Is there any way I can cheat?

Ashlyn bit the insides of her cheeks as she looked around herself. The candidates were led to a room inside the building, but it was a bit muggy in there. Contrasted to the number of people in there, the room was noticeably smaller. Everyone present in that room could smell each other's sweat; which was not exactly pleasant.

Nope, can't cheat. First of all, there's too much security for me to try something. Second of all, there's absolutely no space to move around.

Ash continued to try and think of something that could help her now. She silently swore at herself for not thinking about this earlier on.

Okay, plan A.

1. Duck every attack of them.
2. Make them tired, then attack.
3. Focus on staying alive.

Plan B.

1. Pretend to be dead or unconscious.

She made two plans hoping she would somehow sustain this round of immense torture. She glanced at the wrestling ring which was positioned at the centre of the room. There were two men— one a tiny bit shorter than the other. Anyone could tell they have undergone strict and heavy training; they were very muscular and buffed up.

At this point, they were not even being fair to the candidates; it was two against one. It's a test, they should've been fair to at least maintain their dignity. Two heavily trained men against one uninformed candidate; everyone was fuming and dubious, but they didn't have any choice.

No one has won until now. It hasn't been long since they stepped their foot in this room. Ash checked her watch; it had been 26 minutes on the dot. In 26 minutes, almost 300 of them lost. The highest record of staying in that ring was 5 seconds.

"Hey, you! Get in the line, you're next!" A guard shouted in hope of catching Ash's attention.

Nodding, she mushed her way through the crowd and stood at the very back of the line.

Did these creatures ever bathe? Why do they stink so bad?

She stopped herself from gagging at the smell of sweat before focusing on the view in front of her. The line wasn't that long; she only had four people in front of her. Through the jam-packed crowd in front of her, she stood on her tip-toes to see the ring clearly. Three more candidates to go before her; one already lost.

She immediately starts inspecting her soon-to-be attackers; their attacking pattern to be exact. The shorter of the duo seemed to be the one attacking; while the taller one was tackling the candidates. The tackling guy was good with his feet more than his arms; if someone tried to fight with their leg, he was moving faster and tackling their leg too. The attacking guy goes for the stomach and waist; the easiest spot to injure someone fast. He uses his fists more than his feet.

"Go up, it's your turn!" The same guard from before hurried Ashlyn to the ring.

Gulping, she tried to march forward confidently.

Of course, it didn't work, I just look awkward.

She shakes her thoughts as she saw the tackling guy marching forward. In the blink of an eye, she was caught up between his muscular arms, in a headlock position.

Damn it, Ash.

She started thinking fast as she saw the attacking guy coming closer to her. Before she could act, she received a vicious blow from the attacking man that was enough to send her to the ground, almost lifeless with her face facing down.

Should I go with plan B?

She lightly smirked as she closed her eyes, pretending to be unconscious.

Nah, time to move on to plan C, a mashup of A and B.

Right before the referee announced her as an out, she pulled a trick. Using her palms and elbows, she spun around in circles on the spot twice, before her legs reached the feet of the attacker's ones and she spun one last time, throwing him face down on the ground. Jumping back up, she smirked at the taller tackling guy. He was definitely taken aback, and he did a mistake by letting Ashlyn know that.

"What, are you gonna run away or something?" She mocked, her confidence getting back to her.

"You!" The man growled before launching himself towards her.

Remember, he's quick.

Ash evoked swiftly, as the guy was launching his attacks sloppily due to his shock. He launched his second punch as she moved away; dodging his punch. Her dodge resulted in the man losing his balance and falling down.

Damn, he looks pissed off.

The duo played the dodging game for a couple more minutes before it was clear that he was getting weaker. Getting closer to him, she did a karate chop on the side of his neck, momentarily blocking the blood flow from the carotid artery to the brain, making him unconscious. By then, the attacking guy was back up on his feet.

Ashlyn straightened her posture and smiled sweetly at him. With the same smile, she happily hopped to him like a five-year-old. By now, the audience watching the fighting trio— duo actually, the tackler was unconscious— on the ring was absolutely astonished and confused; but not more than the man himself of course.

The guy dropped his guard down due to the confusion surrounding his mind. Why is she smiling— was the only thought present in his mind. Ash took this chance to get behind him and put her head cutely on the shoulder of the man; before dropping her smile and striking a chop with her hand on his neck— making him unconscious too.

Every candidate inside the room started cheering, some even whistled for her. The guards were gaping at her, tongue-tied.

Guess I won.

ㅡx-x-x-x-x-xㅡ

The first test was put on hold for half an hour or so, as the wrestlers were still unconscious. After her small trick, she didn't make any friends; but definitely made some enemies. A group glared at her with their snake-like eyes, hostility seething through them.

Sighing, Ashlyn dragged her feet to a secluded area to avoid their scrutiny and sat right on the fresh green grass. It was a nice day, the sun wasn't too bright nor dull; it felt good, too bad she had to spend it like this.

Those men had strength, but they lacked brainpower. They had the tools but didn't know how to use them.

She mindlessly picked on her nails as she stared at the clouds from time to time. Speaking of brainpower, the next test has already commenced. But instead of some good information, she received the opposite, which threw her in a pit of confusion. Every candidate that went in for the second test, stated the same thing repeatedly.

"I gave the right answer, but I failed."

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A/N NOTE:

yEEhAwW fellas! We have been going to school for a few weeks now and ngl, I missed my school A LOT. Not that I ever went to my school for 'sTuDy pUrPoSeS'. I mostly went there to just get out of the house, meet my friends, talk with them and that's it. Our school has a lot of free space, so that's a plus too hehe.

Anyways, I will take a small hiatus from Wattpad and pause this fic for some time bc of my upcoming exms. Hopefully, I do well :')

Anyways, how are you doing? I need to know this on a daily basis becuz of educational purposes.

Do tell me :D

HAPPY READING!

To be continued...