*****"Which of the contestants do you believe could bring pride to our country in this competition?" In a VVIP lounge far more spacious and luxurious than the VIP section of the stadium in the capital city, the president of Betic Country, seated at the head of the room, between the various nations' leaders, quietly asked the elderly man sitting beside him, casting a glance in his direction.The elderly man, Old Man Pu, who appeared to have been lost in his thought was jolted back to his senses upon hearing the question directed at him, and then his brows tightly furrowed, seemingly to be thinking about the question he was just asked.After a moment, he sighed and glanced ahead, his eyes appearing to be seeing through space. “If my instinct isn’t wrong, I think that boy would likely be the dark horse who would bring us pride in this competition,” he mumbled, making the president, hearing his expected response smile.“I think your instinct might be wrong this time,” he responded pl
***** “Is—is that still our country?” In the leaders’ room, Betic President, seeing the scene he had never witnessed before in his entire life gasped with shock, trembling all over as he gaped. “What so special in that?” A lazy voice abruptly sounded and upon looking, realized the speaker was the Matic Country representative, they swallowed, knowing only he dared utter such a statement. The middle-aged man was still leisurely drinking his tea, showing that his country’s nonstop moving up was within his expectations. Betic President wasn’t mad by this obvious rudeness, instead, his smile widened. “This is the highest position my country had ever reached in years and even if it were to stop moving up now, the entire world would remember my tenure in years to come,” he uttered. “Great that you know then “ the Matic Country’s representative uttered and then continued sipping his tea just leisurely as before, oozing out a strong arrogance that couldn't be feigned. Just
*****“I say, seniors, do you think the god’s eyes have begun to show the rankings of this competition?” Inside the secret realm, a young boy who doesn’t seem to be above fifteen years yet, walking excitedly amongst his group suddenly inquired with two shiny eyes.“It should have,” a twenty-seven-year-old young man, presently scanning a purple gem in his hand with an excited expression responded and the young man, upon hearing this smiled and his face reddened.“Given the number of gems we’ve gotten today already, do you think our country would gain a high rank?”“We should have made our country proud now, right?” He asked hopefully, his innocent fact making all the ladies around him feel like squeezing it.Upon hearing his question, everyone around the young boy gave him a smiling and prideful face.“Thanks to you, our little junior who is very talented in the act of seeking gems, I don’t think our country would take the position of the first few, starting from the bottom we us
*****“Run!!!” The eldest screamed and then picked up the young boy, his priority, and dashed off, wanting to escape.Seeing them like this, the people in red didn’t panic and their expressions did not change, instead, they watched with evil smirks on their faces.“Perhaps, you guys would have been able to escape if you hadn’t entered our trap, but since you had, then all I had to say is…sorry,” the leader slowly uttered, further scaring the already horrified group.Subsequently, their faces changed after which they fearfully lowered their heads.They realized they were all standing on the gems that had likely melted their comrade.“We…” They exchanged petrified gazes and wanted to speak, but then hellish roars left their mouth in unison and their bodies began to melt starting from their legs to their heads at a speed visible to the eyes.It was such a horrific scene, but the faces of the people in red did not change at all, instead, they watched as though they were seeing an i
*****Although Williams heard Sofia’s question and felt her strong nervousness, he did not look at her nor even pay her any attention, instead, he continued studying his surroundings with a full alert, looking as though he was watching out for a really strong predator.And with this, a moment of silence and stillness envelopes the entire area which lasts until;"Could it be that you were just being overly sensitive?" Sofia, noticing that the serenity and stillness in the environment remained unchanged even after so long looked at Williams and inquired, her confusion evident on her face.It was only after this that Williams spared her a severe glance, shaking his head seriously.“No,” he responded with the level of seriousness Sofia had never felt from him since they began their adventure together.“We are already in a grave trap,” he added after a moment before once again looking at his surroundings.To be honest, it wasn’t that Williams’ instinct was particularly strong, no.Whil
*****For a moment, Williams was taken aback by Sofia’s request, but soon he smiled wryly, knowing that she was only begging a heartless devil who was unlikely to grant her plea. Despite this, though, he still felt a soft emotion in his heart, one he had only felt for a few people.This was the second time Sofia had tried saving him in just a single day and obviously, Williams’ heart wasn’t made of rock.He sighed after a moment before shaking his head to force out the feelings clouding his mind, focusing his gaze back on the vixen, whose eyes were currently filled with mischievousness.“What an adorable little lover girl,” she sighed after making Sofia stare hopefully at her for a moment before chuckling.“But given the stress I went through in order to force him to join you in the trap, almost giving myself and my group away in the process, would you let him go if you were me?” She inquired and the weakness Sofia was feeling returned several times stronger.She slowly fell limp t
***** In the outside world, the whole stadium was pin-drop silent at this moment, with everyone staring at the views before them in a daze. The entire world had initially believed that Betic country would undoubtedly win this year’s competition, which had been a great shock. Many countries had even begun to mobilize their spokespersons to enter the country and build a close connection with Betic so that they could enjoy the limelight and goodies with them, but unexpectedly… very unexpectedly, the movement that had been rising nonstop with a crazy momentum abruptly stopped and began to move like that of a sloth. No one could react to this sudden turn of events. ***** “I told you guys not to count your blessings too soon, didn’t I? Hahaha!” In the leader’s cabin, within the capital city of Betic, Thomas, who had also been thunderstruck by the abrupt change of movement suddenly laughed arrogantly and irritatingly, breaking the pin-drop silence that had dominated the entire room. U
*****“Is this still the secret realm of we are in another place?” a still-pale and weak Williams, looking at the place that was no longer as vibrant as before, but seemed to be filled with a creepy and bloody aura couldn’t help but mumble with a tense expression.Sofia, at the side who appeared nervous and terrified swallowed hard and nodded her head.“We need to gather with the rest of the team as soon as possible,” she mumbled and Williams nodded in response after which he thought for a moment.“Do you perhaps have any means with which we could contact them?”“This…” Sofia’s face turned serious and she became frustrated. “I did not think it would be necessary to contact ourselves, so I did not bring any means of communication with me,” she uttered with a heavy voice, leaving Williams frowning.He remained like this for a moment, causing the heavy and tense atmosphere to become more intense until finally, he released a heavy sigh.“I should be able to find them,” he said, ast