God of Tricksters

In the stadium, Sheira watched how Theo cleared the first hurdle in an instant. She took another look at the screen, showing Theo's profile. "Oh! We have Theodore Griffith from Thersland destroying the first hurdle like it's nothing with his clone. I've been curious about the reason he brings two spears with him, but I guess the clone can help him fight. What do you think, Sir Diego?"

"Haha… I like the young man already." Diego laughed and said, "From what I can see, he is the leader of the group. Seeing a first-year student lead the group is possible but certainly uncommon. He has a great head, ability, and swift decision-making. I can see why Thersland entrusts the leader position to him. Unfortunately, he has one flaw."

"One flaw?" Sheira tilted her head in confusion. "From my perspective, he is good enough for me. It's already surprising to see someone solving the riddle in an instant without any data from the previous block."

"Indeed. It's good, but his head may come to bite him. He is overanalyzing everything." Diego shook his head helplessly. "I don't mean his ability is bad of course."

Sheira was still confused, but she decided to move on because Theo and his group had arrived at the second hurdle. "Moving on to the second hurdle, the team has to make a choice whether they want to get the bonus point or the overall point. I can see that Theodore has a great effort in analyzi—Wait!"

Diego smiled and nodded. "It seems you have noticed it as well. If we take another look at his decision, you can see he is someone who thinks everything through before making a decision. However, everything may not be as complex as he thought.

"If I were him, the moment I realized I could unlock the left door and the right door at the same time, I would have instructed someone to enter the right path while the rest go to the left path."

"Take a look at that, Sir Diego. He even has a rare ability. Teleportation is among the rarest skills we can have…" Sheira saw Theo's Blink and commented on it.

"Indeed. It's such a rare skill. And the more reason why I will send someone to the upper layer as soon as possible. He is like someone in our math class who uses so many complicated calculations to solve a problem. However, the true problem only requires one set of formulas… You use it and solve it correctly. I don't say this trait is bad. In fact, it's very good. Humanity can advance this far because there are people like that and we, the later generations, gradually simplify it. I admire such a talent."

"Ah!" Sheira was surprised when she saw Indonesia taking first place. "Look, Indonesia just used the tactic Sir Diego said and cleared the first layer with the maximum point!"

Diego only smiled and didn't say something people hated to hear, such as "I told you so". He simply encouraged Theo.

"I believe Theodore Griffith has a big future ahead of him. I wish him the best." Diego paused and continued, "I am happy that there are a few teams competing for the spot, putting us on edge to see who will actually win."

"Indeed."

…

Meanwhile, Theo and his teammate were facing a challenge inside.

The moment Alea heard his shout, she hurriedly followed the path as soon as possible.

"Come on! I need to do this." Alea clenched her teeth and ran at her full speed. Her heart felt a bit painful because she felt anxious, not wanting to disappoint Theo and her teammates.

She gasped for air as this short path felt like forever. Her hand reached to the front, hoping to reach the finish line as soon as possible.

When she saw the door, she almost stumbled to the ground.

Luckily, her training was very effective and her feet adjusted the position in an instant, allowing her to regain her balance.

She ran as quickly as possible and reached the door, throwing herself inside.

"Ha!" Her shout echoed as it was followed by another door opening next to her and four more people coming inside the room.

She then widened her eyes to take a look at this similar white room, finding four people inside. The screen in the middle of the room showed their score.

1. Indonesia (6 People) – 45 Points

2. Australia (6 people) – 35 Point

3. Thersland (6 People) – 25 Point

Those 25 points meant it was her point along with the second-place bonus point, she clutched her hand and shouted. "Yes!"

Indonesia and Australia teams furrowed their eyebrows, looking at her with a weird expression. They simply couldn't understand why this girl appeared exhausted like this. They thought she must have been too tired due to the run in the first hurdle and felt desperate after leaving her teammates behind.

However, that "Yes" didn't come for her alone. Theo and the others also cheered when they saw the points.

"Yes!" Phyrill raised both hands as if they had just won. "We got second place."

Even Sihan and Laust couldn't help but secretly give a fist bump to each other.

Only Theo who couldn't share the same joy. He closed his eyes with a sad expression, entering his own self-reflection. After all, this happened due to him overanalyzing things.

"I apologize. It's my mistake. We should do what you all intend to do…" Theo lowered his head a bit because this was indeed his mistake. If they sacrificed two people without hesitation, they would have gotten first place.

However, Ellen patted his shoulders before slapping his back, sending the heat from that one slap.

Pak.

Theo's body shook, and he looked at Ellen smiling at him.

"Theo… Don't beat yourself like that. You have been thinking about the team. This wasn't your mistake, but our mistake. We are a team right now. Instead of beating yourself like that, how about you give the next instruction?"

Theo took a deep breath and nodded.

After thanking Ellen, he told them he would teleport all of them to the right path to conserve their stamina due to the second and third layers, the hunt and the race. Obviously, Theo didn't show that his clone could talk or use skill since he didn't want to give away the information for free and there wasn't a need to rush anymore.