The Daily Life Of A Cyberpunk Magician
Chapter 167 - 143 A Bit of Reflection and... Hunting Foxes_2

Chapter 167: Chapter 143 A Bit of Reflection and... Hunting Foxes_2

In a conversation, Baglas also pointed out that there were many ways to achieve ACAAN, and the Baglas Effect was just one of the no-contact versions, not suitable in all cases. When he realized the magic process was going off track, he would resort to other methods to complete the magic.

For example, using the table, using card control techniques, or adjusting the deck when the audience wasn’t paying attention, and so on.

If that was all, it would still be easy to understand. Many of Baglas’s performances were not recorded on camera, like the daily Baglas Effect experienced by the magic writer. This could easily cause memory confusion.

The human brain always believes what it wants to happen, even if it deviates from the facts.

And perhaps Baglas was just using the only controllable variables he had with this magic effect – the order of the cards and chance – to maintain his advantage and perform the effect at the right moment.

However, later on, a magician created his version of the Baglas Effect and performed it three times in front of camera lenses to great acclaim.

Obviously, the two magicians were not using the same method.

Thinking this, Jiang Shu listed his speculations about the Baglas Effect on paper, based on his personal understanding.

Firstly, the simplest method, and also the easiest to understand.

The deck on the table is prearranged, and after the audience states the number and the card, the magician can immediately grasp the current position of the card. Then, under cover, he stealthily controls the card to the designated position while no one is paying attention.

Yes, in fact, this is an ACAAN disguised as the Baglas Effect, and when the Baglas Effect made its first appearance, that’s exactly what Baglas did.

Only at that time, he did not realize that no one, including the two magicians present, saw the move. He had intended to perform a common ACAAN, but it ended up being the debut of the Baglas Effect.

The second method relies more on chance, and the magician wouldn’t claim from the start to be performing the Baglas Effect. Once they realize the magic is going in the wrong direction, they would resort to ordinary card control techniques to reach their goal.

The third method is psychological suggestion.

In fact, this is also a technique often used by Baglas himself, using psychological suggestion to narrow the range of numbers, thus greatly increasing the chances of achieving the desired effect.

This requires a lot of actual performance to achieve, and the more one performs, the more confident they become, and the success rate of this method also increases.

The fourth method is props.

Powerful fully automatic props might also perfectly demonstrate this magic effect, but proving the deck is normal could take quite an effort.

Or perhaps, simple props combined with clever usage, like the magic associated with "The Wizard of Oz," all the impressive effects were created with just the use of an anti-slip agent.

The fifth method is using a confederate.

Confederates naturally have both low-level and high-level applications, but it is certain that if the magician repeatedly emphasizes it’s not done with a confederate, then it definitely will not be a confederate.

If it’s guaranteed that the Baglas Effect is absolutely simple and clean, then there can’t be too many methods. But if more steps are added to simulate more effects, one can manipulate those additional steps to achieve the magic effect.

Jiang Shu looked at the five options in front of him and thought for a while. He circled the words "psychological suggestion" and "props" – the circles were so big that he added several question marks.

In the end, he wrote down two more words – Time.

Yes, time.

At this point, Jiang Shu had come up with a certain train of thought.

In an absolutely simple and clean Baglas Effect, there were not many factors the magician could control, but time was definitely something that everyone was likely to overlook.

"Clack—"

Jiang Shu put down the pen and stretched.

This period of contemplation hadn’t taken long, but deep thinking was mentally draining, and he was desperately trying to recall "The Baglas Effect," a book he had read but hadn’t extensively studied.

Now it was just a tentative determination of the general principles of the magic performance; the success rate and specific methods were still unknown, but he had plenty of time to think slowly and experiment carefully.

Perhaps, to the layperson, the Baglas Effect might seem no different from any card-changing magic, and even less visually striking than the "House of Cards" performance he once performed. But for a magician, whether it was researching it or performing it, it would be a great experience.

Jiang Shu had once told Wolf that magicians excel at turning the impossible into possible.

House of Cards was about turning the impossible into possible in the eyes of the audience, while Baglas was about turning the impossible into possible in the eyes of magicians.

Seasoned magicians understand what real impossibility is, and only by turning that real impossibility into possibility could they truly fool them, just as Baglas had done fifty years ago.

This was also one of the most interesting things in Jiang Shu’s mind.

It’s just, there probably isn’t anyone in the world who could be really fooled by him, and that is one of his regrets.

How should I put it? There’s a sense of forlorn pride in appreciating one’s own brilliance.

He looked over at the four little ones squabbling off to the side and sighed.

Expecting them to appreciate it is unrealistic, after all, everyone knows each other too well, there’s no you understand something I don’t.

As for others who might understand it...

A fox?

Uh...

Jiang Shu frowned, then something seemed to occur to him, and his face relaxed with another sigh.

He continued to scribble and sketch in his notebook, and since he needed to use props, he had to ask his Props Master, Miss Kirie, for help, even though the props were actually quite simple.

"Next Wednesday?" Jiang Shu glanced at the calendar, "Less than a week away."

In these few days, there were indeed a lot of things to do.

But those things...

What does it matter now?

With that thought, Jiang Shu comfortably opened up the Simulated Light Screen, lay flat, and started scrolling through videos.

After not logging in for over a week, he was naturally captivated by the bustling online world.

In his spare time, Jiang Shu also noticed the videos and popularity Shen Xuwan had mentioned about him.

The last Magic Performance was just over a week ago, and the popularity of Magic Flame Spirit still hadn’t died down, still maintaining a very high level of discussion, only the nature of the discussion was quite skewed.

Jiang Shu thought many people would discuss how he did it, after all, curiosity is human nature, and perhaps a few might even shed some light on the truth.

But they hadn’t.

Even if there were related videos, they disappeared without a trace.

Either it was videos deifying him, or it was speculation about which member of the Deception Group he was; these conspiracy theory videos remained hot, well-reasoned and convincing to Jiang Shu.

As for why no one was curious, the most crucial issue was that anything related to Deception Group was simply more popular.

Looking at it this way, it was actually Jiang Shu who was piggybacking off the popularity of Deception Group.

In just a few minutes, he had already seen over a dozen videos related to Deception Group: there were confessions, rational discussions, analyses, and Jiang Shu even saw a "Deception Group High-Energy Montage"...

It was absurd.

At that moment, a phone call pulled Jiang Shu out of the online world.

"Hello? Jiang Shu?" the voice on the other end was Wolf’s.

Normally, it was only Wolf who would call him like this.

"Yeah, go ahead," Jiang Shu responded casually, still focused on the Simulated Light Screen.

"The results of the interrogation at the scene... not so great," said Wolf. "Looking at the current situation, in the end, only one or two people will be convicted, and the main decision-makers..."

He said slowly: "They can almost escape responsibility, only having to assume a small amount of it. We can’t find direct evidence, but obviously, without their agreement, the people below wouldn’t dare do such things."

"So they are... throwing temporary workers under the bus?" asked Jiang Shu, accustomed to such tactics.

"Right, that’s essentially it, the fall guys have taken all the blame upon themselves," Wolf nodded. "And we haven’t found much solid evidence."

"So, in other words..." Jiang Shu voiced the unsaid words of Wolf, "The fox was right?"

"Yes, so..." Wolf was about to say something else.

But Jiang Shu had already interrupted him, "So, get ready, it’s time to hunt the fox."

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