The moment Elder Joo's flag dropped, chaos erupted across the platforms.
Fifteen competitors launched themselves forward in a desperate rush toward the center, their footsteps thundering against wood as they leaped between platforms with varying degrees of grace. Shouts and grunts filled the air as the fastest among them collided mid-jump, sending two boys tumbling to the ground in a tangle of limbs.
As for moon he didn't move not even a inch
He remained perfectly still on his eastern platform with hands clasped, watching the mayhem unfold with the detached interest of someone observing ants in a jar. The morning sun still felt warm, and for a moment, he looked less like a ten-year-old boy and more like a statue carved from stone.
"What's he doing?" Kids whispered from the crowd.
"Is he giving up already?"
"Maybe he's scared."
Kwan had been among the first to leap forward, his superior foot technique allowing him to bound across three platforms in quick succession. But as he landed on the fourth, something made him glance back and what he saw made him stumble.
Moon was still there watching in silence
"What the hell?" Kwan muttered, his confidence wavering for just a moment
By now, the fastest competitors had reached the outer ring around the central platform. Jin, a stocky boy from the rich family, made the first attempt at the token box. But as his fingers brushed the wood, three other competitors converged on him simultaneously. The resulting collision sent all four sprawling, and the box skittered across the platform's edge, hanging precariously over the drop.
But still, Moon didn't move
Elder Joo frowned from her position at the judges' table. In 4 years of conducting these assessments, she had never seen a competitor simply... wait. Her weathered fingers drummed against the table as she studied the motionless boy.
"Instructor Yuna," she called softly. "Your student is he withdrawing?"
Yuna's eyes never left Moon's figure. "I don't think so."
More competitors joined the fray around the central platform. What had started as a race had devolved into a three-way battle between the strongest participants. Kwan led one group, trying to use his foot technique to his advantage to dominate through brute force. Tai commanded another faction, relying on his larger frame to physically block opponents. The third group had formed around Sera, a quick-witted girl who specialized in evasion.
The token box changed hands six times in as many minutes.
And through it all, Moon remained statue-still on his starting platform.
"He's lost his nerve," someone laughed from the crowd. "All that talk, and he's too scared to even try."
But Mira, watching from the front row, felt a chill run down her spine. She had seen that look before in the eyes of her Master when he played Go against opponents decades his senior. It was the look of someone who was seeing the bigger picture then other's , who understood the game on a level that transcended mere tactics.
"No," she whispered to herself. "He's not scared. He's thinking."
The battle for the token intensified. Kwan finally managed to wrestle it away from tai, but in his moment of triumph, Sera struck from behind with a perfectly timed sweep that sent him toppling from the platform. The token flew through the air in a glittering arc
And that's when Moon finally moved.
It wasn't the explosive burst of motion the crowd expected. Instead, he took a single, measured step forward to the edge of his platform. Then, as if he had all the time in the world, he gathered his strength and leaped up
But he didn't jump toward the central platform like everyone else had. He jumped backward, to the platform behind him the one furthest from the action.
Seeing that the crowd erupted in confused and murmurs
"What is he doing?"
"He's going the wrong way!"
Even Elder Joo leaned forward, perplexed. "Has the boy lost his mind?"
Moon landed softly on the rear platform and finally spoke, his voice carrying clearly across the suddenly quiet arena:
"I forfeit my claim to the token."
The words hit like a thunderbolt. Fifteen exhausted competitors paused in their struggles, staring at him in bewilderment. Kwan, who had just recovered the token after Sera's attack, looked like he'd been slapped.
"What... what did you say?" Kwan sputtered with a angry face
"I forfeit," Moon repeated calmly. "The token is yours if you can hold it for ten more minutes."
"Ten minutes?" Jin laughed harshly. "The competition doesn't work that way. Last one standing wins, not last one standing for ten minutes."
Moon tilted his head slightly, and for the first time since the competition began, he smiled. It was a small expression, barely visible from a distance, but those closest to him saw something in it that made their blood run cold.
"Check the rules," he said simply.
Elder Joo's frown deepened. She reached for the scroll containing the competition guidelinesb rules that had been standard for the start of the clan , rules that everyone knew by heart. Her eyes scanned the ancient text, searching for... there.
Her face went pale
"By the ancestors," she whispered.
The rule was buried in subsection seven, paragraph three, written in archaic language that most people skipped over. It stated that if a competitor formally forfeited their claim while the token remained contested, the competition would continue for exactly ten minutes before declaring a winner provided the token holder could maintain possession for that duration.
It was an obscure provision, added at the start of monthly assessment to prevent competitors from immediately grabbing the token and fleeing the arena. No one had invoked it in living memory because no one had ever been foolish enough to forfeit when they still had a chance to win.
No one except Moon
"The boy is correct," Elder Joo announced, her voice carrying a note of stunned admiration. "The competition will continue for ten minutes. The clock starts... now."
And suddenly, everything changed.
The moment those words left the elder's lips, every remaining competitor understood what Moon had done. By forfeiting, he had turned a free-for-all battle royale into a desperate siege. Fourteen exhausted fighters, all nursing injuries and depleted of energy, now had to work together to prevent Kwan from holding the token for ten minutes.
"You clever bastard," Kwan breathed, finally understanding the trap he'd walked into.
Moon's smile widened just a fraction. "I never intended to win again a child like
you ! "
I am just taunting him i know what he is capable of but sometimes he gets on my nerves
What followed was the most brutal ten minutes in the history of the monthly assessments