The Lure of the Spotlight

“That’s not important. The video has been circulating online for a while. Has any stranger contacted you?”

“No, it is important,” Aya Tone murmured in protest. But she knew Fire Finch was serious about this matter, and with such a grave expression…

Let’s set aside the money issue for now.

It wasn’t going anywhere anyway.

The original purpose of the short video was to lure out those transmigrators.

Yet…

“No.” Aya Tone’s eyes darted as she told the truth.

Despite so many days passing, aside from some acquaintances, no one had called her.

She’d even turned off the anti-harassment mode on purpose.

“Of course not. You didn’t leave a phone number…”

Fire Finch opened the video account used for operations. Under the platform’s intentional promotion, the follower count had already surpassed one million.

Gaining a million followers in less than half a month—that kind of speed was terrifying.

“Then why ask?” Aya Tone pouted in annoyance.

Fire Finch certainly wouldn’t admit she was changing the subject.

“I just saw it.” She even opened the main page to prove it.

“So what’s the use of finding them? It’d be more useful to keep an eye on Qian Mian’s remnants.”

Although Qian Mian’s people had suffered a Waterloo in Yan’an, Z Country was vast, and completely eradicating all the rats was impossible.

Admittedly, those transmigrators possessed many secret techniques, but searching for that hundred or so people worldwide—domestically, it might be manageable since they might have internet access.

But what about those abroad?

How could Fire Finch not know what Aya Tone was thinking? “When you use your brain, could you stop treating me like an idiot…”

“Hey hey, talk but don’t grab my head!”

Aya Tone shook her head vigorously, trying to shake off the sudden claw that had descended.

Fire Finch’s eyes held amusement. Aya Tone’s movements held no threat in her eyes. Ignoring the other’s reluctance, she continued teasing the short-legged one.

“Ten years ago, during Qian Mian’s chaos, the old man captured some of them. The guild’s secret records also state that most of Qian Mian’s members are not from Blue Star.”

“Although their bodies are very similar to ours, there are still some differences.”

As she spoke, she pinned down the wobbling little head with one hand.

“Just like you.”

“!!!”

With her head fixed and unable to look away, Aya Tone had no choice but to stare expressionlessly at the big face before her.

“Yes, yes, I’ve said it many times, I’m a loyal citizen!”

She was now eating the country’s rice; she couldn’t be slandered like this.

Although based on known information, her whole body seemed not to be native to Blue Star.

Her bloodline came from Starlight Continent, her soul from a distant Earth.

But!

Her heart was here!

“Where was I?” Fire Finch didn’t continue pressing the issue.

“You were framing me as a spy.”

“Just a joke, why take it seriously?”

Fire Finch paused, dropping the playful tone. “Those people from Qian Mian, rather than saying they want to restore the kingdom and push the instances into rampage, it’s more like they are a group of ambitious people who have lost the reins above them.”

What she didn’t say was that from the information dug out of Yan Mo, the transmigrators were guards of the royal family. Only in the royal family’s scheme did they have the chance to access those powerful secret techniques.

If not for that, most secret arts were controlled by the royalty.

Moreover, having fought a bloody battle with Qian Mian, the older generation’s methods were not inferior to the present. The secrets left behind showed that these secret techniques did not exist in Qian Mian.

A group of commoners who gained power—how could they have as deep a foundation as the royalty?

“What does this have to do with what you said above?”

“Nothing.”

Aya Tone: “…Then why say so much?”

“It’s fun.”

When someone is speechless, they really want to laugh.

“Goodbye!”

Looking at the lingering magical fluctuations in her hand, Fire Finch gave a silent smile, a triumphant grin spreading across her face.

Although the subject change was clumsy, the effect was outstanding!

She wondered how many transmigrators were among these million followers.

But then…

Not everyone was a fool; there would always be smart people who could see this was a trap to lure them out.

Seems like she needed to find time to make a treatment video.

As for the filming material, she already had someone in mind.

Yan Mo, as the first transmigrator to surrender, had the highest security level set for her, never mind the treatment.

It was the kind of super treatment where you could do whatever you wanted as long as you didn’t act recklessly, and the country would support you for life.

After filling in the guild’s phone number in the info field, Fire Finch directly handed the account over to her secretary to manage, while she started her daily loafing.

She opened her alt account and began scrolling through comments under the video.

Hehehe!

Making videos to lure transmigrators was just a front. Though that was partly the intention, it wasn’t the most important thing.

The important thing was…

[Brothers, who is this Dragon King, so terrifying that even S-ranks follow his lead!]

[The subordinates standing behind him look spaced out like me in class, LOL.]

[This is child labor! Show me your ID quickly!]

[Upstairs, your abacus beads are clattering all the way to me.]

…

Another batch of silly netizens.

A big forest has all kinds of birds.

Naturally, there were some brain-dead comments.

[Do today’s scriptwriters even have brains? They can come up with such stupid plots, and so many people watch it.]

Fire Finch clicked on the replies below. Unsurprisingly, they were all cursing him.

She clicked on his account; it also had hundreds of thousands of followers.

Oh ho.

Gaining traffic by badmouthing others?

What a clumsy tactic.

Did he think this would get my attention? Ridiculous!

Well, you guessed right!

I’m the scriptwriter! Dare to curse me? Prepare to die!

Furiously, she grabbed the phone on the desk.

“Handle this person for me. I’ve sent you the picture!”

There was a long silence on the other end. “Understood.”

“Wait, come back!”

“What did you understand?”

“You mean for me to go eliminate that scum, right?”

“…”

Now it was Fire Finch’s turn to be silent, and the anger in her heart weakened. “Follow legal procedures.”

“Understood.”

Sigh, why were people’s minds so extreme these days, always jumping to killing?

Too terrifying.

After casually rebutting a few mindless comments, Fire Finch scrolled through short videos, looking for inspiration.

That guy wasn’t entirely wrong—Fire Finch’s scriptwriting really wasn’t great, mostly due to her source material…

But that didn’t stop her from turning Aya Tone into a movie queen!

…

Escaping from Fire Finch’s palm, Aya Tone teleported directly home. No one was there, saving her some walking.

Sigh…

Without magic to strengthen the body, a mage’s physical form was truly fragile.

Fire Finch could suppress her with just pure physical strength. Indeed, training the body was the right choice!

But…

Wasn’t I forgetting something…

Aya Tone racked her brains for two minutes, then simply gave up.

Can’t remember, headache, forget it!

If she couldn’t remember, it was probably something unimportant. She’d deal with it when it naturally came to mind.

…