The female pilot dragged Alex to the supposed starting line.
Unlike what Alex expected though, the starting line was another room. It was a room with thick reinforced metal walls.
At this moment, Alex and his female pilot were not alone though.
There were 2 other existences in this starting line.
Unlike what he expected, the 2 other existences were beasts!
He almost had a heart attack when he first saw the beast.
These 2 feline beasts seemed like evolved Tigers. Just like him, one of the 2 Tigers wore a suit like he did and unlike his red suit, this Tiger's suit was purple.
The other Tiger only wore what seemed like a casual full-cover black vest.
At this moment, Alex could feel his heart beating fast.
There were so many things going through his head, so many questions but he could not pay attention to all of them first so he simply stared warily at the Tigers whom he saw as the greatest threat.
Looking though, Alex was spooked because he could almost swear that the Tiger glared back at him.
He was shocked not because the Tiger glared at him, but because of the look in those eyes. 'This Tiger…, is it intelligent?'
It sounded unbelievable but Alex was sure of what he saw; that gleam could have only originated from an intelligent being.
And right at that moment, his eyes widened as he remembered the bunch of notifications that appeared in his vision just a moment ago before he was led here.
He looked at the Tiger in a purple suit again. 'Don't tell me…, this is my opponent? This is runner 808?'
Right at that moment, the virtual screen shimmered to life again.
***
{Welcome to the Sky Dome Stadium!}
{Your trial race will commence in 20 seconds!}
20…, 19…
***
As the countdown started, Alex noticed the Tiger clothed in a vest addressing the suited Tiger in an alien language.
His eyes widened; this confirmed it even more. 'They're intelligent!'
The countdown already went down to 17 seconds.
He started hyperventilating, even more tensed and left with no choice, Alex could only turn to the one thing that reminded him of home, the only human that he had met since all these strange things started happening, his pilot.
Noticing his gaze, the laidback female pilot sighed. "Calm down".
"If you're lucky, this should be fast, you'll die a quick death".
Alex gulped; he was almost crying. 'Aunty, can you stop being so ominous?' He thought, tears almost falling down from his eyes.
She sighed again. "If you were brought here, it means that you are one of the fastest racers of the human race through previous eras".
"All you have to do is do what you do best, run".
"Run faster than your opponent, that fat Tiger, stay ahead, endure all the obstacles, and get to the finish line first".
"If you can do this, you will doom your opponent to death".
"Doing that is the only way you'll survive".
And then, she shrugged. "But if you can't do that though, it's fine, you'll die a quick death and I'll get a few days of rest, so it's a win-win in my books".
10…
The countdown continued counting, Alex had only 10 seconds now.
"I can't stay here anymore, good luck, umm…," she paused.
"Alex, the name is Alex".
"Goodluck Alex, I wish you a quick death".
Under the helmet of his suit, Alex gritted his teeth even as she was already walking away but he asked still. "W-what is your name?"
She waved her arm dismissively. "I'll tell you if you survive".
"Is that a promise?"
"Survive first". And then she left.
By now, the other Tiger on a vest was also already gone.
All of a sudden, Alex was alone alongside an intelligent Tiger in an enclosed room, and he was somehow supposed to race the Tiger.
'If I tell my training buddies, they would never believe!' He lamented.
Despite the mix of emotions going through his mind and how he felt at this moment, there was a reason why Alex managed to do a clean sweep of gold medals across 3 different Summer Olympic tournaments.
It was not just because of his raw speed; his mentality also played a big role. Mentality was sometimes underrated in sports, but it meant everything.
His mentality was the one reason why Alex managed to calm down.
'I'll think about everything and what happened later after I survive'.
'If all I have to do is race and win, then I'm confident'.
If Alex was suddenly asked to pick up a sword and fight against this Tiger, he would undoubtedly die.
He had no skills with a sword.
But if it was in a race, Alex was scared of no one.
This was the inbred confidence of a track racing champion. No matter the odds that were against him in the fact that he was racing against a Tiger, Alex was determined to win.
He was determined to survive.
'I need to survive to get answers and God knows I have so many f*cking questions!' He gritted his teeth.
5…
He had just 5 seconds now.
Alex already noticed the suit since. Wearing this suit, for some reason, he felt that his speed, body coordination, strength, and everything about him was slightly enhanced. He felt like a superhuman.
He didn't pay much attention to it though, he only paid attention to his race.
'Is it the 200 meters? Or is it the 100s?'
'What if it's the 400 meters?'
He shook his head. 'It doesn't matter, either way, I have to win'.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and then he kneeled just like he did every day in training, mimicking the 'on your marks' roar in his head.
When it was 2 seconds remaining, he said 'set' in his head.
2 seconds, 1 second…, and then, the other door leading out of this room that faced them suddenly opened.
Immediately after the door opened, a word in caps lock appeared before them in the air in the form of a virtual projection.
{RUN!}
Without even thinking, Alex moved, breaking out in a sprint!
The Tiger was a step slower than him but the moment he moved; the Tiger's eyes gleamed intelligently before following him.
It started…
But charging out of the room, Alex could not continue the race at the same speed because the racing track of this stadium finally presented itself to him in its full glory.
Alex was stunned.
Heck, he was horrified.
His eyes widened. "What the f*ck!"