Takasugi Ki really wanted to question it right now, but he held back.
He was actually a little afraid of saying too much, lest it would cause them to flip over and not give out the prizes and bonuses in the end, which would be terrible.
So, for now, he restrained himself and decided to wait until he received the prizes and bonuses before speaking up.
When the last wave of players from Adachi Ward arrived at the park for the award ceremony, the ceremony officially began.
Actually, the whole ceremony wasn't particularly formal.
After all, it was the first time they held such an event, so it was a bit rushed, but overall, the effect seemed pretty good.
Soon, a charming hostess stepped onto the makeshift stage.
"Dear players, welcome to our event..."
The hostess gave a brief speech of thanks. She was a entertainment program host who came to assist from Tokyo TV and was quite adept at hosting such small award ceremonies.
After briefly introducing the content and rules of the four electronic games and some basic information about GameStar Entertainment, the award ceremony officially began.
First, awards were given for the fifth to tenth places in the four games, but four fourth-place winners were missing, leaving the few fourth-place players sitting in the front row somewhat embarrassed, not knowing what had happened and why they weren't called up.
Then, it was the turn of the first, second, and third place winners to take the stage together.
"Let's welcome the winners of the top three places in Super Mario, the outstanding players: Taiga Oono, Tomohiro Ito, and Ki Takasugi, to the stage to receive their awards."
The hostess enthusiastically announced the names of the three people.
At that moment, Takasugi Ki stood up abruptly, then waved to the players around him triumphantly and excitedly, before quickly running towards the stage.
He was just wondering why he, the first-place winner, was called out after the second and third-place players.
Was it meant to be the climax?
"Congratulations to the three players for winning the top three places in Super Mario. Such outstanding achievements deserve higher honors, so next, the awards will be presented by the president of GameStar Entertainment himself. Let's welcome President Takayuki."
The hostess gestured, and after a while, Takayuki stepped forward from the backstage, smiling at all the players.
All eyes were on Takayuki.
Compared to the speedrun players, the creator of the gaming industry, Takayuki, who was also known as the god of games, was even more eye-catching.
Admiring gazes immediately shifted to Takayuki.
Takayuki calmly smiled at Taiga Oono and the others.
"Congratulations to the three of you. You are excellent players. However, before that, we have a little interaction. It won't take too long. Once you complete this small task, you will receive the final grand prize."
"What?" Takasugi Ki's expression changed.
Another interaction?
This company is rubbish. They're doing this just to delay giving out the prizes.
"What kind of interaction?" Taiga Oono asked politely.
"It's a live performance competition. Please prepare your screens."
Takayuki waved, and a huge LED screen appeared behind them.
Then, several staff members quickly placed three SFC game consoles in front, and connected the display screens of the game consoles to the huge LED screen.
The players in the audience immediately understood that this would be an opportunity to directly watch the exciting performances of the three players.
Everyone's eyes lit up.
This was a rare opportunity!
Perhaps they could have a more intuitive comparison of the performances of the three top challenge players, which would be a good learning opportunity.
Everyone immediately stretched their necks to get a better view.
At this point, Taiga Oono and the third-place player were somewhat eager to try.
But Takasugi Ki's face turned green.
What the hell is going on?
Why another performance competition?
No one mentioned this before.
He knew best how he achieved the top rankings in four games. It was by adjusting the electronic game's timing clock.
Doing something sneaky like that was fine, but how could he possibly do it in front of all the players?
"Please prepare, everyone, and get ready... start!"
The three players simultaneously started the game, and from the audience's perspective, a giant timer was erected, showing that the three players would be performing their live speedruns.
Among them, Taiga Oono quickly maneuvered Mario to sprint, and the third-place player's speed was equally fast, making them neck and neck for a short time.
However, Takasugi Ki, as the first-place winner, lost a life due to nervousness when encountering the first Goomba.
At this moment, Takasugi Ki started sweating profusely.
"It seems that our player Takasugi Ki is a bit nervous. Let's give him some encouragement."
Takeyuu began to cheer them on.
But the audience below didn't think much of it. It was normal for some people to be naturally nervous, so everyone started to encourage him.
However, Takasugi Ki lost another life in the second level when he jumped directly off a cliff.
For a moment, the audience fell silent.
At this moment, Taiga Oono and the third-place player had already reached the second level, and Taiga Oono was already beginning to slightly outperform the third-place player, showing that Taiga was slightly stronger in terms of game knowledge.