SWNOVELS Chapter 83: Test of the Rose Windmill Cabaret (17)
“[Crimson Plated Armor] has been added to the costume room.”
A notification window appeared, and a speech bubble with ‘New!’ attached appeared in the costume room catalog, showcasing the armor.
With this, I could equip this Armor on members whenever I wanted.
“Wumon, step forward.”
A giant with a menacing appearance, featuring large horns and tusks, stood in front of me, his skin a deep red hue.
He looked around with an awkward expression, chuckling to himself. I raised an eyebrow as I observed him.
It was hard to believe that this guy was just a 10-year-old boy.
He glanced at me with fearful eyes, and with a gaze that seemed like I could devour a person, he nervously spoke.contemporary romance
“Ah, will it hurt?”
“You won’t even feel it; it’ll be over quickly.”
The members formed a circle around us.
“Then, let’s go.”
“Yes.”
I designated him as the target, chose the armor, and snapped my fingers.
A faint light flashed and enveloped his body.
The effects of the dressing room activated in an instant.
With a clinking sound, a suit of Armor identical to the one in the box appeared on his body.
Moreover, it was adjusted in size and proportion to fit his physique.
The members stared wide-eyed at him.
I went to him and touched the Armor, expressing admiration continuously.
“Wow!”
“Is this the leader’s new magic?”
“Amazing! Cool, Wumon!”
Wumon opened the visor and smiled.
With the crimson armor and that expression, he looked like a demonic general.
The members took turns coming forward to receive their tailored clothes.
Among them, Yurakne and the triplets, the Triamere, were the most pleased with the dressing room’s ability. They always had to make holes or add wrinkles to ready-made clothes to fit their unique bodies. However, the clothes coming out of the dressing room fit them perfectly, as if they were tailor-made.
Sven, who had been stuffing cotton into his clothes to give them shape, didn’t need to do that with the clothes provided by the dressing room. The sponge-like moulding material automatically filled the necessary parts.
Perhaps due to their peculiar bodies, they were genuinely pleased with the situation of having ‘clothes that fit their bodies.’
I could understand their feelings better than anyone else.
“Ringmaster, can I really destroy this Armor?”
Wumon, still seemingly disbelieving, looked at the Armor on his body and asked.
“Of course. I can restore it anytime with my magic.”
The good thing about the clothes from the dressing room was that, even if they got dirty or damaged, as long as you paid the cleaning and repair fees in debulroots, you could instantly make them look brand new.
Wumon, while still looking amazed, spoke, “It’s really great.”
Ella looked around at the members with a satisfied smile.
Thanks to this, the digestion rate of the script increased significantly.
Members = 25%.
Fantasy background, props, special effects = 22%.
Clothing = 9%.
Total = 56%.
We had finally surpassed a script digestion rate of 50%.
Ella was more than 10% higher than what she had planned a month ago.
“Is this enough to be in the top tier among the participants?”
“Not yet.”
She investigated around 100 circus troupes participating in the Circus Grand Prix in her own way.
Famous circus troupes were already well-known, and it was easy to investigate this time because many magazines had articles analysing the participants.
She believed that our current skills were positioned slightly below the middle. If we didn’t compete with the industry’s best like Silver Veil or Pandora, we could face opponents who were worth challenging.
Moreover, the 56% figure was calculated based on the average of the members. By extending the amount of performance of Womon, who had the highest scores, and reducing the performance of the lowest-scoring Triplets and Jobel, we could actually raise our skill level to nearly 60% during the performance.
“How about Satbyeol Circus?”
“They are probably similar to us.”
Minova’s circus troupe was a ‘planned circus troupe’ created for this competition.
Sponsors recruited experienced individuals to form an organization for the competition.
There were quite a few individuals that Ella was aware of among them.
After researching their reputation and evaluations, she assessed their skills as being on a similar level to ours.
“Don’t worry. Business is the most important thing, right? Your idea is great. It will surely be well-received. Your magic of changing clothes is beyond expectations. Now, Maya just needs to do well.”
It was my idea.
It required both Maya’s and my abilities.
For this, Maya had been practicing not only illusion magic but also telekinesis for the past week.
I stood behind her, watching the black powder fluttering above her palm.
Her magical control was so precise that no one of her age could match, but she had not mastered telekinesis as well due to focusing solely on illusion magic during that time.
The powder subtly deviated from its original position.
“Maya, are you okay?”
“I can do it.”
She said with a determined voice.
Fortunately, she considered the tasks assigned to her not as work but as a type of performance and diligently devoted herself to them.
A commendable child.
In this way, we spent time each in our own ways, going through the procedures.
The second week passed quickly.
***
Ella opened her eyes at 4 in the morning.
She had slept a little past 2 in the morning, so she had slept for just over 2 hours.
Feeling as if her entire body was tied with iron, she got up.
Her mind was clearer than expected considering how fatigued her body felt.
To somehow digest the schedule, she had been consistently drinking caffeinated drinks in the morning and evening. This allowed her to move her body until it completely crumbled, and even if she slept a little, she quickly woke up. No matter how tired her body was, her mind remained sharp, allowing her to somehow drag her body around.
“Let’s endure a little more. There’s only about a week left now. Let’s endure a little more and then take a break.”
She got up with difficulty and sat in front of the desk, immersed in the task of revising the script.
The script provided by Wonderstein had many unconventional elements that didn’t fit the current format of this era.
Ella liked it, but for commercial success, some parts had to be modified.
The dialogue was the main issue.
While the latest trend in the entertainment industry preferred natural everyday dialogue, what was still popular among the masses was elegant and dramatic dialogue.
The performers didn’t need to speak like aristocrats or poets since they were free spirited, but having at least a minimum of formality made it more acceptable to people.
In this way, for two hours, she delved into the script, refining the language based on reference books she had brought.
At 6, she drank a cup of coffee and went out to the garden to maintain the practice tools for the members.
No matter how busy she was, she never neglected this.
Each member was precious to her.
A single glitch in a safety device could result in a significant loss if someone got injured during practice.
During the morning hours, she checked the practice status of the members.
Movements, skills, lines—she meticulously reviewed and provided feedback on every little detail.
After finishing the morning schedule, she headed to the cabaret.
It was to analyze the second-week competition.
At this moment, it felt like all the fatigue evaporated.
Watching a performance was always enjoyable.
The acrobats of the Papal Circus, under the command of their leader Hopps, acted like a well-disciplined army.
The zigzag structure of the interlocking human tower distributed the load widely, and those bearing the weight directly positioned themselves with bones perpendicular to the ground, relying on the strength of the bones themselves rather than joints.
The theory was one thing, but executing it precisely with a large number of people was not easy.
Papal Circus’s main performance, “Hourglass,” lived up to its reputation. Eighty-eight acrobats built a 12-story human tower, narrowing as it reached the middle.
Most surprising was the 6th and 7th floors, each with only one acrobat, holding the weight with their arms interlocked, palms facing each other.
She was familiar with the principles of tower building from her school days, but executing it with a large number of people was extremely challenging.
The next act, Papael Circus’s new piece, “Leviathan,” was also impressive.
Over thirty acrobats gathered to form a giant human figure, not just mimicking the shape but also imitating every movement of a human.
Kneeling, standing up, turning, backflips, rope skipping, hula-hooping, and even dancing to the music—they did it all.
In a scene where a giant knife hanging from the ceiling split the waist of the human structure made of 32 people, screams erupted from the audience.
But when the shattered Leviathan rose with 16 people on each side, the audience erupted in cheers and applause.
The two delivered a delightful double comedy that was almost embarrassing even compared to Allen and Jo’s.
Later, the two split into 8 pairs during the opening ceremony and repeated the process until all 32 acrobats stood in a line and greeted the audience.
Ella scored their performances as follows:
- Hourglass: 62%
- Leviathan: 68%
She rated them lower than Pandora’s acts, as the shows were too rigid.
Even though acrobatics involved risks, conveying such tension to the audience made it difficult to enjoy the show.
The circus leader Hopps and the acrobats in tights, with their stern expressions and rigid approach, made the audience feel uneasy.
The Mango Troupe’s performance, on the other hand, stood on the opposite side of Papal Circus.
Their show was not particularly innovative—it was an enhanced version of the Rose Windmill Cabaret show they had seen during the opening ceremony.
Since the troupe’s lead, Sol, was a former director of the Rose Windmill’s dance team, it was natural.
However, Sol knew how to entertain people.
Even if the script deviated or ad-libs were thrown in to match the atmosphere, he made sure everyone left with a smile, their faces cool.
Moreover, unlike Hopps, who didn’t care about song and dance fitting the product, Sol was enthusiastic about adapting songs and dances to the performance.
Although the lyrics of the stage set for the Circus Grand Prix were absurdly cheap, the simple melody and easy-to-understand lyrics were addictive.
People who enjoyed singing along and dancing unknowingly hummed the song repeatedly and ended up buying items from the Mango Troupe’s concession stand.
Ella rated their performance at 54%, a score she had never considered giving before, but their exceptional interaction with the audience boosted their score.
Their determination to do business was evident, making them more likely to win the competition than Papal Circus, which only had popcorn and soda in its concession stand.
And then came Saturday.
The crown of victory leaned toward the Mango Troupe.
“Do you have no pride? Do you think it’s good to win with such low-class songs and dances? A second-rate dancer in harmony with the masses!”
Hopps stood up angrily, and Sol responded with provocative taunts.
Eventually, a fight broke out between the two circus groups.
Ella wanted to see the end of the fight, but she had a lot to do, so she quickly left the theatre.
She had a lot to do in the evening hours.
She checked the role assignments and guest reception routes for the ratmen, reviewed the details of the wonders and program, and examined points to modify in Maya’s background, props, and special effects illusions.
…Yawn.
“Oh no.”
Ella’s eyes snapped open.
She almost fell asleep without realizing it.
No, she couldn’t.
There wasn’t much time left.
She had to endure.
Just a little longer, and she could see the results.
Today is Saturday.
Just one more week.
Let’s endure until next week.
She gritted her teeth and drank the coffee she had brought from the concession stand, jotting down the ideas she had acquired today in her notes.
Read
Read
Read
Read
Read
Read
Read
Read
Chapter 82: Test of the Rose Windmill Cabaret(16)
done.co