Sage looked at them through the gaps of the chairs. She held her breath and watched them approach her. "System, how long before the invisibility talisman ends?"
[00:02:11]
She breathed a sigh of relief, took off her shoes and put them into the inventory. She stood up and flipped a sign to the people in front of her.
"Why did I suddenly feel offended?" Coach Guang murmured as he started combing the seats.
[00:01:59]
Sage could not use the stairs as her time to escape was limited. She looked at the two-meter wire mesh border between Gen Ad to the Upper Box. The height of the cement that held the wire mesh was one and half-meter from the ground of the pathway.
[00:01:46]
Sage ran in tiptoes and started climbing the border. She loved climbing in childhood and this job was easy for her.
The wire mesh moved, and loud metal clang caught the attention of the pursuers. They looked at the railing but found no one.
[00:01:20]
Sage climbed down from the other side of the border. Once she reached the bottom of the wire mesh border, she jumped down.
The people from the upper box seats looked back because of the bang. But thought of it as an illusion after they saw none.
Sage sped up towards the direction of the stage. When she was only a few meters away, she climbed to the border between upper box and lower box.
[00:00:31]
Sage swiftly jumped to the lower box and sprinted downstairs to merge with the crowd. She sat down on the floor and waited for the time to be up.
The person behind her was busy chatting with someone and did not notice Sage appearing out of the thin air.
The ceremony started with a national anthem, followed by the city hymn, prayer song, and lastly the pledge of an athlete.
The announcer told them they could go back to their seats, but the ignorant people would not give up this chance to get a photo session with a politician. Ironic wasn't it? They would use it for bragging in the future.
"Did you complete the ceremony, Sage?" Dylan, who had noticed her at the side, asked.
"Let's go back to our seats," Grace lethargically expressed. Her back was hunched, her arms crossing Shina's.
"Wait, don't go yet." Clarke stopped them from returning and explained, "Let's take a photo with Senator Manuel, we'll show it to master tomorrow."
"Isn't that embarrassing, Clarke?" Lyka asked, her eyes darting left and right.
Clarke waved his hand. "It's not. I've already asked permission from him. He is waiting for us now, c'mon!"
The Manta Ray Club approached Senator Manuel Bonifacio. They chatted a little before the photographer urged them to pose for a picture.
Most of them smiled like they were forced to do so. The others were genuinely happy, picturing themselves showing a picture with a rare find capital-based politician.
Senator Manuel tapped Clarke's back with his big hands and said, "Please send my heartfelt regards to brother Ray."
Yes, his master and this current Manta Ray Club's master had the same name.
Clarke bid goodbye happily. But Sage remained, facing the bulky senator in front of her.
Sage was formulating sentences in her mind, causing her to stare blatantly at the busy Senator.
"Girl, do you want to take another photo? Please hurry up!" The annoyed photographer shouted.
Sage turned at the camera man like he was a fool. She looked at him for a few seconds before speaking in a low voice. "Sir, I have an interesting video at hand that needs your attention."
Senator Manuel, who was inviting some people that wanted to take a photo with him too, looked at Sage with brows raised. His face remained amicable and asked, "May I know what it is, little girl?"
Sage made a face and hesitatingly stated, "It's kinda evidence of a crime, so…"
The Senator's face turned serious. He invited Sage, "Let's get to the backstage."
To avoid suspicion, Sage tailed the Senator while taking a picture. She wanted to show those who could suspect her in the future to see that she was just an overhyped fan.
Sage was only 153 cm. She was able to quickly block her traces by snaking around the crowd while still following the person ahead.
The people at the backstage were asked to get out, thus there were only four of them at the place now. There were two guards behind the Senator. They eyed Sage like a prey, but the latter didn't feel threatened.
Sage summoned her phone from the inventory and took it out from her bag. She opened it and handed it with the unplayed video recording to the Senator.
The guard's hand was about to receive the phone from Sage, but the Senator waved his hand to refute him.
Senator Manuel played the video on Sage's phone and watched carefully.
The frown on his face deepened the further he watched the video.
"Une, call an emergency meeting with the BOD except the Vice-President. Ask all the masters and grandmasters in this video to come, too."
"Dui, ask the cameramen to take a video of the performance category and let the Vice-President keep an eye on the event."
When Une and Dui left, only Sage and the Senator were left.
"Can you pass me the video?"
Sage nodded and asked, "By bluetooth or altergram, Sir?"
"Bluetooth," he answered. "My device name is Code Neon."
Sage looked at him with eyes full of mirth. She forced herself not to laugh and put her attention back to her phone.
After a few minutes, Sage bid goodbye and left the Senator alone. From afar, one could hear her giggling like a maniac.
At the exclusive conference room in Jusdome.
The people inside were intrigued on the reason why an emergency meeting was called. Meanwhile, the judges that received the bribe grew nervous.
"What if he figured out what happened?" Someone whispered in low voices.
"That's impossible. We searched the area and found no one when it happened."
The door opened and the Senator entered with a grave expression.
"I recently became the chairman of the board. Have you been doing this kind of thing before I arrived?" The anger in his voice was imminent.
The Board of Directors were confused. What did he mean?
"Une, connect the projector to my laptop."
Une followed and the white wall was illuminated with the laptop screen. He clicked on a video and pressed play.
Everyone saw that a bribe occurred. They turned their faces at the six people standing at the side. They were the same people in the video. They even stuck together making them more obvious.
One kneeled and asked for a light punishment but was ignored.
"What do you think we should do to them?" Senator Manuel scrutinized everyone slowly, his palm sticking to each other.
The Secretary suggested frankly, "Revoke their registration." Her eyes focused on the screen, typing the legal documents they would need later.
Senator Manuel agreed and immediately persecuted the suggestion.
All of them blamed the St. Dominic College sought them out and 'forced' them to accept the money.
"Give this to the St. Dominic College's coach." The senator handed the paper printed by the secretary after he signed it.
Dui received the letter and went to the St. Dominic College assigned area.
"Sir, excuse me."
The coach approached with a dampened smile on his face, amiably responding, "What can I help you with?"
"The senator wants to give this to you."
Coach Guang received the document with a frown. He read it two times to make sure he did not read it wrong.
The "banned" and "three years" were not written in bold, but it looked noticeable and large in his eyes.
"Did you send it to the wrong person?" Coach Guang insisted on clarifying. He subconsciously compressed his lips, his eyes glaring sharply at Dui.
"If you can see the name of your college in there, then it is yours." Dui nodded his head slightly before turning his back on them.
"What could the reason be?" Coach Guang asked firmly. He had not even thought that it was because of his bribing.
"Don't force me to say it, Sir, unless you want to embarrass yourself."
Coach Guang closed his fist tightly. He watched as Dui left their area before announcing to his team that they back out from the tournament. He kept the secret from them to avoid disappointing his students.
As if the air was suddenly cleared out of dirt, the people suddenly cheered. The matches had finally started.
Sage also received a notification that implied she finished the first mission. Her attention shifted to the system panel in front of her. She enjoyed watching the rewards being deposited in her assets.
[You completed the first requirement.]
[Completion rate reached 81.01%.]
[+25,000 Destiny Credits]
[+$1,000,000. Please open a bank account, host.]
[x1 50% System Shop Discount Voucher]
[+5 Knowledge Proficiency Pill]
"Should I try the knowledge proficiency pill?" Sage murmured, her palms rubbing her chin.
"You don't have a beard, Sage," Khal'el commented beside her.
Sage kicked his foot and replied, "Mind your own business."
Khal'el nodded, "I am minding my business."
"Whatev– oh, you told me something about your schoolmate that has a huge crush on you, right?"
Sage remembered that in her past life, Khal'el stopped being friends with her because of her nonchalant or sometimes snobbish attitude. She had already convinced herself not to like her friend to avoid stammering or shunning away from him.
For now, she would do her best to avoid those qualities.
"Yes. I hate that she pretended to be someone rich just to mingle with us. That was her mistake, we would rather be friends with sincere people than…"
"Court no. 2 Shina Weua-Red vs Isabel Ka-Anan-Blue!"
Sage could not hear what Khal'el was saying anymore, her attention was focused on the court no. 2.
She took out her aPhone from her bag and opened the camera.
"Did aunt buy you a new phone?" Khal'el wondered.
Sage stood up and wiped dust from her pants. "No, I buy it with my own money," she answered honestly.
"Did you start a business?" Khal'el also stood up and followed Sage.
"I don't know yet." Sage faced him. "Does your phone camera reach 30 megapixels?"
"Yes, do you want to borrow my phone?"
"No, I want you to help me take a video of court number 2. I will take a video on the other side, close up."
"Something's different with you." Khal'el pinched Sage's cheeks and stretched it up-down and side.
Sage grunted in pain. She raised her hands and grabbed Khal'el's hair. "Wet go ansh I'll let you g— Ahhh!"
"Sage, uhm, we'll go near Shina's court." Lyka said in whispers.
Sage and her friend looked like they were archenemies from their past lives. Everytime they sat together; they would fight.
"One… Wet kho aff me in two, thwee!" Sage and Khal'el let go of each other and walked like normal friends again. Sage was massaging her cheeks from pain.
"I'd really break your bones later, just see. That hurts so bad. Hmp!"
"Go on, Sage. I'll be there," Khal'el taunted.
After their mini-fight, Sage went to the left side of the court while Khal'el stayed on the right side.
"Hit hard, Shina!" Sage immediately cheered her clubmate the moment she arrived at her destination.
Shina flashed a smile.
Clarke was busy putting on her head and body gear before the fight. Meanwhile, Shina put on the arm gear and checked the tightness of the locks.
"It's alright now, Clarke."
The referee asked them to stand at the lines of blue and red respectively. He asked them to the judges, to the audience, and to each other. After making their sticks cross each other, the referee shouted, "Fight!"
In the first few seconds of the first round, Shina and Isabel were just chasing and defending against each other. But at the 45th second mark, a violation occurred that even the referee did not notice.
Sage frowned; her brows furrowed closer to each other.
"How long before this round ends?!"