In that room, again.
"Miller, you outdid yourself; that was incredible".
"Who would've thought we would watch something like this at our academy?".
"You never know until you try", Mr Miller replied to the praise.
"Each day was fantastic; getting to see every angle was a pleasure to watch".
Despite the students only seeing the driving, the higher-ups got more footage due to the extra cameras placed at the different locations. The higher-ups saw the students answering the riddles, searching for the key, and getting the code. They had a big screen showcasing all the angles, so they had the privilege of experiencing all of it from a screen.
"Fantastic is a stretch. Tuesday and Friday were lacklustre; however, the other days were great".
"Thursday was the best of the bunch. I'm surprised the students fought with each other at location C".
"I'm glad there was no punching involved. If any students got injuries, that would be troublesome".
"Speaking of injuries, I'm surprised you didn't stop the race on Wednesday when that car nearly crashed, Mr Miller".
"Are you not hearing yourself? That car NEARLY crashed. If it had crashed, it would have been a different story. All they did was swerve on the road a bit. Nothing tragic happened", Mr Miller replied.
"Did a thought of stopping the challenge ever cross your mind?"
"No. Stopping it at that point would ruin everything", Mr Miller replied. "Besides, none of the students involved are complaining".
"None of those students are complaining, but the students from Monday are".
"They are?" Mr Miller asked; he was clueless.
"Yes. While you were busy the whole week, Mr White has been getting emails filled with complaints about that student, Malakai Junior".
"What did he do again?" Mr Miller questioned.
"On Monday, he brake checked a team".
"Did anyone get hurt?"
"No, but they are angry that he purposely put them in danger".
"Can't we ignore the complaints?" Mr Miller replied.
"Unfortunately not. Mr White has said that these students are persistent that he gets punished. They suggest that the points he gained during this challenge are removed".
"We can't do that!"
"Whether we can do that or not, he does have to get some sort of punishment. If he goes unpunished here, it would look bad. We need to set an example".
"Malakai Junior. He's trouble, isn't he".
"He is entertaining, so we can't complain. His punishment can come later".
"The leaderboard looks different, too. There are students from each class".
"Non from class 1-E".
"Well, one 1-E student just missed out on the top ten".
"Who?"
"Adam Ledger".
Everyone in the room smirked.
"Maybe he is something".
The conversation started to die down. Everyone in the room was in high spirits. One of the reasons why was,
"I'm glad he isn't here?"
"He hasn't been here all week. Does anyone know what he is doing?"
"He's been working on the next challenge".
"Don't tell me he's planning on keeping the challenge the same as last year".
"He isn't. The challenge he is organising is the room one".
"The room one?" He sighed. "I guess it's not a bad challenge".
"Fun for the students, but not entertaining for the viewers", another mumbled.
"It's not all about us. We need to make sure the students are also happy".
"Well, if he's setting up that one. I guess it's a break for us".
"We can't rest yet. We need to think of more challenges", Mr Miller said, standing up. "More challenges like this one".
October 28th. Saturday, 1:01 PM.
Ring!
"Someone used the doorbell for once", William thought. William walked to the door and opened it. "Hello?"
"Hi, does Malakai live here?"
"Yeah, he does", William awkwardly answered.
"Is he in? Can I talk to him?"
"Uuh, lemme check for you", William replied, not knowing who the guy was. William slightly closed the door and walked to Malakai's room. He knocked on his door, "Mally! Some guy wants to talk to you", he said in a louder tone.
Seconds later, Malakai opened his door, "Who?" he asked, still in his pyjamas.
"I don't know. I've never seen him before", William shrugged.
Malakai kissed his teeth and strutted out of his room to the door; he fully opened it and saw who it was, "Why are you here?"
"Hi Malakai. I wanted to talk to you", Micheal answered. "Why are you in your pyjamas? Were you still asleep?" Micheal asked, looking Malakai up and down.
"No, no. I'm asking the questions", Malakai didn't answer his question. "Why do you know where my dorm is? Malakai questioned.
"I found out through a first-year", Micheal replied.
Malakai looked unimpressed, "What'd you wanna talk about?" Malakai continued to interrogate.
"About the challenge you had", Micheal replied.
"Why me? Can't you ask another first year?" Malakai wasn't giving up on the questioning.
"I wanted to hear it from you because we're friends. Right?" Micheal cheekily replied.
Malakai sighed, "Aryt. Let's talk somewhere else then," Malakai accepted.
"Why? I don't mind if your dorm is messy", Micheal said, thinking Malakai was embarrassed about his dorm.
"Na, it's not that. The readers probably want a change of scenery".
"Readers?"
"Nevermind. Come in. Imma go get changed", Malakai said, letting Micheal in.
"Seriously, why are you dressed like you're about to sleep?" Micheal asked, walking in.
"It's a weekend; I was lying in bed scrolling on my phone", Malakai yawned.
"It's 1 PM", Micheal said, trying to show Malakai this wasn't normal.
"Time doesn't exist during the weekends", Malakai replied, walking into his room.
"Where are we going?" Malakai asked.
"You said we should talk outside", Micheal replied.
"Yeah, but I wanna know where we going".
Malakai and Micheal were walking together to a place Micheal recommended; William also tagged along because he was bored and curious about where they were going.
"It's a nice place, you'll like it", Micheal said. "It's a place the second years have taken over".
"Taken over?" William questioned, walking beside Malakai.
"Yeah, we've more or less claimed it. If we want to chill, we go there", Micheal answered. He was happy; he felt like an older brother taking his younger brothers somewhere.
"Doesn't the third years go there?" Malakai asked, walking with his hands in his pockets.
"They have their own place, but most of them don't go outside," Micheal replied. "Well, they either don't go outside at all or stay outside".
"Now that you've said it, I've barely seen any third years walking around", William said, looking around.
"Studies get harder, and the challenges to get points add more pressure. Most of the third years I talk to are tired; they can't wait for graduation", Micheal replied, staring at the clouds.
"Don't they care about getting first place?" Malakai asked with a confused look on his face.
"The ones I talk to are nowhere near the top ten, so they've already given up on that", Micheal replied.
"What's the point of coming here then? They might as well leave", Malakai said, not understanding.
"Getting first place isn't everything you know," Micheal said, shaking his head and smiling at Malakai's naivety. "Sure, the cash prize and the add-ons you get from coming first or even in the top ten are nice, but just graduating from the academy is a lot," he continued.
"Actually?" Malakai questioned. "They told me this academy was a big deal, but I didn't know it was that big".
"We've been telling you this the whole time", William nagged him.
"Dude, the graduation certificate will get you into some big jobs if you show them", Micheal said. Malakai was listening attentively now. "That's not all. If you want to become a doctor or lawyer or something like that, this certificate can get you into the best universities in the country, plus the academy will pay for your degree".
"Just from graduating from here?" Malakai asked to make sure he was hearing correctly.
"Yeah. That one piece of paper you get at the end of these three years can help you for the rest of your life", Micheal replied, trying to get his point across.
Malakai couldn't believe it, and it showed on his face. "That piece of paper can help me anywhere?" Malakai asked.
"Yes. You're from England, right? You could get into the best university there if you wanted to. This academy is linked to many countries", Micheal replied.
Malakai looked up at the sky, "Hmmm, me going to uni", he quietly said.
"Why did you apply to this academy? You don't even know anything about it?" Micheal asked, looking at him, a little shocked.
"I applied because these lot told me", Malakai replied, nodding towards William to his right.
"We thought you would do a little more research about this place before coming", William said.
"Coming here blind was more fun", Malakai replied with a smile.
Micheal scoffed. "Graduating from here isn't that easy", he said. Both William and Malakai looked at him. "Let me ask you something. How many people are in your year?"
"150", William answered.
"There are 150 people who come to this school every year. Guess how many are in the third year?" Micheal questioned.
"I don't know, like 120", Malakai answered.
"80".
"80?!" Malakai and William replied.
"Yep. That is another reason you don't see many third-years; nearly half of them are gone", Micheal said.
"How? Did they get kicked out?" Malakai asked.
"Yeah. Near the end of the year, there is a challenge that can eliminate anyone in the school. And I mean anyone, even people in class A", Micheal replied, emphasising that anyone can go.
"Why?" Willaim asked.
"Think about it. They can't give everyone that graduation paper. If they did the certificate would lose its value, and it would cost a lot of money", Micheal answered. He then looked at Malakai and put a hand on his shoulder, "So, you have to make sure not to get eliminated", he said.
Malakai smirked, "I'll try my best".
William was getting tired of the conversation, "Where is this building? How much longer till we get there?" he whined like a kid.
"It's just up there", Micheal pointed ahead. The building was in sight.
"I've noticed something", Malakai said.
"What?"
"We've been getting a lot of looks. How popular are you?" Malakai asked Micheal.
"Maybe they're looking at you", Micheal deflected the question. "I did hear you did something illegal in the last challenge".
Malakai smiled and shook his head,
"People sure love to talk".