The Daily Life Of A Cyberpunk Magician

Chapter 86 - 87 Simple Daily Teaching
Chapter 86: Chapter 87 Simple Daily TeachingSunday, Magic House.

”Watch closely,” Su Xiaoou’s expression was serious and earnest as she shook a slip of paper in her hand. ”This is a prediction, and I will place it here.”

She set the paper aside and then took out the top five cards from the deck, laying them on the table face down.

”Each card, in fact, represents a kind of destiny. Each kind of destiny is a reflection of your reality,” Su Xiaoou continued, and then she flipped over the cards on the table one by one.

”Now, here are five cards facing down, meaning there are four intervals. Now it’s your turn to choose an interval to separate the cards into two piles,” she extended her hand, gesturing ”please.”

”Um,” Shen Xuwan was observing the five cards seriously, but their backs were identical, and she couldn’t discern anything. So, she casually pointed to the middle, ”I’ll choose here.”

”Good,” Su Xiaoou divided the five cards into two piles, separating them at the position Shen Xuwan had indicated. ”Now, you need to choose.”

Her voice suddenly intensified, ”Left or right, quick, trust your intuition.”

”Left,” Shen Xuwan said without hesitation.

”Good,” Su Xiaoou nodded and then placed the two cards on the left in front of herself while pushing the three on the right to the side. ”So we’ll keep these two on the left.”

Immediately after, she separated the two cards and said: ”Now, make another choice, quick, left or right?”

”Right,” Shen Xuwan quickly responded.

”Good, then we’ll give up the one on the right,” Su Xiaoou said solemnly, placing the card on the right into the discard pile, then pushing the last remaining card towards Shen Xuwan. ”Although you’ve only made two choices, obviously, it is the destiny you’ve chosen. Now, please flip it over.”

Shen Xuwan looked at the card in front of her, and somehow, her heart was inexplicably filled with an indescribable complexity, unsure whether it was nervousness or expectation about the future.

She slowly flipped over the poker card, which was a joker, featuring the word ”Joker” in black.

”Good, now, turn over that piece of paper,” Su Xiaoou continued.

Shen Xuwan did as instructed, and the words on the small slip of paper caused her to pause slightly —

You will choose the black joker card. The joker is also known as the fool card, which symbolizes many things.

It symbolizes complete freedom, a brand-new beginning; absolute and total potential, the ability to start over; a journey on a new path; on highways and along bypaths; there is a detachment from worries and responsibilities.

”Your destiny is your own choice, yet it is not your choice. Since it is your destiny, you can only accept it,” Su Xiaoou’s voice rose again, ”For this reason, you need not feel perplexed about your future. Strive to do what you wish, strive to get what you desire.”

Shen Xuwan looked at the slip of paper, recalling the choices she had made.

Leaving New Moon Hall, coming to Black Currant; escaping her mother’s shadow, embarking on a new understanding of music; believing in her absolute and total potential, striving for the rank of a true T0-level music master...

”Thank you,” it was a while before Shen Xuwan looked up at Su Xiaoou, her face breaking into a smile.

”Hehe, you’re welcome,” Su Xiaoou chuckled, then turned to look back at Jiang Shu.

Jiang Shu also smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.

Indeed, the principle behind this magic trick was very simple. It was the content that Jiang Shu had taught last time, and it wasn’t even slightly disguised. Full of carelessness and holes, it might have been easily exposed by a slightly more critical audience, but at least it had moved Shen Xuwan, the viewer.

Therefore, Jiang Shu was satisfied with it.

Su Xiaoou’s control of pacing was also quite good. During the force, she sped up her speech to enhance the sense of pressure, causing the audience to make a quick choice and, thus, leaving them no time to ponder the internal logic.

In the final revelation phase, she had also conducted a good loop closure, cutting off the audience’s retrospection of the process to avoid any awkward situations.

”That was a very good performance.” He walked up, complimented Su Xiaoou, and then continued, ”Keep it up.”

”Mhm.” Su Xiaoou also smiled contentedly, feeling a sense of accomplishment from gaining her teacher’s approval.

”Now let’s check your technique.” Jiang Shu continued, ”Have you mastered the ’Double Lifts’ from last time?”

”Should be...okay, I guess.” Su Xiaoou didn’t dare to affirm too confidently. Compared to the monotonous techniques, she still preferred to complete magic with words and procedures.

”Let’s see.” Jiang Shu said.

Next, Su Xiaoou proceeded to demonstrate the techniques taught by Jiang Shu, but the more she performed, the more she felt she was losing face, as everything appeared full of flaws.

”I...” She hesitated.

”No worries, these are foundational techniques. Although simple, they are not so easy to master.” Jiang Shu wasn’t concerned. To have come this far in a week was already commendable.

”Practice more. When you’re practicing the technique, do it in front of a mirror. Don’t look at your hands; look at the mirror’s reflection. Focus on whether ’you’ in the mirror are revealing any flaws.” He imparted his training tips with ease.

Su Xiaoou was receptive to the lesson.

Subsequently, Jiang Shu started to explain the basic principles of Spirit Magic, while Shen Xuwan quietly left the Magic House; she had her own matters to attend to.

”Multiple outs.” Jiang Shu tapped the wall. Under the Projection of the Tablet Spirit, the wall was not much different from a blackboard. ”Actually, this is quite similar to a force. The core principle is the same: without informing the audience, you create interpretations of the audience’s choices, words, or even certain characteristics. These interpretations aid the magic trick, complete the magical effect, or help to create a favorable atmosphere.”

”Oh,” Su Xiaoou understood what he was talking about. This was indeed very similar to a force.

”Let’s see... I remember the EF district has some tarot card houses, right?” Jiang Shu tried to recall. ”Speaking of tarot cards, they’re actually a type of multiple outs. Most Tarot Masters use methods like hot reading and cold reading to understand the client, then half-truth, half-falsity, willingly or unwillingly deceive people to achieve their purpose.”

”Is that so?” Su Xiaoou blinked, recalling a very impressive Tarot Master she knew who seemed to truly know everything...

”Yep.” Jiang Shu nodded, ”When multiple outs are used to their full potential, by setting up a sequence of cards, the audience can mention any card, and out of 52, any choice can be turned into a magical effect through your explanation.”

”Can you do it?” Su Xiaoou looked at him, intrigued by the technique, which seemed so formidable.

”I...” Jiang Shu hesitated for a moment, searching his mind for that magic trick, then shrugged nonchalantly, ”I used to know it, but now I’ve forgotten. It’s too much effort to remember, not worth using.”

”Uh...” Su Xiaoou was speechless. She was curious what experiences this lazy man had gone through to master such skillful magic techniques and cardistry.

Jiang Shu had told her that with tens of thousands of repetitions of a move, she could deceive the eyes of the audience, and with hundreds of thousands, she might even deceive him.

It’s not possible, right? This man couldn’t possibly practice a technique hundreds of thousands of times, could he?