Yamanaka Shinno forcefully suppressed his urge to immediately initiate a "Divine Entertainment Trial."
He looked at his personal panel.
"System, use both Trait Extractions."
[Congratulations, host. You have obtained the gray trait: Vehicle Slayer, and the green trait: Hey Silky.]
Vehicle Slayer (Gray): Kid, if you care about your ride, stick to walking. Whether it's flying swords, magic vessels, boats, or cars—anything you touch, ride, or operate has a greatly increased chance of malfunctioning, crashing, catching fire, sinking, exploding, or being totaled. On the bright side, your survival odds during traffic accidents will slightly improve.
Hey Silky (Green): Is fate male or female? Don't ask me that—I only know They like watching too. When wearing silky stockings, your luck increases slightly.
"Hey Silky? System, what the hell is wrong with you?!"
Looking at the two freshly drawn traits, Shinno felt the overwhelming urge to kick something. Or someone.
Good thing it was still 2011. Smartphones didn't have voice activation yet.
Otherwise, just saying "Hey Silky" aloud would probably set off half the devices in the room.
Still, both traits could probably be categorized as "fate-type."
And Hey Silky was actually a rare positive trait. The only problem? It was only really usable by women.
I mean, who wants a guy hanging around wearing silk stockings?
That mental image...
Ugh. It burns.
"Let's try upgrading it?"
Shinno glanced at his system interface. He still had two Green Trait Upgrades and one Blue Trait Upgrade.
Figuring he might as well see if the silk requirement could be removed, he used one Green Trait Upgrade on Hey Silky.
[Congratulations, host. Green trait "Hey Silky" successfully upgraded! New blue trait acquired: "Hello Silky."]
Hello Silky (Blue): Whether you're a sweet, innocent girl or a mature lady with class, if you love wearing silky things, your luck will always be a cut above. Wearing any kind of silk boosts your fortune and grants a Lucky buff, making random fortunate events more likely to occur.
"…You've gotta be kidding me."
Shinno facepalmed.
After a moment of silence, he decided against upgrading the trait any further.
He was starting to get the picture: this trait was completely obsessed with silk.
Upgrading it again might improve the luck bonus, sure—but it'd still require him to wear silk. Hard pass.
"Screw it…"
Letting out a long breath, Shinno turned to Kaecilius.
Though the guy wasn't exactly tech-savvy, with Jarvis's help he'd already logged into the Wizarding Forum and verified his identity.
He was now studying the annotated version of Basic Magic: Intermediate Level with surprising focus.
Shinno used Jarvis's 3D projection to open the forum homepage.
In just the few minutes since launch, dozens of new posts had already popped up—most of them thanking him for creating a space where people could freely share and connect.
A few more tech-comfortable sorcerers had even started sharing personal stories or magical insights from their daily lives.
After thinking for a bit, Shinno made a post under his own name.
The gist was: as the Sorcerer Supreme, he wanted to raise the average combat potential of the transcendents on Earth. To do that, he'd periodically launch randomized 100-player competitive trials using astral projection magic and the powers of a Dimensional Demon God.
Winners would receive magical knowledge, special powers, enchanted weapons, magical tools, and other unique rewards.
And death in the trial wouldn't be real—participants would be fighting as duplicates.
He ended with a note urging anyone who received an invitation not to panic, but to actively participate.
As soon as the post went live, weaker sorcerers immediately started wailing in the comments, while stronger ones eagerly began preparing.
After all, these were rewards from a Dimensional Demon God and the Sorcerer Supreme.
No way that'd be anything mediocre.
Besides, impressing the Sorcerer Supreme might lead to even more perks down the line.
They weren't aiming to become someone like the Ancient One—just being on the level of Mordo, Kaecilius, or Wong would be more than enough.
"Jarvis, design a universal mobile app version of the Wizarding Forum—make sure all forum functions are available in the app too."
Shinno issued another command.
He got up from his recliner, leaned against the railing, and activated Divine Entertainment Trial, adding everyone in the pool—including the beautiful S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Tony Stark—to the participant list.
Then, he hit send.
...
The people around the villa froze for a brief moment, then looked up toward the rooftop where Shinno was standing.
A cold, emotionless trial prompt had just echoed simultaneously in all their minds.
(You have been designated by the Dimensional Demon God Yamanaka Shinno to participate in a solo-mode trial. Win the trial and you will receive rare rewards. Death during the trial will not be real. Trial Rules are as follows... You have five minutes to prepare. Please equip your preferred gear.)
As the voice faded, the countdown began.
Tony Stark—finally pulled out of his emo funk thanks to Wong's healing—immediately dashed for the Mark 5 armor stored inside the villa.
If he could bring his gear into the trial...
Then Iron Man feared no battle.
The women in the pool scrambled out in a panic.
They rushed toward the helipad where a helicopter was parked, retrieving combat suits and an arsenal of weapons to ready themselves for battle.
Even Dr. Helen Cho and Dr. Wu Jiaqi—primarily academic staff—had clearly received no small amount of combat training.
They weren't on the level of Natasha or Maria Hill, but they were certainly far from helpless.
Hopefully, against the incoming magical chaos, they wouldn't be crushed too badly.
(Five, four, three, two, one…)
BZZZT—
With a surge of spiritual energy and a ripple through space, the hundred selected by Divine Entertainment Trial vanished from the villa.
They reappeared in a separate dimension.
Their physical bodies were safely protected in stasis while their spirits entered identical avatars—replicas with the same gear and abilities.
Each participant was randomly dropped in different corners of a desert map.
...
"…Wanda the Scarlet Witch actually showed up?"
Shinno's gaze merged with the dimension itself. He could clearly see every person's appearance and movements.
Beyond the ones he personally selected, the rest had been randomly chosen.
He couldn't help twitching slightly at the sight.
Scarlet Witch, Captain America, Hawkeye, Winter Soldier Bucky, Hulk, Abomination Emil, the current Black Panther T'Challa, War Machine Rhodey, even the temporarily depowered Thor...
Only a handful of them had actually signed up for the Wizarding Forum.
Most of the others, despite hearing the trial explanation, looked utterly lost.
Dropped into the desert with no clue what was happening or what the objective was.
Only a countdown above their heads and a minimap in their peripheral vision gave any indication of what to expect.
Ten minutes later, the first "poison circle" would activate.
Anyone outside the safe zone would face increasing gravity pressure and have their stats forcibly reduced—until death.
Clang—CRASH!
A metallic thud echoed through the desert.
Tony Stark, who had just activated his Mark 5 armor and flown up for recon, was instantly decapitated by a golden sling-ring portal—sliced cleanly through the neck.
He didn't even have time to scream before his body crashed to the ground in a heap of sparking metal.
The counter in the sky dropped from 100 to 99.
"Damn it! That was a Kamar-Taj sorcerer!"
Back in the real world, Tony awoke with a jolt, staring furiously at his "death replay" footage.
The attacker? Wong—who hadn't hesitated for even a second.
Tony gritted his teeth so hard he nearly cracked a molar.
He had just scanned the area using Mark 5's infrared sensors—no life signs detected.
No need to guess—Wong had used some unknown magic to jam the scan!
Unacceptable.
He had to develop an anti-magic armor set!
"Magic is power," Wong muttered.
He was still cloaked by the Cyttorak's Invisibility Spell, stepping toward Tony's pixelating corpse.
Unfortunately, according to the rules, though he could use equipment dropped by others...
He couldn't operate the armor himself.
CRACK—
BOOOOM—
A deafening explosion and waves of magical energy echoed from the direction of a nearby town.
Wong raised his head toward the noise.
That magical signature...
He was pretty sure that was Mordo.
No idea what kind of chaos he just ran into...