"An incredible young man..."
Kawahara Machiko stood in the central area of the District C Exhibition Hall. Before her lay the curved exhibition stage that had been torn apart by an unknown force. By now, its original outline was no longer visible; people's attention was more easily drawn to the shattered fissures themselves.
The cracks were vicious, their gashes enormous, leaving the fragments of the various exhibition stages with no support between them. They looked utterly incapable of bearing the heavy equipment above and ready to collapse at any moment. Yet they stood there steadily. The closer one got and the more details one saw, the more unbelievable it became.
According to the original plan, this area should have risen to the floor above before the auction began and served as the main exhibition area. But the young man now speaking eloquently at the venue had directly destroyed that plan.
Still, some of the preinstalled equipment around the area could be put to use. The place had therefore been cordoned off for temporary use as half a backstage area. Many staff members were bustling back and forth here, dealing with various problems—at least on the surface.
No matter how busy the staff were, they carefully avoided the central exhibition stage area. At the same time, researchers from various backgrounds, carrying instruments of all sizes, hunched over as they cautiously moved through the gaps in the steel, attempting to uncover more valuable clues.
For the moment, the two different circles coexisted without interfering with one another.
Kawahara Machiko stood here, following the auction's progress through the screens and projections everywhere. She watched the young man who had completely twisted the course of her life speak so confidently onstage, twisting the thoughts and wills of others in much the same way.
Strangely