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“What’s going on? Why is there no footage of the match?”
“What’s the director of the program doing! They should be fired!”
“Where’s my Princess Estelle? I came here to see her…!”
“Refund our money!”

The audience erupted into chaos as angry spectators hurled objects toward the production studio. Some freaks even took advantage of the confusion to sneak onto the arena with shovels, axes, and hoes, aiming for the Immaculate Tree Domain.

The broadcast of the match had been switched off midway, depriving the audience of what could have been the most thrilling part of the battle.

Yet, the officials remained tight-lipped, offering only a vague explanation on the black screen that read: “Technical difficulties, staff members are resolving the issue, please wait patiently.”

Heh, how convenient. While the other matches proceeded smoothly on live broadcast, this one remained shrouded in darkness from start to finish. Not even a single advertisement graced the screen during the blackout.

The viewers felt insulted.

Beep!

Suddenly, the black screen began to flicker, and gradually, a picture emerged, much to the anticipation of the crowd. With bated breath, they watched as the image grew clearer and clearer before their eyes.

Unfortunately, it was not what the audience expected. Instead of a thrilling battle scene, they were greeted with the result of the match.

For the countless excited viewers, it was akin to watching an adult movie and catching a glimpse of steamy passion, suggestive scenes, tantalizing imagery, only for the screen to suddenly go dark and skip to the part where the actors were fully clothed again.

And for some, if not most, viewers, what followed was even more frustrating.

Summary of the match:
Winner: Team Little Sparkly Blonde Princess
Loser: Team Princess Estelle
Total Match Time: 45 minutes and 37 seconds
Winner’s MVP: Lilith
Loser’s SVP: Myre

Expert’s comment: What an exciting match, it’s truly exciting. The last time I witnessed such an exciting match was… well, last time. It was truly an exciting match, akin to watching an exciting match.

The audience fell silent momentarily, absorbing the information on the screen before erupting into outrage.

“Foul play! This must be foul play!”

“Something fishy’s going on! Princess Estelle will never lose! Who’s this Blonde Princess? We’ve never even heard of her!”
“No footage and just a summary? Unacceptable!”
“Fake match! It’s definitely a fake match!”
“Refund now!”

The burning anger of the audience nearly engulfed the entire arena, yet amidst the uproar, the organizers remained seated, refusing to make a statement.

Inside the host room, Dowd slumped into his chair, drained of all vigor. His eyes were devoid of color like a lifeless fish.

“How could Princess Estelle possibly lose…?”

She was the tournament’s strongest seeded player, lauded by countless experts. How could she be defeated right here? And to add insult to injury, Princess Estelle wasn’t even the loser’s SVP!

“Yay! As expected of Her Highness, she won!”

As the lady next to him jubilantly celebrated, Dowd felt like he wanted to die. He had staked all his savings on Princess Estelle’s victory! He was confident to make a huge amount of money out of it, but with a poof, it had vanished into thin air.

Dowd reclined on his chair as he contemplated his dire situation.

“Dowd.” His supervisor’s calm voice came through his headset.

Dowd, clutching onto the headset like it was his lifeline, hastily pressed a button on it and said, “Listen to me, Supervisor, what just happened was…”

“You don’t need to say anything, I already know all about it.”
“Is that so? That’s good then, I actually…”
“You’ve been terminated from your position due to privately betting on the match’s outcome despite being a host.”
“What?” Dowd’s body turned ice-cold, feeling as if he had plummeted from a great height to the bottom in an instant.

How did the supervisor find out about his private betting on the match?

Beep, beep.

A new message appeared on the Spectrum Stone.

With lifeless eyes, Dowd clicked on it, revealing an image projected by the newly developed Spectrum Stone technology—a group chat capable of hosting multiple people simultaneously.

The message was from “The Martial God Tournament Hosts’ Work Group Chat”.

(Special Guest) Fenice: The betting game that Mr. Dowd introduced me was really interesting. I won millions of gold coins in one go~ (Group photo attached)

Dowd was rendered speechless.

What the *beep↑↑↓↓That little beep beep!!*

“Why isn’t she facing consequences?!” Dowd roared, his eyes reddened with frustration.

“Because she’s a guest,” the supervisor replied coldly. “And the wealthy is now even wealthier.”

Dowd was left speechless.

“Forget about it. After working together for so many years, I won’t make things hard for you,” the supervisor’s tone softened considerably.

“I’ll lend you a hand, so you don’t end up on the streets. After all these years as your supervisor, it’s difficult for me to see you in such a situation,” he said.

“Supervisor…” Dowd was moved to tears, taken aback by the unexpected warmth and support from his usually harsh supervisor.

“Okay, okay, it’s about to cut into the host room’s screen. Go wipe your tears, I’ll arrange for someone to touch up your makeup now.”

“That means ……” Dowd’s excitement bubbled over as he continued, “I can keep hosting?”

“Of course, the staff will bring you a script in a few minutes. Make sure you read it loud and clear.”

“Does reading it mean I get to keep my job?”

“Well… I can’t guarantee that, considering the severity of the mistake you made. Even if the organization forgives you, the public won’t be as forgiving.”

The supervisor’s tone softened as he continued, “But as long as you read the script and continue doing a good job, I assure you that you’ll be able to put food on your table, live in free shelter, and possibly even have a job arranged for you.”

“R-Really…?” Dowd could not believe his ears. He had not expected such kindness from his supervisor.

Though he had hit rock bottom, the prospects of food, shelter, and job promised by his supervisor gave him hope to start anew.

“Hey, when have I ever lied to you?” His supervisor chuckled lightly before adding, “Just do your best. I have other matters to attend to and won’t be reachable for some time.”

“Alright, I’ll give it my all!” Dowd felt a surge of determination.

Before long, a makeup artist swiftly touched him up, and a staff member discreetly handed him a script.

“Just read it as it’s written, right?” Dowd adjusted his bow tie, cleared his throat, and took a sip of water to ensure he was in his best condition.

Confident in his professionalism, he effortlessly read through the short script. His years of experience allowed him to read the entire script without even processing the content in his head.

This was professionalism.

As the scene transitioned to the host room, Dowd flashed a confident smile, his mind clear as he delivered the script in a calm, steady voice.

“The following is my personal statement regarding the recent live broadcast incident:

At 16:33 PM, I violated the organization’s rules by placing bets on a gambling platform with the intention of making quick money. Frustrated by Princess Estelle’s initial disadvantage in the game, I lost control of my emotions and deliberately damaged the organization’s broadcasting equipment, resulting in the live broadcast failure.

I take full responsibility for this incident and hereby declare that the organization bears… no… involvement… in… this… matter.”

As Dowd continued reading, his pace slowed, and he realized something was amiss. His eyes darted back and forth, as the words began to sink in.

“T-This… T-T-This…” Realization finally hit him like a ton of bricks, and he could not contain his frustration. “That damn baldie deceived me!”

The silence on the other end of the headset was deafening.

“You think you can just frame me like this? The script is still here! I’ll make sure you…” While ranting, Dowd suddenly froze as he saw Fenice leaning over, ripping up an extremely familiar-looking piece of paper.

“What are you doing?” Dowd asked blankly.

“Oh, this?” Fenice spat out a flame to destroy the evidence after tearing it, then pointed to her ear.