Horr smiled as he looked at a shirtless Wilson who was silently sitting at a table in the corner, awaiting his turn while intensely looking at his gloves.
"Who would have thought that behind all that clothing, there was such a sculpt. Even I am jealous." He marveled.
"Yeah. The kid is ripped alright." Bar chipped in.
"There will definitely be ladies flocking about him if he wins tonight." Vox said with a bothered look.
"He might lose...." Jim whispered but Horr heard him loud and clear.
"Oh? What did I just hear? Is that the sound of a jealous 'unripped' man?" Horr spoke out loud in mockery of Jim.
Jim was usually not one to keep quiet and be on the receiving end of any form of mockery. He always had something to say; A word or two to defend himself but he did not even bother this time.
"Nope! I am just worried that he will not be able to fight well due to his internal injuries." Jim explained with a sigh.
"Internal injuries?" Bar queried. "And he is moving around already?"
"If he was that injured, why did you bother bringing him here?" Horr asked.
"Because he wanted to come!" Vox answered.
"And because he would not take 'no' for an answer." Jim said.
"Oh, really?" Bar asked, eyebrows raised.
"Yes. Wilson has always been like that, I guess. Stubborn.... unrelenting...." Jim looked at Vox. "Death seeking too. Like Vox!"
"Or perhaps, he just likes the thrill that comes from getting into and escaping from constant life and death situations?" Horr asked but it sounded more like a statement.
*beep* *beep* *beep* *beep*
Horr's wristwatch alarm beeped. He looked down at it to check the time and whooped as he stood up.
"It is time for the official fights!" Horr yelled and the whole underground shook from the roars.
"Wait, those fights earlier.." Jim started.
"Were preliminaries. Wilson was lucky enough to skip it because of Vox." Horr finished.
He walked up to a large elevated podium that had protruded out of the flat surfaced floor.
He stood on it and looked around until the excited roars subsided and eventually completely died down. He began to explain the rules.
"The rules are the same as always; simple and direct! Knock your opponent out or beat them into submission. If your opponent has surrendered, you can no more hit them. As we all know that a good number of our high ranking wrestlers have been drafted into other cities' professional wrestling circle, the ranking has to be refreshed. Therefore, for this month, once every week, the newbies that were previously not on the top 50 rank will face off in random one on one duels in the preliminaries. The winners of these preliminaries will go on to face other winners. A win of five matches; consecutive or not, will directly add you to the rank, starting from the lowest and a loss of three consecutive matches will directly throw you off the competition." Horr paused, grabbed a bottle of wine and took a big swig to the cheers of some, mostly ladies. He then continued.
"For today, we have seven qualifiers plus a special newbie guest from afar. Don't give that look! Only death is fair!" Horr joked a little and a good number of the men there, chuckled.
"Bets have opened. You all know the website. Pick your favorites and bet as much as you want on them. Oh, don't forget the special options as well..." Horr was already advertising as the audience had started to take out their phones and place bets as they liked.
Wilson's profile had already been added to the list of eight and some of them, recognizing him, glanced in his direction.
While the betting went on both inside and outside the underground platform, The host, Horr, left to meet a few men standing at the bar to enquire and ensure that the streaming was already ongoing and there were no issues with it. After satisfying his curiosity, he walked back and smiled gas he waited for another ten minutes.
Ten minutes later, Horr spoke up again.
"Alright! Without any further ado, it is time to spin the wheel!"
Immediately, a wheel appeared out of thin air and was hanging midair beside Horr, who placed his hand on it. He looked at the wheel and the people looking on expectantly, their asses stuck to their seats that had also promptly appeared out of thin air.
He spun the wheel and instantly began speaking.
"One wheel, eight fighters. One of whom we know nothing of his capabilities. There can only be one selection! Who will be the man or woman to begin the match this dark night? Who will begin the fight towards underground fame and money? Five wins and you are in! Three losses and you are out! Who will get in? Who will lose out? Will there even be a winner this week? Too many questions, too few answers..." At this point, the wheel had almost stopped. Horr's loud voice grew even. louder in excitement.
"Ladies and gentlemen watching live or from home. The first man to start the match is..."
The wheel finally stopped and the person picked was...
"Oh? ladies and gentlemen, fate has decided! the man who will start this match for us is none other than our special guest, Wilson!"
There was a lackluster reaction to the pick.
Horr chuckled, fully understanding their reaction.
"Oh, come on! Wilson just might not be all that bad, right? Let's cheer for him, yeah?" He clapped and soon the live audience began to clap as Wilson slowly materialized directly on the podium that had quickly transformed into a ring. The only thought in his head was;
"Oh my goodness! It is happening!"