contact first. He tucked his hands into his pocket and hummed a strange tune as he slowly walked down the spiral staircase along the side of the hall.
Alarmed, everyone stood rooted to the spot with baited breaths as they silently watched his descent.
[I just zoomed into the guy on the mezzanine. The song he’s humming is actually out of tune!! Mystery solved. How can His Grace hum out of tune; there is only one right answer. He must be the imposter!]
[How can he actually be off-key!! Mystery solved, case closed. Can’t he at least try to put on a better act…]
[And look how airy his expression is. He actually came down the stairs, what’s the meaning of that? Does he want to duke it out with the real guy? /horrified.jpg]
[The young don’t understand how precious life is. He’s strutting right up to the man himself, it’s so awkward.]
In contrast to the bullet chat who were excited to see the situation escalate, some in the banquet hall were much more apprehensive.
Tsuchimikado set down the cutlery in his hands, a thoughtful crease appearing briefly between his brows.
Unlike the trainees excited to find out which among the two No. 1s was the imposter, after joining the Anti-Devil League, he became one of the few who knew the Devil’s ability.
Since the Devil’s ability was to manipulate puppets, then was it possible that both of these that have appeared in the banquet hall were his puppets? Not only would they attract attention, but they would also confuse the eyes and make it more difficult for others to identify him.
In fact, the reason Tsuchimikado drew this conclusion was because he couldn’t differentiate which among the two Devils was the right one. He felt that both seemed alike.
It was also for that reason that Tsuchimikado sensed there was a problem.
His imagination started to run wild and he even started to believe that it was quite possible that the mysterious instructor was dressed up as one of the Devils.
Everyone took their stands, yet still looked more and more torn.
It was at this moment that the system spoke up again.
[The second stage of the ball is about to start. Trainees, please get ready.]
That was the dance segment.
Dancing meant physical contact; in order words, who could more swiftly identify their dance partner. Everyone was rubbing their hands together, all pumped up to start.
The string ensemble covered half a floor and had already taken their places. Under the conductor’s lead, the concertmaster drew the bow, playing the lilting introduction of the Blue Danube Waltz.
The Viennese waltz was an indispensable piece for an evening gala, which was also dubbed Twirling Circles Under the Spell of Love.
Lamentably, while trainees were adept at fighting monsters, divination and all sorts of trades, only a rare few could actually dance.
Even calling it that was a stretch. Among the two thousand strong contestants, there were less than a handful that could actually dance the waltz.
Although it was called a dance segment, since it was a welfare event, the system would not force the manly trainees to pair up and start dancing lightly and gracefully. Such a scene would make eyes burn.
But almost immediately after the system announcement, trainees cheered and took to the dance floor, beginning to spin wildly in circles.
[Good grief, what demonic dance is this?!]
[My eyes, oh my eyes! I just saw that shapely young lady walk like a fierce man. I can’t take it anymore, I’m going to die of laughter. I can only think of a few trainees who would have such a brutish dance step.]
[Am I the only one still staring at the girl in a sailor uniform? My god, his disguise is really seamless. Even his twirls are so moe. Annoyed, I’m even more curious now. Who the heck is this!]
What caught the eye was not only Tsuchimikado in a sailor uniform but also the penguin who remained unmoved by the crazy dancing, as though set apart from them.
As for Zong Jiu, he was incidentally right in the middle of the dance floor.
Whether it was intentional or not, the sudden crowd had immediately blocked his line of sight from reaching the spiral staircase.
Zong Jiu’s brows furrowed.
He lost track of the Devil and the next second, the other had disappeared in the sea of people.
Perhaps the system also felt that the swaying on the dance floor was an intolerable sight, for after a moment of silence, it spoke up again.
[In order to increase the enjoyability of the live broadcast, a knowledge collection of international social dances will be transmitted to all trainees. Please hold.]
Similar to how one would spend points to acquire special knowledge or skills from the system, all knowledge related to social dances appeared in the minds of all trainees in the hall out of nowhere.
Many trainees then woke up—such as Tsuchimikado, who did a step out—breaking out of the twirling spell of love at last.
Just as everyone was about to try out the steps, the lights in the hall abruptly blinked out.
With the sudden loss of light, the trainees present collectively called out in surprise.
Only Zong Jiu’s expression turned increasingly more grave.
The darkness was peculiar.
With his eyesight enhanced to the peak, he should have excellent night vision. When he now looked over, however, he could only see looming impenetrable darkness, like a monster slowly opening its bloody jaws, concealing everything.
He couldn’t tell if it was just in his head, but the whispers dampened at once, as if the darkness was noise-cancelling, reaching his ears with a distant, distorted quality.
[Announcing a clue to the instructor’s identity.]
[He will appear from the blanket of darkness.]
There was another uproar in the live broadcast.
None knew what was going on. Although everyone had read the rulebook for the Masquerade Ball, it came as a complete surprise to all that the light in the banquet hall would go out as soon as the clue to the instructor’s identity was given.
[Damn it to hell, what’s going on? Who hit the lights?]
[Same here, I can’t see a thing. I can only hear noise. Annoying! I want to see the true face of the instructor, too!]
Even those on the live broadcast were unable to see anything in the darkness. Their screens had also turned dark, and only the audio could be heard.
Zong Jiu put down his hands and shut his eyes, concentrating on the changes in his surroundings.
Every muscle in his body was tensed up, ready to fight at once.
A gentle breeze in the air.
And a soft chuckle in his ear.
Zong Jiu’s pupils contracted, and he immediately sliced behind him.
But it didn’t land.
Icy fingers grazed his elbow, eliciting chills in its aftermath.
Zong Jiu tried another time and was unsurprised to find that his attack did not land again.
After around five cycles of this, Zong Jiu was sure of one thing.
He was unilaterally ambushed by No. 1.
The Devil and his puppets had him surrounded in the darkness.
Translated by 🎏
Edited by Ashen, snoflakesun
a/n. Jiujiu: I’m even more like the Devil than the Devil!
No. 1: Understood, I’m impersonating myself.
–
t/n. Casually sharing a meme on lofter – link
(The Anti-Devil League, from right to left: Zhuge An, Tsuchimikado, the Exorcist, Van Zhuo, Zong Jiu, and lastly the Devil)
Tsuchimikado and Zhuge An at the masquerade – link
Can’t wait for next chapter! Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️🤣
Thank you for the update 💛
I’m still hoping they waltz together
I wanted to see dance between 2 Devils
Thank you for your translation ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
Tsuchimikado, living the dream of every otaku
No. 1’s followers tho LMAO