"That's impossible!"
Standing inside the Bird's Nest stadium, Nagaoka Keiichi stared dumbfounded at the scene unfolding before him. The dazzling display of light and shadow had robbed him of the ability to think.
Like a magician's top hat, the cylinder, no larger than a thermos, released countless colorful butterflies, which fluttered through the air on flowerlike wings.
Every butterfly was so lifelike, so captivating.
It was as though...
They were alive!
Suddenly, the butterflies vanished like bursting bubbles.
Just as Nagaoka Keiichi thought the demonstration was over, he saw the Starry Sky Technology engineer aim the cylindrical projector in his hand at him.
Before he could ask what the man intended to do, a loud buzzing abruptly filled the air.
Then he saw hornets the size of fists swarm out of the cylindrical projection device, like something from a magician's top hat, and charge straight at him.
"Ah! Stay away!"
Terror spread across Nagaoka Keiichi's face. He instinctively screamed, raised his arms, and stumbled half a step backward. The staff standing nearby looked equally frightened and almost reflexively ducked away.
But nothing terrible happened. Standing directly in the swarm's path, Nagaoka Keiichi felt only a warm, moist breeze brush his cheeks. The menacing hornets passed right through him as though they did not exist at all.
Watching his exaggerated reaction, the Starry Sky Technology engineer smiled faintly and switched off the holographic projector in his hand.
Almost at that same instant, the swarm formed from light and shadow disappeared, along with its piercing buzz.
The commotion in the stadium subsided, restoring its earlier calm.
Only now, the silence was unnerving.
Nagaoka Keiichi opened his mouth, about to force out a dismissive "Nothing special," only to meet the Starry Sky Technology engineer's mocking half-smile.
Remembering his humiliating scream, his face turned