****Pineapple Headquarters, Silicon Valley.About two hours later we finally arrived at our destination.From the helicopter, Michael and I could see the sprawling, ultra modern skyscraper complex, which had the pineapple logo largely engraved on the front.As we got closer to the rooftop, we could see the pilot being guided down by some men as he skillfully landed the helicopter on the helipad.We disembarked from the helicopter, and brushed ourselves off.Standing right there in front of me, was the head of pineapple himself, Stephen Johnson, along with a small group of his high level executives.As we approached him and the executives, i extended my hand for a firm handshake and said, "Good afternoon, Mr. Johnson. It's an honor to meet you and your esteemed colleagues. Thank you for welcoming us to Pineapple Headquarters. We're very excited about the possibility of working together." Stephen Johnson, a charismatic man in his mid-fifties with a warm smile, grasped my hand firmly,
****The night of the same day.I returned back to the Corporate Assessment Gauntlet hotel feeling motivated.Things didn’t go as I had planned, but it was all my fault for not preparing and practicing for the pitch more adequately, as well as making proper research and taking into account a bunch of other things.This didn’t bring me down emotionally. I chastised myself, and would prepare more adequately for the next meeting.Negotiations hadn’t broken between Blackstar and Pineapple, we had adjourned it to a later date, as they needed time to consider our offer and take into account a lot of other stuff.I was fine with this, I would have enough time to focus on other important things, like the third challenge.‘I wonder what it has to offer, the official said the challenge would begin tomorrow, and I currently don’t have any information of the details of the challenge, so I guess I’ll just have to wait and see,’ I thought to myself.I finally walked into the lobby as I was in the c
****I woke up the next morning feeling rejuvenated, all my stress from the previous day had been alleviated and I was ready to take on whatever the day had to offer.It was around five in the morning, and I stretched out on the bed before getting up.Eleanor was still sleeping and we hadn’t gotten an announcement from the officials yet, so I thought about what I could do to pass the time.NOTICEDaily Quest: Complete a 30-minute workout. (Status: Incomplete)Reward for completing the Daily Quest "Complete a 30-minute Workout":Enhanced Physical Fitness: Gain improvements in strength, endurance, and overall physical condition.Strength +1Endurance +1Exp +10Penalty for failure to complete the Daily Quest:Physical Deterioration: Experience a temporary decrease in physical performance, resulting in reduced strength and endurance.Strength -1Endurance -1‘Well that works out for me then, I was just going to do that anyway,’ I thought to myself.I’d been completing my daily quests dil
Looking around I noticed that I wasn’t the only one who was calm about the situation.Everyone else seemed to have an indifferent opinion toward the situation, and handled the news pretty easily, even Eleanor.These twenty two of us currently standing in that room were the best of the best, elites, intellectuals in terms of quick thinking and accurate analysis.Now the competition would only get harder from here, the small fry had already been eliminated, and I was facing tougher opponents now.‘I like this, to be able to compete at such a high level. I just want to have fun this round, these are all people who once upon a time I would look up to, and try to emulate their lifestyles as students, but now, we are all equals and I consider them as fair game,’ I thought to myself.We waited once again for the rules to be announced. After a short while, another official mounted the podium to speak to us.“Now candidates, I'm here to relay the rules of the third challenge to you. You are ad
I chose to remain calm, I needed to be as calm as possible in this situation so I could think of a way out.“Eleanor, what happened here?” I asked, the concern was evident in my voice.“I-I’m not sure Damon,” she responded.‘Even if someone wanted to sabotage us, how did they know the location of our room, and after that, how did they manage to get in?’ I thought to myself.“Eleanor, can I see your key please?” I asked quickly.“Yeah sure I guess,” she responded and dipped her hand in her pocket, bringing out a shiny metal key.I brought out mine as well, and they were identical, so now we were both more and more perplexed.Both of our flash drives, which contained all our information, were missing.This basically meant that all the information we had gathered before which was worth ten points, could be distributed, or worse. If we didn’t get it back we wouldn’t have anything to turn in at the end of the challenge, we would be left with nothing.I began cleaning the room looking for w
****[Jake’s POV]Later that evening, Eleanor and I met at a secluded corner of the building’s rooftop garden.The view of the city below from up there was mesmerizing. The cars moving around, heading to their various locations, the traffic lights, the scenery, it was like the city had come to life.My brow furrowed as I recounted Damon’s desperate and defeated behavior during our last encounter.Eleanor listened intently, with an expression of a mixture of sadness and determination on her face.“I met him on his knees, his whole demeanor, the look on his face, it was a pitiful scene to experience. He didn’t try to argue or fight back, he just walked away and said I’d won.”I gritted my teeth in anger as I recalled the look on his face.‘I wanted more, even though I won and broke his spirit, he was just going to roll over and accept it? This was supposed to be a challenge! I took him as my rival and this is what I get?’ I thought to myself.“I can’t help but feel pity for him,” Eleano
****Three days later.I’d put my trading system into full effect now, and I was running it like a business.I recalled one of the events that happened recently, the first trade I had with someone else in the third challenge.****Mia's eyes narrowed as she listened intently to my request, her expression focused and determined. "So, you need me to research other candidates that you can potentially trade with?" she repeated, her voice betraying a hint of curiosity."Exactly," I confirmed, leaning forward in my chair. "I'm hoping to identify candidates who might have useful information or resources to share. I need someone with excellent research skills, and I know I can count on you to get the job done."She nodded, her confidence growing. "Consider it done, sir. I'll compile a list of potential candidates and provide you with detailed information on their strengths, weaknesses, and potential areas of expertise that might be valuable to you."I smiled, feeling reassured by Mia's compet
I turned my eyes to Damon to see his reaction to the results about to be released.‘This is my victory, there’s nothing he can do now to change that. I’ve crafted this system to perfection, and I know the outcome of everything,’ I thought to myself.“Defeating him turned out to be not much of a challenge for me after all anyway, I guess I overestimated him. I should never have thought that he would be a worthy opponent for me, no one is,” I muttered out."And now," the instructor declared, his voice ringing with authority, "the moment you've all been waiting for. The scores from the third round...I’ll be announcing the top five in ascending order,” he said.“In fifth place, Eleanor Windsor, in fourth place EmilyAnderson, in third place, Mia Rodriguez, in second place, Jake Thompson, and finally, the winner of the corporate assessment gauntlet, Damon Darhk!” The organizer screamed at the top of his voice.An eerie silence descended upon the crowd as the whole room went silent. The prev