One by one, the participants were introduced. Neko stood on an elevated platform as she announced:
"PARTICIPANT NUMBER 1! FORMER STREET FIGHTER! HE IS FAMOUS FOR KILLING ASIANS WITH HIS BARE HANDS! THE ASIAN KILLER!!"
The whole crowd cheered.
"MARCUS!!"
"FINALLY!!"
"VICTORY FOR MARCUS!!"
"LET'S GO MARCUS!!"
"I AM A BIG FAN OF YOURS!!"
"THEY CAN'T BEAT MARCUS!!"
Marcus looked at Minsik Choi, whose face was all bruised up from the previous beating. "Just you wait, old man. I am going to kill you."
Neko kept introducing the others.
"Oh, it's already No. 55! He is one of the winning candidates of today's circus! MMA MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION!! He had a promising career! But he murdered his pregnant girlfriend and abandoned his own blood! KATSUZAWA AKIRA!!"
Akira waved at the crowd happily, as if he hadn't committed a heinous crime at all. The crowd shouted:
"SHOW THEM WHAT YOU GOT, OSAKA DEMON!!"
"KILL THEM ALL!!"
Then Neko kept introducing.
"PARTICIPANT NUMBER 67! HE IS A TAEKWONDO MASTER! HE IS FAMOUS FOR CHALLENGING TAEKWONDO MASTERS ALL AROUND KOREA! THE FLAME TIGER!! LI MAENG-HO!!"
Li Maeng-Ho just chuckled a little. The crowd shouted:
"LI MAENG-HO!! SHOW THEM THE POWER OF TAEKWONDO!!"
"TAEKWONDO IS SUPREME!!"
"YOU'RE THE BEST TAEKWONDO USER!!"
Neko moved on and introduced more participants.
"The next participant is special. A businessman from the Philippines, but his past isn't that simple. He is a man who fought with none other than the LEGENDARY GAPRYONG KIM OF THE FIST GANG HIMSELF!! O GENERATION!! MINSIK CHOI!!"
Minsik Choi had a crafty smile on his face as he slowly stood up. "Must be because of my age—my back hurts when I stand up."
The crowd was calm this time. Except for a large man wearing a mask that couldn't even cover half of his face, who clapped. "That idiot finally came. It's been a long time since I saw my cutie pie Minsik. He wouldn't even guess who I am."
Finally, Neko started to introduce little Daniel and his friends.
"It is even embarrassing to introduce the next ones. They are the youngest participants to come here. Unexpectedly, high schoolers formed a crew together! They're saying that they want to unite the crews!"
The audience laughed at them.
"Unite the crews? Puhahaha!!"
"That's it! What a bunch of idiots!"
Neko continued. "Okay, that's all. I give thanks to you all who came all the way here. FIRST GAME! WE SHALL BEGIN RIGHT AWAY! THE FIRST GAME IS... SHAKING THE ANTS OFF!"
A large, half-naked man wearing a mask and sumo outfit walked in. It was Tokko, the executive who had faced Warren previously.
Marcus walked to the front. The game was Rock Paper Scissors. Tokko and Marcus began playing, but Marcus lost the game. He chuckled, "Eh? I lost? What now?"
A slap landed on Marcus's face. He went flying and landed on the ground, blood splattering from his ear. Everyone, including the participants and the audience, was shocked.
Neko continued, "Oh no... No. 1, Marcus... is dead."
The audience cried out in disbelief. But Neko explained, "Shaking the ants off! Just like it says. It's to get rid of people that are weak like ants. The rules are simple. Just play Rock Paper Scissors and win against Tokko. If you lose, you get hit by Tokko once. If you draw, it continues until one of you wins."
As Neko was done explaining, she saw Sally walking towards Tokko. Tokko examined her like a wild beast. Neko exclaimed, "Wow! Unbelievable! Something amusing just happened! A girl showed up in front! Unfortunately for her, Tokko doesn't go easy on girls!"
This time, the audience was also a little baffled. Warren, on the other hand, was about to rush forward, but little Daniel held him off. Just as little Daniel and Warren were struggling, Sally actually won the game.
Warren, Zack, and Vin Jin were confused. That was the same case for the other participants, Neko, and the whole audience. Sally returned to the group.
Warren immediately scolded her. "What were you doing?! What if you got hurt?!"
But Sally acted like a kid. "Yay!! Yay!!"
Little Daniel explained to the others. "Tokko's body posture indicates which move he is going to use." Then little Daniel explained which body posture indicated which move.
Meanwhile, Minsik Choi was the one to go this time. And he lost the game. A slap connected with his face, but his smile didn't waver. One side of his face was badly bruised.
Everyone was shocked, but since he endured the slap, he moved on to the next round.
Li Maeng-Ho also went forward and surprisingly won the game. He glanced back at little Daniel's group and smiled.
One by one, little Daniel and the others won the game and moved on to the next round too. Just like that, they passed the second game as well.
Just as they were strategizing for the third round, some fellow participants came to make trouble. "Fuck you, boys."
Neko and the audience watched the scene play out with excitement. Unfortunately for Neko and the audience, their excitement turned to shock as they saw the high schoolers obliterate the troublemakers.
Vin Jin glanced back up at one of the participants. "Are you strong? If not, then buzz off."
The participant threw a punch at Vin Jin, but Vin Jin grabbed his hand and performed a shoulder throw, slamming the guy on the ground. Zack also punched one in the jaw, while Warren threw a one-inch punch. With that, the three troublemakers were down and out.
After a while, Neko introduced the third game.
"Third Game!!! Questism!! It's also known as the Produce game!" Then she turned to the audience. "DID YOU FIND YOUR FAVOURITE PARTICIPANTS?!"
The audience cheered excitedly. Neko continued, "Who will be the lucky guy to give out the first quest? VIP 49, CONGRATULATIONS!! You shall give a quest of your choice to any of the participants!"
The VIP thought for a moment and said, "Participant No. 55, please pluck out the teeth of Participant No. 71! The reward is 5 million won!!"
As soon as the VIP finished his sentence, Akira punched Participant No. 71 in the face, breaking all his teeth out. Then he grabbed him by his hair. "Oops, I made a mistake. They told me to pluck them, but I broke them." Saying this, he plucked out the remaining teeth.
Seeing this brutality, the other participants were shocked, but the audience was thrilled.
This time, one of the VIPs gave a quest to Zack Lee. His quest was to break the nose of Participant No. 97.
Zack looked at the old man in front of him. He approached the old man. The old man tried to calm Zack Lee, but Zack smacked him in the face, breaking his nose. Then he looked down on the old man. "Phew! Why should I feel guilt beating up a human trafficker?"
The audience cheered for Zack. Since they had a glimpse of the high schoolers' strength, they started to take them seriously. One by one, Vin Jin and Daniel also passed their quests.
Only Sally and Warren remained. That is, until Sally suddenly said, "I already did my quest."
Warren was surprised. "What? When?"
Sally continued, "When Vin Jin was doing his mission." Then she excitedly said, "I'm real good for hitting No. 42's larynx!"
Just then, Neko spoke. "A new quest has arrived! A VIP wants to see No. 99's skills! This is No. 99 Warren Chae's quest! Defeat No. 55! You'll be awarded 1 billion won if you manage to kick him off the stage!"
Warren and Akira stood face to face. Warren softly said, "Since you are a criminal, I'll be skipping my apology. No complaints, right?"
With that, Warren elbowed Akira in the face. Akira blocked it with his palm. "Hey, you win." Then he turned around and raised his hands in defeat. "I give up."
Warren asked, "Why?" Akira smiled. "I have already completed my quest. I don't want to get mixed up with you losers." Then Akira looked at Li Maeng-Ho and Minsik Choi. "If it were any of those two guys, I would have fought."
Since Warren, the last one to complete his quest, had also finished, Sally and he were entering the rest area. Except Sally pushed him in. The metal cage-like door closed. Seeing Sally's action, Warren was baffled. Sally smiled. "Sorry, Warren. I actually didn't complete a quest. Sorry for lying, guys. You guys said the three of you need to pass. What if you guys fail while protecting me?"
Warren was absolutely despairing and furious, but little Daniel stopped him once again. "No, don't! If you go out, you're eliminated!"
As Sally got into the middle of the arena, several men surrounded her. She was nervous, but she still took a fighting stance. Thankfully for her, the participants were instantly beaten by Minsik Choi with one punch.
The audience started to clap, thinking it was Minsik Choi's quest to save her. But they were wrong. Minsik Choi approached Sally.
"No need to thank me. It's my quest to beat you alone." Saying this, Minsik extended his hands to grab Sally, but suddenly, an iron rod slammed into his face.
Warren stood in front of Sally. Sally was surprised. "Warre... Warre... Warren Chae?!"
On the other hand, little Daniel looked shocked at Warren. Vin Jin tapped his back. "I know you might have your plans. But no plans matter if they can't save our loved ones."
Zack also chimed in. "Yeah. This is why we get strong in the first place."
Little Daniel slowly nodded.