"You don't need to despair so quickly, Sparkle. According to the Curio Forger, there is a one-star Curio hidden in this amusement park. You may not be familiar with them, but one-star Curios possess the ability to contend with Aeons. Its name is—the Elation's Die!"
"If you can find that Curio, turning defeat into victory is not impossible," Big Herta said.
"Oh, so it's that die... I do remember it fondly. That die gave me my first experience of feeling no joy at all," Aha laughed with great exaggeration.
"But then again... I absolutely adore the Curio Forger! He is my brother-in-arms, my dearest friend and family! So, it's not impossible to forgive him just this once!" Hearing about the easter egg from Herta, Sparkle's tone immediately shifted.
Come to think of it, this Curio Forger wasn't so damned after all!
Why didn't you just say so earlier?
After all, this was a Curio endorsed by the Aeon of Elation himself!
It might actually be usable against the Aeon of Elation!
As for whether Aha was just trying to mess with her for his own amusement?
Sparkle didn't think the God of Fun would stoop to such a low-level prank.
"As long as you're happy," Big Herta said, offering no further comment.
After all, she never specified whether the Elation's Die was a positive or negative Curio.
"Yes, I'm very happy," Sparkle nodded.
She had to consider that this might be the only chance in her entire life to meet an Aeon, and moreover, to defeat one!
It doesn't matter how you defeat him, just whether you defeated him or not.
And this time, the one she might defeat was the God of Fun whom she respected the most, most, most, most, most!
Oh, the thought of it brought a smile to her face that she couldn't suppress.
This was simply... too joyous!
"This is indeed very joyous." The Aeon of Elation, Aha, was also very gratified to see his follower so eagerly searching for the Elation's Die to take him down.
Why did the Path of Elation have to be so serious?
If an Aeon could watch a Masked Fool for fun, then a Masked Fool could certainly watch an Aeon for fun.
Right?
"As long as you're happy. Be careful not to actually trip up. Chen Li really did put the Elation's Die among the random Curios," Herta reminded him from the side.
"Speaking of which, if I remember correctly, the material used for this Elation's Die seems to have been Sparkle's own Masked Fool mask."
"Hmm, is that so? What a coincidence. But where did Chen Li get Sparkle's mask from?" Herta was a little curious.
She had always been interested in the Curios themselves, not what they were made of, so this was the first time she was hearing about it.
"I gave it to him," Aha said with a smile.
"...Then you and your follower are truly two peas in a pod," Herta couldn't hold back her deadpan comment.
The Aeon and the followers of the Path of Elation were truly one big, happy family.
"Alright, enough chatting. I need to prepare for the match!" Aha waved goodbye to Herta, selected a mask from the collection before him, and placed it on his face, transforming into the spitting image of Sparkle.
"...You're going to prepare seriously?" Herta was taken aback.
You're an Aeon. Do you really need to be so serious about an elbowing match with a Masked Fool?
Even if you didn't pick up a single Curio and just sunbathed here for three hours, Sparkle still couldn't beat you as long as she didn't get the Elation's Die.
All the Curios in this amusement park were provided by Herta, so she knew exactly where their limits were. If someone were to use these Curios in the Simulated Universe she was developing, all the negative Curios combined could certainly drive a player to despair, but they would have almost no effect on an Aeon.
Even if Sparkle got the die, it was highly unlikely she could defeat Aha, because while the number rolled was random, the more difficult the task, the greater the probability of rolling a critical failure.
"What are you talking about? How can you have a prop-based match without props? Even when facing an ordinary Pathstrider, one must give it their all! This is my resolve as the Aeon of Elation! I'm getting fired up!" Endless laughter surrounded Aha as he rushed into the amusement park.
Clearly, Aha was having the time of his life.
---o---
After a three-hour journey through the amusement park, Sparkle felt like she was about to burn out completely.
Who on earth came up with these bizarre amusement park games?
Like eating instant noodles on a roller coaster—eat half a bowl to get one Curio.
Place a cup of water on a bumper car—if half the water remains at the end, you get a certain amount of Star Stones.
While shooting at suddenly appearing billboards with a rubber gun, surprise targets would occasionally appear. If you broke the surprise target while maintaining a score of 5000, you could get Star Stones or a Curio...
Dodging lasers, stopping a spinning wheel, catching Trotters, smashing jars...
It was worth mentioning that Sparkle's favorite game was catching Trotters. Those little pigs would scatter the moment you got close, but after Sparkle used her abilities, they wouldn't move an inch. She could stomp one with every step!
Her most hated game was eating instant noodles on a roller coaster!
And smashing a boulder on her chest!
To this day, Sparkle still didn't understand why she was the one getting smashed. Was this really an amusement park game?
Could anyone possibly feel happy while playing this game?
But every sacrifice was worth it!
Looking at the 20-sided die in her hand, a satisfied smile spread across Sparkle's face.
"Oh, respected God of Fun, did you enjoy your morning?" Sparkle bowed slightly and asked respectfully.
Sparkle loved joy, and she loved the Path of Elation.
At the same time, she was expressing her respect for the fact that the Aeon of Elation had not used his divine power to "cheat" in the amusement park games to obtain the Elation's Die.
In other words, the Aeon of Elation had personally handed this die to her.
"Of course I had fun, my dear follower." Aha, in the guise of Sparkle, appeared at the opposite corner of the fighting ring.
"It seems both contestants are ready. The match is about to begin. Please use your buff-type Curios in advance to increase your chances of winning," Herta announced.
Hearing this, Sparkle began to use her Curios!
[Floating Book]! [Felix Felicis]! [Tangible Luck]! [Quantum Big Lotto]! [Interstellar Big Lotto]! [Galactic Big Lotto]! (The Big Lotto series of Curios has a small chance of bringing benefits when breaking destructible objects, but also a small chance of causing the user to lose 99% of their health or energy).
The reason she used all three Big Lottos was that she knew if the die didn't work, no matter how much she powered up, she could never beat the God of Fun. So... she might as well go all in!
My friends, this is a high-stakes gamble!
Across from her, the God of Fun watched the uncontrollably excited Sparkle with a knowing smile, not using a single Curio.
"Elation's Die! You know? The first time I saw you, I felt like we were kindred spirits!" In the final 30 seconds of the countdown, Sparkle gazed at the last Curio in her hand and began to wax poetic.
"Now that you are in my hand, I believe it is all the choice of fate! Oh, God of Fun in the heavens! Witness the sight of a star being shattered!"
"Elation's Die, show him the friendship and bond between us!" Sparkle tossed the 20-sided die into the air.
The die spun countless times in the air before landing on the ground and beginning to roll.
Then, under the watchful eyes of several people, the number [20] on the die was just within reach!
A flash of delight crossed Sparkle's eyes!
Is this the friendship and bond between me and the Elation's Die? Amazing!
And then, the die slipped right in front of her.
[1]
The number came to a stop.
"...I remember the instruction manual that came with the Elation's Die said that if I'm competing against an enemy, a roll above 10 lets me watch their show, and below 10 lets them watch my show, right?" Sparkle turned to look at the referee, Herta.
"Yes, that's correct!"
"Then this number..."
"It's clear you've lost spectacularly." Herta shook her head, almost unable to look at Sparkle.
Heaven only knew what kind of "luck" Sparkle was about to encounter.
"Whatever. To win is my fortune, to lose is my fate! This has been a fantastical adventure! To be defeated in a clash with an Aeon is a glorious defeat! Come at me, great God of Fun!" Sparkle acted remarkably nonchalant.
After all, even without this die, she would have lost spectacularly anyway.
If she was going to lose at the hands of the Aeon of Elation, then this adventure was worth it!
Sparkle took a step towards the God of Fun standing opposite her, full of imposing momentum!
But in the next moment, a negative Curio on her body accidentally fell off, landing right under her foot.
It was... a banana peel.
Because it was an instant-use item, Sparkle hadn't used it beforehand.
"Huh?" Sparkle froze for a second, seeing the banana peel that had appeared under her foot for some unknown reason.
She remembered the effect of this banana peel was something like scrambling one's bodily senses and affecting limb control.
But she didn't have time to think about it, because in the next moment, she slipped! The back of her head hit the ground directly!
And because of her large movement, another one of her negative Curios fell off, appearing right under her right hand as she tried to prop herself up.
It was a miniature skateboard.
Bang! Sparkle fell to the ground again.
This time, she directly shattered two negative Curios: the [Tarot Doll] (When entering battle, there is a 50% chance for our entire party to select the wrong target when using a skill on an enemy. This Curio is destroyed after 4 battles), and the [Prescription for Absolute Failure] (To stop the continuation of war, the prescription will bring different degrees of hallucinations and interference to the patient based on the cause of their illness).
Bang!
Pfft!
Thud!
Boom!
Oof!
Hic! When the commotion finally stopped, Sparkle was lying face down on the ground, her right hand outstretched towards the God of Fun standing opposite her, as if trying to say something. But after letting out a puff of black smoke, she exhausted all her strength, and her head slammed onto the ground with a thud.
"How brutal!" Herta couldn't help but exclaim, watching Sparkle, who hadn't stopped for a full 20 minutes, yet hadn't taken a single step forward and had even moved one step back.
From beginning to end, Sparkle had not advanced a single step towards Aha's position!
"..." The Aeon of Elation looked innocently at the referee, Herta.
When you say "brutal," you're not referring to me, are you?
Just to be clear, I didn't use a single positive Curio, nor did I use a single negative one.
"You saw it. She fell down in front of me on her own. I didn't hit her," the Aeon of Elation said, pointing at Sparkle.
"Er... that is indeed true," Herta nodded with fair and objective judgment.
This was the first time she had witnessed just how terrifying the Elation's Die could be when it rolled a [1] for a critical failure and its effect truly kicked in.
She also understood why Chen Li would never touch this die unless his Elation points were above 10.
It was too brutal!
Elation's Die, Sparkle is your brother-in-arms, your dearest friend and family!
Your [Elation] Entry was even scraped off her mask!
How could you be so cold-blooded?
This single Curio, the Elation's Die, had managed to hard-control both Herta and Aha for a full 20 minutes.
This was the renowned Emanator of Erudition and one of the top twenty-something combatants in the entire universe!
The Elation's Die was terrifyingly powerful! A one-star Curio indeed!
Because both Herta and Aha wanted to see what new tricks the die could pull on Sparkle.
And the result was a real eye-opener for both of them.
"Alright, announce the result," Aha reminded her.
Although Aha hadn't lifted a finger, he wasn't bored at all, because Sparkle had indeed provided him with a great show... or rather, many great shows!
"Alright. Masked Fool Sparkle versus the Aeon of Elation, Aha. Contestant Sparkle held on for a full 20 minutes in her battle with Aha! In the end, she fought with all her might but was unable to win! Defeated, but glorious. The final winner is... Aha!" Herta announced!
"This is the trophy for the first season of the Number One Under Heaven Martial Arts Tournament! Please take it. With this trophy, you can directly enter the semi-finals of the future Honkai-mon World Championships! You can also exchange it directly with Chen Li for 100 Star Stones." Herta handed a trophy to Aha.
"Waaaah, thank you all for your support! To be able to stand here today, to be able to face everyone, I must first thank the organizer of this competition, the Curio Forger, for giving me this opportunity! Secondly, I want to thank my opponent, Sparkle. Her spirit of burning herself to amuse others has left a deep impression on me..." Aha clutched the trophy, tears streaming down his face, appearing deeply moved.
"By the way, can we continue the match?" Aha suddenly paused and turned to look at Herta.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Herta was taken aback.
"I still have a lot of negative Curios I haven't used, and contestant Sparkle is still alive... it would be such a waste not to use them!" Aha said with great regret.
When choosing his amusement park games, Aha had picked all the ones that could potentially yield negative Curios! All for this very moment!
Sparkle, who had been tormented by her own negative Curios for a full 20 minutes, had just regained consciousness when she heard Aha's words, and was promptly angered back into unconsciousness.
Damn you, Aha!
Damn you, Elation's Die!
Damn you, Curio Forger!
---o---