9.3 Old ways
Asura finally had a point. A step closer towards winning. But he can't let his guard down, just one loss and it will be all over. But somehow I feel that he has a chance. He was completely clueless a week ago, when did he…
"Question number four
In a typical dicotyledonous embryo, the cylindrical portion below the level of cotyledons is _______ that terminates at its lower end in the_______" Qmaster read out a botany question.
"The hard work you are so proud of, did you do it of your own free will?" Asura asked Reyana in between the Qmaster reading out the question.
Reyana was startled by his question, "W...what are you talking about?"
What is he thinking, talking in between the quiz? Even though there's no rule about it, shouldn't he be listening to the question?
"Option number one - Epicotyl, plumule
Option number two - Epicotyl, radicle
Option number three - Hypocotyl, radicle
Option number four - Hypocotyl, plumule "
Bang!
Once again it was Asura! He didn't even wait for a second after the Qmaster finished reading out the options. Solving questions fast is one thing but how can he be so confident? To have this much confidence, one must have read everything a dozen times.
Reyana tapped a few seconds later.
The Qmaster first pointed at Asura, "Go"
'.....'
Asura didn't answer. He was seated quietly on his seat. A few seconds passed. The canteen was silent waiting for Asura to answer.
Does he not know the answer? False tapping to get time is a violation. If he doesn't answer soon, he will lose.
Reyana anxiously tapped her feet on the ground, "Hey what are you doing? He isn't answering, meaning he false tapped, which is clearly against the rules." Reyana shouted at Qmaster.
Asura seemed to have frozen. Sweat ran down his expressionless face.
"Due to the violation…"
"O..option three" Asura answered interrupting the Qmaster.
Qmaster stopped and looked at Asura.
' …. '
"That's the correct answer." Said the Qmaster.
The audience had been silent till now because of the tension and the one-sided match. But now seeing Asura turn the tables, they couldn't help but cheer for him.
"That doesn't count! He cheated," Reyana stood up from her chair. "That was clearly a false tap he used to buy time. End the match this instant. I won!" Reyana shouted at the Qmaster.
"Hey Hey Hey. What are you getting so worked up for? I was just teasing you a little, I think I went a little too far this time. But the brighter side is that it seems to be getting to you. Why rush to end this fun quiz, right? There's still a question left. Or now that you have seen my speed, you are scared?" I have never seen Asura talk so much. It seemed out of his usual calm and cold character.
"You are nothing but a con artist. Tricking and resorting to cheap tactics." She glared back at him but averted her gaze quickly.
"Okay. Let me make up to you for teasing you." Asura turned to the Qmaster, "Quizmaster, can you make the next question from physics."
From physics!? Abed was defeated a minute ago by her with overwhelming speed. What is he thinking?
"One more thing..." Asura glanced at Abed and once again shifted his intimidating gaze at Reyana, "...make sure you pick it from the advanced section."
"What!? That's the same thing Reyana did to you," I said to Abed. Is he planning on defeating her in the same way she defeated Abed? That's ridiculous.
"Asura, you don't have to do this for me," Abed spoke up.
"Don't worry, I won't lose," Asura said, assuring Abed.
Other questions were one thing but an advanced section question and that too of physics is no joke.
"Abed you know how hard those questions are, right? Even you have trouble solving those questions. Reyana just proved that she can solve those questions."
"Let's put our faith in him. That's all we can do." Abed had decided to trust Asura. But I couldn't understand what Asura was thinking.
Reyana's face had shrunken sour, realising now that she was on the other side of the table. The Qmaster turned to Reyana. She didn't say or deny anything. It was the same circumstance when Reyana had put forward the exact proposal and Abed couldn't deny it.
The gossip among the crowd fired up. "This is just like a movie. The main character is taking revenge for his friend."
"I thought that guy was just a big talker when he talked about cracking the exam on the first attempt on the first day."
The host flipped to the advanced section.
"This question will be the same as the rest, which means I will be the first to tap. I can even guarantee that I can solve it in ten seconds!" Asura made a bold declaration.
"Ten seconds? That's impossible." I exclaimed.
"You are delusional! Even I can't solve it that fast. There's no way you or anyone can solve an advanced question in such a short time." Reyana rebuked.
"The one who is delusional here is you. You might score good marks and defeat a student or two. But at the top, you will find people whom you can never defeat no matter how much you work hard and I am one of them. I will win because I am simply superior to you." Asura once again took the same stance as before with his hand just above the table.
"You…" she scowled at him but one could easily see the nervousness in her eyes.
"Question number five" Qmaster started reading out the last question.
"A man of mass 60 kg is standing on a massless plank and holding a string passing over a system of ideal pulleys. A mass of 10 kg hanging over a light pulley such that the system is in equilibrium. The force exerted by the plank on the man is (g = acceleration due to gravity)" after reading out the question the Qmaster showed them the illustration of the question.
""Option number one - Twenty g
Option number two - Forty g
Option number three - Forty-Five g
Option number four - Sixty g"
Asura immediately began solving the questions. While Reyana sat still in her seat. Her eyes were staring nervously at something. Her gaze seemed to be fixed on his hand. She shook her head and began solving the question.
One… Two… Three…
Asura didn't tap immediately for the first time. Is he serious about solving the advanced question in ten seconds? I had no idea how to approach this question. It was similar to the question Mr. Piyush had asked Abed. Physics is not my strong point. Asura, who had no idea about where to start just a week ago, was solving an advanced level question in front of me. When did he get so ahead of me?
Four… Five… Six…
Reyana would occasionally raise her head to look at Asura's hand hanging over the table.
Seven… Eight… Nine…
Asura's pen ran fast through the pages making a rough sound. He had his face close to the paper completely focused on solving. Reyana's attention shifted from her wristwatch to solving the question to Asura's hand. She was in a total panic.
Soon ten seconds were going to be over. Asura could tap any moment now. There was complete silence in the class. One could feel the tension in the air as the seconds slowly passed by. It felt like time had slowed down.
Ten…
Reyana stopped writing and looked up. She had already accepted her defeat. The difficulty of the question and the pressure of the time restraint put on her by Asura was too much for her.
Eleven… Twelve… Thirteen…
' …. '
Ten seconds had passed by. But Asura didn't stop solving. He even withdrew his left that was suspended over the table.
"What's going on? Is he having trouble? He said that he would solve it in 10 seconds. Wait… Did he..?"
"YOOUUU LIARRRR!!" Reyana bolted up from her seat. She walked up to the Qmaster and grabbed him by his collar, "He lied! This whole match is bogus. You have to end the match. I win" She spat at him.
"He didn't violate any of the rules. He simply lied." The Qmaster reasoned.
"Aahhhh. Damn it!" She grabbed her hair with both her hands and pulled it in frustration. This quiz had turned somewhat into a horror show. She suddenly stopped and rushed back to her seat. She picked up her pen and began solving the question.
Once again, both of them got immersed in solving the question. More than a minute had passed. The audience was completely silent. I subconsciously held my breath because it felt like even the sound of breathing would disturb their focus.
Asura stood up and hit the table hard with his right hand.
"Option two Forty g"
"Option two is the…
' … '
...RIGHT ANSWER!"
The audience burst into cheering.
"He did it. He defeated Reyana." Abed said heartily.
"I told you, I would win," Asura said as he walked towards us.
"Thank you, Asura," Abed said gratefully.
"I was just returning the favour and I had fun playing the quiz, so you don't have to thank me."
"I told you quizzes are fun to play, but I don't think I would call your quiz fun."
Reyana was still sitting on her chair. Her face had turned blood red with anger. She pressed the nib of her pen so hard that it broke.
"Aahhhhhhhh. You cheating demon!!" She picked up her paper and tore it into tiny pieces. She stood up kicking the table and started walking towards us.
"Oh god. She is coming towards us." I hid behind Asura. No one could tell what she would do.
"You are different." She said in her ghastly voice, but she seemed to have calmed down a little.
Asura didn't reply.
"I don't know how you did it but every time I looked into your eyes I felt fear which made me vulnerable. But this won't work the next time and then you and your friends won't be smiling anymore."
She straightened her skirt, rearranged her hair that was messed up when she went on an outrage. Pressed the tip of her nose and pinched her cheeks giving her an artificial blush.
"See you guys." She said in a cute feminine voice. It only took a few seconds for her to completely change from her frightening character to the previously cute girl!
She turned to Abed, "Till next time, Abed." She waved at him with a smile on her face as she started to walk away.
"How fast can she change her personality?"
"I think she is cute." Said Abed. Cute? Did he just call her cute?
"Whaatt!?" I exclaimed, "How can anyone find her cute? She is a demon hiding in a cute girl's body."
"I wouldn't go that far to call her a demon."
"What are you talking about? She humiliated you in front of everyone. She even said that she hates you the most and when she grabbed your head by your hair, you were trembling and sweating with fear."
"I wasn't scared or afraid of her because I lost or what she said. I… " Abed paused for a second. His face once again started turning red. Is he suffering from PTSD? Just thinking about it must be arduous for him.
"I… I was scared of her… be.. because.." Abed stammered as he tried to speak. I have never seen Abed talk like this. The incident must have traumatised him.
"Cause.. I li.. like her."
"Yeah, anyone would hate her if someone did something like…"
"What!?"
"What!?"
Even Asura, who was calmly listening to our conversation, was surprised.
"You like her?" Is he tripping or did she cast a curse on him or something? There's no way he is serious.
"Yes," Abed replied sheepishly. He didn't seem to be joking about it. He has done it. He has surpassed all of my expectations in being a weirdo.
"So the last quiz was for nothing. You were enjoying it weren't you loli connoisseur. I thought you were only weird when it comes to physics, but now I am sure that you are completely messed up in the head." Abed didn't reply and quietly gazed at Reyana as she walked out of the canteen.
"I guess all intelligent people are weird," I turned to Asura and threw a punch at him, but he caught it.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"When did you get so good at solving questions or were you just hiding it from us, you bastard?"
"I am still not good with solving questions and I have nothing to hide." He replied flatly.
Not good with solving questions? He just defeated Reyana who defeated Abed. He is standing at the top of our class right now.
"Then how did you defeat Reyana?" I asked him in curiosity.
"I bluffed."
"You bluffed!?"
"You bluffed!?"