ReadNovel Chapter 172: What a Pity
Chapter 172: What a Pity
But he still cheerfully found a piece of music for Riley Perry. He had just checked the number of viewers on the livestream—in the few short minutes Riley had been talking, hundreds of thousands more people had tuned in. This Riley Perry, she was the show’s traffic magnet.
The music started a moment later. It was, well, very mystical.
Riley Perry stood in the middle of the set, facing the cameras and the audience. "Everyone knows I’m not the greatest actress, but what you might not know is that I’m also a magician!
Next, I’ll be performing the Great Disappearance Technique... of eating a squid skewer. Whoops, scratch that! It just slipped out. I meant my school’s most secret art: the Big Floating Technique."
As she finished speaking, she waved her hand, and a jewel-studded longsword appeared. She gripped it, gave it a little flourish, then let go, leaving the sword hovering in mid-air.
Roxanne Fulton gasped. "Whoa! Where was that sword hidden? Why is it floating?"
Everyone knew magic tricks weren’t real. The more impressive the trick, the more technical skill and preparation it required. But Riley Perry had only stepped into the house for a moment, and the stage hadn’t been prepared in any way. And yet, that sword was truly suspended in mid-air. How on earth did she do it?
Livestream Comments: [I was watching with my eyes peeled to see how Riley Perry conjured that, but I honestly couldn’t see a thing.]
[Already screen-recorded. I’m gonna play it back in slow-mo later. No way I won’t find a single flaw.]
Riley smiled at Roxanne Fulton. "His name is Leo. Not only can he float, he’s also very obedient. Tell him to go up, he goes up. Tell him to go down, he goes down. Tell him to do a flip, he does a flip. Of course, there’s one prerequisite for him to obey you: you have to be pretty. Uh, if you’re not, you probably shouldn’t even try. It would be too awkward for you."
The other guests roared with laughter again, and everyone watching the livestream was cracking up too.
"Rhonda, want to give it a try?"
Roxanne Fulton beamed. "Well, don’t mind if I do! Leo, please do a flip for us."
Leo rolled his eyes in his mind. ’I’ve really got to hand it to my master. Here I am, a dignified Sword Spirit, reduced to helping her pull off a scam. But it’s not like I can refuse to perform.’
He had no choice but to obediently flip over, just like a person would.
What everyone saw was an incredibly brilliant sword, which had been floating horizontally, suddenly flip its hilt up and its tip down. Then it spun rapidly, just like a person doing a forward flip.
"Wow, it really can understand what people are saying!"
They could all see for themselves that when Roxanne Fulton spoke, Riley Perry hadn’t moved a muscle. This meant the sword wasn’t under Riley’s control. But what was the mechanism that allowed a sword to do flips in mid-air?
"I have to try! Me too! Riley, make it come over so I can touch it."
Chloe Sterling had barely finished speaking when Leo flew right in front of her and reluctantly allowed her to touch him.
Chloe Sterling squealed with excitement, "This sword looks so expensive! And I can confirm, there are absolutely no strings attached to it! Riley, how in the world are you doing this?"
Leo felt some of Chloe Sterling’s spittle land on him. With a WHOOSH, he shot back in front of Riley, hovering there as before.
Riley ignored her question. "And now, it’s time to witness a true miracle."
She raised both hands and made a light pressing motion in the air. The Severjade Sword drifted lower and lower. When it reached thigh-level, Riley shifted her weight and sat down on it. Then, she made a "rise" gesture with her hand, and her entire body began to float upward, getting higher and higher!
The music swelled dramatically. The crew clapped wildly. ’What the hell? This is a magic trick?’ They would have believed her if she’d called it one of the Divine Arts!
After rising to a height of about three meters, she and the sword finally stopped. Riley stood up on the sword, executed a backflip, and leaped down, landing safely on the ground.
Then, with a wave of her hand, the longsword in the air vanished in an instant.
"That concludes the Big Floating Technique. Thank you all."
Thunderous applause erupted. It was, by far, the most enthusiastic reception of all the performances. Chloe Sterling even sidled up to her and started patting her down, but after a good while of searching, she couldn’t find the sword. She then gave Riley two big thumbs-up. "Riley, you are amazing!"
As Riley’s performance concluded, her phone began to ring again.
Riley made a "shushing" gesture, and Director Warren immediately had someone cut the music.
"Hey, have you all boarded the plane yet?"
"Not yet."
"Your flight is at 9:05. It’s already 9:00 and you haven’t boarded?"
Riley said, "We couldn’t help it. Just as we were about to leave, the company security guards stopped us. They won’t let us go until the termination fee is paid in full!"
"Why didn’t you tell me that sooner?"
"When did you ever give me a chance to?"
The voice on the other end sounded flustered and exasperated. "How much more do you owe?"
"Oh, not much. We’re just short 43,100. Seriously, all of us pooled every last cent we had, but we just can’t seem to borrow this last bit."
"Don’t tell me the 60,000 I sent you before also went toward that termination fee?"
Leaning against Chloe Sterling, Riley casually swung her crossed legs. "Yup. Nothing to be done about it. As soon as money hits my account, it gets deducted automatically. It’s not like I wanted it to happen.
But don’t worry, I’ll definitely take care of that forty-thousand-something debt soon. As soon as this is settled, I’ll come find you. After all, with a salary of 50,000 a month, I can make this back in two or three months, tops. My friends will definitely be willing to lend me the money then."
The man on the other end took a couple of ragged breaths. "I’ll transfer you the money. You get on the very next flight over here, immediately. Once you all arrive, I’ll give each of you an extra 20,000 as a settling-in allowance."
Riley scoffed inwardly. ’Wow, he’s really laying on the empty promises. That’s more than I can swallow by myself.’
"Boss, you’re a real lifesaver! Don’t you worry. As soon as things are settled here, I’ll bring my team and fly straight to T Province. I’ll work a 9-9-6 schedule—no, I’ll work 24/7! I guarantee I’ll give you your money’s worth and then some!"
The scammer was fast. He transferred the money to Riley while still on the phone. "Check it. Did you get the money?"
Riley felt her phone buzz. She glanced at it: Cash received, 104,000.
"Got it, got it! Thank you, Boss! Thank you, Boss!"
Just then, one of his lackeys ran over, holding up a phone. "Yates, look at this livestream! The person on the other end is on speakerphone, and their voice is exactly like yours."
He’d just randomly clicked on it. After watching for a few seconds, he felt something was off. He listened closely—’Isn’t that Yates’ voice?’—and immediately ran over to warn him.
The scammer, Yates, took the phone and glanced at the screen. He was instantly dumbfounded. It hit him—he’d been scammed!
’I know this starlet... isn’t that Riley Perry?’
"SON OF A BITCH! Perry, you’re fucking with me, aren’t you? You’d better transfer that money right back to me!"
Riley let out a dry laugh. "Oh, you found out so quickly? I was hoping to squeeze another payment out of you. What a shame!"
Yates was so furious he gritted his teeth. "You’d better fucking transfer the money back to me this instant, or I’ll make sure you regret this!"