Laxus stared at the box in shock, only now realizing that its weight felt completely wrong.
That made no sense if the trick worked the way he thought it did.
He swallowed.
Unable to suppress his curiosity, he shifted the box into one arm and reached for the little door painted with a large question mark.
The moment he opened it, the door swung outward toward the audience, conveniently blocking their view of his face.
Laxus’s eyes widened even further, and a chill raced down his spine.
Ron’s entire upper body was still inside the box!
He stared back at Laxus with a helpless expression, holding the lighter-shaped ‘Memory Scrambler’ in one hand.
Laxus looked toward the lower half of the box, which was still running circles around the stage, then back at Ron’s upper body.
Cold sweat instantly broke out across his forehead.
“I warned you not to open it,” Ron said.
“Good thing I came prepared.”
Before Laxus could react, Ron thrust the Memory Scrambler toward his face.
Pop!
Ron pressed the button with his thumb, releasing a small, round puff of smoke directly into Laxus’s face.
Once the smoke cleared, a spring-loaded duck head burst out of the device and began bouncing wildly through the air.
The moment Laxus inhaled the smoke, his eyes rolled back and he toppled over.
Ron immediately pulled the little door shut so quickly that no one in the audience noticed a thing.
At the same time, the box containing his lower body raced behind the falling Laxus and positioned itself beneath him, successfully cushioning his collapse.
The upper box in his arms then landed neatly on top of him.
The audience erupted into enthusiastic applause and cheers, convinced it was all part of the act.
Wes, who had no idea what had actually happened, clapped along from the side, once again marveling at his young director’s talent for performing.
Director White would surely be overjoyed to see how hard his son was working.
Wes carefully moved the unconscious Laxus aside, then reassembled the two halves of the box before anyone could discover how the trick worked.
He pulled out the steel divider and opened both doors.
Ron stepped out completely unharmed.
He spread his arms to show the audience that his body was still in one piece, then bowed in thanks.
The cheering reached its peak.
Once the noise died down, Ron raised the magical megaphone again.
“Our lucky volunteer isn’t the only one receiving a prize!
After the show, everyone can claim a free ticket.
Once the Pure White Theatre Troupe officially reopens, you’ll be able to use it to attend one performance at no charge!”
Wes picked up a thick stack of tickets and headed into the crowd to distribute them.
With the performance finally over, Ron breathed a sigh of relief and looked toward Laxus, who remained unconscious nearby.
Just as he was about to help him up and carry him back into the guild, two figures emerged from the audience.
Ron’s face brightened when he recognized them.
“Uncle Macao!
Uncle Wakaba!”
“That was a pretty good show,” Macao said as the two approached.
“I’m surprised Laxus cooperated with you so well.
Looks like you two are getting along.”
Macao and Wakaba had clearly watched the entire performance.
From their perspective, Laxus had pretended to inspect the box, put on a frightened expression, and then deliberately fainted to help complete the act.
Ron maintained an awkward smile.
“Ha-ha…
no, he actually passed out!”
Both men froze.
They had assumed Laxus had been acting, but once they leaned closer, it became obvious that he truly was unconscious.
“You still have work to do, right?” Macao said.
“Go ahead.
We’ll take care of Laxus.”
Ron nodded and thanked them.
He was not worried about Laxus revealing what he had seen after waking up.
The Memory Scrambler only needed to erase those few crucial seconds.
As Macao and Wakaba carried Laxus back into the guild, they continued muttering to each other, trying to figure out how Ron had managed to frighten him unconscious.
Satisfied, Ron returned to Wes and helped distribute the remaining tickets.
…
Inside Fairy Tail’s first-floor guild hall, Laxus’s eyelids twitched several times before suddenly opening.
Macao and Vee were standing beside the sofa, watching him.
Laxus frowned.
‘Why am I lying here?
Wasn’t I onstage?’
“You’re finally awake,” Macao said.
“How did you manage to scare yourself unconscious during a stage show?”
His words stirred Laxus’s memories.
He remembered opening the box—and then everything went blank.
“All I remember is seeing some terrifying skull painted inside.
Then I woke up here.”
His memory had already been altered, so naturally he could no longer recall seeing Ron’s upper body inside the box.
Vee and Macao exchanged amused glances.
Neither had imagined that Laxus could actually be frightened badly enough to faint.
“Oh, right,” Vee added.
“Ron said you never received your prize for being the lucky volunteer.
You can ask him for it next time you see him.”
The moment she mentioned Ron, goose bumps rose across Laxus’s arms.
The memory itself had been changed, but the fear attached to it remained.
He had no idea what prize Ron intended to give him, and he did not want to find out.
All he wanted was to stay as far away from Ron as possible!
Some instinct deep inside him kept repeating the same warning.
Ron was dangerous!
…
Meanwhile, at Ron’s home in central Magnolia, Ron stood in the living room practicing Requip Magic.
He had already washed off the clown makeup.
A magic circle shone continuously behind him as his clothes changed over a hundred times in rapid succession.
His Visual Effects Magic had already risen to D-rank.
Now that his magic reserves were large enough to support longer practice sessions, he had turned his attention to Requip Magic so he could improve his stage performances.
The moment his status screen changed, the magic circle behind him faded and his casual clothes returned.
Ron smiled.
Requip Magic had successfully reached D-rank, but that was not the only change.
His overall evaluation had finally improved.
[Overall Evaluation: Third-Rate Actor, E-Class Mage]
“So magic really is the key to raising my rank.
Next time, I need to draw a character with a genuinely powerful offensive spell.”
Just then, the system’s voice echoed inside his mind, and a stream of notifications appeared before him.
[Congratulations on increasing your overall evaluation.
Rewards have been issued.]
[The cooldown for the Multiversal Character Summoning Pool has been permanently reduced from 72 hours to 48 hours.]
[One bonus summon acquired.
This summon may be used at any time and will ignore the current cooldown.]
Ron froze for a moment before delight spread across his face.
He had never expected his rank increase to shorten the summoning cooldown.
That meant the rate at which he acquired character cards and abilities would increase dramatically from now on.
With the cooldown reduced, he could even store character cards he did not immediately need inside the Multiversal Item Storage.
That would give him time to prepare the proper costume and wait for the best opportunity to begin roleplaying.
None of that mattered right now, though.
It was time to draw another card!
Ron eagerly rubbed his hands together.
‘I wonder how lucky I’ll be this time.’