“Elena, what should we do? Whose name should we put down as the lead artist? Caleb or me?”
The other teams had taken turns to sign in, and it will soon be their turn. So, Layla was at her wits’ end. They had to come out with a solution, no more delay.
“It’s okay. Let’s go.” Elena still did not speak her mind. She only continued to look at the sign-in counter.
Layla stomped her feet anxiously. “Elena…”
“So, you haven’t found a new lead artist?” Nina’s team went toward them. Nina looked at Elena’s team, and they still had the same amount of team members. Where was their lead artist? They probably did not have one.
She smiled slyly. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I’ve led your lead artist away just before the finals… Oh wait, I didn’t do that. After all, I have yet to sign a contract with him. “Too bad he doesn’t want to stay in your team. It is a pity, isn’t it?”
“Really?” Elena seemed to be unmoved by Nina’s provocative words.
Instead, Elena asked with a smile, “Did you not expect to meet Flora last night?”
“That crazy b*tch!” Nina’s face immediately sank when she heard that name.
Nina subconsciously touched her arm. There was a scratch wound on it, one that Flora had left behind. The stupid b*tch had done that to her on the street!
“Oh.” Elena smiled. Her smile was as breezy as usual, and there was not a sense of pretense. She appeared undismayed about the situation that her team was in. “It seemed like she had brought you some trouble.”
“Psychopath!”
Nina did not like the way Elena had smiled at her. She wanted to tear Elena’s lips apart. The ugly and uncouth woman looked like a clown, and she could not stand her confident smile. It also seemed like that woman did not see her as her match at all. What drove her confidence? Her smile could put an inexplicable amount of pressure on other people!
Nina was surprised by her irritation when she faced Elena. She had always believed that Elena had some tricks behind her confident smile. What could she do at such a last minute? She was clearly at a dead-end! Nina discreetly adjusted her breath to calm her nerves and reminded herself that there was nothing to worry about.
Nina said in disdain, “You losers are not qualified to talk to me. If you are not registering, then move out of my way.”
“Move!” Several of Nina’s team members immediately bellowed as if they wanted to show dominance.
“We are also registering, so why should we let you go first?” Layla sneered.
However, Elena held her back and said with a grin on her face, “Let them go first. After all, it makes no difference to the results of the match.”
“That’s right. You are going to lose anyway, so it makes no difference whether you register or not.” A person from Nina’s team mocked them unequivocally.
“Without Aryan, your team is just plain rubbish. Why bother to compete at all? You might as well withdraw from the competition!”
Caleb had to pull Layla away, and Rufus had to grab hold of Lois. If they had not done so, things would have evolved into another fight. The teams in front of them had already completed their registration, and it was finally their turn.
Layla looked at Elena. She had always thought that Elena would have some backup plans in place, but it seemed like they were the only people in their team for the registration. Elena went toward the sign-in counter with the rest of her teammates.
Flora and Nina’s teams had returned their waiting area. They looked at Elena’s team, but they were not sure if they should pity or laugh at them. They did not have a new lead artist to take Aryan’s place. Elena, that idiot! All she had to do was to spend money and get someone else instead. How could she not solve such a simple problem? Even if the new lead artist could not get along with the rest of the team, it was still better than nothing. How could their team compete without a complete team?
“Elena…” The writer, inker, and coloring artists had put their names on the form, but the lead artist column was still empty.
Layla squeezed her palms in nervousness as Caleb, and Rufus glanced at each other. Although they remained silent, they were disconcerted.
“What about the lead artist?” The teacher at the sign-in counter shoved his glasses on his nose to double-check and make sure that he was not mistaken. The column for the lead artist’s name was indeed left blank.
“The lead artist…” Elena pursed her lower lip and announced seriously, “Aryan.”
“What?” Even the teacher was surprised.
Aryan rose to fame after he competed two days before that. All the students interested in comics and the teachers from both Jiang University and Ning University knew about him. The gossip was not only confined within the students’ community, but it had also already spread like wildfire. Even the teachers knew about it. Aryan had abandoned them and joined Nina’s team. They still had the cheek to put his name as their lead artist?
“Elena, are you… crazy?” Layla bit her lip. Her voice was muffled at the last word as she dared not say it out aloud.
Just as everyone else shifted around in awkwardness, a tall figure came up from behind them. He walked toward Elena, picked up the pen on the desk, and then wrote his name in the lead artist column. September Studio, lead artist, Aryan!
“What’s going on? What’s going on?”
“I thought Aryan had withdrawn from September Studio and joined Nina?”
“Yeah, didn’t he go with Shuxin Pavilion? I saw him and Nina together these past two days.”
“What exactly is going on?”
The teacher in charge of the registration was dumbfounded. He looked at Aryan and adjusted his eyeglasses again.
“Are you really Aryan?”
It was still the same slightly long hair with his beard stubbles, an image of an artist, and he looked a little disheveled. It was Aryan! It was really him! Who could explain what had happened?
“Don’t ask. Just prepare for the competition.” Elena’s hand gently raised Layla’s lower jaw as she stood with her mouth wide open in shock.
Layla blinked her eyes in shock. She had a lot to ask and a lot more to say. Eventually, she swallowed all her words under Elena’s calm gaze. There was no need to ask. It was great that he came back to the team!
Rufusyi grasped Aryan’s shoulder, his eyes were wet, but he did not say a word. He was touched that his teammate was back. Nothing else mattered. Their team was finally complete!
“What is going on?” Nina stared at the group of people as her fingertips trembled.
“What could it be? Even I understood it!”
Flora was stunned for quite a while, but then she finally figured out. She burst out in a fit of laughter as she stared at Nina.
She laughed and said, “It turned out that you are the silly one!”
It looked like Aryan did not withdraw from September Studio at all. People had only said that because they saw him with Nina, but he had never made that announcement himself. Had he said that he would not compete in the final round? It was merely a well-played strategy!
They did it to take people’s attention away from September Studio so that no one would target Elena and her teammates! They were tricked! Not only was Nina fooled, but even Flora was also deceived! No wonder Elena remained so confident even though she could not find a new lead artist! It was a well-played move by Elena and Aryan! An interesting move, indeed!