The bodyguard selection day had come. Stefan is in the large selection arena with ten other people. Only one person would be selected. That's why the selection was so strict.
The one person selected would be the director's guard and follow the director wherever he went.
Stefan had been told by Lena that in this selection, he had to treat everyone equally. There was no gender difference because everyone was fighting for the same position.
Lena also trained Stefan so, in the past two days, Stefan's martial arts skills have improved rapidly.
Apart from the training, Stefan suspects that the ring he wears is affecting his skills. Because Stefan couldn't learn so many techniques in two days. The ability seemed to come suddenly to Stefan.
In addition, when Stefan was in danger, the ring always shined, including during training. Strangely, other people are not aware of the light coming out of the ring, only Stefan.
Although he still doesn't know why the ring emits light, Stefan believes that his mother gave him the ring to protect him.
The ring unleashed its power when Stefan was at his lowest and on the verge of giving up. When there was no more hope for Stefan, the ring gave him new hope.
That's why Stefan held the ring over and over again and kept making sure it was in his hand.
In this arena, all the executives of Solonik, the company where the bodyguards will be selected, gather. They will decide who will be the person who will be trusted by the director.
But Stefan didn't see Lena in this place. Even though the person who gave Stefan this task and supported him to win was Lena.
Even so, Stefan will keep his promise. He will do his best to win this selection.
"Attention to all participants. You will be divided into 2 large groups. Each group will compete and the group that wins will continue the selection. The group that loses will be disqualified." The chief selector gave his instructions. "The 5 people who pass will continue to participate in the individual selection. The person who passes the selection will fill the position of the director's bodyguard. Do you understand?"
All the participants answered in unison that they understood.
"During the selection process, no questions can be asked by the participants because the participants are deemed to have understood the rules that have been explained."
The division of participants began. In Stefan's team, there were 2 men and 3 women. In the second team, there were 3 men and 2 women.
"This isn't fair, we're getting a weak team," a man from Stefan's team protested.
"You can't judge someone's ability just because they're the opposite gender as you," Stefan argued.
They began to get ready. Participants were directed to climb a bridge that wasn't fully assembled.
The first challenge each group had to face was to move 10 sacks of sand that weighed 100 kg each while building a wooden bridge in front of them. The fastest group to move all 10 sandbags to the other side would win.
The weight of the sand was not a problem, but building the bridge was, as the number of wooden planks if arranged wouldn't be enough to fill one bridge. So the participants had to relay the construction of the bridge so they could reach the other side.
Stefan's team began to divide the tasks. The two women on the team were able to lift the sand in sacks while Stefan built the bridge with one woman and their male counterparts waited on the other side to catch the incoming sand.
"All teams, the game will begin in a countdown to one, two, three, start!"
Stefan started building the bridge quickly so his sand-carrying team member could move quickly too. In addition to speed, the skills required are accuracy and precision.
Each wooden block had to fill the designated gap so that it wouldn't sway so the sand transfer went smoothly.
It turned out that the opposing team was the first to arrive. Even so, Stefan's team didn't give up. They changed their strategy by changing the tasks of each player every time they successfully carried one sandbag to the other side. That way all the players didn't feel exhausted until the end.
The results proved effective as Stefan's team won the first challenge.
The losing team was removed from the arena and Stefan's team was gathered in the center of the arena.
Now Stefan could see the faces of the leaders present. They were all unfamiliar faces to Stefan.
"Congratulations to the participants who passed the group selection. Now, you will take part in the individual selection. Each of you must run to a box 100 meters in front of you. You are free to choose. But of the five boxes provided, there are only two boxes containing weapons. The fastest person who gets the weapon has the right to defeat the other participants by using the weapon."
The chief selector didn't tell them what weapons were provided. And that worried Stefan. Stefan thought about the worst that could happen.
"Ready, one, two, three, go!"
Stefan's ring glowed and it made his running speed increase. Stefan could overtake all the participants easily. And Stefan's choice fell on box number 3.
When Stefan opened the box, he was surprised to see a gun.
Stefan held the gun in confusion. Not only because it was his first time holding a gun, but also because he was trying to understand the instructions given by the chief selector.
Stefan was to defeat the other participants with his weapon. With a gun?
The next weapon was found by a male member of Stefan's team. He got his hands on a long-barreled rifle.
Without thinking about anything else, the man shot the other participants in the head until they fell.
"Hey! What are you doing? Why did you kill them?" Stefan pointed the gun at the man.
This was the first time Stefan had ever seen people killed in front of him, especially in such a cruel way.
That left one woman from the team who was terrified and now stood between Stefan and the man.
"Why are you asking? I'm doing my job, to defeat my opponent." Unexpectedly, the man shot the other participants who were without weapons.
Honestly, Stefan's hand trembled holding the gun that was currently his weapon. Stefan didn't think this selection would lead to murder like this. Stefan had never hurt anyone or killed anyone.
"Now you're the only one left."
"You can beat them without killing them!" Stefan snapped. "At least you can shoot them in the leg or hand."
"But they could still have a chance to kill me. So, to win this selection, I must kill all the remaining participants." The man pointed his long-barreled rifle at Stefan.
Stefan tightened his grip on the gun. There was no choice left for him. Stefan had to kill or he would be killed.
Bang!