Graham and Diablo were in a building and in a room filled with other people as well.
There were eleven people in the room and only ten people were standing in front of the screen placed on the wall.
And only one man was sitting in the corner of the room. He wasn’t looking at the screen. His face was covered with a mask. And his clothes were all black.
The ten people, though, were watching the candidates with interest while talking among themselves.
"Hunger games is a nice name for this test. I wonder what tests are going to be for the next candidates." One man said. He was wearing a green uniform and many badges were placed on his shirt. All ten people were wearing the same type of uniform as well.
"Next candidates?" Diablo asked. He was among the ten people as well. "Do we take new tests for every batch of new candidates?"
"Yes." Graham answered. "You only spent one year here so you don’t know. The first test, Battle Royale remains the same and the other two tests change every time. If we repeat the same tests every time then the new people might come prepared."
"Oh. Nice. What about the assignments after the tests?" Diablo asked one more question. He knew nothing.
Graham sighed. "Assignments are also new every time. It should be obvious. You are new here but not stupid."
"Haha. Right." Diablo laughed.
"Hey, I got a brilliant idea just now." Diablo stopped laughing. An idea hatched inside his mind.
"Don’t count me in." Graham refused.
"At least hear it, old man." Diablo insisted.
"Yeah. Let’s hear it."
"We have so much time anyway."
"Speak up, Diablo."
Everyone else agreed and Diablo stared at Graham.
"Fine. I’ll listen." The old man agreed as well.
"Great. So what I am thinking is that we all should bet on someone."
"Huh? That’s the idea you got?" One man asked.
"Yes. It will be fun." Diablo was excited.
"I thought it was some kind of new idea. But it was the same old betting game." One other person complained. He was also an old man but he looked younger than Graham.
"Come on, old man two. It will be fun." Diablo insisted once more. He didn’t know the name of the old man and the old man didn’t mind it either.
"I never said I won’t do it. I will bet for sure." Old man two was ready.
"Me too."
"Yeah. It’s always good to earn some free money."
Everyone was ready to make a bet and Diablo was all smiles.
"Let’s make him join as well." Diablo said, pointing at the man in the corner.
As soon as he did that, the other nine people flinched.
"Don’t even try. You should just be happy with us." Graham rejected Diablo’s idea.
"But why? He may be from the Abyssal Butchers but he is still one of us."
"Look, kid," Graham glared at Diablo. "If you want to live. Don’t go there. It’s an order from me. I will kill you myself before you go to him. He is not sleeping. He is listening to everything. If he wanted to join the betting game he would have. His silence says he doesn’t want to play and that’s the end of the conversation. Understand?"
Diablo gulped. "I never saw you this serious, Graham. Fine. I won’t go."
"Good." Graham calmed down. "So what are we betting on?"
"Right." Diablo got his vigor back. "So as we all know that there is one man from the military in that group of thousand candidates and as per the rules of this test, whoever, among the candidates, identifies that person will be rewarded heavily. Therefore, we will bet on who will be able to identify that military person."
Everyone remained silent and Diablo continued.
"I am sure you all know that the test will be over as soon as our person is identified and whoever is left till that time on the ground will be the winners of this test. So why not just bet on the person who will be able to identify our man? What say?"
"I like the idea. Let’s do it."
"Yeah. A good way to pass time."
"Only the smartest person there will be able to catch our man."
Everyone agreed with Diablo.
"Great. So we will all bet a thousand coins. We will guess who will catch our man. Ready? Choose your pick and tell me. You all have only one hour to tell me." Diablo stated the rules.
"Well, mine is clear. I choose Adolf Hustler. He will be the one to find our man." The Old man two chose right away.
"I also choose Adolf. He is strong and I think he has the brains as well."
"I choose Draxus Wick. I think he is good."
"Adolf."
"Adolf."
"Draxus."
"Adolf."
"Hardy."
Eight people choose their best person back to back. They didn’t even think twice before taking the name. They all have their favorites and Adolf Hustler was the most chosen person.
"As expected." Graham commented.
"Yeah. Adolf and Draxus are people’s choice." Diablo said.
"What about you two? Who will you choose?" Old man two asked.
"Heh." Diablo chuckled. "I have a different choice from all of you."
"The same is the case with mine." Graham chimed in.
"Don’t tell me you are going to choose that Flashy Rail?" One man guessed.
"I am not that stupid." Diablo said.
"I haven’t even heard that name." Graham refused Flashy’s existence altogether.
"So? Who did you both choose?" Old man two asked again.
"I choose…"
Diablo and Graham exchanged a glance with each other and with a smile, they both spoke the name in unison..
"Pablo Castillo."
Everyone frowned. "Pablo? The man who came second? Who has the weakest ranked Ego? You both choose him? You think he will be able to uncover our man? Our man is a well trained spy. He has blended with others so well that now it’s impossible to catch him. And you think Pablo could do that?"
"I don’t know about the old man but I certainly find Pablo interesting. He might do something." Diablo kept it short. He couldn’t accurately explain why he chose Pablo. He just went with his gut feeling.
"Alright? What about you, Graham? Did you also go with your gut feeling?"
"I am afraid, yes." Graham admitted. "It’s just.. his eyes. They are filled with experience. Like he had been in such camps and survived. That’s why I think he might pull this off."
"That’s some observation. Well, you are both going to lose a thousand coins. He might have killed a million people in the test but I have seen even morons killing two millions." One man commented.
"Well, if that’s the case then why did you choose Adolf? He had killed three million. He might also be a moron." Diablo argued.
"That’s because Adolf has his stuff sorted. He knows what he wants to do. And do you even know who recommended that guy?"
"Who?" Diablo didn’t know.
The man smiled. "Fuhrer Jamal."
Diablo’s brows shot up. He even gasped.
Graham was also caught off guard by the name.
"That man recommended Adolf? The Duke who is directly under the King. The King’s personal Duke recommended Adolf Hustler?" Diablo asked back to back questions and the man just kept smiling.
"Yes. The Duke. Adolf won’t be someone puny if he got such a high level of recommendation. Pablo only has the recommendation of the Count but Adolf is different. I think Adolf has the brains and brawn and that’s why I and many of us chose him."
Diablo jerked his head at Graham. "Did you know about this?"
Graham shrugged. "I thought it was just a normal Duke. Didn’t know it was Fuhrer Jamal."
"Shit. Then he is obviously better than Pablo." Diablo clenched his hair. "I chose the wrong person."
"Hahaha. Make sure you keep the thousand coins prepared." The man laughed and others who have also chosen Adolf laughed as well.
And the people who have chosen Draxus and Hardy were in a sour mood.
Not Graham though. He was calm. His eyes were only focused on the screen.
Diablo and the others were also watching the screen but with mixed reactions.
"Don’t fret over it." Graham said.
"What do you mean don’t fret over it? I lost a thousand coins." Diablo retorted.
"It’s not certain yet that you have lost. Having a classy recommendation doesn’t make someone an almighty being."
"Oh yeah? Well, thanks for the philosophy, old man." Diablo was still sad.
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Graham sighed. "Stay sad then."
"Come on, Graham. Admit it. You also lost. I know deep down you are also thinking that you should have chosen Adolf as well." Old man two put his hand on Graham’s shoulder.
"You are thinking too deeply, Virium. I am not sad at all. Only time will tell who might win. Heck, even Flashy Rail might find our man by mistake. You never know."
"Haha. Old age has gotten your mind, Graham. Only Adolf will win. The man with the weakest rank, Pablo, can only manage to reach the rank of a Captain, that is if he tries his absolute best. That’s all he will become." Virium, the old man two, laughed and so did the others. Pablo Castillo became a reason for their laughter.
However, the next moment something happened…
THUD!
The chair on the corner of the room fell and the man sitting on that chair was now standing up.
His face was still covered with a black mask and he stared at all the ten people present inside the room.
"What can I do f-" Graham tried to talk but the man raised his hand. Graham stopped talking and the man reached closer to the screen.
"I.." The man spoke. He squinted his eyes, he smiled and then he turned around.
He faced all the ten people standing in front of him and said only one sentence…
"I also choose Pablo Castillo."