The Daily Life Of A Cyberpunk Magician

Chapter 219 - 165: Derivative Entry: Spirit Technique
Chapter 219: Chapter 165: Derivative Entry: Spirit Technique”If anyone here has a friend or family member who enjoys playing poker, please raise your hand,” Jiang Shu announced loudly. ”I need them to be elsewhere, not here.”

About a third of the audience raised their hands.

”The second criterion is that, preferably, they shouldn’t be playing poker right now, and ideally, they should be in a good mood—I don’t want to get cursed out for ruining their game,” Jiang Shu said with a smile. ”If that applies, please stand up.”

A third of those with raised hands stood up, creating a thick crowd.

”Excellent. I’m going to select a member of the audience the same way I did before; please, no pushing—you know, it can get dangerous,” Jiang Shu continued and then turned around to toss a plastic Frisbee over his shoulder.

After a brief commotion, an audience member was invited onstage—a clean-cut Asian man in a suit.

”What should I call you?” Jiang Shu extended his hand to him.

The man named ”Sawada Kazu” shook hands with the magician onstage, gripping firmly, his face lighting up with the mixed excitement and surprise of meeting an idol, ”Hello, Mr. Jiang Shu, I am Sawada Kazu. I’ve been a fan of you—no, your magic—for a long time. I’ve always wanted to meet you, and today I...”

”Calm down, Mr. Sawada,” Jiang Shu smoothly pulled his hand back, ”Try to calm yourself. The next magic act requires our cooperation, and you wouldn’t want to screw up tonight’s performance, would you?”

”Right, of course not,” Sawada Kazu composed himself, looking at Jiang Shu with boundless admiration.

If there was a man in Lonely City who was like a god, it must be Jiang Shu.

Mr. Jiang Shu had performed many miracles, and today, he too could be a part of it.

Whenever he thought about it, he shivered with excitement, an excellent topic for dinner conversations.

”Just as I said earlier, Sawada Kazu, you have a friend or family member who likes playing poker, right?” Jiang Shu looked at him.

”Yes, my father loves playing poker. Every afternoon he gets together with his friends for a game. Right now, he should be drinking tea in his study,” Sawada Kazu replied in one breath.

”As I mentioned before, the Spirit Monster is intangible and invisible, and it can even perform wireless transmissions through a watch signal to any location with network access,” Jiang Shu explained. Then, in a negotiable tone, he continued, ”Now, I need you to call your father and invite him to help us with a magic act. It’ll be just a voice call; we don’t need to see what’s happening on your father’s end, okay?”

”Sure,” Sawada Kazu nodded.

”Next, I will disable the signal jammer of the Black Currant Theater. Please, everyone in the audience, refrain from doing anything against the rules, okay?” Jiang Shu addressed the audience loudly.

”Sure.”

”Understood.”

A sea of voices responded from the audience seats.

”Thank you all very much,” Jiang Shu nodded, then turned to Sawada Kazu and took out a stack of cards, ”Next, I’m going to write what you should say to your father on these cards, and you’ll need to read from them.”

”So everyone must stay quiet now. This magic act requires the cooperation of everyone,” Jiang Shu said to all the audience members, then made a shushing gesture.

The place went instantly silent; all eyes were on Jiang Shu and Sawada Kazu. Tonight’s magic performance had an indescribable quality.

It was not like past magic shows that were filled with visual directness. There wasn’t the kind of immediate visual shock that you could fall in love with at first sight, but now, they felt an even more heart-pounding sensation.

The man on stage seemed even more mysterious; he had a kind of gaze that seemed capable of seeing through everything in the world.

Human hearts, time, illusions...

These things were like stones on a beach in his presence, unable to hide; he could effortlessly find the answers he wanted among them, even blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.

”Okay,” Sawada Kazu responded and dialed his father Sawada Ki’s number.

”Hello? Didn’t you go to a magic show?” a deep, rich voice came from the other end of the phone.

”Yes, but...” Sawada Kazu glanced at the words Jiang Shu was writing on a piece of paper, looking at him with a hint of confusion.

Jiang Shu gave him an encouraging look, prompting him to continue.

”The guy’s performance was total crap; he’s definitely not as amazing as they say online. I walked out early,” Sawada Kazu read from the card with emotion.

Jiang Shu gave him a thumbs up.

”Is that so? Are you back home then?” The voice on the other end sounded a bit puzzled but didn’t think much of it, simply asking.

”No, but I learned a trick in the magic show that I want to try. Do you have a deck of poker cards with you? Please get it.”

”Trying to pull a fast one on me?” the middle-aged man chuckled on the other end. ”Alright, I’ve got them. Now what do I do?”

”Shuffle them, however you like; the more mixed up, the better,” Sawada Kazu told him, ”Then lay them out into three piles on the table, all face down.”

After about half a minute, Sawada Ki on the other end reported, ”Done.”