With the energy in the ZAGE Event Building still riding high, the spotlight now shifted to the final competition of the day—the ZAGE Quiz Challenge. Twenty contestants remained, seated at sleek desks on the stage, each equipped with a special dedicated keyboard to write and type their answers.
Yumi stepped forward confidently, her headset mic glowing under the lights. She held up her clipboard with a cheerful grin. "Alright contestants, and everyone watching—here are the rules!"
She turned slightly as a large display flickered on behind her, reinforcing each step. "There will be 10 questions in total. Each one will appear behind me. You will have 35 seconds to write your answer on the tablet in front of you. If you answer correctly, you earn 10 points. If you leave it blank, no points are awarded or deducted. But if you answer incorrectly, you lose 5 points. Accuracy is key—for example, if the question is 'Who is ZAGE's iconic red-hat plumber?' your answer must be 'Mario.' Spelling matters. Got it?"
The twenty contestants nodded firmly. Their expressions ranged from calm focus to nervous excitement.
"Alright then! Let's begin with the first question!" Yumi said, turning to face the screen.
Question 1:Who is the name of Mario's brother?
Almost every contestant instantly began writing typing.
"Time's up!" Yumi announced. "And the answer is... Luigi!"
The crowd clapped.
"Great job! Everyone got that right! A nice warm-up to get the blood flowing. Now let's move to something a little tougher."
Question 2:Who is the second Fantasy Boxer in the Fantasy Circuit of Punch Out?
This one clearly threw some contestants off. Kumogi looked visibly distressed. 'Wait, was it PACQ-MAN or D.K Maywheater? I forgot the order!'
Panicking, he type PACQ-MAN.
Yumi grinned as she read the screen. "And the correct answer is... D.K Maywheater!"
Groans echoed from a few contestants. Kumogi slapped his forehead. "Damn!"
"Remember," Yumi said, gently teasing, "I can't believe some of you got that one wrong! But no matter—let's keep things moving and jump into the next question!
Question 3:Who is the mysterious person that appears searching for his medallion in Alex Kidd in Miracle World?
The room tensed again.
Several contestants hesitated. Ten submitted answers; ten decided to skip.
"The answer is... Jack Sparrow!" Yumi announced.
Only 7 of the 10 who answered got it right. The others lost points.
"This is getting interesting," Yumi said with a playful tone. "Question four coming up!"
Question 4:What is the name of the Base Wars team with the black-and-white color palette?
Ayumi sat frozen, sweat forming on her brow. 'Ugh, was it Mechanical BaiJink - Astro Annihilators or SEOLZ - Mecha Mavericks?' She had played Base Wars before, but the original team names were a blur in her memory!
She made a decision and wrote her answer.
"And the answer is... SEOLZ - Mecha Mavericks!" Yumi revealed.
Ayumi groaned softly. She'd picked the wrong one.
Only 4 contestants answered this round correctly. The difficulty was clearly ramping up.
"Don't worry! Still six questions left," Yumi said encouragingly. "Now, onto question five!"
Question 5:In Rad Racers, what car does the racer named Takumi Fujiwara drive?
This one stumped almost everyone.
The contestants looked around nervously. Most left their answers blank. If the question had been about the name of the racer, most could probably answer it without hesitation—but remembering the specific car name proved far more difficult.
Only two contestants dared to submit an answer.
"Time's up! The correct answer is... Burueno Z86!"
The screen displayed a pixel art of the car from the game.
"And those two brave participants got it right! They are... Takayuki and Yoko!"
"Amazing! And they're still holding perfect scores! Let's give a huge round of applause for Takayuki and Yoko!"
The audience clapped and cheered loudly. Yoko smirked, confidently basking in the spotlight, while Takayuki bowed slightly, visibly shy but pleased.
Yumi added with a grin, "Takayuki isn't just good at RC Pro-Am—his ZAGE trivia game is strong too! And Yoko, despite being young and underestimated, clearly knows her stuff. Both of them are doing incredibly well!"
!"
A screen on the side revealed a leaderboard:
LEADERBOARD (After 5 Questions): (only characters with name)
Yoko - 50 pts (1st)
Takayuki - 50 pts (1st)
Sakaki - 40 pts (3rd)
Wataru - 35 pts (4th)
Ayumi - 35 pts (4th)
Kumogi - 15 pts (17th)
Endo - 45 pts (2nd)
Sawada - 10 pts (19th)
"Now before we head into the final five questions, we're giving everyone a short break! Contestants, enjoy the drinks and snacks provided at your desks. Keep your minds sharp, and we'll resume in five minutes."
Soft music played over the speakers as the contestants stretched, sipped from bottles of sports drinks, and nibbled on small trays of rice crackers and melon pan.
Rikki, seated in the audience, shouted out, "YOKO YOU LEGEND!"
Sakaki turned around and shouted, "Hey, don't distract her!"
Yoko grinned and waved casually, clearly enjoying the attention.
Then Rikki shouted again "Sawada , Kumogi you suck ass!" which made most of the audience laugh.
Kumogi and Sawada can only grit their teeth! And wish they could maul Rikki's face now!.
Meanwhile, backstage, Zaboru watched the leaderboard from a monitor, arms crossed and nodding with approval. "They're better than I expected," he murmured to himself. It turned out that Zaboru hadn't appeared on stage because he was busy behind the scenes—personally writing the next five questions. As he looked over his final drafts with a mischievous grin, he muttered to himself, "The next five questions are anything but easy... hahaha."
Yumi returned to center stage. "Alright folks! Break time is over. Let's see who will rise to the top and claim the mysterious grand prize!"
The crowd leaned in, anticipation building for the next wave of questions.
To be continued...
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