Gathering herself, Hailey thanked Harry for the makeover, and they started talking. She explained that she had been summoned to the Inn for the pageant but, after the initial overwhelming rush of emotions, she was having serious doubts about entering. It wasn’t like she was unaware of what a pageant was – just because she was a farm-girl did not mean she was uneducated or uncultured. Instead, she felt like she would only end up making a fool of herself by competing.
Harry, the stranger she had just met today, listened quietly to her story as she expressed her doubts, and in the end, only said one thing. He said that if she felt reluctant, or pressured by it, then she did not need to force herself, after all, the Inn would not force her to enter just because she had come here – but that he felt it would be a pity if she didn’t.
After that they parted ways, for Harry had his own tasks he needed to take care of, but more importantly, she had been gone quite a while and was probably already late for her duties at the farm.
But she could not leave. Her mind kept wondering about the things that had been left unsaid. Why would it be a pity if she didn’t participate? Was it because he thought she had a shot at winning, or did he just want to see her more? But, a bigger question also burdened her mind.
What did it mean for her if she entered the pageant? Would her life change? Or would she just end up back at the farm after a fleeting moment of freedom? A hundred different thoughts were running through her mind, so that she did not notice a few kids in her path, and bumped into them.
Just as she was about to apologize, the kids looked up at her in wonder and exclaimed, “a fairy!”
Perhaps he meant that Hailey looked like a beautiful and enchanting woman, straight out of a storybook when he called her that. She, instead, heard something different. On her planet, and often in most other places in the universe, Fairies were one of the most oppressed species. Their high affinity for spiritual abilities and innate abilities, paired with the general weakness of their species, made them perfect targets to be taken advantage of. Of course, in X-142 they were not treated like slave but… whatever the case, she did not want to live the life of a fairy!
With her decision made, she registered for the pageant, and now, nearly a month later, she had let the other farmhands know she was taking an extended leave and had come to the Inn.
Two days later, the pageant would begin, and it would be broadcast to many worlds. They were already being briefed on the many divisions of the pageant, and what to do when their turn comes. Though, the first thing they were advised, and very strongly at that, was they should not reveal their names and the planets they were from – for their own safety. Should any opportunities for a career as a celebrity or anything else really present itself, then they would contact the Lady Cosmos organization in the Inn first, and the organization would then contact the participants.
With that, not at all scary advice out of the way, Hailey began practicing. In two days, when the event began, the first portion would be talent. According to the cultivation level, each contestant would be placed in a different group and judged on different parameters. This was so everyone was judged fairly, and no one used their cultivation as an advantage.
*****
Over the last two days, as more and more people came to the Inn, Lex was entirely focused on managing the crowd and ensuring there were no problems. Once the event actually began, he would become relatively freer since he was not the one overseeing the event.
In these past two days, he earned another 63 million MP, bringing his total to 96,850,000 MP. The MP came just in time, for now he had to finish setting up the actual event. Spending 68 million MP and 0.3% of his remaining 1.5% energy accumulation, he established the broadcasting for the event. Any planet, moon, asteroid, spaceship or anything else from which a participant came would end up receiving a broadcast of the show.
The place of origin was advanced enough to have some form of television or streaming service, the system would integrate the broadcast into it. Otherwise, a massive projection in the sky would appear anywhere with a large enough group of living beings.
Another 5 million MP went into establishing a sentiment analysis feature, which would judge how the audience reacted to different participants, which would end up being one of three categories in which they would be judged.
Finally, he came to the part that personally interested him the most – his income! The Inn itself would not put any advertisements during its broadcast, but if any local entities tried to put in ads between the show, then 95% of their profits would be transferred to the Inn automatically!
Then, naturally, there was the numerous merchandise for the Lady Cosmos show. The apparel was no longer limited to just Tshirts, but also included suits, dresses, gowns, saris, kimonos, and hundreds of other traditional dresses from each planet participating in the show. Then, as per usual, there was the betting pool. Finally, he would also implement an idea Mary gave him.
According to her, a majority of the participants were financially struggling. So they decided to implement a very common feature of many platforms on Earth, wherein the audience could support the participants they liked by sending them gifts. The Inn would take 1% of the value for each gift as revenue for Lady Cosmos, but the rest would be given to the participants themselves.
Setting up all this cost him another 10 million MP, leaving him 13,850,000 MP. That was more than enough to deal with any emergency that popped up.
One day later, the event finally kicked off. In the end, the number of participants who actually showed up for the event was only 1.5 million, a lot lower than the number who registered, but no one was complaining.
With a majority of all issues handled, Lex breathed a sigh of relief, and turned his attention back to the Crystal realm. They would begin their excursion to the Minor realm in less than 2 weeks. He had to be ready.
*****
Earth, Unnamed Island in the middle of the ocean
Emperor Silius, First of his name, Savior of the luggage, Fisherman Supreme, Builder of bonfires and makeshift barbeques, stared in a daze at the broken tv screen that was still embedded into the airplane seat. It had been… he had no idea how long it had been since the commercial plane he was on crash landed on this island.
Almost everyone on the plane survived, but after what seemed like thousands of years and no rescue, nothing to do and barely surviving by foraging what little they could, most had lost hope and some, unlike Emperor Silius, had lost their minds. Of course, the patchy beard on his face indicated barely a month had passed, but who cared about these technicalities?
But the supremely important thoughts in which he was lost were interrupted by a sound too alien to this island: music. Alarmed, he looked up and saw that the tv screen latched into the seat in front of him had turned on, despite the prominent lack of electricity and any kind of signals, and was playing some kind of introduction.
Confounded, he looked around and saw that all the tv screens had turned on, and he wasn’t the only one who had noticed. All the passengers who had been resting in the shade of the plane were alarmed. Was this a case of mass hysteria?
“Lady Cosmos!” screamed the Diva Queen in excitement, a ruthless and ferocious adversary who had kept Emperor Silius on his toes.
But, since this strange magic seemed to be the domain of this Queen, the various Lords and Ladies turned to her for guidance. But she was too engrossed in the show to pay attention.
*****
Planet SSY-534, Plains of Carnage
Four separate armies clashed together in an epic free for all. There was no indication of what these beasts and aliens fought for, or where their allegiance lay, for none wore armor or identifying tags, but the soldiers themselves seemed to know their enemies.
Like rain, blood fell to the ground, like thunder, bodies clashed in the skies, like the wind, carnage washed over all.
This was a planet owned by no one, but housed the largest black market in the nearest thousand star systems. Anyone from pirates, merchants, contractors, artists and even actual lords and ladies visited this planet for some reason or another. On an unowned planet, where the rules and regulations of the wild were rampant, such a brutal war was not an uncommon sight.
What was uncommon, however, was a massive projection appearing randomly in the sky above said armies, with the most unusual music playing. The soldiers did not stop fighting, but the commanders of the armies looked up in confusion. Was this some new tactic? Since when had their enemies become so devious?