Surprise! The Supposed Talent Show Was Actually–?!

Chapter 56 - Buy Buy Buy

translator: xiin

editors: apricot & juurensha

Azure Cosmos main city, underground survival show arena.

The last trainee came out of the survival show arena and toppled to the ground as soon as he stepped through the curtain.

The little sister to the side who was cheerfully chomping on almonds called over the medical AI and stuffed the trainee into the recovery compartment. The four wheels squeaked as it carried him to the logistics area.

The metal doors opened, and the theory instructor of Floating City base turned around, “How did he do?”

The little sister replied sweetly, “Two wins and one loss!”

The theory instructor nodded approvingly, “He still has his wits about him, unlike the one just now who was scared stupid as soon as he went on stage––”

He fished the man out of the compartment as he spoke and stamped ‘Pass’ on the terminal next to the student’s training card number.

That trainee crawled blindly out of the compartment. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw dozens of pairs of eyes shifting towards him.

The theory instructor cleared his throat, “Now, let’s have some applause for the last student to graduate successfully!”

Applause rang out, and only one person looked left and right as they fidgeted.

The theory instructor continued to deliver his speech, “Over the past four and a half days, you have all been united, friendly, aggressive, hard-working, and respectful of your instructors...” It seemed that he had downed too many almonds as he stopped and burped before continuing, “Of the 65 students in the training base, 15 achieved the wonderful results of three consecutive wins, 26 of you had two wins and one loss, and 14 had one win and two losses. XX training base will give you all the precious graduation certificate.”

“Of course, students who didn’t graduate need not be discouraged. Our XX training base consistently adheres to the concepts of having a low entry threshold, reasonable tuition fees, quick delivery of graduation certificates, and formal certification. A fee of only XXX credits need to be paid in order to study and try again. Additionally, we recommend a seven day training course that includes a guaranteed pass. Our base can guarantee your future...”

Offstage, when Zoe saw that the little sister who had come to send over the last trainee was about to close the door and leave, he couldn’t help but quickly get out of his seat to catch up with her, “Excuse me, miss...”

The little sister looked back doubtfully.

Zoe spoke hurriedly, “I’m sorry. Are all the trainees here? I don’t see my companion who came here with me.”

The little sister thought about it for a moment, “There’s one person who went out to play after getting their certificate. I have all your contact terminals. Do you want to try and contact him?”

Zoe immediately nodded and let out a breath of relief when he received his terminal.

It turned out that Wu Jin had indeed left ten minutes ago, but his position couldn’t be ascertained.

The little sister smiled gently, “Okay, there’s still half a day off. Enjoy it properly... Oh, there’s also this. Here’s your reward for winning three games in a row.”

Zoe was surprised. The terminal showed a credit of ‘300 deep space credits’ into his account.

Zoe: “This is?”

The little sister grinned and explained, “You played three games on the stage, so we should also pay you for your performance. There was a good reaction from the audience. In the future, if you’re free, you can bring your training card and play again. Speaking of which, there was a really popular contestant today––”

“Oh, you’re asking about the deep space credits? It can buy things that credits can’t buy. Guns, illegal drugs, or even lost little cuties...”

Zoe: “......”

The little sister waved her hand, “Enough, go out and play! We’ll meet again if fate wills it!”

Zoe: “May I ask if you know where the player from earlier went?”

The little sister blinked and asked strangely, “How would I know? It’s only half a day off. Do you straight men still have to go out shopping hand in hand or something?”

Zoe: “... No, I didn’t mean it that way!”

Azure Cosmos, Main City, Block 21.

The suspension car sliced through the night lights that made everything as bright as day and stopped at the entrance to an alley.

Wei Shi opened the door for Wu Jin. They were both wearing pale blue masks with similar patterns that didn’t stand out in the crowd.

They only had half a day of vacation from the training base, starting from when the assessment ended until 4AM––The star ship that stopped at the port at regular times would take the students with various identities back one by one.

The entrance to the alley was narrow, and the lighting was dim. The pedestrians around them all walked around in a hurry.

Until they turned into a certain lane––

Their vision suddenly brightened. There were bright sources of artificial light all along the streets, their tassels flying in the breeze. Countless stalls were set up on the roadside, and the streets were filled with sounds of shouting. Above the alley were more AI patrols with guns than there were elsewhere. Symbols like the rose, silver mask, and sand lizard flashed constantly, all of them indicating that this was a heavily regulated area.

Almost every store had a sign on their doors:

“Deep space credit transactions only.”

Wu Jin reflexively looked towards the open stalls––

Rocket launcher, heavy machine gun, neutron weapon, tranquilizer gun, darts, high-voltage electric shock pen...

Wu Jin: “!!!”

Any of these items would be considered contraband outside of Azure Cosmos. Even just posting these kinds of goods on the Star Net without getting the post blocked was impossible.

The 300 deep space credits that were just credited into his terminal suddenly became a hot potato. Wu Jin snuck a quick look at the big boss and regretted his earlier boast that he would spend all of the deep space credits that night.

Wei Shi glanced at the small round face that was tilted up beneath the blue mask, then led him to the entrance of a military chain store to identify guns.

The silver gun parts were cool against his palm. Wu Jin recognized it within a second, “Self-adjusting temperature aiming compensator!”

After that was a dark colored dagger.

“BMQ tranquilizing dart dagger!”

“VKS Micro sound sniper ** cheekpiece––”

“Alpha13 single-man neutron radiation light machine gun.”

WuJin’s eyes flashed constantly beneath the lights, and the craving to look more that hadn’t been satisfied in Floating City’s underground armory was finally sated at this moment. Because he’d found his gun sense, his arm muscles would follow suit and adjust slightly every time he picked up and weighed a gun. It seemed that he would be able to shoot it accurately in the next second.

The owner of the chain store was seated on a rattan chair and waving a fan as he watched TV, and he didn’t take Wu Jin seriously when he saw how young he was. However, as the posture of the person holding the guns became increasingly agile, the shopkeeper grew surprised and immediately came up to enthusiastically promote his wares.

“Free bullets with the purchase of any gun. 10% off with membership. As a warm-up for the Double Seventh Lantern Festival, we can also offer you another special service! Free engraving on the handle! You can feel your lover’s name every time you shoot––”

Wu Jin was shocked and hurriedly waved his hand, “I do-don’t...”

Wei Shi stroked a hand over his small curls, and Wu Jin immediately looked up.

“Let him finish,” The man ordered. “You can come back to buy something when you need to later on.”

Wu Jin fell into a daze, and it was obvious he hadn’t thought of that yet. The rabbit’s curls were fluffy and soft beneath Wei Shi’s rough palms. “...Eh? Ah, alright...”

The owner gave an impassioned introduction to the engraving package. Wu Jin realized that in addition to engraving a lover’s name, the franchise also provided other gun handle engraving services. For example, phrases like ‘A gift for a friend of the Federation’, ‘Scratch for a prize’, ‘Made during Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty’, ‘My youth and blood are on the rise’, and so on.

When he heard the spiel up to this point, Wu Jin couldn’t help but be a little inspired.

All in all, the big boss had given him a total of three guns! His 300 deep space credits were all obtained by relying on big brother’s guidance. He could gift a gun that said ‘Wishing big brother good health’––

Wu Jin quickly glanced towards the lowest priced package, and his originally crystal-bright eyes instantly dimmed.

400 deep space credits (Package A: HK78 ** Double Seventh engraving package special price)

Wu Jin quietly opened up his terminal, wanting to query for the exchange rate between deep space credits and regular credits, but was stopped by Wei Shi.

“Come back when you’ve decided on a weapon that’s comfortable for you to use.” The man said, “Buy two of the same, then bring them here to engrave.”

Wu Jin reacted instantly.

––Buy two of the same.

He and big brother could have one each!

The small curls abruptly flew up, and it was unknown what had made him so blindly excited. Having the same gun as big brother––this was already enough to make Wu Jin very excited, but to even have similar engraving!

‘Wishing big brother good health’, ‘Wishing Little Witch progress in learning’!

Or something a little more elegant––

‘Wishing big brother a long life’, ‘Wishing Little Witch daily improvement’!

Wei Shi glanced at him, then said a few words directly to the shopkeeper. He bought an unknown weapon before taking Wu Jin, who was still looking around non-stop, out of the shop.

The lane was brightly lit, and the two of them looked around as they walked. Wu Jin was always clutching tight to his 300 deep space credits––because he knew that they weren’t easy to earn, and he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to use it to engrave words with later on.

Wei Shi led the poor rabbit spirit to turn left and right, shuttling through the complex alleys. It seemed like he’d known where he was going ever since they had arrived.

“The exchange rate between deep space credits and regular credits is about 1:60.” Wei Shi suddenly said, “But there’s no market for such an exchange. What can be purchased here is of better quality than anything outside of Azure Cosmos.”

Wu Jin stilled for a moment. The quality was better... was there other contraband available in Azure Cosmos other than guns?

At this time, the two of them had already entered another path, and the number of outdoor vendors was decreasing. It was no longer crowded with pedestrians, and it seemed that this area was rarely patronized.

Wei Shi stopped in front of a mostly-closed door and gestured for Wu Jin to enter.

Wu Jin looked at his terminal and felt a little embarrassed, “Big brother, I, I want to save it for engraving...”

The man’s gaze shifted slightly beneath the mask, “There will be more in the future. Now, go in and spend all your deep space credits.”

Wu Jin was a little shocked and opened the door out of reflex.

His eyes opened wide in the next second. He sucked in a breath, his blood practically boiling.

Beneath the dim lights, there was music pouring out of a record player. It seemed like some kind of country folk song. The owner wore a pair of glasses as he tuned the instrument, and he smiled broadly when he saw a guest come in through the door.

The shelves, walls, and almost every surface was covered with guitars both large and small, bass, violins, violas, and ukuleles. Their strings shone beneath the ceiling lamp, and the wooden bodies of the instruments exuded a faint, clear fragrance.

However, Wu Jin didn’t bounce in immediately––

His first reaction was to look back.

The man stood in front of the light and raised his chin towards him.

Wu Jin’s eyes curved, and the matching mask with similar lines lifted, propped up by the bulging cheeks. It appeared that he was smiling enough to become a silly rabbit.

3:30 AM.

Wu Jin bounced and skipped as he ran to the Star Harbor, bumping into Zoe who had also just arrived.

Zoe was immediately relieved when he saw Wu Jin. Even though he knew that Little Witch had won three rounds in the arena, the White Moonlight team leader was still intuitively worried that his little teammate might get stolen away.

When he saw that Wu Jin had a black instrument box on his back, Zoe was surprised, “Guitar?” He then nodded, pleased, “Little Witch’s still young. Don’t spend all your time in the training room every day. It’s good to develop hobbies.”

Wu Jin grinned and lifted his head.

Zoe also showed Wu Jin his loot: an accessory for a certain gun, vision protection gear for a certain sniper rifle, and an eye massage instrument... he had used a total of 300 deep space credits.

“Did Little Witch only buy a guitar?”

Wu Jin shook his head, “I also bought two handheld wraps... they were really delicious!”

Zoe understood clearly. At least Little Witch hadn’t been cheated!

As for getting tricked emotionally––

When their tickets were being checked at the star ship, Zoe questioned Wu Jin about it repeatedly.

“You didn’t give anyone your terminal number?”

Wu Jin replied very quickly, “Nope!”

“Did you let strangers take off your mask?”

Big brother certainly wasn’t a stranger! Wu Jin: “Nope!”

“You didn’t let yourself be foolishly pushed into marriage––for example, did anyone trick you into taking off their mask?”

Big brother wasn’t anyone else! Wu Jin shook his head repeatedly. As for forced marriage––during the four and a half days on Azure Cosmos, other than training, there was only the assessment, and he didn’t even see that many girls! Of course there was no chance of being forced into marriage!

Zoe patted him on the shoulder to express his deep praise.

The star ship rose up slowly and pushed out of the atmosphere into the dark night. The heated layer of surface paint fell off, spinning lightly in the meteorite belt before disappearing into nothing.

Wu Jin lay against the window and looked down towards the place he’d left in the afternoon––Floating City that was shrouded in mist.

Behind him, Zoe leaned back comfortably on the sofa, his expression one of someone who had just escaped from hell.

The four days of special firearms training had almost worn off a layer of skin from both of them, but it had also caused bone-deep changes. If there was to be another ranking assessment––Zoe had a 90% chance of beating that coquettish Thin Fire now.

Wu Jin’s progress had been even more frightening.

“Little Witch.” Zoe projected his terminal up onto the virtual screen, “The prompt for the next match is out.”

Wu Jin immediately turned around and leaned over.

The projection showed the voting page for the Crosson Show, and the <Third Elimination Match Match-up Page> button flashed continuously in the middle of the page.

Zoe clicked it open curiously––

The expressions on both their faces suddenly froze.

Juurensha: ....so our Little Witch is basically married now, congrats!

xiin: yeeep, but Little Witch is clueless and Wei Shi won’t mention it... sneaky sneaky

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