Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Volume 7 - What the Hell is That, Otaku? (2)
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Whoa, this line is insanely long."
A woman let out a sigh as she gazed at the endless queue stretching out before her.
It was the release day for Avatar's Passion, the hotly anticipated sequel to Descent of the Avatar, the one she'd been waiting forever for. Clutching her copy stamped with the reservation mark, she stood in this ridiculously long line.
The system worked like this: show your stamped Descent of the Avatar, get a delivery completion stamp next to it, and receive the new Avatar's Passion in exchange.
The only downside? So many people wanted it that the exchanges were taking forever, which irked her to no end.
"I get that it's a massively reserved title, so there's nothing to be done about it... but still, this is taking way too long."
Her turn was finally approaching, but after standing there for hours already, it was only natural for her frustration to bubble over.
People were even resorting to using bottles sold by nearby vendors because they couldn't step out to the bathroom, or grabbing food from them when hunger struck. It was happening all around her.
"Only the street vendors are thrilled. Well, can't blame them—this spot must be a goldmine."
"Ma'am?"
"Oh, my turn at last? Finally...!"
"Yes, please show your reservation stamp. Ah, just Avatar's Passion reserved, then? Pick it up on the right, and we'll stamp your delivery confirmation."
The special illustration bookmark—a pre-order bonus—and the cover featuring a brand-new artwork filled her with awe.
She'd assumed the cover would match the bookmark's illustration, but no—it was something entirely different?
So people who didn't pre-order and thus had no bookmark couldn't own this new art?
"Thank goodness..."
If she'd skipped the reservation and only learned about this later, she'd have regretted it forever.
She marveled at her past self's brilliant decision.
All the grueling hours in line melted away like snow in spring, leaving her blissfully happy as she headed home.
"Wow, it sparkles. And it's way thicker than Descent of the Avatar too."
She flipped through Avatar's Passion with a beaming smile, but then frowned at something off about the artwork on the side.
Was this a printing error or what?
In Descent of the Avatar, part of the cover art had appeared on the left side.
But this time, it wasn't Avatar's Passion's illustration—it was something else...
"Ah...!"
Only when she stacked the two books together did the deeper meaning reveal itself, drawing a gasp of admiration from her.
It's the sequel, so the illustrations connect seamlessly from the previous volume.
How does Artist Siu come up with these genius ideas?
No matter how hard she pondered, she sighed in defeat—true genius was beyond catching up to.
"Oh right, not the time for this. Gotta read it now."
To dive straight into Avatar's Passion today, she'd memorized Descent of the Avatar up until yesterday.
It definitely ended with Nigredo visiting Albedo, right?
So it picks up from there?
Sure enough, just as she'd guessed, the comic started right after Nigredo and Albedo met.
Nigredo admitted her own power wasn't enough and begged Albedo to join her in the fight.
Albedo, hating her own ordinariness as much as she did, naturally accepted and enrolled in Magnum Academy.
"An academy with no uniforms? Oh, right—it's a secret academy no one outside the students knows about...!"
The enemies they fought, the Corrosions, were a closely guarded secret unknown to the general public.
Thus, the academy gathering those who battled them had to be shrouded in secrecy.
She nodded along eagerly, flipping through the pages nonstop.
"Whoa, so cute! New characters popping up?"
She especially took a shine to Rubedo, who looked feisty yet adorable, and started jotting down the page numbers where Rubedo appeared.
Lately, she'd been practicing drawing characters from Descent of the Avatar, and Rubedo was next on her list.
"The flames are gorgeous. Even though they're all black, you can totally tell whose flame is whose just by looking..."
She muttered that Artist Siu was a monster, utterly immersed in the story.
There was this heartfelt episode where hot-blooded Rubedo struggled alone with a problem.
Seeing Rubedo cry so pitifully there made her tear up too, out of nowhere.
"It's just so good..."
Avatar's Passion felt like a diary of growth, with new characters and old ones alike revealing and developing themselves through events.
Sounded dull at first glance, but explosive, captivating incidents and their resolutions were masterfully paced for maximum fun.
And the emotional punches? Absolutely massive, forcing total immersion—no other word for it but awe-inspiring.
Having skimmed for story first, she now went back slowly, savoring every beautiful detail in the artwork.
Honestly, as mentioned, the flame depictions were jaw-dropping.
And Rubedo's design was so perfect it made her heart flutter with joy.
"Our Rubedo is just too cute... Huh?"
Deep into admiring the comic, she spotted something odd.
When transforming into Avatar form, clothes burned away, so all characters stripped before changing.
The exquisitely drawn sequence suddenly felt... off now.
"I skimmed the transformation flow earlier because it felt draggy... but what's that?"
At a glance, she'd thought it was just removing a regular corset, but up close? Totally different.
The chest part resembled a corset, but no waist-cinching section anywhere.
More like a regular corset sliced in half, leaving just the top to support the chest.
"Is this... underwear?"
It appeared after shedding outer clothes, so yeah, underwear made sense.
In terms of coverage, it was like light binding cloth for the chest when not wearing a corset.
But not sloppy—it firmly cradled and lifted like a proper corset.
This bizarre, never-before-seen underwear left her head spinning in every way.
If Artist Siu drew it, there had to be meaning behind it, she figured.
But right now? Zero clue.
"Why even need that?"
Sure, way easier to remove than a full corset, she admitted.
But then why not just go bare? Why introduce this unprecedented garment?
And not just one character—every single one wore a unique variation.
"They put insane effort into the undressing scenes, even detailing the fallen clothes post-strip...?"
It felt deliberate, like they wanted you to notice.
If it weren't important, no need for such meticulous staging, right?
"Artist Siu started with deformed art to promote it, right?"
Then drew Descent of the Avatar to showcase comics in an exhibition.
Like unveiling vital industry knowledge, one bombshell at a time.
Even freely distributing screentones to advance comics was legendary now among artists and mages.
"And in The Elf Dreaming of an Affair with an Orc Feels Frustrated Again Today, he captured the unfair plight of orcs and half-orcs."
Human mages' prejudices against them melted away like ice in the sun.
A creator who'd packed his works with such brilliance suddenly slips in something mundane here?
No way it was trivial—it screamed profound significance.
"Argh, damn it. How does he know mages can't stand puzzles like this?"
How indeed.
As a grand archmage herself, she knew better than anyone.
Which made it all the more infuriating.
She was savoring this fun story, and bam—hidden messages like exam questions from a professor?
Artist Siu had his unfair sides, no doubt.
At least she'd read straight through for story first without noticing—small mercy?
"Aaaah! Driving me crazy!"
No plausible theory came to mind, no matter how hard she racked her brain.
Just in case, she scoured the entire work for a name for this weird underwear.
Might've glossed over it earlier since it was unfamiliar.
"Whoa, finally—an unknown word!"
Couldn't confirm if it named the underwear, but...
New word plus new item? Safe bet they linked.
It appeared when Citrinitas handed one to Rubedo, telling her to take good care of it.
High chance it was the name, so she'd assume that and brainstorm.
"Pronounce it straight... Brassiere? Yeah, that sounds right."
What the hell was this brassiere that Artist Siu turned into homework for us?
She sighed deeply and kept rifling through Avatar's Passion.
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