I woke up and the first thing I did was wake up George, I wanted to leave as fast as possible, I don't like being late for things. We ate nothing because at the moment there is a food shortage in our household.
We left the house and got to the gathering place, they gave us a number at the entry, and they told us it would be easier to keep track of us.
"Number 570, told you we should have left earlier, now we have an ugly high number"
"Damn, so close to 569, I would have laughed my ass off if you got the number, but hey 570 and 571 aren't too shabby either"
We started laughing together, George never changes, and his stupid jokes are part of his personality.
As expected, there were a lot of people gathering at the front of the bridge. If I had to give a number, I would say something like over 1000, but I am awful at guessing, so don't take my word for granted.
There were some well-dressed people on the other side of the bridge preparing a speech. I waited there with George.
"I hope we can make it to the other side without much trouble, I have to make it to keep the promise I made to my mom," he announced ambitiously. "I know! Imagine if they group us, this would be so awesome!", I responded to him.
We both waited a long time, and then it happened, the bridge lowered and a beautiful woman with bright red hair and a magnificent white dress showed up. They say that people of the inner circle only wear white clothing because it shows how pure and clean they are.
"I welcome all of you! You are here to participate in this year's Challenge Tower, a grand total of 764 participants. I remember the day I was in your place here in front of the bridge. I was so nervous, didn't know what awaited me, but here I am now hoping that many of you reach what I have reached and even more. So let's not waste any more of your precious time and let's start grouping you in groups of 20 people. Unfortunately, 4 leftover people will be eliminated right here at the start, so we can have 38 groups of 20 people. We call it the "Unlucky test" because luck is fundamental in the tower and if you get drawn right here you are…, well unlucky."
When she said that, my heart started pounding, and I started to panic. What if I was one of the 4, my journey would end right here. Then she disappeared for 2 minutes and came back with a bowl filled with paper slips, which contained the names of every contestant. She reached into her pocket, took out a white glove, and very slowly put it on. Then she reached the bowl and took out 4 paper slips. My heart was racing, and I could feel the pressure on me.
"Dude, relax. Four out of nearly 800, there is no way that we are one of them", George tried to calm me. Deep down I knew he was right, but even if the chance is low, there is still a chance.
The woman took the first of the 4 slips and read it out loud: "Contestant 178, Rick Tempest, I am so sorry, but you're unlucky." I felt relieved but as soon as she took the next slip my heart started to race again, I tried to control my breath, but I couldn't.
"Contestant 743, Hannah Wonder, unfortunately, your really, reallllyy short journey ends here". There was a loud scream coming from the back and there were some kinds of security guards escorting the girl out. The girl was fighting and kicking them, but the two guards were holding here back and threw her out.
"Man, why did it have to be a girl, there are too many boys here" George jokingly tried to better my mood. It helped a bit because I did laugh at his joke. It even made me overhear the next person who was called out.
Now for the last elimination, I would've never imagined that such a small elimination round because of numbers not matching up could make me so anxious. I've heard of this before, but I could never imagine the stress that came with so little odds. People who get eliminated here get to keep their memories because this is purely chance-related, and they don't know what happened inside the tower.
I was now fully focused on every single movement the woman in white made. First, she reached for the paper with her right hand. Then very slowly picked up the paper. With her left hand, she opened the paper slip. Then her lips started to move: "Contestant 569" The moment she read the number, my heart dropped. I was contestant 570, it was one number off. Afterward, I looked over to George, who was contestant 571, and I saw that he was feeling the same emotions I was. Something between scarred and relieved. I looked at the contestant right to me, contestant 569, a boy I recognized but never really got to know him.
He fainted.
The 2 security guards from last time came up to him, picked him up, and escorted him outside. "Now that this part is over, I shall continue with my explanation.", the woman started to explain in detail, what was about to happen.
I didn't pay attention, the only thing on my mind was the number 569, it was wayyy too close, the number didn't seem so funny now, and I am grateful that we got here a little later than expected.
The grouping was done very easily. They took the people from 1-20, then 21-40 and so on. They reasoned that people closer to one another were most likely befriended, and they would trust each other. Which had some truth, I was there with George and many people were there with their friends. We were group 29, the contestants from 561-580. They started to let us enter group by group.
While the other groups were going into the tower, I asked George about the explanation the women gave. All the groups will live on the bottom floor of the tower during the challenges. The bottom floor was separated into different areas designated to each group, these areas are where our rooms were. We shared the restrooms and canteen with all the other groups, then there was the second floor which was a public space floor, with a garden and anything related to the outdoors. There you could spend your time doing free-time activities or socializing with people. There were strict regulations, no violence outside the challenges, the second floor was only accessible after the day's challenge was completed, the sleeping period begins at 10 PM and the morning period starts at 6 o'clock. Between those times, we aren't allowed to leave our rooms. Any violation of the rules is punished by elimination, and the rules can be changed at any time by the supervisor of the tower.
They also gave us the rest of the day off, so we could explore the floors and do what we wanted. Food, showers and so on were also provided.
I was happy, I didn't have to worry about food anymore, I have a proper bed and restroom, and I can finally take baths. Our supervisor was the woman from before, she told us to enjoy ourselves for the rest of the day, because the challenges will only commence tomorrow. So I ate myself full for the very first time in my life. I took the longest warm water bath I've ever had. I spent a long time in the bathroom, because it was the first toilet I've seen. Furthermore, I wanted to enjoy every single minute of it, now I understand why people often refer to the toilet as a throne. After the long and best day I've ever had, I went to bed and continued writing this diary. Well, anyway I am tired, going to sleep now, until tomorrow!