The Daily Life Of A Cyberpunk Magician

Chapter 12 - 11 Jiang Shu, you still say you can’t do magic!
Chapter 12: Chapter 11 Jiang Shu, you still say you can’t do magic!”This is also pretty simple, here, a carbon copy envelope,” Jiang Shu casually pointed to the envelope on the table, ”Just leave the spot for ’2’ blank in advance. I already knew her number when I handed the envelope to Li Yuntang, so I just secretly carved a ’2’ on the outside with my fingernail.”

”You’re a technician; you don’t need me to explain the principle of carbon paper to you, do you?” He shrugged again, looking at Kirie’s frustrated expression and found it somewhat amusing.

”No need!” Kirie gritted her teeth, obviously aware.

Carbon paper—the front is coated with acid-sensitive dye, and the back with colorless dye in microcapsules. Just a little pressure can burst the microcapsules, and the dye changes color upon contact with the acid to form text. This stuff is often used in receipts—that’s the two sheets, one white and one pink.

”So, is your confusion resolved, Miss Tsukimiya Kirie?” Jiang Shu looked at her cheeks, flushed with a mix of annoyance and embarrassment, ”Do you need an explanation of the magic trick that follows?”

”No need!” Kirie shook her head quickly, trying to salvage her dignity, ”Isn’t it just some trick of light and shadows and transparent threads?”

”That’s true,” Jiang Shu nodded.

However, deceiving Li Yuntang at such a close distance wasn’t an easy task, but he naturally had no interest in bragging about it.

”Damn it!” Kirie’s mood stabilized a bit, and she cursed resentfully, her face full of defiance. Then, before Jiang Shu, she threw down a challenge, ”Next time I will definitely crack it! Just you wait, next time for sure!”

”Alright, next Wednesday, I have another magic show,” Jiang Shu had no objections, gesturing invitingly, ”You’re welcome to come and expose me.”

”That’s more lik—wait a minute!” Kirie tilted her head, but after careful consideration, Jiang Shu’s tone seemed to be that of indulging a child, giving her the illusion of being treated as an inferior, so she furrowed her brow, ”Fire up some fight in me, Jiang Shu! Think seriously about your magic routines and don’t think of brushing me off!”

”Oh, yeah, sure sure,” Jiang Shu replied nonchalantly.

”Here’s the deal, I, Tsukimiya Kirie, am not unreasonable. Win or lose, you can pick an item from my warehouse,” Kirie raised her proud head again, ”If I can’t figure out your trick, you can custom order something from me, materials on me!”

”Oh, then I refuse,” Jiang Shu quickly refused. His magic shows produced superpowers and required a certain audience size, so every performance needed to be well planned to yield useful abilities. He couldn’t afford to have his plans upset by a whim of this woman.

”Why would you refuse?” Kirie was puzzled.

”Why can’t I refuse?” Jiang Shu curiously retorted.

”I’m the top technician at the Seventh Police Station,” Kirie quickly responded, ”You can check online, no one can refuse the things I make. Whether prosthetics or weapons, or any other strange and bizarre item, just name it!”

”I’ll take a look.”

Jiang Shu realistically opened his wristwatch, logged onto the Lonely City network, and searched for ”Tsukimiya Kirie,” then began reading aloud.

”T4 postgraduate student Tsukimiya Kirie unauthorized use of a laboratory leads to a fire outbreak, fortunately no casualties, compensation exceeding 200,000...”

”Yesterday, a prosthetic eye overheating and self-ignition incident occurred on Twist Street leading to the death of the individual, unresponsive to emergency treatment, the eye was custom-made by T3 Mechanical Doctor Tsukimiya Kirie. Dr. Tsukimiya has been expelled by her mentor.”

”Third District Bombing Education declares responsibility for yesterday’s Huang Kong Bank robbery, claiming their high explosive came from T3 Demolitions Doctor Tsukimiya Kirie. The police have now seized the source of the explosives, Dr. Tsukimiya, her mentor Professor Yoshino declares no involvement.”

”A prototype Exoskeleton Mecha designed by T3 Mechanical Doctor exploded during a demonstration leading to a timely evacuation, fortunately no casualties...”

Feeling that her past misdeeds were being exposed, Kirie, blushing, loudly interrupted Jiang Shu, ”Stop reading, those are old issues!”

”So what, you’re the Goblin Doctor? Everything you touch explodes?” Jiang Shu looked at her suspiciously, ”Are you trying to harm me?”

”You should know, since I was twelve, I have created so many custom pieces! This is just...” Kirie pondered for a moment, then asserted, ”This is just survivorship bias! Yes, that’s right!”

”What survivor bias...” Jiang Shu rolled his eyes. ”A victim bias would be more like it.”

”Anyway, I’m very strong and proficient in various mechanical creations!” Kirie grumbled. ”Ever since I advanced to T2, I haven’t caused any accidents! And even if I did, I’ve specially designed a protection system that absolutely won’t harm the user!”

”Alright, alright, I get it,” Jiang Shu said, pressing his hand. He had heard before that higher-level Research Sequences were all big shots, and they weren’t necessarily just hiding in laboratories. With the enhancement of unique black technology, they could easily defeat Combat Sequences of the same level, making things like Iron Man and Transformers not just pipe dreams.

”So, you agree?” Kirie tilted her head, looking at the fellow in front of her who barely counted as a colleague.

”Of course, I’ve changed my mind,” Jiang Shu smiled and nodded.

If it was equipment being handed to him on a platter, then it was definitely not to be missed.

”You better prepare well; don’t make me feel bored,” Kirie left the office with a swagger, as if she had won a battle.

”Alright then,” Jiang Shu watched her leave and couldn’t help but laugh. This kind of haughty attitude was indeed cute but not his type.

Then, he opened up his own character profile, looking at the newly added blue entry and two derivative entries from ”Deception.”

The ability ”Past Life and Present Life” wasn’t very useful; it was merely needed to use the identity of Li Yuntang to dispel suspicions and, by taking this opportunity, to leave a good impression on her, facilitating his promotion in the Entertainment Series.

But ”Past Life and Present Life” needed dreams to trigger, so should he try ”Shadow Cutting” first?

Jiang Shu’s gaze shifted to a spare fruit knife nearby.

——

Meanwhile, Kirie was waiting for the elevator in the hallway. She turned around and saw at the end of her view the entrance to the Magic House, where a crate of props was placed, holding a sharp sickle, seemingly left at the door by an apprentice.

Better to tell Jiang Shu, she thought. What if he didn’t notice on his way out, tripped over the crate, and fell onto the sickle?

Thinking so, Kirie felt it necessary to remind Jiang Shu and dashed back toward the Magic House.

Reaching the door, she picked up the crate, just about to knock and enter, when she noticed the door wasn’t properly closed and saw the light spilling through the crack. She peered left and right to make sure no one was around, then put her eye to the gap.

Inside, Jiang Shu was casually using a folding knife to cut the shadows on the wall. Wherever the blade went, the physical objects were invariably severed.

Then, he switched to another knife, trying to slice the shadow of an iron rod, just as easily cutting through like slicing mud, dividing the rod into three or four segments with smooth, clean cuts.

”Wow, this is really useful,” he muttered to himself, nodding with satisfaction, then stroked his chin thoughtfully.

”!!!” Kirie was shocked by everything happening inside; she stepped back twice, wanting to scream but instantly covering her mouth.

Was this also part of the magic? Had he guessed she would come back to spy?

Impossible!

Could it be that he really...

Talking about believing in science, saying it’s just tricks and illusions...

What about hackers, hypnotists, psychology masters, prop makers...

Jiang Shu, you said you don’t know magic!