The first question was for only 100 dollars, and it was probably the easiest question of the game.
[Which of these mythical creatures breathe fire?]
It was a question that most people in the world would know of. The choices were Unicorn, Dragon, Centaur and Griffin.
Aiden already knew the answer without relying on the choices.
"Dragon."
He said, and the answer was locked, and as everyone expected, it was the right answer.
But there was hardly any excitement in the air. The first few questions were supposed to be really easy, and most people could answer them.
The game moved on as Aiden correctly answered the second and third questions. Wade and Tom were relieved seeing him easily handling the game.
It was only on the question of 1000 dollars that Aiden's streak stopped as he didn't know the right answer.
'Um, this is a difficult one.'
He thought, looking at the question.
[For over 50 years, what treat was traditionally included in packs of baseball trading cards?]
Aiden didn't watch baseball, so he had no clue about it. The options also didn't incite any hope.
Chocolate wafer, Gummy bear, Mint stick, Bubblegum — These were the four options, and Aiden was smart enough not to make a wild guess.
"Are you going to use a lifeline? The timer is ticking."
Nicolas said, glancing at the timer, which was on 35 seconds. Aiden didn't have a lot of time, and the expression on his face was clear enough for Nicolas to know that he didn't know the answer.
But Aiden shook his head.
"No, I think I will try on my own."
Using lifelines was something that was of no use to him because he had a bigger lifeline in his system. Deciding that it was the moment to test up the Luck coupons, he opened his system and used one of them.
A golden light flashed upon him, but Nicolas had no idea. No one in the studio could see it other than Aiden, who suddenly felt a bit giddy, but it soon died down.
Another type of sensation took over him. This time, it was a good sensation, making him feel like he could do anything.
"Only 15 seconds are left."
Nicolas brought him back to the question in front of him, and Aiden quickly went with his instincts and made a guess.
"D. Bubblegum."
"Are you sure? Should I lock it?" Nicolas asked to confirm, and Aiden nodded his head.
In the crowd, Wade looked visibly nervous, and Tom was already biting on his nails, anticipating Nicolas' response.
"You have selected Option D and it's… correct."
Nicolas said, and on the computer screen, the option became green, signalling that it was indeed the correct one.
Aiden took a sigh of relief.
'I could rely on it.'
He thought in his mind and became more confident about the game. They quickly moved on to the next questions after that, and Aiden kept making blind guesses.
[A parasol is a lightweight form of what accessory?]
[Seaweed is a form of what?]
[Which is known as the oldest religion in the world?]
To Nicolas and everyone's surprise, Aiden answered them all correctly and without wasting any time. It was like he already knew the answer to every question.
His atmosphere was completely different than before, and he seemed unstoppable suddenly.
He answered every question really quickly and soon, he had passed the second milestone of 50k dollars and was at the question of 100k.
It should be noted that this was the last part of the game. After 100k, there were only 250k, 500k and 1 million, but as it was the tensest part, most people would lose.
"What happened to Aiden suddenly?"
Sitting in the crowd, Wade couldn't help but ask that of Tom, who had a wide smile on his face.
"I don't know. Maybe my general knowledge books helped. He's dominating the game till now and hasn't used up any lifelines. That's the big part."
"Yeah. Like this, he could easily end up with 250k or 500k even if he uses all his lifelines."
"No, I think he wants to go for the million dollars."
Wade didn't say anything to that and just focused on the stage where Nicolas was explaining the last part to Aiden and how the time limit won't be present in it, so he could take as much time as possible.
"A lot of people would fail at this part as it gets pretty tense. How about you? Do you feel nervous?"
Nicolas asked, trying to make small talk to keep the audience engaged. The personality of the contestant and chemistry with the host was also a part of the show.
"Not a lot. It's good to know that I would earn 50k thousand dollars even if I failed from here."
"Having all your lifelines would also give you a sense of relief."
"Yes, I'm happy that I have that."
Aiden smiled, thinking to himself that the Lucky coupon was working very well. Only 30 minutes have passed since he had used it, so he could very well end up at a million dollars.
"Now, the question for 100k dollars on your screen."
[In 1911, what did explorer Hiram Bingham discover between two peaks in the Andes mountain?]
It was another question that Aiden had no idea about, but like always, he went for a blind slog.
"A. City of Machu Picchu."
Nicolas was a bit surprised by his swift answer. He thought that Aden was in a hurry due to the time limit, but even without it, he had answered 10 seconds after the question had come on his screen.
'Is he just guessing? No, the expression on his face is one of confidence. He probably read about it.'
He thought in his mind before asking.
"Are you sure? You can take your time if you want?"
"No, I'm confident. It's option A."
Nicolas wasn't able to say anything back to that confident tone and locked the answer.
On the seats where the celebrities were sitting, Rake couldn't help but mutter to himself.
"He's too proud. I'm pretty sure that's the wrong answer. He didn't even take time to think before answering."
Other celebrities were thinking at the same time. In their view, Aiden seemed like a proud guy who was sure that his answer wouldn't be wrong.
These types of people would often lose in the end.
But nothing like that happened.
"That's the correct answer!"
As soon as Nicolas said, wild applause rang out as people stared at Aiden. All of them were impressed with Aiden and had the same thought in their minds.
'He probably read about it, so he knew straight away.'
It was a logical conclusion that they drew.
But on the next question for 250k, the same thing happened.
Nicolas asked the question, and without even wasting a second, Aiden gave out his answer. The host was baffled, but he still locked it, and it turned out to be the correct answer.
A commotion went up when that happened.
"How's he doing it? He's now at 500k."
"All the lifelines are still there. Damn, is he too smart, or he already knows which questions would be asked? Don't tell me they are manipulating it?"
"There's no reason to. There are other celebrities in the show. If they favour someone too much, they won't like it. Moreover, the program team is smart enough not to kill their own show."
"Yeah, the audience would be on their backs with knives if there's really cheating involved."
"Aiden is too smart."
The audience members talked like that while their gazes kept fixed on Aiden. The celebrities were already shocked to the core and had lost their ability to even say anything.
Especially Rake.
No one had expected something like that.
Behind the stage, the writers, crew members and producers were also present. The producer with the bushy beard was talking with an assistant with a perplexed expression on his face.
"Did you check if everything is good? There's no malfunction, right? Don't tell me the computer is correcting any answers?"
"No, they all are correct. He's answering them right, and you know better that there's no cheating involved."
The assistant quickly said, and the producer looked at Aiden on the stage before muttering.
"Then, how's he doing it?"
One of the staff members who was standing nearby opened his mouth at that time.
"Sir, Aiden is very smart. He's a musician, actor and a novelist — A man with so many talents would obviously be smart."
"Yeah, but he's answering too quickly. That's what is baffling everyone."
Another staff member said, and the producer clicked his tongue.
"Let's see if he could do the same for the 500k dollars question."
Their gazes moved back to the stage, where Nicolas swept off the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief before continuing the game.
He had gotten too nervous watching Aiden.
The question for 500k came on the screen.
[When three celestial bodies form a straight line, what is it called?]
It was a question related to space, and most of the audience had no idea about it. Most of the options were words they were seeing first time in their lives.
Some people in the audience wanted to just request Aiden to take his time as he was too high to answer so fast, but he didn't listen.
He again wildly guessed the answer in a second.
"B. Syzygy."
Sighing, Nicolas locked it and then, in the next second, the option turned green.
A wild cheer rang out.
Everyone was stunned. The audience, Wade, Tom, the other celebrities, producers and crew — It had been a complete wild ride.
Aiden had made his way through a million dollars and was on the verge of making history.
This was simply unprecedented!
….
