Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
“Damn! What the hell happened? Where is this?” A young man’s voice rang in a secluded alley. The sound of harsh metallic friction accompanied his groan.
Hu! A metal glove armed to the tips of his fingers patted on the red brick wall of the alley. Dust fell from it with merely a little force.
The young man stood up groggily. If someone were in the alley, they would be surprised to see a man covered in black armor. The strange armor had an exotic artistic beauty to it, and its subtle patterns contained infinite mystery. The giant sword, which was nearly the height of an average person, behind him would shock many.
Ka. The person in black armor took off his helmet, revealing long black hair and a young face in his twenties. He wiped off the dark-red, dried-up blood from the corner of his mouth while leaning against the wall and gasping greedily for breath.
“W-where am I?!” The person in black armor seemed to regain some of his wits and strength. He looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings before fixing his eyes on a golden shaking thing hidden in some strange debris not far from him. The golden rays from the sun reflected from it.
The person in black armor stumbled over, picked it up, and held it in his hand.
It was the size of an egg, golden throughout, and looked like it was made of metal. There were numerous sesame-sized runes scattered on the scales, as though they were engraved naturally on it. A few thin electrical lines flashed across the surface from time to time. This egg-shaped metal gave this armored person a sense of familiarity in his heart, and he felt as though this metal egg was alive.
The man in black armor looked around before shouting in a loud voice, “Gold Coin! Gold Coin!”
Some noise came from outside the alley, but there was no response.
He opened up a hidden inner chamber from his breastplate, took out a weird flute, and brought it to his mouth.
The sound from the flute resounded throughout the alley. It did not bring about what the man in black armor wanted, disappointing him to no end. He blew another dozen times, unwilling to accept it. The alley was still cold and deserted except for the crisp sound of birds flying over the sky from time to time.
The man in black armor looked up at the sky and then at the ground. His eyes widened, and his face blanked, as though he had lost something important. He sat on the ground as he stored the strange flute in his breastplate. The metal egg in his hand seemed to be emitting slight heat, and the runes on its surface appeared to be gleaming a little, but the man in black armor failed to notice it.
“Ah! Lin Mo, why are you here sitting around like a fool? Come quick! We’re running late!” A clear female voice accompanied by light footsteps came through the alley, her eyes scanning the alley as she walked over.
The man in black armor was unaware of the voice and footsteps in the alley. A pair of hands suddenly rested on his wrists and pulled him. The man in black armor was shocked. He raised his head to see the pair of slender legs of the uninvited guest. Going higher up, robes the color of blue cornflowers encased a curvy and delicate body. The corner of the blue robe had a six-pointed star pattern embroidered on it and unusual elegant lines. A beautiful dark-haired girl wearing an exquisite crown slid into his vision.
The young girl held a slender staff that was sparkling with unknown gems in her hand.
Who is she? The man in black armor stared dumbly at the girl in front of him. He could not tell if she was a Divine Mage, high-level mage, or an apprentice mage.
The decoration on her was not in accordance with the strict dress code of the mage ranking system but was chaotic. Those self-important old mage geezers paid most attention to ranks and traditions, so there were few deviants. How could there be a magical girl in such an outfit? She seemed too young, and she appeared rather powerful just by looking at the abundance of accessories on her. However, these exquisite magic ornaments and the staff in her hand emitted not one wisp of magical fluctuations. This was really strange. The man in black armor once again fell into another state of lifelessness.
“Lin Mo! What are you staring at? Hurry up and come along with me. I would have met the rest already if I hadn’t overslept. I didn’t expect you to be late as well. You’re never late! Fortunately, I met you. See how I’ll deal with you if the plan today is foiled.” The magical girl seemed to be glaring at the man in black armor. She pulled his hand carelessly, seemingly very familiar with him.
The man in black armor was caught completely unprepared. Her strength was not weak, but it was not easy to drag a few hundred pounds of heavy armor around. Nonetheless, he followed the girl out of the alley involuntarily.
“You’re so cool today, Lin Mo. You actually hid such a set of armor. It’s totally different from your original set and looks like the real thing. It would have been so much better if you had brought it out earlier. Tell me where you ordered it from later, and I’ll order a set as well. Our odds of winning today increased quite a bit.” The magical girl dragged ‘Lin Mo’ without looking back at him as she babbled on.
My Dark Steel Mystic Armor is obviously real! Are there fakes around? The man in black armor did not know what expression to make. He just continued being dragged along by this magical girl. His brain was still groggy, and he had yet to digest everything that was happening around him. What are those different-sized iron boxes with black wheels with people in it? Red, white, silver, black, long, short, big, and small ones filled his vision. Why are these people dressed so strangely? Tall buildings and pavements made of unknown materials. How big must the stones be? Are the flashing signs on the houses on both sides of the road powered by magic? That’s too extravagant! Are mages so worthless?
Heavens! What kind of world is this?!
Near and far, big and small, the visual impact of the strange things made the noble Dragon Knight unable to turn his head around.
The 8th China International Animation Festival held at the World Trade Exhibition Center attracted countless animation fans from China and abroad. On this day, animation was the spiritual feast for all, regardless of age, gender, and occupation.
On the third day of the animation festival, the International Cosplay Super Contest held by the organizer was the peak of the animation festival.
Naruto, Warcraft, Saint Seiya, Claymore, One Piece, and even the nationally produced animation Kuiba… Wonderful anime cosplay teams came onto the stage with their custom costumes, makeup, and a variety of stunning poses, inspiring cheers from countless anime fans in the main exhibition area of the Hangzhou Xiubo Garden Exhibition Center.
Cosplay was not simply the imitation of a character’s appearance and their actions. More importantly, they needed to animate the role flexibly. Not only did they have to look like the character, but they had to be the character to gain the unanimous agreement of the judges on stage and the fans. It was not easy to pull the wool over the discerning eyes of anime fans. Live performances were more demanding than movie performances as there was no director with his cuts and retakes, and it was a one-shot deal.
After two rounds of screening two months back, the cosplay groups that could participate in the finals today were the elites among the elites. They were actively preparing for the fight for the championship and the reward of iPad 3s and nearly 100,000 yuan cash.
“Why aren’t Lin Mo and Qi Fei here yet? They wouldn’t be dropping the ball now, right?! Could there be something between them?” A tauren cosplay participant carrying a double-edged battle-ax was staring at his phone backstage.
“It will be our turn in another hour. Didn’t we agree to gather here at the start of the competition? They’ve gone through the roll, so why aren’t they here yet? This is a huge live TV broadcast. Ding Tuo! Quickly tell the organizer to shift us to the back. Our preparations will be in vain if both Lin Mo and Qi Fei are late. We’ll only make fools of ourselves if it’s just us.” A dwarf carrying an exaggerated musket in his hand lamented as he drank mineral water. Upon closer inspection, it was a slightly chubby young man of about 1.5 meters tall standing beside the nearly 2-meter-tall tauren. One tall and one short, making the most of their natural advantages.
“All right, all right. Ding Tuo, Qian Jie, don’t move too much, or else your makeup will be ruined again. I’ll speak to the organizer. You two quickly call Lin Mo’s and Qi Fei’s phones until you get through. We only permit success, not failure for this performance.” The makeup artist in charge of this group quickly took out her tools to repair the makeup of the tauren and the dwarf.