I Became the Leader of the Monster Circus Troupe

Chapter 143: Black and Gold – 14

Before proceeding with the draft, the exam scores were announced.

A total of 456 people took the exam, including 434 examinees and 22 expelled members.

Among them, the top 44 were scheduled to be selected through the draft.

Ah!

The circus performer who had initially squeezed in front of Ella and Reyna, only to be embarrassed, screamed and collapsed to the floor. He failed to make it into the top 44. Several other expelled members in pink tracksuits sighed in despair.

If they were just being expelled, it wouldnt have been so agonizing.

Because there was hope that they could somehow promote themselves and be rehired.

But being expelled through this exam felt like being branded as incompetent in front of everyone.

I worked so hard for this exam, fearing this would happen.

Their chances of participating in the Grand Prix again were close to zero.

Due to regulations, each member had to be carefully chosen one by one, and no circus troupe would choose those labelled as incompetent.

The audience quickly lost interest in the losers.

Instead, they turned their eyes to the hotly debated figures of this exam.

Reyna and Ella.

The two of them had tied up to the 24th task, but the difference emerged in the final task.

Ella was disqualified due to an injury.

As a result, Reyna became 1st and Ella 2nd in the draft selection ranking.

However, no one inside the gym thought of Ella as 2nd.

Even Reyna, who became 1st, agreed with that.

Ella had saved her life.

Even at the cost of her own elimination.

The true 1st place was hers.

Reyna had no complaints about how people perceived it.

The problem lay elsewhere.

Ugh, wheres that smell coming from?

Look at that. Acting all high and mighty. Ridiculous.

Does being 1st place make you feel good like that?

Ridiculous! Ridiculous!

As she walked by, some of the Lekachep students openly mocked or scoffed at her.

Among them, Clara was the most diligent.

She subtly fuelled the atmosphere to allow others to interject a word or two.

Reyna had to exert all her strength not to blush.

Eventually, standing on the stage, she gathered courage and looked at the audience.

Her father wasnt looking at her.

He pretended to prepare for the draft by shuffling through a pile of contracts.

Reyna realized it was her fathers act of deliberately ignoring the competitors taunts.

He didnt need to prepare for the draft.

The Golden Carnival had agreed with the sponsors not to select additional members in the draft before the entrance exam.

Their participation in this event was simply to showcase their overwhelming power.

The desire of her father to step on Lekachep once and for all, and the sponsors desire to promote their name, coincided.

Additional recruits had already been decided as top-notch acrobats currently active.

The Golden Carnival would conclude the selection in regaining Rayna.

Reyna inwardly sighed with relief.

It was fortunate.

It was better that her father was avoiding eye contact and pretending to be busy.

If he had looked at her with disdain here, she wouldnt have been able to bear it.

This was how the draft proceeded.

First, the examinees and expelled members were mixed together, and the top 44 were arranged in order of scores.

Then, the 22 circus troupes could recruit new members in order.

Naturally, those who scored higher than all the examinees would usually return to their original circus troupe. That is, this was a handicap imposed on circus troupes that had such exceptional members.

To ensure fair competition, circus troupes with such members would have to take back the members they had sent out and go to the end of the line.

Actual recruitment began with facing the examinees in this order.

Thats how the 22 circus troupes each select 2 out of 44, and the draft ends.

They could use the veto right.

However, it could only be used once per team.

However, even if the assignment was mandatory, it didnt mean you had to be tied to it.

If selected in this draft, it was not a formal employment but a temporary contract.

There were also students who wanted to enroll and came to visit, but it was not feasible to force them to work for two years.

So the temporary contract was only valid for two weeks, until the day before the September 1st enrollment ceremony.

After two weeks, the individuals could choose whether to stay with the circus or leave.

Leaving and enrolling elsewhere was a possibility, but there were restrictions on joining another circus after leaving.

The circus accepting these individuals had to send one member in exchange to the original circus.

This was called a trade.

Wonderstein felt like he was watching a real pro baseball game.

There were mechanisms in place to prevent top circuses from monopolizing personnel, as well as mandatory assignments in order, mandatory probation periods, and regulations regarding trades.

Because of the system where circuses were automatically assigned based on ranking, the draft was practically over when the rankings were announced.

The veto right usage per team was the only variable.

Of course, giving up on selecting altogether was also possible.

But Wonderstein had no intention of giving up this precious right.

While passing the exam at the Rose Windmill Cabaret had raised their reputation a bit, it was still difficult for them to directly recruit outstanding acrobats.

For them, the only opportunity to recruit top-tier acrobats was to utilize the mandatory assignment regulation of this draft.

They had to figure out how to train the selected acrobats during the two-week temporary contract period to make them stay.

For this, those from existing members were more advantageous than students.

While students could escape through enrolment, members couldnt.

Once selected, they could at least obtain one acrobat through trade.

Their turn was the second.

First, they would get Ella back, and then pick the 24th (22 + 2).

Wonderstein also kept an eye on those around the 24th, as there could be fluctuations depending on who used the veto right.

After the announcement of the grades, a woman in her fifties with a long robe and a bent hat stepped onto the platform.

It was Elpara, the Vice Principal and tightrope walking professor.

She briefly explained the purpose of this exam.

The entrance exam evaluated the talents of strength, agility, endurance, charisma, intelligence, and luck, symbolizing the seven S.P.E.C.I.A.L abilities.

Here, in addition to the traditional five disciplines known as Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, and Intelligence, we added Acrobatics and Performing Arts, totalling seven subjects to symbolize your SPECIAL abilities.

Seven professors representing these seven attributes came forward and introduced themselves again. The Prinicpal and Clown professor, who was also the founder of this school, was absent due to business trips.

The basic selections from 1st to 44th and additional selections from 45th to 66th were arranged in front of the platform.

In front of them, 22 circus directors took their seats.

1st. Reyna Maguire.

There were some murmurs from the audience.

However, Reyna walked stiffly without any hesitation.

She looked around the audience.

Her father was still pretending to tidy up contracts and checks.

No.

That was a bit odd.

Her father wasnt the type to act like that just because someone said something.

He would have retorted boldly if anything.

But to pretend to be busy because of his daughter?

Earlier, she hadnt thought much about it, but that was not like her father at all.

Reyna saw him pulling out contracts and papers from among the pile of papers.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind.

It was a terrifying and disturbing thought.

Her stomach felt heavy.

No, no.

That couldnt be true.

Surely not

A smirk played on Lord Fantastics lips.

It was undoubtedly directed towards his daughter.

As his lips parted, unexpected words echoed through the auditorium.

I refuse.

Silence fell.

People thought they must have misheard something.

Refuse?

Refusing his daughter?

Even Professor Elphara, who stood on the dais, was taken aback.

Confusion flickered across her face, which always seemed to be swept by a cold wind.

You refuse?

Yes.

It was a remarkably calm response.

Elphara paused briefly, contemplating something, before stepping forward again to continue with the proceedings.

She was a strict person, not one to show emotions in formal settings.

Number 2, Ella!

A girl with plaster on her arm stepped forward.

She blinked incessantly, not knowing what was happening.

What could that man possibly be thinking?

Lord Fantastic looked at her and chuckled before saying,

Well take her.

The auditorium erupted into chaos, akin to a bomb dropping.

Among the most excited were, of course, the Monster Circus faction.

Ha-ha, this is a big deal.

What should we do? What should we do? Are they really going to steal Ella?

Yurakne trembled, not knowing what to do.

Maya calmed her down with a steady voice.

They absolutely cant. We can bring her back through a trade. Its in two weeks.

Wonderstein also knew the rules.

After this draft, there was a temporary contract period of two weeks before the selected ones were given the choice again. To stay, to enroll, or to transfer.

And if the selector wanted to transfer, and the receiving circus was willing, there was no way to stop it.

The only option the opposing circus had was a Trade.

There was no worry about Ella.

They could just treat her as a two-week visitor.

The problem was Reyna.

In that brief moment, people speculated various possibilities.

Among them was the opinion that Lord Fantastic is trying to enroll his daughter in Lekachep and is doing this.

Since there were still about two years left until the competition, they speculated that he could enroll his daughter in Lekachep for training purposes for a year or two and then call her back later.

However, looking at Reynas expression now, that speculation turned out to be untrue.

No, even if it was true, it was clear that it wasnt something Reyna and he had discussed beforehand.

Her usually relaxed face was pale, trembling as if it could break at any moment.

Bastard.

Wonderstein cursed inwardly, seeing her spirit crumbling.

Of course, it was directed not at her but at her father sitting there.

Anyway, he had to send Ella away for two weeks.

But choosing her over his daughter was to humiliate and torment her.

Wondersteins eyes, knowing all the circumstances, clearly saw his heart.

A new member of Silver Veil Circus, the number three starter, stepped forward.

But Wonderstein had already decided whom to pick.

To later trade for Ella, he needed something to offer in return.

Number one. We will acquire Reyna Maguire.

Lord Fantastic chuckled as if he had expected that.

He felt bad for seemingly moving according to his intentions, but Wonderstein had no other choice.

Bringing Reyna was the cleanest deal.

Reyna remained standing in her place, still looking at her father with a blank face, unaware that she had been chosen.

She seemed completely drained of spirit by the shock.

But there was no trace of sympathy in Lord Fantastics eyes as he looked at her.

She wouldnt understand why she was receiving such looks.

Why her father was looking at her with such cold eyes.

Wonderstein recalled the lament she had made in the game.

Whenever she was treated cruelly by her dad, she always pulled out an album.

Her childhood was captured there.

Looking at her young self, smiling brightly between her dad and mom, she would sigh and spend the night in tears.

Her dad and mom in the photo cherished Reyna deeply.

Even when she pulled her dads mustache, he just awkwardly laughed through his tears.

Wonderstein knew her past shown on TTT.

He had watched her process of getting closer to the truth with each series.

In TT2, she partially learned the truth.

The Reyna in the photo she looked at was not actually her.

Reyna Maguire, the biological daughter of Simon Maguire, died at the age of three.

The current Golden Libra Reyna was a child purchased later.

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