"Tch…. cocky bastard thinks he can mouth off and walk away? Fine," the examiner muttered with a smirk. "Let's see how he handles double the difficulty." He scoffed under his breath, already scheming.
Meanwhile, the women were ushered into their designated room. Back in the hall, the female instructor stepped forward, standing confidently in front of the gathered men. "We're starting the first test. No delays." Almost on cue, a team of assistants rushed in, efficiently setting up 28 chairs and tables – one for each male applicant. The room buzzed with tension.
She raised her voice, authoritative and clear. "As mentioned, there are five tests. Each one's worth 20 points. Total score: 100. The pass mark? 78 or higher. Anything less – don't bother coming back." She paused to let the weight of it sink in. "Full marks in a test will be considered a perfect 100 for that section. Now sit. Test starts now."
Chairs scraped against the floor as the men moved, adrenaline kicking in.
"Hmm...." Boros muttered as he leaned back in his chair, twirling a lollipop in his mouth, the back legs of the seat dangerously tilted. "Something about cubes, right? I wasn't paying attention…."
He mumbled, uninterested. Suddenly, assistants moved through the room, dropping small boxes – Rubik's cubes on each table. Boros squinted at his, poking it like it might explode. "The hell is this?" he asked no one in particular.
Before he could figure it out, the instructor's voice snapped through the room. The clack of twisting plastic filled the air – everyone was already scrambling with their puzzles. Boros dropped the chair forward with a thud, eyes darting around.
"Oi, oi – wait. What's happening?" he said, grabbing the cube and turning it awkwardly in his hands. It clicked in his fingers like a foreign object. "You have sixty seconds to solve it," the woman called out.
"Sixty?!" Boros hissed. "No warning?! What the hell kind of test is this….." He glanced at the timer. Forty seconds left.
"Oh crap, what is this, a cursed puzzle from the gods?" Boros muttered, turning the cube in his hands like it owed him money. He side-eyed the guy next to him, whistling like a guilty bird trying to act casual.
He leaned just a little to peek... only to lock eyes with neighbor who was already staring at him like, "Don't even try it." Boros gave a nervous chuckle and snapped his gaze forward.
"Okay.... Plan B," he smirked, popping the cube like it was about to unlock Exodia. "30 seconds left." The woman's voice boomed. "Perfect," Boros grinned, "I work best under panic."
With a suspiciously innocent smile and exactly 20 seconds on the clock, Boros whispered to himself, "Desperate times call for…..creative sabotage."
Crack.
He snapped the Rubik's cube in half like it was made of cheap plastic. "Oops," he said casually, raising his hand like a kid asking to go to the bathroom.
'Genius plan. With barely any time left, they'd have to let me off the hook. No way they'd bother replacing it this late in the round.' Boros said to himself.
The woman approached, heels clicking, eyes sharp. She stared at the shattered cube, then at him – unblinking. Without a word, she placed a brand-new cube in front of him.
She straightened, then spoke like a judge passing sentence. "Give him extra time." From the front, an assistant echoed: "Yes ma'am!"
Boros' smile twitched.'Damn. She saw through me.''She had a backup cube? Who carries backup cubes?' On the outside he smirked. On the inside? A firestorm of curses."Miss perfect. Can't just let one dude slide huh?"
The clock ticked. The extra time ran out.
And Boros?
Still failed. He leaned back and sighed."Yeah….. definitely cursed."
...…..
"Alright, cubes down!" the examiner's voice boomed from the front. Akeno tapped her chin, staring ahead. "Hm... I wonder how Shiro's holding up."
She turned to Kinuko, who looked completely spaced out. "Kinuko?"
No response.
"Kinuko?!" Akeno snapped, tugging on her sleeve.
"Uhh – Y-yeah! No one's thinking about Shiro or anything!" Kinuko stammered with a nervous laugh. Akeno narrowed her eyes. "You're seriously daydreaming because he stood up for you?"
"I wasn't daydreaming –!" Kinuko tried defending herself, but Akeno grabbed her ear like an angry mom. "Typical you," Akeno huffed. "But honestly, that's exactly the kind of dramatic hero move Shiro would pull. My only concern is –"
She glanced around the room.
"– we're probably walking targets now."
"What do you mean?" Kinuko asked, gently prying her ear free. Akeno leaned in. "You haven't noticed the side-eyes since the exam started?" Kinuko blinked, then scanned the room. Yep – whispers, stares, giggles.
Akeno whipped her head around toward the girl beside her. "What're you lookin' at huh?!" The girl flinched like she'd been caught mid-crime. Kinuko sighed. "I see your point….."
She straightened up and smiled faintly. "But we'll handle it. We always do. This isn't our first storm and it's not like it's the first time we're receiving this kind of treatment."
"Damn right," Akeno said, tone softer this time.
....
"This phase of the exam is over," the woman announced. As soon as she spoke, assistants rushed in, folding up chairs and clearing tables with clockwork efficiency. Within seconds, the room looked like nothing had ever happened.
She read out the scores like it was a weather report and stepped out through the side door to check on the women's exam.
Meanwhile, a few of the guys started whispering. "Yo, you hear that dude with the attitude bombed it?" one guy muttered.
"Zero percent!" another said half laughing. "All that trash talk for nothin'. Though he was gonna ace everything."
They snickered like middle schoolers.
Boros leaned against the wall silently, the lollipop in his mouth cracking as his jaw clenched. He spat the shards out and crushed them underfoot, eyes narrowed. "Tch…. strength test is next, right?" he muttered, rolling his neck. "Good."
.....
Outside, the woman approached the lead examiner. "First test's done sir."He didn't look up. "And the loud one? The white-haired one?"
"Zero," she replied flatly.The man let out a low chuckle. "Hah….. all bark." He then smirked. "Give him double the load on the next test."
"Yes sir."
As she walked off, the examiner leaned back and grinned to himself. "Let's see if that tough guy routine holds up when we turn the heat up."
********
We're starting mass releases from the next chapter (chapter 22)
So I'll be posting once a week from now on, every Friday 3:00pm WAT
1 Extra chapter = 20 power stones
2 Extra chapters = 30 power stones
**********
I'll also try to increase the chapter lengths to 1500 - 1800 words, y'all just commit to this for now🤝