The Elemental Contestant (Running Man Animation Fanfiction) [Book 4]

Chapter 6: Takji Battle

The latter's holographic form sat on the bench beside her, much to Sabriye's disliking, and spoke up, "I've noticed that you weren't watching the mini game. Is it too boring?" Sabriye looked away and found the mini game more interesting than the supposedly beautiful peacock right next to her.

"I can't say exactly say that it's boring but... I just can't seem to find Takji Battles all that interesting. I don't really have a fixed opinion about, in all honesty. I assume it's because I've done no such thing back in my universe." Sabriye gave her answer, silently wishing that Charming Gold would leave her alone, although she knew it was nothing but false hope.

Charming Gold looked away as well, facing the contestants' Takji Battle, and hummed, "I see." Looking back at her, he asked the question that Sabriye wished he hadn't, "About that, can you tell me more about your universe?" Sabriye stayed silent momentarily before answering, "I... don't want to talk about it." Charming Gold raised an eyebrow at that. "Why not?" he asked.

"Well, everyone has their secrets. I rather keep this part of me a secret. Especially from someone like you." That last statement stood out to him the most. Sabriye continued, "I know you're watching the contestants, Charming Gold. Just by watching people behind a screen will give you a lot of information. But, no matter what, you'll never know everything about them."

Charming Gold was flabbergasted; all this time, Sabriye knew he was keeping an eye, or rather spying, on the contestants, while the other contestants remained clueless. "Same case for me. However, it is just by watching people behind a screen without their knowledge that you can gain useful information. Information that can be used against them."

Sabriye turned to Charming Gold with her signature smirk on her face and said, "So, watch out for the trickster, for she will defeat you once and for all." Charming Gold stared at her, aghast. Sabriye's smirk then morphed into sweet, innocent smile as she told, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like some time to myself before the mini game ends."

Taking that as a chance to leave, Charming Gold quickly nodded and his holographic form disappeared, leaving Sabriye alone, much to her pleasure as a content smile cracked its way onto her face. Looking back at the spot where Charming Gold once was, Sabriye's content smile morphed back into her signature smirk, amused and satisfied that she was able to toy with his heart, mind or soul - whichever works for her; in other words, frighten him.

The Takji Battle was finally over as Liu had won the Ultimate Takji, much to his immense joy. The other contestants tried to flip it over, using their own to prove its strength, but to no avail. This result lead to everyone truly believing its power as they looked at it in awe.

However, Kuga threw his Takji at the Ultimate Takji and managed to flip it, as well as shrink it, Kuga just walked away from the scene, leaving the other contestants to look at the supposedly 'Ultimate' Takji in shock and Sabriye to look at it blankly. The other contestants turned to the holographic form of Charming Gold in rage - for Sabriye, blankly - causing the peacock in question to cower in fear.

Charming Gold laid his eyes on Sabriye and all he got from her was the same blank stare and, "Pathetic," in a monotonous tone. Flinching in response, his holographic form disappeared from the scene. The other contestants turned to Sabriye in disbelief, who simply raised an eyebrow and shrugged. There was a moment of silence among them.

Finally, Liu picked up the Ultimate Takji and spoke up, "You know, this Takji may not be as 'ultimate' as I thought it would be, but I'll admit it's pretty strong, so..." Liu trailed and turned to Sabriye, holding the Ultimate Takji out to her, as he continued, "I think you should have this, Sabriye."

The said girl's onyx gray eyes widened in surprised by Liu's choice as she looked at the other contestants, noticing them look more shocked than her and begin to voice out their disagreements with him.

Liu began explaining his reasons for his choice, "Well, it's just... Remembering how powering this Takji is, you could say that it reminded me of you. I've seen your a few of your powers in action so far during the games and, I must say, I can tell that you're. Plus, you said that you don't have your own Takji, so I thought, "Sabriye's the strongest out of all of us, so she deserves the strongest Takji ever known.'"

Sabriye was at a loss of words, unable to believe her ears. She blushed a tinge of pink, realising the potential meaning behind his words. There was another moment of silence as the other contestants looked as befuddled as her, silently thinking it over and slowly beginning to agree with him.

Sabriye, snapping out of her own trance and the others', smiled softly and replied, "Liu, I'll admit that's rather sweet of you to consider handing the Ultimate Takji over to me..." She trailed off as she looked down at the Ultimate Takji - before pushing it away back to Liu. "But, no. Keep it."

This left the other contestants flabbergasted. "You took part in the mini game. You fought until the very end and earned the Ultimate Takji. So, I'd say you deserve it, not me. It belongs to you and only you. Besides, it's not like I'll need one in the future." Everyone else thought that Liu's speech shocked them, but, boy, were they wrong when they heard such words from her!

Who wouldn't be when they see the winner of a Takji Battle offer the Ultimate Takji to someone else, let alone someone who didn't even participate - which could possibly be a once-in-a-lifetime experience - only to be turned down for those reasons? She was very selfless, they mentally remarked.

"Hey, you guys coming?" Sabriye's voice, from a distance away from them, snapped them out of their trance and back to reality. "We have another game after this, you know? Don't want to be late for that now, do you?" When realisation hit them, they all quickly caught up with her, ready for the next game.

The entire time, they had been thinking about Sabriye's words. It felt almost as if they had just heard impactful words of wisdom from a wise man. Oh wait, that was exactly what had happened. However, those words only came from a young girl, such as her. They then began having a different view of her.

Meanwhile, Charming Gold was preparing his entrance for the next game when his mind kept wandering off to what Sabriye had said to him during the mini game, no matter how much he tried to forget; especially, the unnamed 'trickster' Sabriye had mentioned. The more he dwelled it over, the more he realised that Sabriye was much more than meets the eye.

However, little did he know that Sabriye meant every single word she had said to him - literally.
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A/N: Hey, guys, back with another chapter and, man, did this chapter exceed the word limit! Oh wait, it's still going, uhmm... Thanks for reading this, hope you guys like this chapter, stay tuned for more updates and I'll see you in the next chapter. Bye. 👋🏼