It was quiet for a few seconds before my words registered in Ruben's head—and the crowd watching—though once it did, he just straight up ran down the stage before quickly running back up, giving me another deep bow, before eventually making his way back to their dormitories.
And the murmurs and gossip started from the small group right in front of the stage.
"W-Wait a sec... He got accepted on the get-go, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"That means everyone before he got on stage was already rejected!"
"What?!"
"NO WAY!"
"N-No... It's basically just the golden buzzer, right?"
"Oh!"
"OHHHHHHHHH~!!!"
"But then again... Is he just looking for tough dudes or short dudes? Or just dudes?"
"Definitely not someone with your analytical skills..."
"The fuck did you just say?!"
"He probably has his own criteria but Ruben's not the first one to get accepted..."
"HUH?!"
"WHAT?!"
"Alexa from Seb's group was already accepted even before the audition started."
"Huh? Isn't she just Seb's girl? Of course, he had to bring her in."
"Does that mean Janet's gonna get in too?"
"Pfft! You don't know anything, huh?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"They cut it off a week ago, I believe he's dating Megan now. For sure."
"Megan?! I thought she was into girls?"
"Not anymore, I guess."
"Man~ Being the Baron has its perks, huh?"
[Ahh...]
He chuckled as he gave me a smile, "Confusing, huh? We get that a lot. You can stick to #1 and #2 if it's easier."
[I will do that—]
Tatiana interjected, [But how do the other people call you two? Do they call one of you James and the other one their last name just to avoid confusion or something?]
"Great question! The answer is: no. We just embrace the confusion and move on. Every day has been boring lately so that few seconds of confusion is a lot."
[Hah! Can we take this kid? He's kinda funny.]
I chuckled before I turned to #2 again, [You're already getting some favors from my group, huh? But before we get into that, what can you put on the table? Your talent, I mean. Because on your sheet of paper here, you wrote that you're the guy to call if anyone wants to have a good time. How true is that?]
"Well~ It's because I could really check the vibe or read the room really well— And since we're going on a road trip, I got a good mix of tunes in my drive but if you're gonna put me in the back, I can hand out snacks and shit and refill them when you're about to run out. Also! I'm kind of an insomniac so if we ever drove at night, you can fucking trust me that I'll be awake the whole time.
Just don't freak out if you woke up and mistake me for your paralysis demon, I have no control over that... happened to my friend once, it's crazy~"
[Ah...]
"Wait! Wait! Wait! I'm not done!"
[Go ahead, your two minutes are still going—]
"Right! I'm also a great 'trip'-sitter, if you know, you know~ I can do your laundry, cook your meals, take point, clean the car, etc. but the one thing I'll never do is listen to fucking bullshit. Trust me, if I ever smell a whiff of that shit, I'll fucking call you out! And I'm talking to fucking everybody here! *turns around to face everyone* You know who you are!
That's why I fucking stopped talking to you, you need a fucking father figure, not a fucking 'daddy' to call you babygirl— Blech~ I'm not your fucking step-dad but I'm gonna be your fucking dad who stepped up!"
At this point, it couldn't be more quiet because #2 started going on a rant that we didn't think would air out some dirty laundry about his peers.
However, my group was already egging me on to press the golden buzzer because sometimes, a companion like #2 was what anyone would need even if they're 'already set', and like #1, I put #2 on the waitlist—making my preferred number of people to take with me complete.
I could easily say that the audition was already over but I still have tens of cadets to go through, and I was just making sure that I sorted through all of them before heading out.
But yeah, a quick glance through the list didn't awaken something in me or made me excited because the majority of the talents left were something we already had or didn't need. However, it didn't take long before someone with an impressive resume came up but I sure as hell was already bent on pressing the red buzzers the moment we met eyes.
It was JP's right hand who fought tooth and nail just to deny me his megaphone, but right now, he looked like he'd suck dick and sell one of his kidneys so that I'd let him accompany the Baron.
"G-Greetings! I'm Lucas, 21 years old, #2 on the kill rankings with 2,212 confirmed zed kills. I'm adept at using rifles and handguns, and I hold the top 5 record for stripping our M4s and putting them back together blindfolded—the same with our 1911s. And with our shooting drills, I'm only second to the Baron and I'm 3rd on CQC. I can—"
[Lucas.]
"Sir?"
[Look around you, everyone can do that. My instruction to all of you is to put something that sets you apart from the rest AND at the same time, it should be something that's totally unrelated to what you're doing here. Do you only listen to JP or do you have a hard time listening to instructions?]
"I-I'm—"
[I'll give you 30 seconds, give me something that'll make you ride with us.]