AutumnXd
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CHAPTER 8
🕑 Added 2025-04-29 12:02:52 +0000 UTC"Achoo!"
Zhuo Teng sneezed.
Someone talking about me? Considering the sheer resilience of an ancient dragon’s body, it’d be pretty hard to catch a cold.
As the proud owner of the Zhuo Teng Toy Shop, of course, he had to pull his weight.
Right now, he was playing the part of a semi-dragon named “Zhuo Teng,” lounging beside the shop entrance as a living mascot.
It was an easy gig. All he had to do was keep reading his magic book there and he'd attract a steady stream of customers.
A bunch of kids with wooden swords were nearby, shouting out all kinds of catchphrases while slashing at the air with exaggerated sound effects. But none of them dared get too close.
And the noise—oh, the endless noise.
“Leafy's the best!”
“No way, Mike is stronger!”
“Leafy wins, no contest!”
“He lost though!”
“Milly is so cute…”
Battle power fanatics… they’re the same in every world.
“Young master, wait for me!”
A voice called out from across the street. Zhuo Teng looked up.
A boy of about ten was dashing over, dressed in enchanted gear good enough that even if Zhuo Teng poked him with a claw, he might still leave a whole corpse.
Chasing behind him were a similarly aged butler and two guards.
The boy didn’t bother queuing and just barreled straight into the shop.
Hey now! This dragon has a temper!
Zhuo Teng was about to drag him out when the kid struck a heroic pose in the center of the shop and announced, “I’m Hal Craig! I want a custom yo-yo!”
...Fine, go on in then.
This dragon believes in flexible standards.
To make sure the first custom order at the toy shop went smoothly, Zhuo Teng followed them up to the second floor.
Craig, Craig… which family was that again?
No way a commoner would show up with this much fanfare.
Oh, right—must be that magic constructs family. If he remembered correctly, they were the creators of the Four Holy Constructs. He’d smashed three of them with his claws.
Zhuo Teng swore he didn’t mean to destroy them. He’d just wanted to collect them, but didn’t know how to deactivate the makers’ control magic. He may have gotten... slightly overzealous.
Now that he thought about it, what a shame. He was this close to reliving the joy of playing with Gundams.
Hal Craig acted like he owned the place and immediately said, “I want to meet your best yo-yo craftsman!”
You might faint if you actually met them.
Of course, none of that showed on Aisha’s professional smile. She had the sales demeanor of a seasoned pro.
“Our craftsmen don’t work in the city itself, but rest assured—we’ll arrange the finest artisan for you.”
Then she pulled out a custom order booklet prepared in advance—hand-drawn, fancy-looking, and screaming “expensive.”
It even featured animated demo spells showing off different yo-yo tricks, right on the paper. Pretty nifty enchantment.
Options included shape, material, color scheme, engraving, emblem, and storage box.
Right now, the material choices were still limited to lightweight wood and certain stones—like one type that floats on water, kind of like plastic.
Metal yo-yos, especially magic-metal ones? Still out of reach for now.
They’d tried working with dwarves several times, but never sealed the deal. Not even the classic “Look! Your great-granddad’s heirloom!” sales pitch worked.
Dwarves were notoriously temperamental. Everything had to vibe with their mood. Sometimes they'd forge you a masterpiece over drinks, other times they’d refuse for no reason—even if you offered a fortune.
Honestly, admirable spirit. Zhuo Teng’s claws spun in approval.
He never resorted to brute force though. Dwarves weren’t rich, lived off their craft, and didn’t deserve to be bullied.
Still, he’d need to figure out how to win them over, maybe appeal to their interests...
“I want the family crest engraved on the yo-yo, and the Craig family’s colors used. As for the shape and material, which one’s the best?”
“That depends on your style. Each shape and material has its own strengths,” Aisha replied.
“Hmmm…”
Faced with so many options, Craig was clearly overwhelmed.
“If you're a beginner, I’d recommend this standard ‘responsive sleeper’ shape. It’s versatile—great for string tricks and also returns well.”
Aisha flipped to the next page. “This one’s the butterfly shape. Better for advanced string tricks, but it doesn’t auto-return—you’ll need to bind the string manually—”
“Too complicated!” Craig slapped his thigh. “Okay, I’ll take every shape, and use the most expensive material for each!”
Aisha knew nobles were rich, but this rich? This kid was spending more on toys than she earned in two years.
The butler silently pulled out a stack of gold coins. No talk of down payments—just pure confidence that no one would dare scam him.
They were just about to see him off, maybe throw in some bonus accessories, when Craig suddenly asked:
“How much do I have to pay to appear in Blazing Yo-Yo Kings?”
“…We’re terribly sorry,” Aisha replied smoothly. “Thank you for your interest in Blazing Yo-Yo Kings, but the story is already complete and it’d be hard to add new characters. If any opportunities come up in future collaborations, we’ll contact you.”
Man, this kid had big dreams.
The integrity of Blazing Yo-Yo Kings had to be protected—it was the main hype engine for the yo-yo trend.
Creative works suffer when amateurs start bossing around pros. One day it’s “tweak the plot,” the next it’s “shove in a self-insert,” and before long, your beloved IP gets milked dry and abandoned, leaving the creators with a wreck.
“But,” Aisha added, “we do offer a move-naming service, along with custom visual effects. Your original move can appear in the manga.”
“Really?!” Craig lit up.
Nobles didn’t buy luxury for no reason. It wasn’t about having money—it was about being the only one who had that special thing.
Imagine—every kid learning a yo-yo move that you named? Irresistible.
“But… but I don’t know how to make a move.”
“No worries,” Aisha smiled mysteriously, pulling out another booklet. “These are unnamed, unreleased techniques that haven’t appeared in the manga yet. You can pick one, choose which character uses it, and we’ll teach it to you ourselves. You’ll be officially credited as the move’s creator in future volumes.”
“Whoa! How much does that cost?!”
“Uh…”
Now both Aisha and Zhuo Teng were stumped. They’d just come up with this idea on the spot. Who knew what the proper price for noble-grade vanity was?
One dragon, one human, opened a secret chat.
“How about… five gold?” Aisha guessed.
“That’s too cheap. My illusion spell—those two bodyguards of his could learn it and do it themselves.”
“Okay, okay, start high and see what happens. Just try flashing five fingers—maybe the dumb kid agrees.”
Decision made, Aisha awkwardly raised five fingers and started to say, “F—”
“WHAT?!” Craig jumped up.
“I mean, we can negotiate—” Aisha stammered.
“Only fifty gold coins?! That’s amazing! Deal!” Craig shouted with glee.
One dragon and one human stood frozen.
Watching the kid gleefully spinning in circles, Zhuo Teng muttered, “Think we should give Toto a raise?”
A short while later, downstairs—
Toto was demonstrating yo-yo tricks for customers, eyes droopy and head nodding. It was hard to tell if she was awake or asleep.
“Toto,” Zhuo Teng called, “Got a big mission for you. Teach a kid your new trick. Ten silver coins.”
Zombie-like Toto visibly revived and bolted upstairs.
Laughing like a gremlin, “Heh heh heh… some sucker’s paying ten silvers to learn yo-yos…”
Yeah. They could never let her find out how much Craig actually paid. She might not survive it.
