"Now, I will tell you about the first round." She then raised her hand and the screen changed into another scenery.
It was a forest filled with green trees of various sizes, but if one took another look, there was a small cube that seemed to be out of nowhere. The cube seemed to be able to hold a few people at a time.
"Please take a look at this cube, if we open the door of this cube, it will lead us to an underground facility of the government. In that facility, you will find three layers which is basically the entire elimination round.
"This elimination round emphasizes three things: Mind, Physical Abilities, and Overall Offensive and Defensive power of a certain group. Each group is required to have all those aspects in order to compete in the next round.
"Of course, we guarantee that our home country team hasn't known anything about this facility because the UN helps us build this facility. The test will revolve around a puzzle, a hunt, and a race.
"In the first layer, you will face a series of mind challenges and your group is required to solve it according to your own personal answer. You will have a total of four hours to escape from the tower and win the ticket to the grand stage.
"However, you will soon face the second layer, which is the hunt. You will need to hunt the right monster inside the facility in order to advance to the third layer, which basically gives you the right to leave the tower.
"But it's not over yet. In the last stage, you are to race against other teams to get a flag in a certain spot outside the facility. Each test will give you a certain amount of points, so each team should focus on getting as many points as possible because the team with the highest amount of points will win.
"Due to the time limitation, all of you are divided into eight blocks which you have been informed about. Each day, two blocks will determine its victor. Of course, we will heal any injury and prevent any killing, so please go all out during this whole time. I wish you luck." Sheira finished her explanation as simply as possible. "To avoid wasting your time, I hope Block A's participants can go to the facility right now… Our people will guide you."
"…" Theo fell silent and looked at Alea in front of him. "I think our luck is not that good."
As Theo said, the guy who carried their national flag smiled and waved his hand to the side, telling them to go.
Yes. They were the first block, so Theo couldn't get any data from the previous competition. Fortunately, the information told them that the challenge was random, so there was a small possibility they would get the same challenges with any other teams. Only those in the same blocks would compete with the same challenges.
"Let's go." Theo shook his head helplessly as the group left the stadium, heading to a chopper provided by the host together with all other countries from Block A.
Theo's eyes focused on the two teams while the rest looked around Italy from above, enjoying their time. They soon arrived in front of a Teleportation Circle and were transported to the other side.
Theo didn't see the base Italy had, but from just a glance, he knew it was far bigger than their Art Beats Castle.
A few minutes later, they arrived in front of the cube, where they were greeted by a middle-aged man.
To entertain the people in the stadium, there was a drone flying around and their movement would be monitored through the camera inside the building.
'Hmm… It seems this is going to be more difficult than I think.' Theo narrowed his eyes and looked at the door. 'From the looks of it, I need to choose which skills to reveal because I can't show them too much during this round to give as much advantage as possible.'
He then looked at the middle-aged man wearing a white military uniform that seemed to be their referee in the elimination round.
"My name is Abas and I will be the referee of the elimination round. The drones will be flying around you but won't hinder you, so please don't mind them. As for the round itself, there is a much detailed explanation of what you need to do to escape from this facility." He then opened the door and said, "For now, each team can go inside one by one to travel to the bottom of this facility."
"First, Thersland!"
Hearing their name called, Theo and the group exchanged looks as they nodded, entering the cube that turned out to be an elevator to the underground. As soon as they entered, the door closed and the elevator started going down.
"Wow…" Alea was amazed there was a facility like this, but more importantly, she turned around and cheered her teammates. "We can do this, guys."
There must be little to no people that would actually think they would win. After all, the people of their country would surely cheer for them but never put any bets on the team because they all knew it was impossible for them to win since they never reached the main stage even once.
That was why Theo remained expressionless to avoid embarrassing himself.
However, there was actually someone who watched the screen intensely.
It was Nella Griffith. Her teammates still wondered how Theo would be able to beat the other teams with that kind of team, but seeing Nella's confidence, they decided to watch his performance quietly.
Nella, on the other hand, smiled when she saw his face. "I hope you can win."
Unaware of the silent prayer, Theo's group had arrived at the bottom floor as the door opened, revealing a small corridor with a few doors on both sides. All of them showed a number. The number one door opened as soon as they arrived on the bottom floor as if telling them to enter.
Theo and the others looked at each other and nodded as they entered the door and walked through another corridor before reaching a two hundred square feet room. The room was completely white with only a big screen in the middle of the room and a black box on the floor. There was another door on the opposite side, so all of them thought the door would only open after the other teams had entered their respective rooms as the signal of the start of this competition.
They all saw the screen saying, "Please wait for the other teams." Along with the live footage of the other teams entering the facility.
(PS: Country Name Change)