Chapter 334 - 249: Finals Opening (2)

Chapter 334: Chapter 249: Finals Opening (2)

"Is that so? That’s quite thoughtful."

Hearing this, Lori opened the package.

There was quite a bit inside: two posters—one of the finalists, and another featuring all the contestants.

A Rune Stone, which seemed to be for live voting. He was surprised they could take it home.

A set of Commemorative Coins, styled after Gold Coins, but with the Goddess’s head replaced by the contestants’ profiles.

Lori guessed they probably weren’t solid gold.

Many years ago, Gold, Silver, and Copper Coins referred to their actual material. Later, they gradually became just plated. Eventually, even the plating was gone, and they were simply colored metal.

There was also a Short Staff engraved with a Magic Array.

Lori couldn’t quite figure out what this Magic Array was for.

As a student of Repin Academy, while he wouldn’t claim to have mastered every School of Magic, he could usually tell the general purpose of most spells at a glance.

But he was completely baffled by the Short Staff in front of him.

It seemed to be a Lighting Technique, but why would a Lighting Technique need such a complex Magic Array?

’Maybe it’s an occupational hazard, wanting to figure out any new magic I’ve never seen before.’

Before Lori could figure it out, the lights in the venue suddenly dimmed. The finals were about to begin.

There was no opening from a host; instead, the four mentors started the show with an opening performance.

The four mentors shared the stage, singing a medley of popular songs from earlier in the show, performed by contestants who hadn’t made it to the finals.

Xiaode, the lead singer of Underground Discard, was full of emotion. Gelda sang beautifully. Lady Roline’s musical expression was flawless. As for the fourth mentor... the fourth mentor was also there.

Lori now understood what the ridiculously complex Lighting Technique’s Magic Array on the Short Staff was for.

When the music started, the entire Short Staff began to glow. It changed colors when the medley transitioned between songs and sometimes even flickered in time with the rhythm of the singing.

What shocked him even more was that, whether changing color or flickering, all sixty thousand glowing Short Staffs in the arena remained on the same frequency, perfectly synchronized.

The audience members all raised their Short Staffs, swaying along with the music.

At that moment, the large screens broadcasting the event live showed an overhead shot of the entire Arena.

A wave-like sea of light illuminated the stands.

The dreamlike spectacle thrilled the entire audience.

The only downside, Lori realized, was that their seats were so far from the stage that they were really just watching the live broadcast on the large screens.

’It feels like there’s not much difference from watching on the Magic Vision Device at home,’ he thought. ’And the sofa at home is way more comfortable than this stool.’

Fortunately, the sound system in the Arena was excellent, delivering a powerful auditory punch. That, combined with the enthusiastic atmosphere, was enough to make one overlook the other shortcomings. It didn’t feel like a waste of money.

After the mentors’ opening performance, the host took the stage. There was no filler, not even a commercial break. A few opening lines built up the tense atmosphere of the finals, and after a brief introduction of the contestants—whom everyone was already quite familiar with—the first round of performances officially began.

First to the stage was Aunt Susan.

No one had expected an ordinary woman from a small mountain village to defeat so many professional singers from theater troupes and make it all the way to the finals.

Though she was mired in controversy for a while after it was revealed that she was the mother of Zog’s assistant.

Some conspiracy theorists claimed her spot in the finals was fixed, and though they had no evidence, they believed it all the same.

However, the controversy didn’t cause much of a stir.

No one truly believed a boss would place so much importance on his assistant’s mother.

As the attention faded, these conspiracy theorists gradually quieted down.

After Aunt Susan’s performance ended, the live audience gave her half a minute of sustained applause.

Lori enjoyed it, but he didn’t vote for Susan.

It wasn’t that she sang poorly, but he was experiencing a bit of listener fatigue.

The audience might love Susan’s unique singing style the first or second time, but after hearing it so often, it no longer felt special.

As the first round of the competition drew to a close, Lori’s favorite was a young man from the Southern Continent.

He was incredibly relaxed on stage, his singing full of a groovy rhythm. He even did a bit of improvisation during the finals, introducing each member of his backing band, who then each played a short solo.

’It felt less like he was here to compete and more like he was just here to have fun.’

The style of his song was completely different from the other contestants—it was like something straight out of Tom and Jerry, just with lyrics added.

Unfortunately, his singing style was a bit niche and didn’t win much applause from the audience. His final vote count probably wouldn’t be very high.

While he was still feeling sorry for the young man from the south, a huge cheer erupted in the Arena.

The fans in the neighboring stands leaped to their feet, chanting the next contestant’s name.

"Saintess! Saintess!"

"Astrid!"

The Saintess’s popularity was in a league of its own, leagues ahead of the other contestants.

On one hand, her talent was genuinely formidable.

On the other, there was the sense of contrast that came with her identity as the Saintess.

The audience had never imagined that such an important figure from the Church would stand on stage and sing such songs for them.

People had always assumed that this kind of singing was forbidden in the Church.

But it turned out the Church was quite "lively."

「Meanwhile, backstage.」

Galina watched Astrid shining brightly on stage, her eyes full of envy.

She, too, wanted to be like the Saintess, bathed in the cheers of tens of thousands of fans.

Maybe one day, she could hold her own concert in the Grand Arena.