Interrogations and Unexpected Outcomes

“Let’s set aside your situation for a moment… how on earth did Brother Mingdao and Ruka sister lose?! Huh?!!!” My tone laced with challenge, I glared slightly upwards at the three people before me.

After the preliminary rounds concluded and I shook off the throng of spectators eager for a photo, the four of us engaged in a ‘simple conversation’ in the contestants’ lounge.

Naturally, I was seated, while the other three remained standing…

Alright then—

‘I’ll admit this was more of a unilateral interrogation than a dialogue!!!’

‘What in the world were they thinking?! Leaving aside Leidi, who was clearly the weakest, what happened with Brother Mingdao and Ruka sister?! How could those two, who had sent me flying every which way during our weekend training, possibly lose?!!’

“This angry face is much cuter than when you went berserk last time~” Leidi, having already changed back into her casual clothes, plucked playfully at the bunny ears on my head, a mischievous grin on her face.

“Leidi… if you don’t explain this properly, I just might actually go berserk, you know…” I raised my hand and pushed Leidi’s away, returning her a ‘smile’ that clearly conveyed, ‘Don’t even think about changing the subject, you rascal.’ Yes, it was definitely a ‘smile’!

“Xiaobai, don’t be angry, okay?” Ruka sister, her hands pressed together in an apologetic gesture, then explained: “In the third arena, Number Two and I faced each other in the very first match. Unexpectedly, after I let him win, he was constantly harassed by other contestants… so I just told him to forfeit.”

“Wait?! Why was Brother Mingdao being harassed?! Were the opposing contestants gay men?!” I stared incredulously at Brother Mingdao, whose face had suddenly flushed crimson.

‘He’s blushing… and shy… What on earth happened in that third arena?!’

“In that third arena, Number Two was the only male contestant…” As she said this, I noticed a slight twitch in Ruka sister’s cheek.

‘Huh? So it wasn’t a male pervert after all… That startled me… Seeing Brother Mingdao blush, I had actually thought he’d awakened some incredible new ‘attribute’…’

“Those women… not only kept touching shy Number Two’s hands, but they even rubbed their legs against him under the table! And what was even worse, one of them actually puckered her lips, trying to kiss him!!!”

‘Ruka sister… had transformed into a smiling asura… The intense jealousy of a rightful wife…’

“Ahem, ahem—Ruka, well, you don’t need to explain it *that* clearly…” Brother Mingdao averted his gaze, his face full of embarrassment.

‘Those women definitely just wanted to tease Brother Mingdao…’

‘Brother Mingdao, being so shy around women, always gives off the impression that… teasing him would be incredibly amusing… I think I can understand that, actually…’

‘Ahem, ahem—don’t get the wrong idea; my mental state is still that of a straight man.’

“Leidi, what happened with you?” Feeling my own face flush, I quickly decided it was best to change the subject.

“I forfeited my very first match, then went to the third arena to watch Brother Mingdao and Ruka sister.”

“…What on earth were you thinking…”

‘So you didn’t even compete, you rascal…’

“Well, who told that guy on the other side to be so disgusting? If he hadn’t looked at me with that ‘I want to lick you all over’ gaze, I might have even offered an apology. But for a guy like that, I just turned my head and walked away.” Leidi scoffed at the air with a look of utter disdain.

‘That was a reason I couldn’t really argue with…’

‘However…’

“Could you please not answer with such a straight face…? If that’s the case, what does that make me, who’s been enduring all this time…?”

‘My self-esteem was wounded! Seriously wounded!’

“Why don’t you forfeit too? I’m not short on money anyway; if you want to eat ‘Beethoven’s’ desserts, we can just buy them~” Leidi gave me a teasing smile.

“Do you think that’s even possible…?” I returned Leidi’s gaze with a feigned dreamy stare.

‘You know I won’t forfeit, yet you’re still trying to provoke me, aren’t you…? I’m getting a little annoyed…’

“Oh, right, the finals are a round-robin tournament, so pay attention. If you win all your matches, you’ll be the champion.”

‘Heh heh, a timely change of subject, then… At least you have some conscience…’

“I know, I’m not that stupid.”

****

Upon returning to the arena, I found the three competition areas had been completely reconfigured. The finals stage, now situated in the center of the building’s ground floor lobby, appeared to have been erected during my brief rest.

‘How should I put it…’

It was a tiered stage that gave me the distinct feeling of ‘being an animal observed in a zoo’. And around the stage… there were even cameras?! ‘Surely I wasn’t going to be on TV?!’

However, this was essentially all I managed to see before being engulfed by the enthusiastic crowd of spectators… After that, it was mostly just a dazzling blur of camera flashes…

Before long.

“May we please have the winners from each arena step onto the stage.” The host, microphone in hand, stood on the stage and extended the invitation to the crowd below.

Upon hearing the announcement, the crowd surrounding me instinctively parted, forming a narrow path leading to the stage.

‘Whoa… what was with this feeling, like a celebrity walking the red carpet?! I was mortified!’

Suppressing the flush on my face, I quickly scurried forward, but the increasingly clear clicks of camera shutters in my mind made me feel as if the path had no end…

‘Goodness! My heart was pounding even faster! Was it going to hit two hundred beats per minute?!’

“Thump—”

‘Ah, why was I looking down again! I’d bumped into someone again!’

“Oh, I’m so sorry—huh?!!!” I looked up to apologize, but was startled by the attire of the person before me.

The person was about ten centimeters taller than me, but—’was it a he? Or a she? Was this fully-armored getup a hazmat suit or an astronaut’s suit?! I couldn’t even see their face! And wouldn’t this outfit be incredibly hot?! It looked so stuffy!’

“Even if you’re shy, don’t walk with your head down, little sister~”

Through the person’s opaque visor, I heard a high-pitched voice, distinctly female. ‘It was a woman! That was quite a surprise.’

“Thank you…” I nodded awkwardly.

“Shall we walk together then?”

She extended a hand towards me, comically oversized due to the cosplay suit.

“Huh?!” For a moment, I didn’t grasp what she meant.

“I’m the winner from the third arena~”

“Eh?!!!”

‘This strange sister in the bulky cosplay suit won the third arena?! How incredible! Looking closely behind her, it seemed she had just emerged from the crowd herself!!!’

“Heh heh~ Don’t be so surprised, little sister, you look so frail, yet you’ve made it to the finals? You’re the one who surprises me more, you know.”

Ignoring my stunned expression, the sister smiled, took my hand, and led me onto the stage.

Meanwhile, the male contestant from the first arena, dressed as a wrestler, was already waiting for us on stage. ‘But… that exaggerated height and muscle mass… he couldn’t be a real wrestler, could he?! He was even more imposing than the seventh opponent I’d just faced…’

Soon after, with the host having briefly explained the rules, the three-person round-robin tournament commenced.

The first match of the first round of the round-robin tournament (if a clear winner emerged from this round, a second round would not be held) pitted me against this wrestler gentleman.

‘Since my goal was to be the runner-up, I had to lose at least once. Losing to this wrestler gentleman seemed like the most normal way to do it.’

And so, I genuinely ‘acted my heart out,’ pretending to lose to the wrestler gentleman. Although… I seemed to hear some booing from the audience… ‘Was my acting really that bad…?’

The second match was between the strange sister and the wrestler gentleman, and the result…

The sister won! A deafening roar erupted from the arena!

‘What?! This sister was that amazing?!’

‘My initial plan was for the wrestler gentleman to get two wins, me one win, and the strange sister zero wins, securing my runner-up position in one go. But now everything was messed up! It looked like there would be a second round after all.’

And so, the final match of the first round—

My match against this strange sister…

The match I had fully expected to win…

…

…

I lost…