"Yea... Yea, let’s just start..." he muttered under his breath, eyes scanning the now still space. "Everyone beside me got picked."

After the last of the noise settled and the arena dipped into that strange, waiting silence, the announcer moved again.

She didn’t raise her voice this time— didn’t need to. A simple flick of her fingers was enough. The sound was soft, almost nothing, but the effect wasn’t. Behind her, a massive wheel formed out of thin air, spinning slowly as it came into view, its surface divided into clean, glowing sections— green, blue, red, yellow, purple, white, black... and pink.

The colors rotated steadily, casting faint light across the area, like the arena itself had been pulled into whatever this next step was.

"Now..." she said, voice slipping back into that bright, playful tone, "AGAIN! once again— without further ado... let’s choose a team."

That—

That didn’t land well... ohmygod... *slap my forehead*

The reaction came instantly, not loud at first, but sharp, confused, building fast as people tried to process what she just said. Heads turned, voices rose, frustration slipping through the cracks of whatever composure they still had left.

"Huh? What do you mean choose a team?" someone snapped, stepping forward slightly like that would somehow get a clearer answer.

"Yeah— what team? Since when was that part of this?" another added, louder this time, hands spreading in disbelief.

"Wasn’t the bidding enough already? And we already have a team. What is this now?" a third voice cut in, irritation clear as he glanced around like someone else might have understood it better.

"Do we even get a say in this?" someone else asked, more tense than angry, like the question mattered more than the answer.

"JUST KISS ME!! ???" another voice followed immediately...? "IDC ABOUT THEM! JUST PUNISH ME! MOMMY!"

Head turned toward the guy, but... yea let’s go back to that later.

"Wait, wait— are the teams random? Or are we stuck with who we came in with?" someone near the back called out, trying to make sense of it before it got worse.

"Oi— don’t tell me this is another one of those ’survive together or die together’ things... cus I’m already fine with my team, we don’t need another team." one muttered under his breath, but loud enough for others nearby to hear.

The noise stacked, layered, overlapping into a mess of questions that didn’t slow down, each one sharper than the last, like everyone had finally hit the point where confusion turned into irritation.

And above all that—

The announcer sighed.

Not annoyed.

Just... tired.

She tilted her head slightly, a small, almost playful motion as she rested a finger near her cheek. "Tehe... sorry," she said lightly, like the reaction didn’t bother her at all. "I was kinda lazy to explain earlier... but fine."

Her gaze dropped down toward them again, that same look settling back in— half amused, half uninterested.

"Well, in this roleplay, you need teams... another team... omfg." she continued, waving a hand vaguely toward the arena like that was explanation enough. "That’s just how it works. For some reason."

She paused.

Then frowned slightly.

"Each team gets assigned to a different type of place... like... eras... or settings..." she added, slowing down mid sentence, her expression shifting into something that looked dangerously close to confusion.

"Wait."

A beat.

"Aghhh— ugh, this is actually harder to explain than I thought!" she blurted suddenly, grabbing her head lightly with one hand. "Why is this so annoying?!"

Without warning, she flicked her fingers again.

Another wheel appeared beside the first.

Bigger.

Heavier.

And this time—

Everyone recognized it.

Even before it slowed down, before the words fully settled into place, there was already a quiet tension spreading through the crowd. Because they had seen this before. Hours ago. Enough to understand what it meant.

The wheel spun once... twice... then began to slow.

And one by one—

The options revealed themselves.

1, Protect a village from monsters.

2, Serve as royal guards in a corrupt kingdom.

3, Survive as test subjects in a lab.

4, Run a circus while something is hunting you.

5, Normal fantasy school life... where someone in your class possesses the power of regression.

The last one lingered just a second longer than the rest before the wheel stopped completely.

"There," the announcer said, clapping her hands once like she’d just solved something complicated. "See? It’s like that."

"We still don’t understand!!!!" Someone shouted.

She sighs, then pointed lazily between the two wheels.

"There’s eight teams, right? And then... there’s gonna be... teams again... and... um..." she paused, eyes drifting upward like she was trying to catch the word midair.

"Ah— alliances! That’s it!" she said, brightening instantly. "Allied teams!"

She nodded to herself, clearly satisfied.

"So yeah, we’ll just assign those too."

"..."

Silence.

Not the quiet kind.

The kind where everyone is processing at the same time— and none of it makes sense.

Si Hon didn’t say anything.

Didn’t need to.

Because somewhere in the crowd, someone else already did.

"The hell?" a voice muttered flatly. "How did this girl even get her job...?"

The bunny announcer’s smile held for a second longer than it should have— then her eye twitched.

Just once.

That was enough.

"Right," she muttered under her breath, the shouting slipping a little as she lifted her hand again. No more explaining, no more fixing her own words— just action.

With a lazy flick of her fingers, the wheels behind her spun once, then snapped into place.

"Teams are assigned."

No buildup.

No warning.

"Yellow and Red— Team One. Black and Purple— Team Two. White and... Purple— Team Three— ugh, whatever, it’s fine," she rushed through it like she didn’t even care if it made sense anymore. Then her eyes dropped again, scanning the arena briefly before she pointed without hesitation.

"snd Pink and Blue— Team Four."

***

Quick note from AUTHOR; thank you for still supporting me even though I’ve been... Being lazy... Or depressed? Idk.... But I thank you with all my heart. You too strongblood, thank you so much.