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After finishing the newspaper, Paimon, Lumine, and Victor Wang arrived at the venue just in time.
From the preliminary rounds to the elimination rounds, and then from the elimination rounds to the semifinals, the number of contestants in the Second Teyvat Bubble-Blowing Competition had plummeted from 5,716 to just twenty-five.
Among these remaining twenty-five people, almost every one of them could be called a one-in-a-thousand bubble-blowing expert. Waiting for them were rewards with a guaranteed minimum of half a million Mora and a maximum of ten million Mora.
After reaching the venue and watching Lumine step onto the stage alongside these fierce-looking opponents, Paimon couldn't help but feel nervous. "Even though the semifinals have far fewer matches than the round-robin elimination stage, every single match from here on is going to be a hundred times more intense than all the previous ones."
"Yeah, they're all really strong…" Xiangling had returned to the spectator area.
Although she had practiced bubble-blowing diligently during her free time, she still fell short on the road to the semifinals. Hu Tao, Xingqiu, and Chongyun, on the other hand, all made it into the semifinals and were now on the field, building up their momentum.
"Boss, you got this—push into the top five!"
Several members of the Arataki Gang were already shouting their encouragement. After all, today's matches would directly determine the five contestants who could advance to tomorrow's grand finals.
As long as they won today, the right to designate the next generation of bubble gum flavors would be firmly secured, and the guaranteed prize money would be upgraded from 500,000 Mora to 3,000,000 Mora. In the grand finals, first place would receive 10,000,000 Mora, second place 8,000,000 Mora, third place 5,000,000 Mora, and even the last two would still get 3,000,000 Mora each.
For bubble gum that sold at 100 Mora per piece, Ningguang was being exceedingly generous.
This attracted many people. Scholars from Sumeru set aside their reserve, people from Natlan crossed the desert to come, even stone-faced Snezhnayans showed up, and there were rumors of a young noble from Fontaine who had come purely out of personal interest.
However, among the 25 people on the semifinal stage, Victor Wang didn't see that young noble. Instead, he saw… Kuiyuan?
At the moment their gazes crossed, Victor Wang was slightly surprised. Ever since he had used a "prophecy" to bluff the Mirrormaster some time ago, the South Wing had truly never appeared in front of him again. This time, Kuiyuan seemed to be here purely to compete, so Victor Wang didn't dwell on it.
Beside him, Charlotte spoke while taking photos. "There are only six people left from the Spice-Eaters Faction. If they want all of them to make it into the finals and realize their strange-flavor bubble gum plan, that might be a bit tough~"
"The Spice-Eaters Faction… is that the one Kaeya mentioned during registration? It actually exists?"
"Of course it does. I thought you'd noticed already. The person you were just looking at is the one in the Spice-Eaters Faction with the best chance of making it into the finals."
"Kuiyuan?"
"Yes, yes. For the other members of the Spice-Eaters Faction, just making it into the semifinals is already impressive. Having to face past award winners would really be too much for them."
Victor Wang didn't pay much attention to contestants outside his circle of friends, so he didn't discuss it further and continued watching the matches along with the cheering crowds.
By the end of the morning, the twenty-five contestants had been reduced to ten. Hu Tao and Xingqiu were unfortunately eliminated, leaving only Chongyun still standing. Of the six from the Spice-Eaters Faction, only two remained, including Kuiyuan. Kaeya, Lumine, Yoimiya, and Arataki Itto all proved through action that their previous rankings were no fluke, while Kaveh, as a newcomer, barely managed to hang on thanks to his extraordinary talent.
It was lunchtime, an intermission between matches.
In the afternoon, even more brutal and intense matches kicked off in rapid succession.
Last year's competition had simply tested the ability to blow large bubbles. This year, an additional test of control was added—blowing bubbles to a specified size. As the required sizes changed frequently, Kaveh was the first to show signs of fatigue. Arataki Itto wasn't particularly good at this aspect either, and eventually made a mistake…
Half the afternoon passed, and the semifinals came to a complete end. Based on cumulative scores, Kaeya, Lumine, Yoimiya, Chongyun, and Kuiyuan advanced to the grand finals.
Kaveh calmly accepted the result.
Arataki Itto, who missed the top five by a tiny margin due to two mistakes, couldn't stop his frustration.
"Damn it! I can clearly blow huge bubbles! Just because I blew them a tiny bit bigger than the required size, it turned out like this… damn it!"
Still, with his personality of accepting wins and losses alike, after losing in a fair and just competition, he only grumbled a few complaints before ultimately entrusting all of Inazuma's hopes of proving themselves to Yoimiya.
...
"Recently, the semifinals of the Second Teyvat Bubble-Blowing Competition have concluded. Today, we won't disturb the five contestants who have advanced to the finals. We'll conduct interviews after the finals are over~"
"So that's why Charlotte didn't come asking questions this time," Paimon said after glancing at the newspaper. "But the interview with Victor is still the same as ever."
"Q: How does Mr. Victor view the claim that 'using Slimes as ingredients is too inhumane'?"
"A: Uh… I originally didn't plan to eat them. But after hearing that claim and reflecting on myself, I ended up eating dozens of pieces of bubble gum… haha, just kidding.
Slimes are purely elemental life-forms. Their birth is uncontrolled, and many times they cause trouble for ordinary people, so personally, I don't feel much burden when it comes to eliminating Slimes.
As for whether it's humane or not… there's really nothing much to discuss. Animals and plants are all living things. Whether one eats meat or vegetables, strictly speaking, as long as you're still eating, no one is completely spotless.
And besides, Slimes are purely elemental life-forms. Everyone knows that elemental energy permeates all of Teyvat—
Some people, even if you can't perceive elemental energy, are actually taking in plenty of it with every breath. It enters your stomach, possibly becoming part of a future Slime, or part of the natural cycle after a Slime dies. I hope that after learning this cruel truth, you won't feel too upset."
"Q: How does Mr. Victor view the conflict between the Spice-Eaters Faction and the Non-Spice-Eaters Faction?"
"A: Tastes differ from person to person. This kind of thing is far too subjective, so I won't comment on it. However, looking at the five flavors of bubble gum throughout the generations, there always seems to be at least one with a 'unique taste.' I believe Ningguang's side is already doing their best to take everyone's opinions into account."
"Q: How does Mr. Victor predict the final rankings of this bubble-blowing competition?"
"A: The contestants are evenly matched. It'll depend on who's in better condition and performs better."
"Q: Our newspaper has learned that there are many lesser-known stories about Mr. Victor. For example, you are Teacher 'Dust,' whose works have gradually become popular across all of Teyvat in the past two years. Additionally, it seems you've done some remarkable things in Inazuma and Sumeru. After the finals of the Second Teyvat Bubble-Blowing Competition conclude, would our newspaper be able to conduct a special feature interview focused on your experiences?"
"A: Yes."
Reading up to this point, Paimon glanced sideways slightly. "Wow, Victor is getting a special interview now!"
"Hehe, Charlotte is also very interested in Lumine," Victor Wang said with a smile. "She might come looking for you next."
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