Chapter 828: Let's Give a Warm Welcome
Chapter 828: Let’s Give a Warm Welcome (Combined)
"Are you here to participate in the competition?" the female reporter asked.
"Yes", Qiao Sang bent down to pick up the shrunken Fangy and replied.
"Your familiars seem quite rare. Could you describe them?" the female reporter continued.
"Xunxun~"
As soon as the words were out, Treasure Seeker, with its pink afro wig and yellow sunglasses, floated over to the ape familiar holding the camera, enthusiastically waving at the lens.
The ape familiar quietly moved to the side, holding the camera.
"Xunxun~"
Treasure Seeker followed, sticking to the lens.
This show-off... Qiao Sang inwardly groaned but smiled on the surface. "This is Ghost Ring King, a Ghost-type Beast Companion."
"Xunxun~"
Treasure Seeker finally floated back to its Beastmaster.
"And this one?" The female reporter's eyes were filled with interest as she looked at the unfamiliar red familiar in the girl's arms.
With its luxurious fur and stunning appearance, she had been deeply attracted to this familiar from the start.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have bypassed so many elaborately dressed coordinators and familiars to come over for an interview.
"It's called Flame Kiru", Qiao Sang said.
"Ya!"
Fangy called out, as if greeting her.
Flame Kiru... The female reporter repeated the name in her mind and asked, "Do you have confidence in advancing to the next round?"
"Before I answer that, I have one more familiar to describe", Qiao Sang said, calling out, "Steel Treasure."
"Steel Slash."
Steel Treasure, which had been quiet, called out and flew to its Beastmaster's side.
The moment the female reporter saw Steel Treasure, her eyelids twitched, finding it a bit overwhelming.
Black sunglasses, a colorful afro wig, a high-saturation sequined outfit, and metal chains—she couldn’t tell what familiar it was, just like the Ghost Ring King, a Ghost-type Beast Companion.
Clearly a coordinator, and quite attractive, dressed normally herself, why was her familiar's fashion sense so unique... The female reporter looked at the casually dressed girl, filled with confusion.
"It's called Steel Slash Giant Falcon and will be a key player in the match", Qiao Sang described.
"Steel Slash."
Steel Treasure didn’t forget its purpose for the competition.
It remembered Treasure Seeker’s performance, lifted its left wing, and waved at the camera.
Steel Slash Giant Falcon? It sounds familiar... The female reporter paused, then gave a professional smile. "I look forward to your performance."
"Thank you."
Qiao Sang said, heading towards the contestant entrance.
It seems even in the First District, not everyone knows that the Steel Falcon is the new advanced form of the Steel Sparrow.
As the only Steel Slash Giant Falcon in Supernest so far, it should be well-known and highly regarded, but Qiao Sang realized that not everyone was aware of the new Bond Evolution path for Steel Sparrow.
She could understand this.
First, there’s the issue of information disparity. People in the Upper Ten Districts receive news the fastest, while those in the Middle Ten and Lower Ten Districts are busy with their lives and survival, barely paying attention to fleeting external information.
Just like when she was in the Yuhua Region and didn't pay much attention to news from other regions.
Secondly, the news wasn't heavily promoted.
In reality, not everyone is online every day or checks the trending topics.
Some people who saw the trending topics lost interest quickly and forgot about them.
Those who found it interesting but didn't have any related examples in their lives would also gradually forget over time. When someone suddenly brought it up, they might recall it with, "Oh, I remember that. I almost forgot about it."
A couple of days on the trending list isn't enough to make something known to everyone.
It was the same when she won the Beastmaster Star Tournament. For a few days after the tournament, eight out of ten people recognized her when she went out.
But when she reached Zone Thirty, almost no one recognized her.
Later, in the First District, people only found her slightly familiar.
What Steel Treasure needs to do now is not to make people notice its charm in this form, but to let more people know that Steel Sparrow has a new Evolution path.
The more people know about Steel Sparrow's Bond Evolution, the more they will question Yuto Koyori's decision to forcibly sever the bond.
After all, familiars that can undergo Bond Evolution are the least likely to be forcibly separated from their Beastmasters.
This logic becomes clear as soon as people start discussing it.
Qiao Sang thought about this as she followed the other contestants backstage.
When she appeared, everyone was immediately drawn to Treasure Seeker and Steel Treasure's outfits.
Some managed to keep their expressions in check, while others covered their mouths and giggled, whispering to those beside them.
To become a Coordinator, one must have a basic sense of aesthetics.
The more competitive ones even buy various familiar fashion magazines to learn about styling. They had never seen a familiar dressed like this for a Coordination Competition.
"Ya!"
Fangy looked around and quickly spotted an empty seat. It jumped out of its Beastmaster's arms, ran to the seat, and called out to its Beastmaster, indicating that there was a spot.
Its magnificent appearance, with its Flamecondensing Wings and Miniaturization Band, immediately caught the attention of almost all the contestants.
Those two familiars must have been a distraction; this one is the real contestant, a formidable opponent... The contestants instinctively straightened their postures and put away their relaxed attitudes.
Qiao Sang sat down at the spot Fangy indicated.
A girl in a purple dress with chestnut-colored curly hair and light makeup leaned over and asked, "May I ask what level Coordinator you are?"
"F-Class", Qiao Sang replied.
"Me too!" the girl exclaimed excitedly.
But she quickly realized they were in a crowded place and quickly calmed down, lowering her voice, "I thought I was the only F-Class Coordinator."
That sounds a bit strange... Qiao Sang paused, then asked, "Isn't this Coordination Competition open to everyone?"
"Who said it's open to everyone?" the girl blurted out, "Coordinators who sign up can't be over 30 years old."
Qiao Sang was puzzled, "That requirement should only limit high-level Coordinators from signing up, so shouldn't the contestants be mostly low-level Coordinators?"
The girl looked at her strangely, "Who told you that Coordinators under 30 are always low-level? This is the First District, where many Coordinators become famous at a young age. There are quite a few C-Class Coordinators in their twenties."
Qiao Sang glanced at her, "I meant that the requirement limits high-level Coordinators from signing up."
“I heard you,” Girl said, confused.
Seeing that the other party didn’t understand her, Qiao Sang bluntly said, “C-Class Coordinator Level isn’t very high, right?”
In her eyes, B-Rank was the standard for a high level in any profession.
The environment of the Beastmaster Alliance had raised her standards.
Girl: “...”
Girl felt like she didn’t want to speak anymore. She thought there was no common ground between them.
Just another F-Class Coordinator, yet she spoke so pretentiously. If you didn’t know better, you’d think she was one of those prodigies who became a C-Class Coordinator in their early twenties.
Qiao Sang, realizing she wasn’t very familiar with the Coordination Competition, asked when the other party fell silent, “Why do you think you’re the only F-Class Coordinator here?”
Out of politeness, Girl finally spoke, “Because everyone else seems so impressive.”
So it was just her imagination, making her a bit nervous... Qiao Sang thought to herself.
As this thought crossed her mind, the huge holographic screen in front of them began to display the stage.
A handsome man in a white suit, holding a microphone, announced loudly, “Welcome to the First District ‘Tenny Cup’ Youth Coordination Competition!”
All the contestants perked up, their eyes fixed on the stage.
The host was giving his opening remarks.
Qiao Sang turned to Steel Treasure and said what she had been wanting to say, “Take all that stuff off you.”
“Xunxun!”
Before Steel Treasure could react, Treasure Seeker voiced its disagreement.
It looked so good!
They were about to go on stage!
How could she take it off now!
“Steel Slash...”
Steel Treasure hesitated.
It remembered that almost all the participating familiars had some form of decoration. Although it was confident in its feathers, it felt it should follow the crowd.
Qiao Sang took a deep breath and looked at Treasure Seeker, “Get a mirror out.”
“Xunxun~”
Treasure Seeker didn’t understand why, but it quickly took off its ring and pulled out a mirror.
Storage Ability... Girl, seeing this, felt a bit envious.
Although this familiar was poorly dressed and didn’t look very impressive, its Storage Ability was enough to make up for everything, increasing its value.
Qiao Sang took the mirror, said nothing, and simply held it up in front of Steel Treasure.
Steel Treasure looked at its reflection, froze, and without a word, quickly used its wings to remove everything it was wearing.
“Xunxun?”
Treasure Seeker wore an expression of horror, as if to say, “What are you doing?”
Such a beautiful outfit!
They were about to go on stage!
Why take it all off now!
At this moment, Girl exclaimed in surprise, “I didn’t expect your bird familiar to look so good.”
Then she seemed to think of something and asked, “Why did you dress it up so ugly at first?”
Treasure Seeker: “???”
Ugly?
“Ya Ya.”
Fangy waved its claws.
It had wanted to say this for a while. That flashy outfit was seriously hindering its battle performance.
Qiao Sang silently glanced at Treasure Seeker, “That was the familiar’s own doing, not mine.”
“No wonder,” Girl said, enlightened. “I thought you, being a Coordinator, wouldn’t have such poor taste.”
Treasure Seeker: “...”
That sentence pierced its heart in just 0.01 seconds.
“Xunxun...”
For the first time, Treasure Seeker doubted its own sense of style.
It took the mirror back from its Beastmaster and began to examine itself seriously.
Is it really that bad...
I don’t feel it...
Because Treasure Seeker had displayed its Space storage ability, and Steel Treasure’s appearance had undergone a significant change, the girls’ chatter increased once again.
Qiao Sang chatted with them casually.
During the conversation, she learned that the "Tenny Cup" Coordination Competition was relatively well-known among the teenagers and young adults in the First District. Many Coordination Masters had participated in this competition when they were young.
As long as one placed in the top three in this match, they could use this honor to apply to become an E-Rank Coordinator at the Coordination Center.
In other words, this was a city-level competition... Qiao Sang immediately equated the "Tenny Cup" with a city-level match.
The number of waiting contestants gradually decreased.
The Performance showcase segment lasted one minute per person and progressed quickly.
Qiao Sang watched their performances on the backstage holographic screen.
Perhaps because she had seen the Coordination Contest live before, these contestants’ performances didn’t particularly impress her.
However, it was worth noting that everyone completed their performance without any mistakes.
If Steel Treasure didn’t make a mistake, they should be able to advance to the next round smoothly... Qiao Sang chatted, watched the holographic screen, and thought about the Coordination Competition, juggling three tasks at once.
The Coordination Competition is basically divided into two parts: Performance showcase and Elegant Battle.
Each part is scored, with the Performance showcase being judged by invited judges. This part directly eliminates 50% of the contestants, and those in the top 50% will advance to the next round, the Elegant Battle.
The Elegant Battle is scored by professional scoring Mechanical Pets.
The two scores are added together, and the one with the highest score wins the championship.
If two people have the same score, there will be a third round of additional competition.
Many judges score with precision to the decimal point, so the third round is not common.
As she was thinking, a small holographic screen next to the large one suddenly displayed:
【Contestant 078, Qiao Sang, please prepare.】
Qiao Sang took a deep breath, stood up, and put down her backpack containing Lulu. She looked at Fangy and instructed, “Stay here, I’ll be back soon.”
Before coming, Fangy and the others had expressed their desire to watch the match, so she had to leave them in the backstage.
“Ya Ya!”
“Ice Ai.”
“Xunxun~”
At that moment, a particularly familiar voice suddenly rang out, “Adinix.”
Qiao Sang: “!!”
Adinix was also here?!
Qiao Sang was startled and quickly glanced around cautiously. She noticed that everyone’s attention was either on the match or their familiars, and she silently breathed a sigh of relief.
“Good luck.” The girl next to her, whose name she had just seen on the holographic screen, said.
“I will.” Qiao Sang steadied her nerves, which had been shaken by Adinix’s scary face, and looked at Steel Treasure:
“Let’s go.”
“Steel Slash,” Steel Treasure nodded solemnly.
…
"Ladies and gentlemen, let’s welcome contestant number 78, Qiao Sang!"
As the host finished speaking, the dark red curtain slowly opened.
The moment it opened, a strong gale swept through.
A massive, spinning tornado suddenly emerged from behind the curtain.
Almost all the audience members in the front row who hadn’t tied their hair up were instantly blown into wild, wind-swept hairstyles.
One male audience member’s entire wig was even blown off his head.
(End of Chapter)
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