"Hmmmm"
The commentator was holding his hand above his head in the form of an umbrella while he was checking the finalists. There were a lot of people, or at least more than he expected, and currently only the last person remained to pass while the guards and experts were preventing any riots by anyone who was rejected while the rest of the employees were working on placing strange devices with ropes in front of the square.
"Haha, very good, everyone! Now that it seems that everyone has passed the first stage, great! Now there is no more elimination; only the number of your points will determine whether you will be the promised champion of this continent or not. Now, ladies and gentlemen, we will take a short break to arrange the list of participants. And prepare the points calculation system, but do not go away because we will come back quickly!"
...
Kevin assumed a strange position as if he were sitting on a chair made of air while raising one leg and keeping the other on the ground, which made his appearance strange, but it only increased his awe and mystery for those around him. But those whispers did not bother Kevin; he just wanted to watch the rest of them with him.
You can notice the shapes of people that Kevin had noticed previously, such as the brothers Arthur and Simon, in addition to the athletic girl and the skinny girl. Unsurprisingly, the pale boy with the looks was also present, but with half the original number of participants gone, it was easier to see more interesting people, such as the boy in boxing clothes, the evil-looking girl, and others, who were the focus of the spectators from the stands, but sadly, Kevin didn't find anyone really interesting, so he spent the rest of the time thinking about some questions lingering in his mind, like that strange egg and those whispers. He appeared and suddenly disappeared. The Master Seeking the Unknown, and other questions
Finally, after the programmers completed their work, the competition resumed.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for waiting, which will be rewarded with the best show of the year! Applause! And now! Without further delay, we will officially enter the second round!"
After the commentator finished his sentence, the screen above the stage lit up with a bright white light before fading quickly to reveal a list of all the thousand participants. Although there were a thousand people on the list at that moment, it started to shrink little by little until there were only a hundred people left.
"Now, as you all can see, the information of all the participants is on that screen. Currently, these 100 participants have their pictures randomly selected, but starting from the end of the second round, the top 50 participants in terms of points will be displayed, so everyone should try their best!"
The commentator stopped for a while while putting his hand around his ear and enjoying the applause and enthusiasm of the spectators before completing the explanation.
The second round, as I said earlier, will be a round to measure your physical ability, where you will pull the rope from one of these devices in front of you. Do not worry about how strong the rope is, so try to use your strength without reservation. The number of machines is 500, so we will have to give you an hour just to try to do the best you can. Before your turn ends, you will be notified of the amount of points you will earn based on your results. So what are you guys waiting for? Let's go!"
Despite the enthusiastic words of the commentator, the number of people who took the first step was small because they were careful and wanted first to know the strength of each other, and there were those who first wanted to stretch before starting to tighten the rope, but for Kevin, he went directly to the similar machine. The bicycle is attached to the floor with a black rope coming out of an electronic hole.
Kevin looked at the screen that was above the electronic slot and pressed the play button to show the number 0 and the timer to start working. But unexpectedly, Kevin did not start pulling directly, but only examined the strange machine, as if expressing his admiration for it and its design.
"What is he doing?"
"I don't know, and I don't care. It's a good thing he's wasting time."
"Haha asshole"
Excitement was growing when the participants and spectators saw Kevin's antics, which made him feel goosebumps in his body.
"Ugh, it seems that I have drifted in my meditation a bit; let me quickly move away from the lights. With this, Kevin grabbed the rope and pulled it with his right hand strongly, forcing the machine to vibrate a little. Then, in the next moment, he loosened his hand and focused on the number written on the screen.
score: 124 m.p., point earned: 20 p.-
"Hmm, I don't think this is good; I'll try again."
This time, Kevin pulled the rope with both hands for several seconds before letting go again and focusing on the outcome.
score: 300 m.p., point earned: 50 p.-
"Um, I think it's still bad; I'll try seriously this time."
Kevin was on his way to grab the rope again but froze when he felt the heat around his body. He looked around to find that everyone's eyes were focused on him in shock, and their mouths almost fell to the ground. Only after seeing this expression on everyone's faces It was at this moment that he realized, He fucked up.
"shit...."
Kevin quickly let go of the rope and acted like he was feeling very tired while coughing and wiping the non-existent sweat with his shirt while pretending to breathe heavily, but that movement made the situation worse because his six pack appeared only for a few seconds, but it also attracted everyone's attention. The females turned red with shame, while the males felt threatened. Although Kevin only tried to quickly back away without making any more fuss, from the perspective of the rest of the contestants, what he did wasn't much to celebrate, which made the situation even worse.
"Oh fu*k, come to think of it, that commentator mentioned that I needed 100 or more to become champion, but I got 50 points from the start... Stupid Kevin, I'm stupid."
Kevin gritted his teeth as he stood back, watching the big screen show his name and picture in first place.