The orb took a tour around the audience and re-focused back to the red-octopus head host in the perfect black suit.
"Welcome back viewers to 'Who wants to be a Millionaire'! Once again, we have our contestant Cori, the slightly golden baby slime, who just secured his first 100 platinum gold coins! How do you feel at the moment?" Oliver said giving his best smile.
Cori gave an awkward grin and wave his paw while clutching onto the towel with another paw.
The host continued in his deep voice, "Cori looks happy, don't you think?" The audience laughed and applauded. "Now, let's settle back in our seats and let Cori have his moment."
Cori still recovering from his awkwardness, "Huh? The game is back on?" Apparently, Cori seldom watched game shows, and he assumed the simulation would end swiftly. But at this juncture, he was not sure if the whole thing was broadcasted or it was really just a simulation.
The orb zoomed out and refocused the view back to the host, Cori and the stage. The other orbs repositioned themselves, ready to stream close ups on the live reactions of the audience, Cori, and the host on command.
Oliver, "Here we go Cori. Question 4, 'How many arms does a cuttlefish has?' A. 2, B.6, C.0, D. 8?" Cori stared at Oliver, but he resembled an octopus more than a squid. "Do cuttlefishes have arms?" Cori wondered.
Oliver noticed that Cori stayed silent, went ahead and asked, "Cori, do you want to use your lifeline?" Cori bounced and nodded.
Oliver, "Do you wish to ask the audience?" Cori shook his body to disagree.
Luckily, the host was good at reading Cori's body language, so he asked again, "Eliminate 2 answers?" Cori shook his body in disagreement again.
Oliver asked again, "Call someone?" Cori bounced positively.
Oliver, "Okay Cori, let us call your friend, Alice!" The show dialled a number and Alice picked up the call. Cori squeaked the question and possible answers to Alice. The audience were silent since they were trying their best to make out what Cori said, but they could not.
Alice did not even need to translate because it was watching the show, "Master, the answer is D!" "Squeak squid?", Cori asked to double confirmed. Alice masterfully translated and replied, "Yes! Master confirm!" The deity who was watching the show intently spewed out his noodles. He did not know they had progressed to this stage. He cheered, "Eh, brother well done. Haha!" Totally forgetting that he was the one who designed how Alice worked in the first place.
The audience, viewers and the host were confused with random thoughts running through their mind. Online comments flooded the livestream, "What was the relationship between these two? Why did she call him master? The slime did look pretty wealthy with its slightly golden sheen. Was that a servant of his or were they in some weird sort of relationship?" Anything could be possible in this year and age, the host supposed. Oliver took the dive to satisfy everyone's curiosity and teased, "Can I call you Master Cori?" Cori blushed and shook to remain humble, he just wanted to be treated normally. However, Oliver, like everyone else except Alice, misunderstood Cori's reaction thinking the two were lovebirds, "Looked like our little baby slime already got a betrothed haha. So your girlfriend said the answer is D, confirm?"
Cori blushed a soft pink in both his cheeks and nodded. He felt so embarrassed to be called "Master" in front of the audience and just wanted to get things over with. He wanted to explain but there was no translator. Oliver and the audience naturally happily misunderstood. Oliver seemingly satisfied, announced, "Looks like he answered our question! Correct, the answer is D!" The audience applauded happily, some cheering. Alice was just happy that its master proceeded to the next round.
Oliver the host went on, "That was definitely heart-stopping. Haha. Looks like our next question is yet again something to do with matters of the heart. Question 5, 'How many hearts does an Octopus have?' A.1 B.2 C.3 D.0?"
This time Cori looked at Oliver and used his [Observation] skill on him, "Octoman, a subtype of merman. Like octopuses, Octoman has 3 hearts and are extremely intelligent. His specialised skills include 'Camouflage, Eloquence, and Stealth'." Cori squeaked out the answer, "See!". Oliver double confirmed through Cori's body language, "Correct, the answer is C! Looks like our guy is on his lucky streak! Another question closer to the million platinum gold pot!" Alice's scans picked up "+5" to Cori's mental stat.
Oliver, "Now on to Question 6, 'What is a common weakness of dragons?' A. Reverse horn, B. Ingrown Nail, C. Reversed Scale, D. Love."
Cori felt tired... what is love? Throughout his life, he only focused on his studies. He wished he could answer that the bane of all lifeforms was love and that dragons were also weak to them! But he knew the answer was "A" from all the books he had read.
Cori squeaked at a higher tone, hoping to mimic the phonetics, "Eh!"
Oliver stared at Cori and asked,"Did you say A?"
Cori jumped in excitement, he finally managed to squeaked out another alphabet that sounded like how he wanted!
Oliver, "And 'A' is correct! Congratulations Cori, my dear man, you have secured 1000 platinum gold coins! Now do you want to quit now or risk it all and continue?" As Cori pondered, Oliver helped him to make a decision, "Looks like our young slime decided to continue!" Cori was stunned but he was used to playing along with the system decisions so he played along with Oliver's. But this time he intended to win the jackpot. The director from the set give Oliver the thumbs up, it was time to give tougher questions so they could save some monies and rake in viewerships.
Oliver received the signal and sped up the questions, "Question 7, 'How many years are there in a millennium?' A. 10 years, B. 100 year, C. 1000 years, D. 10,000 years." Cori, "See!" Oliver was not surprised, this was just the appetiser he thought to himself, "C is correct!" Cori's mental stat increased yet by another 2 points.
Oliver spurred on, "Question 8, 'Which major galaxy is closest to the Milky Way Galaxy?' A. Andromeda Galaxy, B. Milkdromeda Galaxy, C. Barnard's Galaxy, D. Northern Lights Galaxy." Cori remembered reading this while he was a student, he wanted to be an astronaut so he studied really hard for it. But life had other plans, so he ended up studying a different degree. Sadly, life yet had another plan for him... and that was how he ended up as a slime. Cori answered confidently, "Eh!" Oliver was surprised, "Yes and our boy got it correct again! The correct answer is A! Now onto our 9th question, if Cori get this right he would have locked in 10,000 platinum gold coins!"
Oliver wiped his forehead with a handkerchief hoping that the company would have enough money to pay his salary this month... he still had mortgage and bills to pay, "Question 9, 'Which of the following character used to be a food delivery man?' A. Colonel Sanders, B. Old Macdonald, C. Anne Pretzels, or D. Truck Kun?" Cori knew the answer, he tried rolling his tongue against his teeth and successfully squeaked out, "Deek!" Oliver, "Did you say 'D'?" Cori nodded in his seat. "And you are right!" The host announced thinking how he would have to toughen it out with less food this month at the back of his mind. Alice's scan picked another +5 on Cori's mental stat.
Oliver and the director was nervous at this point, the producer started calling his company to check if they had enough platinum gold coins in their bank. But still the show had to go on. So Oliver proceeded to ask with a trembling hand and faked confidence, "Question 10, 'What kind of academy is Hogwarts in the movie Harry Potter?' A. English University, B. Co-ed Kindergarten, C. International College, D. Secondary Boarding School." Cori frowned, the movie was really popular but he only saw snippets of it. The setting was definitely not in the States, and the actors were definitely not in kindergarten. So Cori thought the answer could be A, C, or D. Cori hazarded a guess and squeaked, "Deet!" The actors were too young to be in university or college, so it had to be D. Oliver announced, "Another strike! Cori you are on a roll! 5 more questions away from Jackpot. Are you nervous?" Oliver wondered because he was getting more nervous with each correct answer, especially when his rice bowl was on the line.
Cori felt confident coming this far. He beamed with pride and squeaked happily. Oliver smiled nervously, "Looks like our little master here is excited to win the grand prize! Now onto our next question! 'Which design most resemble the "Eight Trigrams Sealing Style from the manga Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto"?' A. a circle, B. Anti-clockwise swirl, C. Clockwise swirl, D. A star." Cori recalled his childhood days where he and his siblings would pretend to be ninja and ran around the school with arms behind them. They even argued who could be Sasuke and Naruto. Cori pursed his mouth and squeaked, "Pui!" Oliver dodged the accidental spit, "Did you mean B?" Cori bounced happily to agree. Oliver smiled professionally and thanked his reflex, "You are right! The answer is B. Looks like our baby slime was getting excited and learning his new alphabets." Cori felt embarrassed as the crowds laughed. "How dare he tease Master!" Alice thought while looking at another increased +2 mental points. Looking at how things are progressing positively, she felt better that Cori did not seemed to be affected negatively by the experience.
Oliver, "Now the 100,000 platinum gold coins question... 'Who is Sailor Moon's husband?' Is it A. Kunzite, B. Endymion, C. Nephrite, or D. Demande." To Cori this was a no brainer. Whenever he was studying, his sister would pretend to be sailor moon and kept on going about how she wish tuxedo mask was there and kept bothering him to get his classmate to play Endymion. Cori pursed his lips again and pronounced it slower, "Beeee!" Oliver smiled and congratulated "And the answer is B! Wow! 100,000 platinum gold coins!" Oliver eyes darted over to the director. The director, who had received news from the producer, signalled an 'okay' sign. Oliver felt reassured, they had enough to give the Cori if he won the Jackpot and he could still pay his bills and no one would be fired. Showbiz was hard, maybe he needed a break after all this.
Oliver slumped back with his shoulders relaxed, "3 more questions to go before hitting the Jackpot! Are you excited!" Cori was just happy that he was able to answer the questions, and felt more relaxed since the whole ordeal was ending. He wheezed happily, jiggling his cheeks. "Now, if you won what would you be doing with all these money?" Oliver asked. Cori was not sure himself, he thought maybe he could retire and travel the world. Cori squeaked out his reply but no one could understand. Oliver, "Looks like our baby slime still had not decide. Maybe he could give some to his girlfriend or maybe he would be hosting his wedding?' Cori shook, he wanted to clarify but could not. "Looks like he is still shy haha." Oliver teased yet again. The crowds laughed.
"Alright let us go to the finale! Question 13, 'How long can an armoured pleco survive without water?' A. 8 hours, B. 20 seconds, C. 20 hours, D. 5 eons." Oliver asked, staring intensely at Cori. This time Cori signalled using his paws. The host immediately get him, "Cori you want to use the life line 50-50?" Cori bounced to say yes. The screen took away 2 answers, leaving on A. 8 hours and C. 20 hours as the answers. Cori scratched his head, he pointed to the audience. The host catching his drift understood his actions, "Cori you want to ask the audience?" Cori bounced to tell him yes once again.
Oliver, "Now the audience will help Cori to decide. Dear guests, in front of you is a screen and on the screen are the two answers- A. 8 hours and C. 20 hours. Choose wisely as our hero is dependant on your decisions. Once you have made your choice, our system will tabulate the poll based on your results. You have 10 seconds to decide and the time starts now!"
The guests selected the answers accordingly with the big screen showed the real time result of the poll. Oliver, "And the 10 seconds are up! Looks like the audience have spoken. 95% of them chosen A. while 5% chosen C. Which one would you choose? Would you follow the audience?" Cori thought hard, usually in game shows like this the majority would have choose the wrong answer. But what if he was wrong. "See!" he squeaked. Oliver, "Looks like he don't trust the audience. Final answer?" Cori was shooketh for a moment but he stuck to his guns. Oliver,"Congratulations! The answer is C! Who would have thought! An armoured fish surviving on land for 20 hours! Incredible! Now we are down to the final 2 questions Cori. And with no more life lines, you are on your own." Cori nodded, rolling forward and backward with his body.
Oliver, "Now Question 14, 'What are the pearls of boba tea made of?' A. Baby pearls, B. Potato flour, C. Tapioca starch, D. Frog eggs." Oliver knew the answer, it was a no brainer. "See!" Cori squeaked happy that he made it to the final questions. Oliver paused with a dreaded look on his face, "And the answer is..." *sound of drum-rolling and Oliver broke into a smile, "C! C for correct!" Cori was ecstatic, the crowds cheered! Oliver, "Now, now settle down everyone. We have one last question left. Cori are you ready?" Cori jittered with excitement, he had never won anything in his life, not even a lottery ticket. And now he was going to hit a million platinum gold coins on a show viewed by billions or more around the universe and planets.
Oliver catching the momentum of the tensions in the crowd proceeded, "Now onto the million platinum gold question. Cori, are you ready?" Cori bounced eagerly in anticipation. Oliver, "'How many pages do the book "One with Weapons" has?' Is it A. 1000, B. 9000, C. 99,999 or D. 100,000?" Cori could not believe his luck. He just read the book recently. Cori answered, "See! See! See!" Oliver with trembling hands shouted, "And the answer is C! Congratulations! We have a winner!" The crowds cheered as confettis and balloons dropped from the ceiling. Alice's scanner detected increased in Cori's mental stat - Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!. "It increased by 50 points upon completion of the game, that was amazing!" Alice noted. Sadly Alice did not have a real body and could not give Cori a hug.