Wages Of Sin

Kabanata 8

Kabanata 8

Sa harapan ng bawat pares ay may isang parang digital na screen. Lahat ay napunta an atensyon sa amin, sa harapan. Muli akong napalingon sa paligid. Pairs had their face game on. Pati si Flint, seryosong nakikinig sa harap.

"So, this is an elimination round where we will show the problem in this screen in the front," turo ng emcee sa screen sa harapan. "And on your digital screens in front of you. And now, I will let Dr. Ferrous Valencia to say the remaining details of the game."

Muling nagsipalakpakan ang lahat ng tao. Everyone is cheering for him, even the guy beside me. He's seen like a superhero that saves the whole word from denomination. Ngumiti ito at ikinuyom ang kamao sa harap ng lahat, making them shut.

"Good evening, everyone," he said using those cold voice. "As you can see, we're now here to witness and explore every contestant's mind and to test their mental endurance and cleverness."

Bago siya muling magsalita'y may ibinigay sa kaniyang papel ang isa sa mga staff. He mouthed thank you before he read the paper. Then he faces us once again.

"Once the riddles and problems are showed, you will be given a limited time, which is from 30 to 15 seconds, to answer those," he declared. "Finish or unfinished, the computer will automatically checked your answers. Once your answers are wrong, kailangan niyo nang umalis sa kinatatayuan niyo within 5 seconds, or else you will going to fall..."

"Mafafall talaga kami sayo Fafa Ferrous!" someone from the crowd shouted. Napangiwi ako. Everyone chuckled including Dr. Valencia.

"Nope, ibang fall ang ibig kong sabihin," he said. "Good luck."

Ma biglang nagflash sa screen (by saying screen, lahat ng screen incuding sa harapan namin at screen sa front) namin ang countdown from 10. Sumabay ang mga tao sa pagbibilang until it reaches 0.

"Problem One," the screen flashed. I gulped.

"Why 6 kids and 2 dogs didn't get wet if they weren't under an umbrella?" Napamura ako nang makita iyon sa screen. After it is the time where we are given for about 30 seconds. Muli akong napamura.

"Parang tanga lang," Flint chuckled. He looked calm. Does this mean na alam na niya ang sagot?

"You know the answer?" I asked. He nodded. "Spill the beans."

15 seconds left.

"They didn't get wet even if they weren't under an umbrella," he said. "The question is, bakit hindi sila nabasa?"

Nanlaki ang mga mata ko nang mapagtanto ang sagot. "It didn't state that it rains. Even if there's an umbrella, it doesn't mean na umulan na!"

5 seconds.

"Don't shout the answer, the others might copy it," he said while smirking and typing the answer to the digital screen in front of us.

Biglang natahimik ang lahat nang mag-flash sa screen ang salitang "Time's Up." Maya-maya, naglflash sa screen ang sagot.

"It didn't rain."

Lahat ay nakahinga nang malalim. Halos lahat ay tama ang sagot. Wala yatang nabawas. Wow, does this means na matalino sila? Feeling ko tuloy, ang bobo ko. I won't found out the answer if Flint didn't give me any clue and letting me analyze it.

Dalawampung minuto. More or less, 20 minutes na nang magsimula ang unang problemang naibigay. Halos wala pa masyadong nababawas sa amin. Marami pa rin kami kagaya kanina. What's confusing is, bakit ganito? If I were Dr. Valencia, or the other staffs na gumawa ng questions, pipiliin ko ang mga mahihirap na tanong. But everything seems went well, or not.