Gabrielle then greeted her co-anchors in the set.
“Good day, Bob and Krull.” Bob the Blob moved its tentacles happily while Krull the Skull clacked its jaws in greeting.
“Good day to you too Gabriela.” Bob said from its sucker-like lips. Krull clacked its jaws once more as it also said, “Greetings Gabriela.”
“It’s actually Gabrielle…” Gabrielle thought sadly as she gave a silent sigh to herself. She then tried her best to ignore her wrong name as she said to the audience,
“To all of you watching right now, welcome to the First Part of the Trial of the Yama Successor.” Gabrielle cheered silently for not flubbing up this part.
She and her other co-hosts then reviewed the rules for the trial and other miscellaneous things. Once all these were done, the commentators then started to talk about the participants.
“Bob, which of these groups do you think will have the best performance in this trial?” Gabrielle started the talk with the most obvious question. After all, it’s the winner that everyone was excited about.
“Well….” Bob rubbed its tentacles across the table, seemingly deep in thought. “In my opinion, the one with the highest chances of doing that will either be Huo Huangdi or Jieshu. Just their talents alone will be enough to propel them through this trial.”
“But we should not forget about this newcomer Wang Hao.” Krull interjected from the side. “From our sources, it seems like this Wang Hao was actually an inhabitant of a planet that Siwang Wangzi was invading. Due to some circumstances, Wang Hao was then brought here to the Underworld around 2 hours ago.”
“Isn’t that just like our current Yama Successor? Maybe the same miracle can happen again this time.” Bob said with a layer of mystery on its voice. “Not only that, but I am sure there will be some enmity between Wang Hao’s and Siwang Wangzi’s group. If they meet… it will be a good fight to watch.”
Gabrielle could not help but be awed by Bob and Krull’s ability to make the event exciting with just few sentences. She swore to herself that she must be able to be like that in this event too.
Gabrielle then saw the random number generator landing on the ground. She knew that this will be the one that will give the random numbers 6-12 to the participants.
The cauldron let out a bright glow as 144 specks of light went out of it. Each speck of light landed on the hands of the participants, which then turned into a card.
Written in that card were the numbers randomly assigned for the participants.
“Ok, now our drones will look for numbers our participants got. The drones then showed the numbers of each participant starting form No. 144. They gave some offhand comments on how these numbers might affect each group.
Everyone’s attention were then focused when Siwang Wangzi showed his number. It was engraved with number 8.
“With his excellent tactical abilities, I am sure Siwang Wangzi will make full use of 8 actions.” Bob sounded confident, considering the fact that Siwang Wangzi was a good general. “Now, let’s see what Wang Hao got… Tsk tsk tsk. If we are talking about bad luck, Wang Hao clearly got it now!”
What Wang Hao got was the card with number 6 on it.
Krull said in a grave voice, “Wang Hao must use each of his choices perfectly. If not, he might find his group disqualified early. The best thing he must do must avoid getting near Huo Huangdi and Jieshu since they had higher rank than him. He must also try his best to encounter lesser teams.”
Gabrielle could not help but feel sorry for Wang Hao. He was the least experienced here, yet he also got the short end of the stick. She does not know why, but she said to herself silently,
“I wish you luck Wang Hao.”
When the drones showed the numbers that Huo Huangdi and Jieshu got, Gabrielle’s and the other commentators smiles turned a little stiff. How could they not, seeing that both of them got the number 12!
“Sigh, now their chances of being the best performer just got higher. The only way they can be stopped was if they were placed in the same area. If it does, it will be an exciting match-up!” Gabrielle said as she saw the cauldron disappearing. “With the cauldron now gone, the participants will now be randomly placed on the mountain’s base.
Another flashing light passed by, and the 144 groups were whisked away to the mountain.
The commentators continued their talks after seeing that the trial started already.
“The groups must take it slow, since the pressure exerted by the mountain will increase each time they move nearer the peak. They must conserve their energy for the fighting later.” Gabrielle noted as she saw some of the groups starting to climb the mountain already.
Bob then excitedly said,
“Right now, we can see that Huo Huangdi, Siwang Wangzi and Wang Hao were all at the same area, the North Area. As for Jieshu, she was in the East Area. Can you feel it Gabriela? There will be good matches later!”
Gabrielle was about to agree when she saw something that made her almost shout out of shock. She managed to use her outstanding willpower to make herself look calm.
This was a grand feat, considering what she saw now.
Right now, she saw Wang Hao walking up the mountain without any difficulty at all! Gabrielle could see that Wang Hao was relaxed, as if he was just taking a stroll. As for his teammates, they were walking a little slower due to the pressure they are feeling.
Gabrielle saw Wang Hao looking quite confused by the ease of his travel. She saw him looking back to his comrades, seeing their plight.
“……..”
Gabrielle, Bob and Krull were speechless upon seeing this. They could hardly imagine that someone can actually just walk unaffected by the pressure of the mountain.
“Bob, what do you think happened with him?” Gabrielle asked in a professional voice. Bob and Krull were amazed that this rookie can keep calm at times like this.
It was Bob who gave an answer. “I… do not know too. But I heard a similar case that happened before. On that trial, one of the areas had a malfunction, producing a way weaker pressure compared to other mountains. Because of that, the groups in that area finished the trial earlier compared to the other trials. It was already too late before they discovered the anomaly.”
“So you think that Wang Hao can ignore this pressure because it was weaker than before?” Gabrielle had no choice but to believe in this theory.
After all, nobody in the history of the trials managed to ignore the pressure of the mountain. Even the strongest of them were still affected.
If these legends were affected by the pressure, there is no way that Wang Hao cannot be affected too!
“But if Wang Hao was not affected, why does the other people in the North Area were affected by the pressure? And the effect of the pressure on them looked just the way it should be.” Krull asked with an obvious doubt on its voice.
“……” Of course, Gabrielle and Bob could see it. But what other explanations could they give?
While they were mulling about Wang Hao’s abnormality, they saw him doing something that made them go pale in fright.
Wang Hao suddenly rushed forwards, running quickly towards the peak!
It was clear that Wang Hao was now aiming for a seat on the throne!
The commentators could only look in shock as Wang Hao continued running, ignoring the pressure set by the mountain. The mountain could not seem to hold its shackles on the enigmatic Wang Hao.
Right now, most of the groups were still near the base, making their way slowly. They then saw a figure rushing towards the peak of the mountain. It was Wang Hao!
All of them saw Wang Hao’s unique situation. Upon seeing this, all of them screamed,
“Cheater!”
Siwang Wangzi took it as the chance to sully Wang Hao’s name.
“There is a damned cheater in here! I bet he used something to reduce the pressure in here. Whatever that is, it was clear that Wang Hao was using it to cheat!”
Compared to the other areas, North Area was much louder and angrier. Gabrielle could only stare at the chaos ensuing there.
But whatever complaints they had for Wang Hao, it just fell on deaf ears, since no one made an action to stop Wang Hao.
Before Wang Hao could get near the thrones, he stopped in place, as if he remembered something. Gabrielle saw him sighing as he made his way down the mountain.
“Oh, it seems like Wang Hao just remembered the rule that one can only sit on the throne only after 6 groups remain.”
Everyone gave a collective sigh of relief from this. With that rule in place, Wang Hao cannot just wantonly ‘cheat’ his way to victory.
But before they could get fully relieved, they saw Wang Hao doing something absurd! Wang Hao picked up some boulders near him. With his strength at the First Stage, lifting it up was no problem. He then threw the boulder down the base of the mountain.
“Boooom!!!”
The ground near the base of the mountain formed a crater from the impact created by the boulder. Gabrielle knew this power did not come from Wang Hao’s throw. The pressure exerted by the mountain was the one that strengthened the power of the boulder. Wang Hao only had to throw it at the correct angle for it to travel farther.
Their worst fears were then confirmed when Wang Hao who was hefting a boulder on his shoulders looked at the spot where Siwang Wangzi’s team was located! It was obvious that he will throw this boulder to eliminate them!
“What the hell! With a jinx like that Wang Hao here, what use are the rules of this trial?” Gabrielle thought angrily to herself. “All those intricate rules will just be destroyed by this fatty? This is not good!”
The commentators closed their eyes, trying to not see the miserable ending of Siwang Wangzi. But before they could hear that sickening splat, they heard a voice echoing throughout the mountain
“In order to promote equality in this trial, the pressure applied to everyone was equal. But a person appearing that can ignore these rules cannot be tolerated. After all, people like them will have the unfair advantage in this part of the trial.” The voice stopped, as if it was trying to emphasize what it said. The voice then concluded,
“Thus, my master decreed that Wang Hao must be handcuffed with these weights to make him feel the same pressure as you all!”
Wang Hao was then teleported right beside Roxy. Before any of them could say anything, Wang Hao saw 4 metallic objects zipping towards him.
These objects were bracers and they attached themselves to his arms and legs. Wang Hao’s body slumped forward as he felt the heaviness of the bracers tugging him down.
Gabrielle then saw Wang Hao attempting to move normally. To her delight, Wang Hao seemed to be affected by the bracers. His pace of walking and posture shows that he was being affected too.
Everyone gave a sigh of relief as they thought to themselves,
“You think you can just ‘waltz’ your way in the trial? You must be deluding!”
