"Wow, who would've thought it would be you, Mary?" Reina complimented.
"Did you practice secretly, huh?" Harmoine added.
After that part of the game, we were given a 15-minute break before proceeding to the next round.
"Congrats! I didn't see it coming. And that last thing you did earlier? Gosh, that was iconic," Jad said. I just smiled silently at them and their non-stop compliments. I looked at Micah, who smiled back at me.
"Guys… stop with that. I only won the first round—it's not a big deal. We still have more to face," I said. I had nothing else to say. I was holding myself back from telling them the truth. I couldn't risk it. I'd rather keep my mouth shut than see the important people in my life face the consequences.
"But still… I heard there's an advantage for the next round for whoever wins the first," Harmoine said.
"Really? What? And what's the next game anyway?" Reina asked curiously.
"I just heard about it. Not sure if it's true."
"I heard the next game will be done in groups," Jad said, which instantly annoyed me. I don't like group activities of any kind.
"Groups? Ugh, boring. Let's just team up if we get to choose our own," I said tiredly.
"Nah, I don't think we'll get to choose. You know how it is…" Jad's right. Nothing here is ever done by our choices. It's always the school head, teachers—everyone except us students.
They act like we can't make the right decisions on our own. Well… maybe sometimes, but not always.
"Then, good luck to me, I guess."
"Hello and welcome back, students! We're back again to face a new challenge in this next round. And oh gosh, have you heard those cheers from our crowd?"
"I sure did! The whole arena is so loud!"
"Let's officially start our second round," the hosts announced. The students were divided by color. I was on Team Blue, along with RJ and Andree, my classmates from all subjects. We're close, but not that close.
"For this round, we have the best 100 students left from our first round earlier. And our winner from the first round will receive an advantage." Just like that, all eyes turned to me. "Mary Quinlan? Accept your prize, dear. Choose any of those envelopes, but don't look inside."
I looked at the envelopes—there were five in total. I picked the second one from the left, the one I had been eyeing from the beginning.
"Okay. Keep that! Open it after the game," the host said.
I didn't look inside; I just slipped it into my pocket. Whatever it was, I hoped it would bring me luck.
"Now that you're all assigned to different groups with different colors, the people in your group will be your team."
"For the next round, you'll play in the old building. The objective is to protect a big flag with your team color and ten small white flags—one for each member. If another team takes your big flag, you'll be eliminated and won't move to the next rounds." The room fell silent as the mic echoed.
"But—you also have to protect your small flags. You can't leave them. If your big flag is taken, you'll become a prisoner of the team who captured you. If all your members are caught, your team loses. That's all. Do your best to win. You'll be given 30 minutes to find a place to hide your flag and establish your territory. There are 10 teams, and the best 5 will proceed. May the best color win."
My team gathered around and looked at me.
"What?" I asked.
"We need a leader. And I think, as the winner, you should lead us. So, what's the plan?"
Seriously? But fine. Leadership is my playground.
Some staff handed us our flags. I gave each of my teammates their small flags.
"Okay... let's find a good place. Not too far from the others, but not too close either—we don't want to get caught easily," I said first.
"Everyone, hold someone's hand," Andree said. I guess we were going to teleport. I held RJ's hand, and he held mine tightly.
"Here—what do you think?" I looked around. This place looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a century.
"Not here. If any teams come, we won't be able to move freely." I thought deeply and remembered—this building was actually my design from when I was young. It was almost finished before Dad died.
"Follow me. I'll talk about the plan as we walk."
"Okay… my plan is—"
"Wait, someone might hear us," RJ interrupted and used a magic barrier to make our conversation private.
"Okay, as I was saying… some of us need to stay and guard our flag. The rest of us will target other teams. It would be smart to go one at a time. We're ten in total—two will stay, and the other eight will attack. What do you think?"
"I agree." RJ nodded.
We arrive at my supposed to be my room but it yeah.. the building is not finish.
"Same here," Andree added.
"So do I," said another. Eventually, everyone agreed. But the problem was… no one wanted to stay behind. Everyone wanted to be part of the attack.
"Rock, paper, scissors?" someone suggested, and everyone agreed.
After a few rounds, we settled it. The two members staying behind were Sny and Kyree, who identified as bisexual.
"So, which team are we going for? I'm fully ready," Len asked.
In my group, there was also Len and his friend Xian. I didn't really like Xian—he and his crew were way too full of themselves. But when it came to games like this, he was undeniably strong.
"I think the Yellow team should be our first target," Xian said. "They're the weakest."
"No, we can't. That's exactly why they'll be targeted first by everyone. We'll just get caught in the mess. It's risky," I said. They nodded in agreement.
"Last 5 minutes, teams! Leaders, please shout your group's name choice when it starts before proceeding to the game!" the announcer said.
"What's our name?" a girl named Shen asked.
"If you all agree… I'd like to name it 'Chance,' because all of us are just taking chances," I suggested.
They agreed—again.
"Since we're going with 'Chance,' let's target the first team that shows up," Kyree said, holding out their palm. "Place your fingers on my hand. The color that appears will be our first target."
We all smiled and did as told. It didn't take long. A color appeared.
"Time's up! Teams, shout your name to get ready in 3… 2…" the bell rang loudly.
"Team Chance!" I shouted.
"We already have our target, guys. Good luck—or rather… best chances," I said.
We smiled, and with that, we marched out, firmly holding our flag, ready to attack.
First target… the Green team—Team Goin.