"Robert!"
Mai Mingle was the first to react. She shot to her feet, yelling, "Get out of the way!"
The person leaning against the wall, sitting directly beneath the crack, was Robert, who had been winding himself up.
He was completely absorbed, as if ascending through the accumulating sensation of each turn. Mai Mingle had to call his name twice before he finally snorted and came to his senses. "...What? What are you yelling about?"
Before Mai Mingle could answer, he seemed to realize something was wrong.
Robert tilted his flushed, plastic face upward.
He was met with the face on the Tian Xi backdrop, which cast a smiling shadow over him.
Robert shuddered, a half-strangled cry slipping from his throat. He instantly let go. He managed to retain enough sense not to instinctively jump up—otherwise, he would have thrown himself right into the Tian Xi backdrop's arms. Instead, he scrambled sideways, knocking Li Stan into the wall.
