The Joyful Clown was tirelessly performing his comical tricks. Lacking much consciousness, his sole purpose was to bring joy to others, the purest kind of clown. Since his appearance, he had been ceaselessly performing, but Ye Chui and the others were too busy discussing to pay him any attention. Fortunately, he found he had an audience, so he performed with even greater enthusiasm.
Ye Chui instructed everyone to stay vigilant, then cautiously released the vines binding the clown zombie. Once freed, the clown zombie didn’t attack as before. Instead, it sat down, hugging its knees, its eyes fixed intently on the Joyful Clown’s performance.
The eerie smile on its face seemed to soften slightly.
“This actually seems to work…” Debbie said in disbelief. Could a clown’s performance really have such an effect?
She glanced outside the house, where, beyond the protective vines Ye Chui had conjured, clown zombies were still relentlessly trying to break in. She then looked at Ye Chui.
Understanding her intent, Ye Chui nodded, signaling everyone to prepare defenses. He cast an elf spell, and a wooden platform woven from vines rose beneath the Joyful Clown. At the same time, the roof of the house opened, and the vines encircling it retracted into the ground, exposing everyone to the clown zombies’ view.
“Lights, get the lights ready!” Debbie, realizing the darkness outside obscured visibility, urgently told Green.
Grumbling, Green pulled out a magic lamp, channeling magic to cast light on the clown atop the platform. Ye Chui added to the effect with [Dance of the Fire Snake], which coiled around the platform, providing more illumination.
Not stopping there, he unlocked a cheerful background track called “Crazy Yodeling.” He’d heard it at a school event back in his student days and remembered its name. The song had almost no lyrics, just quirky chants, a classic background tune used in comedy shows and films.
Accompanied by the music, bursts of fireworks exploded around the clown, enhanced with dazzling effects.
Fueled by the music, the Joyful Clown’s performance became even more hilarious and engaging. Combined with Ye Chui’s magical fire snake effects and Green’s spotlight, the wooden platform transformed into a vibrant countryside stage.
The swarming clown zombies gradually fell still, their movements stiffening. Their eyes locked onto the clown’s increasingly spirited performance. Moments later, like the earlier clown zombie, they squatted on the ground, heads tilted upward, watching the show.
Seeing this, Ye Chui and Debbie were thrilled. The plan was working perfectly, halting the clown zombies’ advance!
…
In a mine shaft high above Clown Town.
The clown girl, having donned her mask again, stood at the cave entrance, looking down at the town. Even from this distance, she could sense the festive, rural celebration atmosphere. The clown zombies under her control had broken free, their wills seemingly drawn to the clown’s performance on the platform.
Her body stiffened with disbelief. “…”
Why weren’t they following the usual script?
…
Ye Chui had Green bring out stools, and they sat down happily. Debbie nodded occasionally beside him. Though she came from a clown family, she had never been fond of clown tricks, but in this atmosphere, the performance felt quite enjoyable.
Most of the clown zombies were under control, but some didn’t follow the rules. While mesmerized by the clown on the platform, they still tried to push forward, even attempting to climb the stage, displaying the frenzied adoration of diehard fans.
Debbie, Reisha, Guni, and Jacob quickly turned into makeshift security, pulling these clown zombies back and making them sit obediently.
“No pushing, no pushing, maintain order!”
“Line up properly, don’t disrupt the clown’s performance.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll arrange a handshake session after the show…” Ye Chui joined in, shouting enthusiastically.
“Little miss, what’s going on here?” Reisha asked Debbie, a bit exasperated, after wrangling an unruly fan. She kept an eye on the other clown zombies, her voice tinged with embarrassment.
“We’re putting on the Random Name Clown Circus Countryside Extravaganza,” Debbie replied calmly, unfazed. An adventurer should always find their place in any crisis. She watched the performance, her head bobbing contentedly.
“Exactly, we might even start the Random Name Clown Circus when we get to the capital. I think it’s got real potential,” Ye Chui chimed in.
The others: “…”
Though Ye Chui was handling effects, sound, and crowd control, he was also multitasking. The anomalies in Clown Town were being controlled, and the mastermind behind this powerful force had to be nearby. Earlier, searches for “clown” and “Old Bart” hadn’t turned up anything, but now Ye Chui had a new search term.
He entered “Sako Anduin” into the search engine.
A slew of web pages appeared. Ye Chui skimmed them. Most belonged to him, Debbie, Reisha, and Green, as Debbie had just recounted Sako Anduin’s life, so his legend lingered in their minds. But soon, Ye Chui found a search result that didn’t belong to their group.
“Clown Girl…”
Ye Chui looked at the article’s owner and clicked the link.
The iPad magic book’s screen jumped to a bizarre website.
Unlike the plain white backgrounds of most memory-world sites, this one had a blood-red backdrop. The site’s name was simply Clown Girl, and its logo was a menacing, worn clown mask!
The homepage listed articles in red text, with titles like: “I Must Kill Debbie Anduin,” “I Refuse to Be Ordinary, I Will Rise Above,” “Even If I Destroy Clown Town, I Won’t Regret It,” “I Will Stand at the World’s Pinnacle,” “I Will Become the Queen of the Star Empire!”…
Even without reading the contents, these titles revealed a woman with an extreme, malicious, and ambitious personality.
Ye Chui’s search engine could only access public information—data someone would openly share if asked as a stranger. Clown Town’s residents were ordinary people, so searches for “clown” or “Old Bart” would elicit responses from them.
But this Clown Girl, even if she thought of these keywords, kept those memories private, unwilling to share them casually. Ye Chui could only find her through “Sako Anduin” because one of her articles was freely accessible.
The article was simply titled: “My Ancestor.”
Opening it revealed a brief passage.
“Sako Anduin is the ancestor of the Anduin family. He founded the great Anduin family and established Anduin Town.
Unfortunately, Anduin Town is no longer what it once was. Such a pity. It should have been a famous town, but thirty years ago, the demon clown incident branded it with terror.
I only learned the truth about that incident when I grew up, the true identity of the demon clown.
Oh, Grandfather, you were such a failure.
So, let me carry on your legacy.
Sako Anduin is my ancestor, and I will inherit the name of the demon clown.
From today, I am Clown Girl!”
Reading this short article, Ye Chui frowned. Thirty years ago, Anduin Town had a demon clown incident that was left unresolved, and the town became known as Clown Town. From this article, it seemed the demon clown from thirty years ago and the current one were grandfather and granddaughter?
Who was this Clown Girl?
After a moment’s hesitation, Ye Chui tried opening other articles to identify her, particularly concerned about the top article: “I Must Kill Debbie Anduin.”
“Reading this memory article costs a thousand points? That’s steep…”
Grumbling, Ye Chui opened the article. He sensed Clown Girl was likely from the Anduin family. The sailor they encountered on the Warm River was sent to assassinate Debbie, so Ye Chui was especially focused on this. Soon, a new article appeared on the iPad magic book’s screen.
“…I didn’t expect Debbie to survive, only to end up sixty-three years later. No wonder Grandfather failed to summon our ancestor. To claim the ancestor’s spirit, Debbie Anduin must die!
She and that illegitimate son, Ye Chui, went through many adventures together, surely aided by our ancestor’s spirit!
I, too, have Anduin blood and summoner talent. I will surpass her, and in my hands, our ancestor’s spirit will wield even greater power!
The prince is already under my sway. See, I can control the prince, I can control anyone!
Everything Debbie has, I can have too. Her ancestor’s spirit, I’ll take it, even that illegitimate son! He’s powerful (attached was a video of Ye Chui unleashing a dragon to attack the Tenth Prince’s Dragon Riders). He’s even more handsome than the prince. How does a flat-chested woman like Debbie deserve such a powerful man? Only I am worthy of him!
If I stood by his side, I could help him ascend to the throne.
Perhaps I should ditch the prince and support this illegitimate son?
Being with him would surely be more… entertaining…”
Reading this, Ye Chui: “What the—!”
“Ye Chui, what’s wrong?” Debbie looked at him curiously.
Ye Chui quickly shook his head, chuckling. “Nothing, nothing. I just found out who’s behind all this.”
“Who?” Reisha, Green, and the others turned their attention to him.
“Debbie’s love rival,” Ye Chui said smugly.
“Love rival?” Reisha blinked.
Debbie’s eyes widened. “I’ve never liked anyone, where’s this love rival coming from!?”
“…”
Ye Chui coughed awkwardly and continued, “Alright, it’s a woman calling herself Clown Girl…”
