Dumb Beauty & Genius

28. Stage two

Someone's knocking on the door.
" Yes ?" asked Anna after opening the door.

Anna is astonished, " Hiro ?"
" I'm here to bring you to the second stage."

" No, I can't.." said Anna, " I don't have any debts anymore."
Anna wants to close the door, but Hiro pulls the door.

" If you want to withdraw, you need to pay half of your winnings, in this case, five million."
" But this game isn't official !" complained Anna trying to close the door.

" Do you want to help other players ?" asked Hiro.
" Eh ?"

" Or do you want to see them ending up in debts ?" asked Hiro, " just to let you know, only you gave your winnings to your opponent in the first stage. The other players keep the money to themselves. Only two of them withdrew."

Anna looks at Hiro.
" But what if I get in debt ?"

" You can win with trust." said Hiro.

***

" The stage is divided into four places, north, south, west, east palaces. You're going to the north palace." said Hiro.
Anna nods.

" But the north palace and the west palace each lack a contestant. So, I invited Shane." said Hiro.
" Eh ?!" Anna glares at Hiro.

" I told him that you went there. And as we predicted, he really went there." said Hiro turning to Anna, " Only you can bring him there."

Hiro chuckles.
Anna frowns, ' I brought Shane into trouble again..'

***

Anna opens the door.
Anna looks at them.

Shane looks at Anna.
Anna smiles to him, " Mr. Shane !"

The screen shows their names :
1. Quinn
2. Wilfredo
3. Ernest
4. Rara
5. Teddy
6. Anna
7. Shane
8. Daniel

Anna looks at them one by one.
' Wilfredo, an old man. Ernest, a woman with short hair. Rara, a beautiful girl. Teddy, a man with glasses. Daniel, a man with curly hair. Quinn.. '

Anna stares at Quinn.
Quinn smiles, " Hi, Anna !"

Anna smiles back, " How are you ?"
" I'm fine."

Shane walks to Anna.
Quinn notices Shane and backs away.

" Um, sorry. I have other things to do. See you later, bye." said Quinn turning away.

Anna turns to Shane.
The screen shows something again.

" Everyone, please read the rules on the screen. I'm the this palace's dealer, 2-3, Chelsy."

The screen shows the title of the game.
Crow and Pigeon

Each player will choose between crow and pigeon.
The group with the most votes will win.

For example, Crow 5, Pigeon 3.
The contestants who chose Crow will win a million.

This voting will last for 20 rounds.
However, if all the people choose the crow, everyone will lose a million.

But if everyone chooses the pigeon, everyone will win a million.

They all smile passionately, especially Anna.
But suddenly the screen shows something again.

If 7 contestants choose the crow and only one person chooses the pigeon, then that person will get into a debt with the amount of ten million.