Chapter 176
Things had reached this point; if Alaricka didn’t step forward, the situation was about to spiral out of control.
Alaricka stood up, looked the man in the eye, and said in a calm, steady voice, “Okay, I agreed to make my scoring details public.”
Paloma frowned, showing she didn’t really agree. Actually, it wasn’t just this year. In past years, there were also eliminated contestants accusing those who stayed of pulling strings. Paloma knew these contestants were all proud and thought they were special, and some even had "I look down on others" written all over their faces. They came to the competition aiming for first place. If they couldn’t even make it to the semifinals, they would definitely be upset and then go after the other contestants.
So, when they announced the sixty-fourth place, she specifically stressed the fairness of the competition. This guy was even worse. Paloma remembered this guy; he didn’t do well in the competition, ranked way below ninetieth. No matter how you looked at it, he couldn’t compare to Alaricka. The guy was just mad because he didn’t make it to the semifinals, so he took it out on Alaricka, who was the easiest target, using the excuse that Alaricka pulled some strings to vent his frustration about not making it. He talked all high and mighty, but actually, it was always just his selfishness and pride at work. Paloma was already used to this kind of thing. She would handle it well and wouldn’t let Alaricka suffer this kind of unfair treatment. She just didn’t expect that Alaricka would actually step up and even agree to make her scoring details public.
She was still thinking about trying to talk Alaricka out of it, but Alaricka insisted on going public. Paloma looked at Alaricka. Alaricka stood straight, her face and mood calm, not affected at all by anyone’s accusations. From start to finish, she stayed calm and confident, with a poise that ordinary people couldn’t match. Paloma looked at her and nodded to herself. She was a nice girl.
At Alaricka’s insistence, the judges made Alaricka’s scoring details public. Everyone thought they would see obviously weird data or really high scores in the grading details, but there wasn’t any. Every judge’s score for Alaricka was really average, not too high, not too low, and totally met the standard.
The man snatched Alaricka’s score sheet, and for a moment, his face and features twisted. “How could that be? Did you all raise Alaricka’s score on purpose?”
“You guys teamed up with Alaricka just to force players like us, who have no resources or connections, into a corner.”
Hearing what the man said, Alaricka smiled a little. She knew that after that, she didn’t have to step up anymore. This man pushed himself into a dead end. This man had backbone; he didn’t give up, and he didn’t want to be slandered or looked down on. Well, these judges were the same, and they were even prouder than this man. The man kept saying again and again that she bribed the judges, which was not only humiliating for her but also for the judges.
What the man said was just to force the other judges not to stay out of it anymore. After a while, just like Alaricka expected, one of the other judges finally stood up.
“Can you stop being unreasonable? No matter how capable Alaricka was, there was no way she could bribe every single judge. And when they calculated the final score, they would drop the highest and lowest scores.”
“So there was nothing wrong with these scores, it was you. What right did you have to question Alaricka? Have you seen your own score sheet? You were ranked below ninetieth; even without Alaricka, it still wouldn’t have been your turn.”
These judges all spoke up, and the rest of the contestants were so scared, like quails, that they didn’t dare to stand out. They lowered their heads, twisting their fingers together. There was only one man left standing, never bowing his head. The man got so mad after the judges argued with him like that; his face turned red, he took deep breaths, his chest heaving, and he glared at Alaricka and the judges with red eyes.
“You guys, you guys went too far-”
“Too much what?” A cute, angry woman’s voice came from the audience seats.
Alaricka looked over, and it was the woman who had helped her mend the dress. The woman looked even angrier than her: “Alaricka got into the semifinals on her own. If you can’t accept it, just go die. What’s all this yelling for? Useless man."
Alaricka was a bit surprised.