Julius was happy. His plan had worked. He had allied everyone else against himself.
The reason he did this is because Hummin just said that there will only be one winner. This means people who become close with others will have to make difficult decisions which will likely lead to betrayals. Betrayal was most devastating when it happened inside of an established group.
So Julius united the people against him so that their internal conflict will be more severe when those betrayals do happen which will improve his chances of winning.
Julius also believed that these rounds will most likely not involve any teams and stuff like that. He believed this was the case because there will only be one winner at the end which wouldn't make sense if it involved teams.
He also believed it wouldn't involve physical strength since that would give certain people an unfair advantage and judging by Hummin's behavior the individuals in charge of this tower seemed wise enough so they will seek to make these rounds as fair as possible.
So the only option left would be strategic competitions or some form of mind-games. Julius was happy because he excelled at that.
Then all of a sudden Hummin opened his mouth.
"The first round will believe in 3 hours but before that I would like to establish two rules."
Everyone listened to him.
"Rule number 1. Any physical harm towards other people while in this field is prohibited."
"Rule number 2. You must follow the rules of the rounds. Any cheating is prohibited."
"Is all of this clear?" Hummin asked.
All of them nodded but then one person asked a question.
"What is the punishment for breaking these rules?"
Hummin's eyes drifted towards the man who asked the question. He then opened his mouth once again.
"As I have said before you are only allowed 3 questions as of this moment."
Julius rejoiced in his heart. Because the punishment remained unknown less people were likely to try and break the rules which will make it so there's a lower chance of the other people going out of their way to kill him.
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Hummin's body then started taking on an heavenly white glow. The glow intensified until his body had become a source of pure light that illuminated the field akin to a second sun.
Then this light flew high into the sky and took on the shape of lightning. Hummin had now left.
Julius looked at everyone else with his deep black eyes which resembled the night sky. They were all looking at him with hate-filled eyes. Then they calmed down slightly after remembering they couldn't harm him in any way.
They then started talking amongst each other. While Julius couldn't hear their conversations clearly he concluded that they were either talking about him or what the first round might be.
Suddenly a person pushed through the large group of people and made his way to Julius.
Julius looked at him and took in his appearance.
He was a man in his late 20's or early 30's. He had short black hair and wore rugged prisoner clothes. His eyes were a light green color which resembled the grass of the very field they were standing on.
"Hello there. May I know your name?" The black haired man asked. His voice was gentle like the wind.
"My name is Julius. Who are you?" Julius replied.
"You can call me Henry Grimmer. I consider myself an explorer of the human mind." The man responded.
"A psychologist?" Julius asked.
"In a way yes. Also just to let you know I am aware of what you did just now. Uniting everyone against you is a really bold strategy but It has the potential to work" Henry responded.
"What? He saw through my plan so quick?" Julius panicked inwardly.
"Yes I did." Henry said.
"What? I didn't say that out loud. Can he read my mind or something?" Julius started becoming extremely fearful in his head.
"No I can't." Henry once again spoke out loud.
Julius stared at him with a blank expression. He couldn't believe what had just happened. His fear of Henry increased significantly after just one short conversation.
Henry then gave him a smile. The smile wasn't a fake one. It was a genuine smile that was filled with joy.
Henry then turned around and walked back to the group.
Julius just continued to stand there in shock.
His mind was already busy working on making plans to deal with Henry but no matter how hard he though about it he couldn't devise a plan.
"He still doesn't know what the first round will be so unless he can adapt quickly to a situation he won't make it. But the same goes for me. I don't know anything and neither does anybody else." Julius contemplated his situation.
Julius just decided to wait patiently since Hummin said there was a break of a few hours between each round. However he was planning on winning. He couldn't give up. He had to win because that was the only way to get out of this place alive.
...
A few hours passed.
The people have formed many small groups. However neither Julius nor Henry were a part of any group.
Suddenly the sky became shrouded in dark, stormy clouds.
A lightning bolt struck the ground and Hummin appeared on the point of impact.
Everyone turned their heads to look at him. They were all silent and listened closely to his words.
"The first round will now begin." Hummin said with a bit of excitement in his voice.