Sensation-Causing News

The announcement of prizes for the Sandglass Cup Youth Competition generally follows these steps.

The committee drafted the list of winners and then distributed it to two places: the official newspaper of the Alchemy School and the Alchemy School's information bulletin board.

The latter is a dedicated platform for publishing official information about the Alchemy School, while the former's official newspaper is not only expensive but also subject to purchase limits, and apart from being given directly to certain mages, no one buys it at all.

Many newspaper employees had already gone to the bulletin board, eager to see what was happening today—the results of the Sandglass Cup Youth Competition were being announced.

For these apprentices, this competition, which they couldn't even get into, was something they generally longed for.

So when the apprentices saw the new bulletin board, they stared wide-eyed, first looking at the top, where the Golden Hourglass Award were located.

Some apprentices had already prepared their papers, ready to take a closer look. They started jotting down the contents and then ran to the newspaper office to submit their reports.

But when they saw the information at the top, they were all dumbfounded.

"Is this a mistake? How come the two winning Paper for the Golden Hourglass Award have the same author?"

"By the way, this is outrageous, and it's both of them, both mages."

"No, did you guys notice? The mage in the back is surnamed Felistin."

The apprentices were abuzz with discussion, the situation so absurd that they wondered if the Alchemy School had made a mistake.

How can the same author win the Golden Hourglass Award twice? And not only is it the same author, but the two authors even have the exact same name. How did you manage to collaborate so closely?

Moreover, the last surname is now a very sensitive topic.

Although no one told the apprentices that the people above were targeting the Felistin Family, as employees of the newspaper, many of them were able to get additional information from the editors.

They almost all knew that the authorities were now strictly controlling information related to the Felistin, and many reports written by editors had been rejected because they contained information about the Felistin Family.

They also knew that this wasn't just limited to their newspaper office; the entire Number Nine Floating City had been given the same order.

So now, when people look at the surname Felistin at the top, they feel it's not quite real.

How could the committee let someone named Felistin receive the top award? Does he not want to work?

Moreover, they posted the same two names at once, so even if they told the newspaper's boss, it wouldn't make a difference.

Because the news was so explosive, even without contacting the editor, people would privately reach out to unapproved tabloids in exchange for a small but considerable sum of money.

After discussing it, the apprentices all felt that some staff member had made a mistake, and that things couldn't possibly be this absurd.

So they all stopped writing, and some were already asking staff to confirm the situation.

After waiting for half an hour, a mage who looked like a member of the committee finally came out, albeit reluctantly.

There was no other way. Although he was a Formal Rank mage, and there was a fundamental difference in status between him and these apprentices, these apprentices now represented a large number of newspapers in the Floating City, and he had to go out and explain.

"The published information we pasted is correct; both Paper on the Gold Hourglass Grade have the same author..."

He didn't continue, as if he couldn't bear to, because he knew his job was probably doomed.

The apprentices were all stunned, until one of them reacted quickly and ran back.

Only then did the apprentices realize that with such a huge incident, it was no longer important who would obtain which hourglass level this year.

We can do that when we get back. The real important thing is that Felistin achieved the Gold Hourglass Grade twice. That's no small matter.

If Philly only received the Golden Hourglass Award, the newspaper's editor-in-chief would cooperate with the committee to keep the noise down as much as possible.

However, this was unprecedented that they received two Gold Hourglass Grade. Although the Hourglass Cup does not limit submitters to only one submission, and there have been instances of the same author winning multiple awards in the past.

However, if someone manages to win both the Gold Hourglass with just two Paper, that's a very different story, and that alone could become big news for a while.

Moreover, there's Felistin behind them, who, in such a tense situation, allowed someone to directly snatch up the Gold Hourglass.

Some might think this could be a huge oversight, or that the two Paper were so outstanding that the committee had no choice but to select them.

However, many mages would probably think of another aspect: does this mean that someone in higher positions has changed their mind and wants to support the Felistin Family again?

Or perhaps, someone is dissatisfied with this policy and deliberately staged this incident to disrupt order and express their discontent.

Regardless of what others thought, the apprentices employed by the newspaper ran faster and faster, and in the blink of an eye, half of them had left.

The newspapers rewarded them for delivering messages at top speed, which is why they ran so fast. The rest of the people knew they couldn't outrun them, so they simply gave up.

The Hourglass Cup Committee was in a tense atmosphere.

"Rost, why didn't you remind me sooner, otherwise..."

Gregory, the person in charge, couldn't continue speaking because he realized that even if Rost had told him beforehand, it seemed there was nothing he could do.

The slots for those two Paper were almost already filled; one was Three-Layer Gold Standard, and the results of the blind review had already been recorded.

If the people conducting the post-mortem audit find out that they put a Paper with a Three-Layer Gold Standard underneath, their committee will be finished.

The Paper that was certified by the Legendary was specially instructed by the other party to be placed in the Gold Hourglass Grade, and the Legendary himself added comments to the Paper, which will be attached when the special issue of the Hourglass Cup winners is issued three days later.

This forced them to rank these two Paper in the Gold Hourglass Grade, and once they did, some newspapers would always accept it regardless of how you explained it.

After all, it's truly astonishing that a mage named Felistin has won the Golden Hourglass Award twice at this time.

Similarly, after making such a huge blunder, their committee will probably have to disband on the spot.

This isn't a case of the higher-ups having their left and right brains working in tandem, giving them such contradictory tasks.

Instead, the institutions that oversee academic fairness, the Legendary representatives, and their superiors are different entities.

What's rather bizarre is that they are simultaneously responsible to these three entities.

Moreover, by simply pasting the list of winners out according to the original regulations, they actually offended the fewest entities.

First of all, they definitely can't afford to offend the Legendary, otherwise none of them will be able to survive in Number Nine Floating City.

Secondly, academic oversight bodies cannot be offended. If they are found out, they will be banned from working in the relevant review industry for life, and any research they want to publish will have to undergo rigorous review.

In summary, disobeying only orders from one's superiors is the least costly approach; at most, it would result in their dismissal and some minor obstacles being created in their future work.

They can leave Number Nine Floating City and seek other opportunities elsewhere, but having offended the first two, there's no such thing as seeking other opportunities.

Even now, Gregory still feels he handled things well, but what could he do when he encountered those two amazing Paper?

An article whose content is unknown has received a full gold label, a feat unprecedented in the history of Hourglass Cup.

The other one was even more outrageous, as it involved Legendary, Legendary actually wrote a commentary on it with great seriousness.

"Gregory, we'll continue producing special issues..."

A monk stepped forward and slowly asked the question that everyone was wondering: logically speaking, the group was not far from disbanding.

The reason for sending out the list of winners earlier was that I knew things couldn't be changed; it was just a convenient thing to do, and also to avoid causing a bigger public outcry.

But now everyone knows they're about to lose their jobs. Under these circumstances, should they still go and work?

"Do it, you have to do it right away."

Gregory said in an unquestionable tone.

"The Legendary wrote comments on the Paper, wasn't he just hoping his comments would be published in the special issue as well?"

If Legendary only liked this Paper, he could have simply had them rank it and then taken it home to read at his leisure.

Oinrich's signature and the statement that he would send the comments before the results were released gave them time to organize their Paper and produce a special issue.

To summarize, this Legendary simply thought the Paper was good, and his urge to mentor others kicked in, so he wrote his comments directly.

When the original author of the Paper buys a special issue of the Hourglass Cup, she will be able to see a Legendary comment on it.

Oinrich didn't need to specifically seek out the original author; that would be beneath him and unbecoming of his status. By using a special issue, he could maintain a subtle sense of distance.

After hearing Gregory's explanation, everyone present immediately got to work.

As Gregory gazed at the still-busy crowd, he recalled the scene he had witnessed upon returning home after finalizing the agreements with those newspapers.

The people sent by the Legendary had already circled the ' Aether Palace ' several times, but they still couldn't find their committee.

That's why the person who was supposed to deliver the Paper was caught at the last minute and managed to get Paper delivered.

In their haste to follow the procedures, the committee members didn't check carefully and immediately started making the bulletin board. When he returned, he saw two names copied side by side on the bulletin board, which looked like a prank.

After confirming that they hadn't done anything wrong, his heart skipped a beat, and it took him a long time to recover.

His first thought after regaining his senses was...

"I need to find a new job. Luckily, the project with the Territory Mage is very popular, so I can use my savings to invest in it."