Chapter 452 – Follow Them To Find Me
All participants moved to different tests at the start of the game. Max went to the Gua Culinary School first because it looked pretty close to run to from the hotel.
However, the two other couples knew they could take a car. And the closest location to reach using the car was the two tests in nearby buildings. Each took a different test not to meet each other, and they finished at the same time to finish the other test.
Due to the test's difficulty, they only managed to finish 1 test, unlike Max who got lucky to get two easy tests, the first was a nightmare while the second was something he was skilled at.
As a result, Max and Lily finished two tests and reached the third location in just an hour. And there, he met the couple who was just about to take the same test.
"Oh."
"Ah…"
Max and the blue-haired boy let out a surprised voice when they met each other. They nodded and entered the building together.
Lily waved her hand at Queeny while the girl averted her gaze. She couldn't act as if she hated Lily anymore after her drunk outburst last night.
"So…" Max initiated a conversation as they walked to the test area by following the arrow set by the staff inside the building, "Did you get any key yet?"
"One, from the other building." June answered with a laugh, "How about you? Is the test from where you came from hard?"
Sighing, Max replied, "One of them was, the other one was easy for us."
"Un, he vomited from the first test. And he finished the second test without a problem."
June and Queeny looked at Max. Their gazes said it all.
"Yeah, I know it's funny." Max said, shrugging his shoulders.
However, that wasn't what the couple was thinking. They looked at each other and whispered.
"Hey, is the first test that hard? J-June, do you think we can skip it?"
"I think we should. The second sounds easy, though. What should we do?"
"We will do both! But… Which tests did they take?"
"Should we ask?" June proposed as he looked at where Max was.
But when he looked back, Max was already gone somewhere with Lily. Both of them were left alone, and Queeny blinked.
"What the?! Why were we even whispering!" She complained.
On the second floor, Max could hear the scream and sigh. He made the correct decision leaving them there.
"Are they okay?" Lily asked worriedly and innocently, forgetting that the other couple was essentially their enemy right now.
"They would be fine. I mean, they are adults and can make their own decisions."
"Ah, un. That's right." Lily nodded. Then, she looked around at the somehow white space on the second floor. "What should we do here?"
"Hmm…" Max hummed and looked around.
There was no tester in sight. And there was nothing, no more than an empty room with white wall. Only at one spot was it filled with colors.
Max looked at the wall closely. He felt like this was the clue to the test. He narrowed his eyes to observe it closely.
Paint buckets could be seen. They were actually lying around with colors spilling out of them. Were they asked to paint the room? That was impossible, right?
But, his question was answered by a ding of a screen. A screen, large enough for both Max and Lily to see, appeared.
"Find me?" Lily repeated the words written on it outloud and tilted her head in confusion. "Find who?"
"Find me?" Max was also confused.
At that moment, the couple they left behind arrived. Queeny wanted to burst into anger, but then she saw the screen and sighed.
"Again?" Her shoulder slumped down.
Max looked at her, who apparently knew this test, and smiled.
"Mind sharing what you mean by again?"
He hoped the other couple would be as innocent as Lily or a natural airhead like Airi. But that was just his hope
Queeny looked at him and averted her gaze.
"As if we would tell our competitor about it. Find it yourself." She said and took June's hand. "Let's go. We will LEAVE them here now."
Apparently, she didn't like being left behind. June laughed bitterly as he was dragged away.
Looking at them, Max nodded at Lily and followed them.
The idol girl noticed it after a few seconds and stopped. She looked back and pointed at Max and Lily.
"Why are you following us?"
"Why? Even if you say that… Our goal is the same, and you seem to know something. That's why we follow you."
"Un." Lily nodded, "No rules said we can't follow the other couple."
Indeed, there was no rule not to follow the competitor when they clearly knew something. All was fair in this game. As long as it was within the boundaries, that was.
Queeny groaned. She had no way to retort to that. She only had one way to stop them.
"Then just follow us. We will stay here until the end of the game!"
"It's okay. Lily can stay here with you while I move around to find the game. We also have 2 keys already, so we can gamble them at the end of the line." Max's smile widened as he looked at Lily. "You don't mind, right?"
"Un, I can talk to Queeny about singing so I don't mind."
"Alright, I'll leave Lily in your care." He said and waved his hand.
But before he left, Queeny groaned and shouted.
"Aaah! So frustrating! Let's just go together!"
Hearing that, Max smirked.
'As planned.'
June only smiled from the start. He seemed to notice Max's plan but didn't say anything.
In the end, the four of them moved together. Max used this chance to ask about 'Find Me' identity. The answer was as expected and not surprising at all. Stay updated through empire
"It's the key." Queeny answered shortly, still in the bad mood after being played earlier.
"I see." That wasn't too surprising. "And the other building has the same quiz?"
"Yes." June nodded, he finally spoke. "It took us an hour because we didn't know what we should find. Only when we stumble upon a note and three keys that we understand."
That was indeed something that could make one go mad. The couple tried to find 'someone' while they actually had to find 'keys'. If Max had no clue about this, he would probably end up wasting time here too.
Looking around, Max tried to find this note and noticed something on the ceiling.
"Guys, is that the key?" He asked, pointing upward.
There were two keys hanging on a ceiling by the thread. And plastered on the ceiling was a note with 'you found me' written.
"That's indeed the key." June nodded. "How easy. The key we found on the other building was hidden pretty well and not in an open space like this.
"Hey, June! Don't say anything more than that!" Queeny stopped him from disclosing it any further.
Realizing his mistake, June shut his mouth and looked at Max.
"No worries." Max waved his hand. They could find the key in the other building alone later. Cheating wasn't fun at all. "We will find it ourselves, but…
There was still one problem.
"How could we get those keys?"
The ceiling was 5 meters high. Even if Max jumped with all his strength, he wouldn't be able to grab the key.
At that moment, Lily, who had been quiet since earlier, spoke up.
"You can throw me… Gymnastic style."Nôv(el)B\\jnn
Everyone's attention was focused on her at once. June and Queeny couldn't believe what they heard while Max nodded firmly.
"That's a good idea."
This time, the other couple looked at Max.
'Are they crazy?' Queeny thought.