Chapter 55: The Future

“It’s actually… Autumn Snow Princess!”

“Autumn Snow Princess?”

“You don’t know Autumn Snow Princess? My heavens.”

The audience nearly erupted when they saw the silver-haired girl on the big screen.

Yun Xuan hadn’t expected the Starlight Cup to invite such a figure, even if it was only through a live network broadcast.

Autumn Snow Princess, a platinum legend in the comic world, pioneered the magical girl genre and generously shared its copyright, allowing anyone to create comics or novels in the magical girl series!

Before her, the concept of magical girls had never existed.

Autumn Snow Princess’s magical girl series has maintained top sales for years, making her even more renowned than Nangong Xiaoxiao, another platinum legend.

According to incomplete statistics, her magical girl novels have sold over five hundred million copies worldwide.

The anime adaptation is equally popular, with over six hundred million animation discs sold!

These are achievements that ordinary comic artists could never dream of attaining in a lifetime. Yun Xuan had seen in the comic world that the magical girl series was nearing its finale, and Autumn Snow Princess’s new work was about to launch.

Yun Xuan had read that magical girl series—it was much like those from his previous life, with transformation scenes and battles against villains.

“Hello everyone, I’m Autumn Snow Princess. Did you watch magical girls today?” The silver-haired girl, masked, smiled.

“We did!” Tens of thousands of voices echoed, a testament to her commanding presence.

“Thank you all. I won’t take up your time. Host, please introduce the other two judges,” Autumn Snow Princess waved.

“Certainly. This is Master Wen Sheng, a luminary in calligraphy and painting, and one of the founders of the comic world,” the host introduced the elderly man in the stands.

The old man stood and smiled at the audience.

“And for our final judge, another legendary figure from the comic world…” The host glanced at the screen.

The split screen revealed another masked girl, this time with black hair.

“Hello everyone, I’m Nangong Xiaoxiao. I never imagined I’d be judging the Starlight Cup alongside Autumn Snow Princess—it startled me so much I had to eat a cold noodle dish to calm myself,” the black-haired girl said, turning away to eat.

“…” The entire audience.

“Hahaha, Xiaoxiao is truly amusing. Is that Autumn Tower’s specialty?” Autumn Snow Princess laughed heartily.

“Yes, it’s delicious,” Nangong Xiaoxiao replied with a muffled voice.

“Ahem, let’s introduce this year’s theme. It was proposed by Teacher Nangong Xiaoxiao. Please look at the big screen,” the host said, prompted by his tablet.

All spectators and participants turned to the screen, where two characters appeared:

Future!

“This year’s theme is ‘Future.’ You have two hours. Begin!” the host declared loudly.

All contestants donned fully enclosed headphones, enabling them to concentrate and perform at their best.

Yun Xuan did the same.

The hall fell quiet as everyone began to draw.

…

Two hours for drawing, including ideation, was a rush.

Autumn Snow Princess and Nangong Xiaoxiao were live-streaming, able to observe everything, including each contestant’s artwork.

Time ticked by. After an hour and a half, Yun Xuan set down his tools.

When the two hours ended, everyone left their drawing boards.

Judging began with the first contestant, scoring and evaluating each piece.

The contestants’ explanations directly impacted their scores.

Yun Xuan paid little attention to others; he was contestant number 105.

“Seven points! Xia Li’s drawing ‘Space’ earns seven, the first to exceed five points!”

“Another seven! Tied with Xia Li for first, Bai You from the capital presents ‘Earth.’”

“Third place, Xing Ye's ‘Life in the Future,’ scores six points!”

After each contestant’s introduction, it was over an hour before Yun Xuan’s turn.

The three judges looked at the floating city and abandoned ground on the big screen, puzzled.

“I imagined many forms the future might take, but I believe this is the closest. As everyone knows, resources are limited, and environmental protection is never as thorough as hoped. Eventually, resources will run out, and living on the surface will become problematic for humanity,” Yun Xuan explained earnestly.

“An environmental perspective on the future? Interesting,” Wen Sheng nodded.

“This contestant’s angle is unusual, but deeply thoughtful,” Autumn Snow Princess paused, then commented.

“Yun Xuan, you never let me down,” Nangong Xiaoxiao smiled.

“Please score,” the host said, a bit uncertain.

The three judges revealed their scores—each gave two points.

“Yun Xuan’s ‘Future’ scores a total of six points,” the host announced in surprise.

Yun Xuan frowned, but soon smiled—just one point short.

With all contestants scored, the next step was evaluation by the primary AI.

“Please score,” the host prompted, all eyes on the screen.

Only the combined judge and AI scores would determine the true winner.

“This can’t be!”

“Is there a problem with the AI?”

“9.2 points—how is that possible…”

When the AI score appeared, even the three judges were stunned.

First place: Yun Xuan’s ‘Future,’ 9.2 points!

Second: Xia Li’s ‘Space,’ 7.2 points!

Third: Bai You’s ‘Earth,’ 7.2 points!

A shocking reversal—Yun Xuan’s six points skyrocketed to fifteen point two.

The original tie for first now became a tie for second, at fourteen point two—just a single point apart!

“Why is this?” Wen Sheng frowned, suspecting a problem with the AI.

“Yun Xuan’s ‘Future,’ using delicate technique, depicted phenomena on the ground that, according to AI calculations, perfectly match the state of Earth in a high-tech era,” the AI’s mechanical voice explained.

“This is a painting that truly represents the future!”

The moment the AI finished, the entire audience was incredulous.

A painting predicting the future—how could that be?

Wen Sheng suddenly understood—it was a judgment based on potential value, meaning the AI affirmed Yun Xuan’s ‘Future’ as a scene likely to become reality.

“Potential value… Truly impressive. It seems we misjudged this time,” Nangong Xiaoxiao applauded.

“I thought the AI malfunctioned. My apologies, Yun Xuan. Your work is excellent,” Autumn Snow Princess said sincerely.

“This old man really is past his prime. Yun Xuan, congratulations on becoming the new Starlight Cup champion,” Wen Sheng smiled wryly.

The Starlight Cup was known for such upsets; past events had seen similar reversals, crowning unexpected winners.

The AI’s explanation was very reasonable—a vision of the real future. Could an ordinary person depict such a thing?

Its significance was to remind people to protect the environment, as well as to showcase exceptional skill.

(P.S.: Please vote for recommendations. There’s another chapter this afternoon, between seven and eight.)