The Daily Life Of A Cyberpunk Magician

Chapter 48 - 49 Done, it is already in the shape of Jiang Shu
Chapter 48: Chapter 49 Done, it is already in the shape of Jiang Shu”You... used magic, right?”

Hearing this, Jiang Shu was immediately full of question marks, and a strange feeling emerged in his heart. That feeling was probably...

You freaking peeked at the answer to the last big question and still scored so low?

Is that it?

Is that all you’ve got?

”What magic...” Jiang Shu curled his lips and waved her over, leading her to the side of the Magic Table.

He kicked the table, ”Mechanism.”

He grabbed the Wooden Box and the anti-slip agent and shook them, ”Props.”

He flicked his hand, ”Technique.”

He summed up, ”It’s that simple.”

”Hmph.” Kirie scoffed.

Here it goes, here it starts, the excuses start. I’ll just watch you fabricate your lies with a smile.

”Don’t believe me?” Jiang Shu said helplessly as he looked at Kirie’s puffed cheeks full of dissatisfaction, ”What don’t you understand? Tell me, I can explain everything to you.”

”Hmph.” Kirie scoffed again, she knew very well that Jiang Shu couldn’t possibly concoct a full set in such a short time, so she deliberately said, ”I don’t understand any of it.”

”Fine.” Jiang Shu felt helpless again.

Thinking she was a top student, turns out she’s a poor student, and not just a poor student, she boldly submits a blank paper, and does so with such entitlement.

Wait, could it be that she is... pretending?

Just purely to stay close to me for a longer time?

Jiang Shu narrowed his eyes, pondering.

”Hurry up, don’t think about making it up now!” Kirie shouted, interrupting his thoughts.

”Alright, let’s start from the very beginning.” Jiang Shu turned around, found the deck of cards, and beckoned her over, ”Stand on my side.”

”Oh.” Kirie was stunned for a moment but obediently stood by his side.

”Empty card box produces cards,” Jiang Shu opened the card box, displayed it as if it was real, then folded it up, tipped it over, and a deck of black playing cards came out.

Standing on his side, Kirie could see clearly that Jiang Shu had simply hidden the deck behind the card box from the beginning, and the angle of vision made it impossible for the audience to see his actions.

Moreover, his movements were smooth and natural, no signs of awkwardness, and from the front, there were no flaws at all.

”This...” Kirie was stunned, swallowed, and biting her teeth, said, ”Continue.”

”Alright.” Jiang Shu performed two shuffling moves, ”Just flower-cutting artistry, purely for show.”

Then, he placed the cards on the table and opened his palms toward Kirie, hiding a playing card in his palm.

Next, Jiang Shu found the scarf, and in front of Kirie, he folded it again and again, deliberately slowing down his actions to let her see clearly.

In his cuff, there was a little hook, and while folding the scarf, he casually hooked the scarf with the hook, then slightly straightened his arm.

As the scarf produced the card, the scarf was dragged into his clothes by the hook from the sleeve. Due to the playing card’s concealment and because the force of the spring contraction inside the clothes was strong, the disappearance of the scarf was very abrupt.

”This...” Kirie was stunned again. This was also a very simple prop, the spring stretches and contracts, and even children understand this principle. However, when applied in magic, it can deceive not only the eyes but also cameras.

That’s right, the speed was too fast, the disguise too good, so there were no flaws. The camera in her Prosthetic Eye didn’t catch any slip-ups.

”Next is the card change, also a technique.” Jiang Shu’s hands changed the black playing cards from one to two and two to four, and now it looked so simple and unadorned.

”While shuffling, hide it inside the sleeve.” His movements were very small and likewise showed no flaws.

”I understand, what’s going on with the Magic Table?” Kirie didn’t want to watch anymore; she thought that these were not difficult and that she could also figure them out mostly through sleight of hand.

Jiang Shu walked over and stepped beside the Magic Table, activating the mechanism, secretly swapping cards; the whole process was slow and the change was subtle.

”Misdirection, visual misdirection,” he explained. ”The audience’s attention is all on me, and I’m also on the big screen. No one would notice the minor changes on the table.”

”But... how can you use such props!” Kirie said, somewhat unconvinced.

Jiang Shu shrugged, ”The essence of magic is deception. Props or mechanisms, as long as they can amaze and entertain the public, they are good magic.”

Kirie fell silent.

”There’s also the Wooden Box.” Jiang Shu continued as he picked up the Wooden Box, opened it, and showed its two-layered structure inside. ”A simple mechanism for swapping cards.”

Following that, he took out two card holders. With a flick of his hand, the card holder in his hand disappeared while the one on the table appeared.

”The card holder in my hand was flung under the table,” Jiang Shu explained as he picked up the card holder from under the table and placed it on the table. Then he pointed to the card holder on the table. ”There’s a powerful motor inside the table. The back of the card holder is black. Once the motor is activated, with a ’snap’, very fast, the holder flips, revealing the colored side, creating a flash appearance. It’s that simple.”

Kirie’s heart tightened, watching Jiang Shu’s methodical demonstration. She felt a bit panicked.

”Next is color changing. Want to know how?” Jiang Shu asked with interest.

He could feel that Kirie’s psychological defenses were being slowly broken down. Her slightly blushing and embarrassed expression was amusing.

”Color change... I know about color change!” Kirie looked up proudly. ”You used a deep purple litmus solution, right?!”

”Huh?” Jiang Shu was startled and didn’t catch what she said.

”Deep purple litmus solution; it turns red with acids and blue with bases. You did the color change this way, right!” Kirie blurted out rapidly, pointing out her thoughts.

”Uh... that’s a good idea, I might try it next time,” Jiang Shu responded thoughtfully, contemplating the integration of such scientific and mathematical principles in magic.

”Eh?” Kirie was taken aback. Wasn’t it that way?

No...

It was just a sudden idea she had. Upon thinking carefully, she realized that this kind of color change couldn’t be controlled at will in magic, which meant...

She had guessed wrong again...

Kirie’s corners of her mouth drooped, and she immediately looked distressed.

”Changing the color of clothes is simple—two layers of clothing. When leaning forward, a hook under the table catches the black clothing and pulls it away instantly, revealing the red and blue parts underneath,” Jiang Shu explained. ”As for changing the color of the cards...”

”Look.” He took out the deck of cards and showed it to her. It looked like a normal deck with red backs. He handed one to Kirie. ”Take a look.”

Kirie took the card. The back was red, but flipping it over; the other side of the card was blue.

”This is...” She blinked and with a little effort separated the two cards—red on top and blue on the bottom.

”Oz,” Jiang Shu smiled. ”It makes use of an anti-slip agent.”

Oz could be said to be a milestone in the history of magic props—simple, clean, and immensely powerful.

”Like this.” He took out a specially treated card, separated it, and held up the deck, ”Each card is arranged like this, red on top and blue on the bottom. There’s an anti-slip agent between the two cards creating enough friction so they can be handled as one. When showing them, all you can see is the red back.”

Jiang Shu continued, ”It’s like they are stuck together, but not completely fixed, so with a little force you can separate them.”

”Uh...” Kirie could imagine the actual situation, which was entirely feasible.

”Then, all you need is a little technique, deal the two cards, sending out the blue card from the bottom,” Jiang Shu dealt a card naturally, a blue card came from a pile of red ones.

Slowing down the action, he demonstrated again; this time Kirie could see that Jiang Shu actually tossed out the second blue card.

Following that, Jiang Shu thoroughly demonstrated every technique—Green Dealing Method, ChangePass, etc.—one by one. These actions gradually plunged Kirie into despair, so much so that later on, she wasn’t even listening, her mind full of images of herself falling into the abyss.

It’s over, she was going to become Jiang Shu’s minion.

It’s done, she had already been shaped by Jiang Shu.