In the history of 'The Million Dollar Game', there has never been a moment where a celebrity had earned a million dollars.
Only 3 times had a contestant won the grand prize, and every time that happened, people went crazy.
It was not like no one had reached 500k dollars before. More than a dozen people had, but only 3 of them actually became millionaires.
Just being in this position was something that most people couldn't deal with.
After all, it was too hard of a thing to do.
The pressure, the feeling where you didn't know if your answer was correct even if you thought it was, and the fear of losing out on 500k dollars if they actually went for the million dollars.
It took real courage to even attempt the question.
But unlike them, Aiden looked like he was on a vacation. A slight smile was on his face, his body was relaxed, and he was having a short conversation with Nicolas. People were stunned to see him like that.
He was going to attempt the million-dollar question, but the audience looked more nervous than him. Did he not feel the pressure? Or was he too confident?
Going by his style of playing till now, it was probably the second.
After all, he had passed every round like it was nothing. Only at the start had Aiden taken his time, but after getting used to it, he had given answers as soon as the question had come up.
His every little action reeked of confidence.
Moreover, he still had all the lifelines available to him. In the entire history of the game show, never had something like this happen before.
Aiden had already made history. Whether he would win the million dollars or not would be an entirely different thing, but just reaching this position with a reckless playing style was bound to make a few headlines.
"How do you feel? A lot of people just feel surreal when they are about to try out the million-dollar question."
Nicolas asked, very interested in knowing what was going through his mind. As Aiden looked too calm, it was hard to read his face.
"Well, I'm obviously nervous." At that remark, Nicolas always mouthed out that he didn't look like that. "A million dollars is a lot of money, so it feels like I'm on the verge of achieving something big. There's pressure because of that."
"I don't want to add up to the pressure, but if you are able to be successful in answering the last question, then you will be the first millionaire of our season, and all the money would go to a charity organisation, so you would be doing a massive thing."
A few people in the crowd clapped for that.
"Am I really a millionaire if I'm not getting the money?"
Aiden joked, and Nicolas laughed before becoming serious and looking at his computer screen.
"Jokes aside, let's go to the last question."
He said, and the audience tensed up. The atmosphere felt like it was pressing their hearts as the last question appeared on the screen.
[Which insect shorted out an early supercomputer and inspired the term 'Computer bug'?]
The options were Moth, Roach, Fly and Japanese beetle.
The people in the audience whispered as the question came up. Most of them obviously didn't know how that term had come up and about its origin.
A lot of them wondered whether Aiden knew it. Even if he didn't, they wanted him to think carefully about it and then think of an answer.
At least most of them expected him to do that.
"I'm ready with my answer."
When those words left his mouth, a lot of people in the audience made complex expressions. Nicolas sighed and shook his head like he was already expecting it.
Sitting in the audience stand, Wade wanted to run up to Aiden and just punch him a bit and tell him to take his time with the question. Not like they had a flight to catch.
Tom had his eyes and ears closed with his hand, not wanting to see this. He was sweating too much, even if the studio had AC.
"Are you sure?" Nicolas asked to confirm.
"Yeah, I'm. The answer is A. Moth."
"It's a million-dollar question. Don't you think you should put more time into it? You might miss the mark this time."
A couple of people in the audience nodded their heads hearing that.
"If I think too much, then I might start doubting the correct answer. Just lock it."
"Okay."
Nicolas had no choice and the answer was locked.
A second passed by and the atmosphere in the studio just got heavy. Nicolas finally opened his mouth and looked at Aiden.
"What made you select it as the answer? You could have taken your time. You have all the time in the world."
"I was just sure of it. Moth was the reason behind the term 'computer bug'."
"It could have been a roach."
Aiden's expression fell upon hearing that. Was the time in his Lucky coupon over, and he had actually given a wrong answer?
'No, there's still five minutes left.'
He thought and assured himself.
"It's not a roach for sure."
"Okay then." Nicolas took a deep breath. "If you have locked down a roach, then you would have lost out on a million dollars. Congratulations! Moth is the correct answer! You won!"
Golden petals were showered over it as Nicolas announced the result. Aiden stood up from his chair with a big smile on his face as Nicolas gave him a hug.
"Congrats."
He muttered, happy to get a million-dollar winner.
Both Tom and Wade hugged each other as Aiden won the million dollars. They weren't able to believe it.
Before the show, they had expected Aiden to win 250k at best if he was lucky. They had never expected him to get the highest prize — A whole million dollars.
Although it would go to charity, just having the capability was a big thing. Wade very well knew what this episode was going to do for Aiden's brand image.
"He actually did. I never knew he was so smart."
"He looked smart. Didn't you see him? He has that serene air around him, and he looked so cool, answering without any worries like he knew everything."
"It really seemed like he knows everything."
"He probably does."
"No, he doesn't know when I would lose my virginity."
"If that's a question on the show, then three options would be never, and the fourth one would be you dying young."
"I never knew celebrities could be this smart. I should get his autograph and follow him on social media."
"Shouldn't he be a scholar or something with this much knowledge?"
Audience members chatted among themselves like that as on the stage, Nicolas presented Aiden with the cheque of a million dollars. The camera zoomed on them as the host announced.
"All this money would be going to charity and this young man today has done something incredible, truly incredible for his age. Let's give him a round of applause."
Everyone cheered and clapped on that. Even the other celebrities did that and a few female ones were even getting a crush on him. No one hated a smart guy.
Even Rake had to admit that Aiden was simply unbelievable.
He was still wondering how Aiden had managed to do it. It almost seemed like a child's play from an audience's perspective.
On the other hand, Aiden was pretty happy.
'Lucky Coupon is great. It's really powerful.'
Every guess of his had become the correct answer.
He had checked the power of Lucky coupons, and he knew that the remaining one needed to be handled well and he could only use it in a major emergency.
***
On backstage, the producer with the bushy beard couldn't help but feel elated, seeing such a scene in front of him.
'The ratings are going to blow up.'
The ratings of the show had always gone up when a contestant had reached the million-dollar question and he instinctively knew that Aiden's playing style would be very popular among the audience.
He was even a celebrity, so the reception would be far more.
At the same time, this was also going to cause trouble as audiences would doubt and some would say that it's a scam. In the first, it happened with a few million-dollar winners.
As a celebrity, Aiden would be scrutinised way more.
So, the producer needed to prepare for a situation like this when the program aired on television.
"Damn, Aiden sure has a brain. I heard that Indians are smart but didn't know this."
"I think it's not because of race. He just doesn't look like a smart guy, or you won't expect something in showbiz to be knowledgeable. They are more likely to be cunning, so it comes as more shocking."
"Should I get Aiden on my show? It's a dating show, but he might be fit. A segment of smart guys."
"Hey, don't say that. I already decided to ask him to be a guest on my dance reality show."
"You all… at least ask him first. You don't even have his agent's number yet."
As the producer was thinking of ways to edit and market the episodes, the backstage had been filled with producers from different shows who were shooting in the vicinity and had heard the commotion about Aiden.
So, they came here.
One of them was Gary, the producer of X-Star, whose eyes couldn't help but shine seeing Aiden.
…
