Dai shuffled uncomfortably in place. The loud hooters blared all around him in a dark, horror themed corner of the studio. His fate had been sealed.
His brow glistened from sweat as his mind poured over what had lead him to this point as the excited presenter congratulated a young boy not too far from him. A kid from Dai’s local arcade club had nominated him to appear on the show, fed up with constantly being beaten in games by the very competitive Dai. His physical ineptitude hadn’t helped him in the show’s earlier rounds, although he’d be hesitant to admit that had been his wish since the start; knowing full well the penalty for performing poorly. It didn’t stop the moment from being any less nerve-wracking however.
He could only think back to the moments he’d spotted earlier in the day between rounds. He’d noticed all the crew and runners tending to a large open-topped pool in the corner of the set with buckets upon buckets of a mysterious, thick, colourful fluid. It was this enormous and deep pool of mysterious, thick, colourful fluid that he now found himself perched precariously directly above, with a hard, flat board of a seat acting as the only barrier between him, and whatever unpleasant nasties bubbled below, now sure to be chilled given how much time had passed. The presenter’s call snapped him back to the moment.
“We can’t let you go home nice and dry like that can we!?”
Dai could only grin with a nervous twitch. His state of mind was clear as a picture.
“…Is it pointless to say that I don’t think I’m ready yet?”
He only got a laugh and a jeer from the studio audience in response. His time was up…
