Chapter 69 - Would You Rather
After only a few minutes, the car gradually slowed down.
It continued going for a bit, even passing through an open metal gate.
Finally, it completely stopped.
’’This is it?’’ Owen muttered, confused.
Adrian stepped out of the car immediately, not even bothering to wait for his driver.
Theo and Owen looked at each other, before following his example.
As they stepped out, they paused, scanning their surroundings.
A large open patch of land lay in front of them, a singular runway at its center.
’’... I didn’t even know we had an airport,’’ Owen said, looking around with a frown.
’’Neither,’’ Theo muttered.
That’s when his eyes landed on a large, silver-colored jet.
Its engines were already warming up with a low but steady hum.
The closer he looked, the clearer the details became.
Engravings covered the surface of the entire aircraft, pulsing faintly with mana.
’Is that some kind of reinforcement?’ Theo thought, narrowing his eyes.
’’That’s insane,’’ Owen said under his breath, clearly amazed.
"How much do you think that thing costs?"
Theo raised his shoulders, shaking his head.
Whatever it was, he was sure the price was astronomical.
Just then, Adrian chuckled faintly behind them.
’’This?’’ he started. ’’This is nothing compared to what you’ll see at the university.’’
The two of them stared at him, completely silent.
’If this is nothing...’
Theo’s brows furrowed together.
’Just how wealthy will the other people be?’
But Adrian didn’t wait for them to think about it.
"Come on," he added, already walking forward. "We’re on a schedule."
Theo and Owen exchanged a brief glance before following after him.
The interior of the jet was just as clean as the outside, being quite spacious and filled with luxurious items.
Theo sat down first, shuffling to a window seat.
Owen followed quickly after, feeling way more at home than Theo.
A staff member approached them shortly after, offering both of them a glass of wine.
Adrian, however, was handed a can of beer.
’’Eh?’’ Owen let out, staring at him strangely.
’’What?’’ Adrian asked, narrowing his eyes.
He cracked open the can and took a long sip.
"...I just thought you’d go for something fancier," Owen said, scratching the back of his head.
Adrian scoffed lightly. "I prefer this."
He took another sip before dropping into his seat.
Theo didn’t comment, simply leaning back slightly as he stared at his glass.
It wasn’t as if he’d never had alcohol... but something as expensive and pure as this?
That was on another level.
’’Oh, right,’’ Adrian suddenly called out. ’’I should tell both of you what you’re getting into.’’
Theo snapped out of his thoughts, his head turning toward the middle-aged man.
’’The Pre-admissions aren’t just for show,’’ he continued. ’’You’ll be fighting other candidates to compete for the top spot.’’
Adrian drank down the rest of his beer, crushing the can in his hands right after.
’’Whoever holds that spot at the end,’’ he added, ’’will get a good reward.’’
That immediately caught both of their attention.
Owen especially turned to Adrian quickly.
’’A reward? Like what? Is it money or something good?"
Just as he was about to say something else, Adrian flicked the crushed can toward him.
It hit Owen head-on, knocking him back in his seat.
’’A diamond core spell from any element.’’
Theo’s fingers tightened slightly around his glass.
’’And... three S-rank resources of your choice.’’
Even Theo couldn’t remain quiet anymore.
"That’s a ridiculous reward,’’ he said.
Owen stopped rubbing the spot on his forehead, nodding along.
’’Yeah, that’s nuts,’’ he added.
Just a diamond core spell manual was already something incredibly rare.
Add three S-rank resources on top of that...
’That’s nearly a hundred million dollars worth of prizes.’
Theo couldn’t help but shake his head.
’I guess it has to be something like that though,’ he thought. ’Or those rich kids wouldn’t even bother showing up.’
Neither him nor Owen spoke up for a while after that.
After a few minutes, Theo leaned back slightly.
A transparent screen popped up in front of his eyes, displaying a set of cooldowns.
But there was only one he was focused on.
His expression narrowed faintly before glancing out the window.
Seeing the small buildings pass underneath them, he couldn’t help but get a bad feeling.
’’How long until we land?’’ he asked.
Adrian glanced up from his magazine.
"About three hours," he replied. "Why?"
Theo shook his head slightly, forcing a calm smile.
"Just asking."
He leaned back again, his gaze falling out of the window.
’Let’s hope I don’t get anything that’ll affect my surroundings this time.’
Time passed slowly.
At some point, Owen had even fallen asleep.
His snoring filled the cabin, loud enough to draw occasional glances from Adrian.
Theo, on the other hand, was used to it.
He was busy on his phone, browsing for apartments around Westridge.
’Why do all these prices have to be like five times as expensive?!’
His fingers raced across the screen, pulling up apartment after apartment.
Yet the down payment didn’t fall below twenty thousand for a single one of them.
’This is madness...’
Every now and then, his gaze fell on the cooldown.
The numbers kept ticking down, slowly approaching the target.
As they did, his heartbeat started to speed up.
’If something crazy destroys the jet, I’ll be dead.’
Not to mention, if even a single item popped up, Adrian would likely notice.
And there was no way to explain himself out of that one.
’I don’t need to worry yet,’ he told himself. ’I still have an hour to choose after the countdown has been hit.’
The final minutes slowly came in sight.
[Cooldown: 00:01:55.]
Theo exhaled, his grip tightening around the armrest.
[Cooldown: 00:00:46.]
[Cooldown: 00:00:22.]
[Cooldown: 00:00:01.]
Finally, a large window popped up in front of him.
A single sentence appeared first.
[Would you rather—]
Option 1: feel when someone is watching you.
Option 2: know when someone is lying.