"At the count of 10, players must be back in the game or else the pompoms that the ladies are holding will explode. 10, 9,"
"W-What?!" Tenth shrieked while holding her pompoms.
She was about to throw it when Sectwen stopped her. "Don't do that. It might explode in no time."
Some girls went back to the bleachers and dropped their pompoms. I saw something shining on its handle. If there's really a bomb on it, it must be small to be discreet.
"I'm okay guys, you can do it. I put my trust in you," Seventh made a hand gesture that he was okay, and the players returned to the court immediately.
"Come on, let's go back!"
"8, 7, 6, 5"
"Get well!"
"4, 3, 2, 1 *whistle *"
They are back in play. Forzen, Sixzen, and Twentieth continued to assist Seventh in his recovery. It has been 03:10, and round 2 is over.
"I think… I'm good," Seventh tried to sit down. He moved his arms and legs.
"Are you sure? You were so much in pain." Sixzen reassured us that we can't believe the speed of Seventh's recovery.
Seventh ran to the center and ran around as if nothing had happened. The timer said earlier that he can return any moment when he has fully recovered. Others were also surprised because Seventh had returned to normal.
It caught my attention again that the ball changed. It's still silver in case the flesh inside is different...
"Oh, that organ looks familiar to me… They're in a pair so it's easy to remember… Uh-huh! Lungs!"
Round 2 ended exactly. The gold team scored again. I can't focus well on the game, but am deeply disturbed by the two consecutive mishaps that happened to the two players who were in pain, then suddenly felt better.
"When are we going to score..." Tenth sighed sadly. I see, gold team has scored twice already.
Fifth, who looks weary sat down at the court holding his chest. Fourth ran from the bleachers and went to her twin brother.
"Brother!"
Fifth took a deep breath as if he was running out of breath.
"Water. Give him some water, please!" Fourth commanded.
He seemed to be suffocating and could hardly breathe. We were all confused.
"Does he have asthma?" I asked Fourth since she is his sister. She might've known something.
"No, my brother is a varsity student at his school, so he can't have asthma. He must have quit a long time ago if he had one," Fourth replied.
Indeed, a sporty guy like Fifth, not to mention a varsity player, does not simply do a sport when he has an ailment.
"You two, are you okay?" I questioned Fifzen and Seventh, the first two to writhe in pain.
"Yeah, my leg is a bit sore, but I can still run," Fifzen answered.
"The pain in my stomach disappeared before, but now, it seems to have a side effect, I don't know, but I can play," Seventh responded.
"One minute break is over. Players, back to the game. I repeat, players, back to the game. Round 3 will start in 10, 9,"
"I'll take care of him," Fourth assured while holding her brother's arms.
We couldn't do something significant. The players went back, even though they are worried about their friends, they need to continue the game. I sensed that there was something wrong with this game. I already have suspicion, and if I'm right, this incident will happen again.
04:35 and then the gold team scored again.
"Nice shot, Ninezen!"
"Go! Go! Go!"
The cheer of the girls' gold team is audible. They've scored three times now. There team is doing great.
"What the! Argghhh!" someone shouted again. This time, it's Ninth. He rubbed his face.
"What's this again?"
"It's killing me! It's pricking my eyes, ears, and nose!" He was still rubbing the part of his face that hurt. It's not bleeding, but why? It might be some sort of internal bleeding.
In the remaining seconds, no players played. They just waited for the time before the fourth round. The one-minute break for every round is not enough to aid the players. When the round ends, one player is hurt for an unknown reason. This is getting worse.
"I'm just wondering, huh. Why is it that only the players on the silver team are suffering like this?" Seventh muttered.
"Then every time someone shoots, a physical pain attacks a player of the enemy team," Fifth added his realization. He looks okay now, and that's good news.
"When the ball is shot by the opponent in the team's ring, the ball that contains an organ will affect one of your members." Third is holding his chin after saying it as if he had found an answer to our questions. "Just as I thought, Author's right."
"What does that mean?" Forzen asked incredulously.
I was surprised to see who spoke next. "When the opponent shoots the ball, the team member's body will be affected depending on which organ is inside the ball held by the opponent." It was First.
Finally, he spoke. Before the game started, I had never heard his voice or interacted with anyone. Maybe he found out something strange that he also wanted to let others know what he knew because we are the only ones who will work together to solve such riddles behind this game.
"I-Isn't that hologram a joke? I thought we were just going to play a simple game, but someone will get hurt b-badly..." Twentieth uttered in a sad tone. I didn't notice that she came to our bleachers. She must be deeply concerned to us.
"What are we going to do? Round 4 is about to start," Fifzen alerted us about the incoming round.
I looked at the timer. They only have 20 seconds to get back into the game.
"Why don't we try that?" Firstwen talks about an initial plan.
The boys gathered, except for Ninth, who is not yet fully recovered. Everyone wonders how they can play without getting hurt.
"All right, that looks like a good plan," Thirtwen agreed. The others nodded and agreed.
"Argh, the pain is still there!" Ninth twitched.
"Drink some water and take a rest first," Firstwen suggested.
"Players, back to the game. I repeat, players, back to the game. Round 4 will start in 10, 9, 8,"
Each team is positioned where they should be. They become more serious than before.
"7, 6, 5, 4,"
I just hope their plan will work.
"3, 2, 1,"
I know what they are planning.
"*whistle*"