"What?" the referee coldly blurted out. "The three of them stepped foot in the winning area in the span of half a second, so they all pa.s.sed."

"What? Still, how come the three of them pa.s.sed?" he resumed arguing with the referee, forming a hard jawline. "It makes no sense. With that rule, wouldn't everyone step out at the same time and win this test? No one has to fight in that case, right?"

The referee knitted his brows. To him, it was apparent that this man was a newbie who got to the eleventh deck probably only hours ago. "No," Controlling his impulsions, he replied rather calmly. "At max, five people are allowed simultaneous pa.s.sage."

"Really? No one told me about this."

The referee ground his teeth and wanted to smack the man's face so hard that the dumb look on his face would die right away but couldn't do it as he was on duty. He raised his voice as he replied, "Read the test rules attached to the walls of the hall before asking such silly questions!"

"Oh…" the man nodded to himself but still didn't seem like he was ready to leave. "So the rules were indeed fastened to the walls huh. Because of all the exercise manuals, advertis.e.m.e.nts, wanted posters, strange symbols, and all sorts of decorations done to the walls, I couldn't find them." He took a look over all the walls adorned with rich wood accent. The whitish tone of the walls set the right tone for the deck test on the eleventh deck.

"The rules guide is appended on all the four walls," the referee speedily helped him understand more by showing how he could find the important details from just following the directions given by the carved designs in the walls. "Why do you think people form packs made of multiple individuals if only one of them could win?"

"I get it now. So, a group of around five or less is the best huh..."

"Yes. Now, can you please get out of my sight?" the referee gave him a frosty look.

"Y-Yeah, thanks," the guy understood that the rules guide was probably not placed in the center of the walls to make the days of the entries a bit harder, for they would now be forced to look for the rules guide in every deck. He was also doubtful if older entries would give directions to the new ones for free. After all, the test halls would be s.p.a.cious from what he saw and could tell. "I wish that the guidebook told more about each of the deck's rules than it did about every other stuff. Geez, what a waste after I spent days locking myself in a room to mug that thing." His mouth twisted in many ways as he walked away. "Are they trying to mend the stubborn minds by compulsion instead of simply advising? Given how things are, it's beyond me to climb this thing in three weeks."

Hundred, on the other hand, was about to rush to the betting counter, but he stopped and looked back at Tarkan who also seemed ready to leave elsewhere. "Mr. Inch Man… if you don't mind, can I ask you something?"

"Go on," a corner of Tarkan's mouth imperceptibly quirked up.

"Thanks. It's just that…" He looked to his sides before leaning a bit closer. "Can you please tell me a trick when it comes to betting?" he stepped back after saying that and stiffly smiled. "You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to." Though he said that, he truly wanted to know a hint or two about betting, and he couldn't have thought of any better person to ask than the Inch Man himself, who rarely lost in recent times. Getting a hint or two from a person who mastered the craft was, to be frank, priceless.

Tarkan's expression hardened a bit before he responded, "You know what, Hundred… In this world, hollows put money before wisdom whereas martials put wisdom before money. But I like to put them both at the same value. It was nice talking to you, but I've not known you enough to impart any amount of knowledge."

Hundred's face turned ashen, for he felt like he received two quick slaps with the same hand, but he did his best to smile through the distress and discomfort. "I am extremely sorry for troubling you."

"I'm used to that, so don't let it bother you," the corners of Tarkan's eyes crinkled, "That said, I can still give you a little insight about this deck test since we are here and all. Only, if you are interested."

"O-Of course," Hundred was quick to reply, concurrently hiding his excitement, "I'd pleasure that."

"Kah-haha, though this won't help you win every time, it will help you decide when to bet to make sure you win every time you do bet," Tarkan's face glowed as he made Hundred lean forward and whispered in his ears, "The trick is not to bet on the strongest but the hungriest wolf. The strongest wolf may or may not win you the war, but the hungriest wolf either wins you the war or perishes in the process."

Blood flowed at increased speeds as Hundred heard Tarkan's words. "Thanks for giving me such a precious insight."

"Mm," After nodding, Tarkan took a step away before looking back at Hundred and uttered audibly, "So you bet that those three youngsters would win in the last round just as I said. Great going!" Saying that he patted on Hundred's shoulders for once before turning back and leaving as if he had no more business.

(What was that all about?) Hundred had no idea what Tarkan just did until he realized that all the people around him were ogling at him, and he could somewhat make sense of their murmurs.

"Oi, did you hear what Inch Man said?"

"Yeah, to think he was lucky enough to get a b.u.mper offer from Inch Man. Who's this blonde dude?"

"I think I heard Inch Man referring to him as Hundred. I don't remember ever seeing his face though."

"Oh, I think I saw him hunting follies before. He's Hundred now huh…"

"Kukuku, I wonder how many coins he earned in this round."

"Maybe if we ask him, he'll be kind enough to show us what he earned, perhaps along with some wisdom coinage, too."

"Hehehe."

Hundred felt quite discomforted by their words and could only baffle at Tarkan's artful att.i.tude for having helped and troubled him at the same time. He couldn't stay there any longer as he could guess where the conversation was headed, so he straight away went to the betting counter, only to further get gaped at by many other betters including the a.s.sistant referee himself who previously snickered in silence as Hundred placed the bet.

"Why so shy?" the a.s.sistant referee's words were chilies coated with honey, and they raised Hundred's hackles. "If you give me that money, I'll put it to better use and give you a five percent extra a year later. What do you say?"

"I will, but you should do one thing before that," Hundred stated, veIling all the built up anger with an inelastic smile.

"Oh, definitely," the a.s.sistant referee got all excited, not sensing the impending chagrin.

"Eat s.h.i.+t," Hundred's voice was a crow's caw, for it displeased all the ears it entered and p.r.i.c.kled their pompous expressions. As Hundred made himself scarce, the a.s.sistant's referee's tongue produced sour juices, having already lost most of its color. To add to the insult, the held-back laughter of the nearby crowd made him do his d.a.m.nedest to swallow all the sheepishness off his face.

"C-Come on, come on, people," the a.s.sistant referee spoke in rough breaths, "who wants the tickets for the next round?"

"I want one, but I'm a bit shy. Can I still partic.i.p.ate in the test?" a random voice from the crowd leaked out, startling the a.s.sistant referee.

"Why so shy, brother? Our a.s.sistant referee, Mr. Shy takes your shyness and returns it with five percent extra next year," another voice came from the crowd, making others burst out into roisterous laughter.

Now, the a.s.sistant referee realized that he positively suffered a loss of face.

Meanwhile, nearby the ice dumpster.

"Mm?" Lirzod, while his b.u.t.t rested on the floor, glanced back at the Hardy Brothers. An unfussy, conspicuous smile bloomed on his face, burdening yet lightening his cheeks. "Oh, it's you five! Thanks for making us win."

His words almost anesthetized everyone who was paying attention but especially twisted and tortured the guts of the brothers, all five of them.

"You must learn to keep that nasty mouth of yours in check, or you'll end up dead sooner than you can guess," Betts said, placing hands in pockets.

"I'll consider that," Lirzod said in a wandering gaze.

"Good. What's your name, brat?"

"You lot are not worthy of knowing it," Lirzod said, smiling plainly, s.h.i.+fting his gaze back to the brothers. "But I'll still tell you since you've asked it. My name is not Tarqa."

"This pipsqueak," Centry was on the verge of putting his fists to work, but Betts stopped him.

"Consider him to have a screw or two loose in the head," Betts spoke in a nonchalant att.i.tude, "then you wouldn't get so angry from hearing his nonsense."

"Right, brother," Divas said, a hand casually anch.o.r.ed on the hip while the other move around, "a madman knows not of his madness."

"I can add to it," Lirzod vocalized his thoughts, a feeling of lightness developing in the chest, "A madman is also never guilty of the madness he creates."

His words fairly tested the brothers' patience, and they had to bust a gut to maintain weightless gazes.

"Ohh…" The crowd in the audience stands immediately took notice of them. "Hardy Brothers are going to get revenge now. The infamous treasure hunters are finally on the move to squash those three termites for daring to steal some of their fame in this hall of fame. Excellent!" Some of them who had wanted to see the brothers trounce the youngsters during the test got stimulated now.

"Those three little fish won the test by swimming through the defenses of others while staying out of sight by hiding underwater. But now, on the ground, there's no way they can stand a chance against the five."

"Yeah, they are in for a bitter treat now."

By and large, swimming through the ice dumpster to win the test was a terrible idea as there were a hundred contestants during every round, and the swimmers often get stomped upon without even knowing who hit them. In consequence, not many opted to use such methods to win the test but only either to temporarily hide or to escape from an opponent. The audience, who had gotten used to seeing people brawl a lot to overcome the odds that the deck test posed, didn't feel great after the three youngsters seemingly swam most of their way through.

As a result, some audience still desired to see some blood spilled outside the ice dumpster.

"Beat those three, Hardy Brothers!"

"Let the girl go and thrash the other two."

"No, those three won together, so all the three deserve some beating."

"Hardy brothers?" Lirzod, meanwhile, was repeatedly tapping his index finger on the chin. "Where have I heard that name before?"

"Hmph, you must have heard it when you are in your mother's belly," Centry snorted, adding an ugly twist to the mouth.

"Mother…" Lirzod seemed like he was trying to remember a memory from the past. "I think I've heard of you people before."

"Hmph, it's no surprise. Everyone knows us," Centry said, backing with a grin cooked with arrogance. "Not only do we brothers hail from a renowned clan, but we also joined a certain organization which helped in boosting our fame by leaps and bounds. Though we aren't known much in the West, we are well-known in the East."

"Oh yeah," Lirzod nodded as he suddenly remembered something. "You people are the ones I read in a story when I was in school. I don't quite remember its t.i.tle though," he tried his best to remember it.

"Hiding Mother and Seeking Sons," Divas said as the other brothers lifted their chests in pride.

The audiences broke into their conversation in a hurry. "I know that story!"

"I know that too! When Hardy Brothers were just little kids still crawling on fours, they played Hide and Seek with their mother. Their mother who went into hiding back then is yet to be found, and the five sons whom we now know as Hardy Brothers are still in search of her, which means that the game is still on."

"Yeah, including my wife, so many people are waiting for them to find their mother and end the game, though it begs the question as to what the brothers are doing here on this s.h.i.+p. It's not like their mother is at Immortal Peaks."

"It would be nice if I get to witness their reunion. Would be an emotional tale worthy of getting inscribed on stone slabs." Some people even felt emotional.

"Got it now," Lirzod almost sprang on his feet upon remembering the events of his past. "You were the toddlers who scared their mother into fleeing home from chest pain that over-nurturing bred."

A singular silence—silent, stony, and severe—birthed in the neighborhood and screamed in the minds of men like an argument impossible to refute, forcing cold sweat to drip down many a cheek. Some wished to forget what they had heard right away, but the silence didn't let them and instead spoke hundreds if not thousands of words, giving them anything but peace.

All the Hardy Brothers froze in their footsteps and s.h.i.+vered in a soul-squeezing silence which further ma.s.saged their souls with sickening grips. In the past few quiet seconds, though n.o.body reacted to Lirzod's words, it didn't mean n.o.body heard them.

At that time, Sariyu hurriedly came in between Lirzod and Hardy Brothers with apparent dolor on her face and broke the long-standing silence, "Please do not take his words the wrong way. He doesn't yet know how to converse with people. He always says things he doesn't have to say." She lowered her head more than a little. "I deeply apologize in his stead."

Her words did earn approval from a few parts of the crowd but failed to bring any change in the expressions of the brothers, for their souls still suffered in silence.

It may have been considered a joke if Hardy Brothers weren't around when Lirzod had stated those words, but their presence entirely changed its essence.

"What are you apologizing for?" Lirzod furrowed his brows. "I only spoke the truth. You too know that. Many of our clansmen think the same, too. Just because we read the story in a book, it doesn't automatically make it true, does it?"

"You, seal your mouth," Sariyu tightly shut his mouth with her hands and said to him in a low tone. "You can't undo what you did. We fought against them inside the ice dumpster because it's all part of the test. We don't want to extend the enmity beyond the hall, understood?" she stressed the last word.

Lirzod tried to shake his head, but she didn't let him and forcibly made him nod.

"See, he's also apologizing for his mistake," Sariyu looked at the brothers whose attention seemed to be drifting elsewhere, although they didn't move an inch.

At the time, the nearby crowd was still in shock, but they were finally able to move their mouths.

"I-Is that what truly happened?" one guy initially muttered under his breath before speaking out. "I thought their mother was playing Hide and Seek, and these five are yet to find her."

"Yeah, that's the tale told around," another person nodded, "but now I don't know what's what anymore."

"C'mon, are you seriously giving credit to some random boy's comments?" another man waved his hand, dispelling doubts in the minds of most, "He surely wants to make a mockery out of Hardy Brothers for giving him trouble during the test."

"Yeah, you're right."

"That's it, that's probably it."

"Whew…" Seeing that people didn't fall for Lirzod's words, Sariyu felt like a load was taken off her mind, and she removed her hand off Lirzod's mouth.

"You people seriously believed that story in the book?" Lirzod snorted aloud and looked at the brothers who stood not far away from him and wore pale expressions on their faces. "There should be only one seeker in that play, but why are there five seekers? It's not just me, but most of my friends also didn't believe the story when they read it either."

"Don't mind him!" Sariyu shouted before glaring at Lirzod. "You think there can't be five seekers in that play? They were just children back then, so their mother probably wanted them all to find her. I get it that you didn't get that part back when you were in school, but how can you still not comprehend it?"

"No," Lirzod shook his head and chewed on his lip. "I get your point, but there's something fishy about that tale, you know. They say there is no lie unknown to the heart. We will only know the truth if we ask the brothers themselves."

"Alright, that's enough," she grabbed his arm and began to pull him away. "Let's get you out of here—for everyone's sake."

Lirzod, however, still tried to persuade her, "But what about the fishy tale—"

"The only thing fishy in this place is…" Aziz stepped forward, a flicker of hatred flas.h.i.+ng in eyes, his clenched fist abnormally turning reddish as his stifling gaze locked on to Lirzod who was glancing over his shoulder, "your frame of mind." Subtle sparks of fire screaked out of his fist, "you brought this upon yourself." With a swift bend of the knee, he sprang forth, his twisting arm firing at Lirzod's face from behind like a fiery wolf pouncing on its prey.

.......

Author's Note:

WISH YOU ALL A HUGE HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope that I and you all will have a great year ahead of us. Most people try developing a new good habit or forfeiting an old bad habit from this day forth. Well, that's a good start, but how about going and giving a d.a.m.n kiss to all the cheeks you can? That might just light up many lives at least momentarily. If not, at least your cheeks will be reddened by the end of the day. Ahem, in case if you want to avoid the latter, stick to cheeks that can recognize your lips.