Flora’s Guide to a Second Chance at Love and Life

All the contestants took their places, and with the host's signal, the timer kicked off. Joy, trying to calm her racing heart, glanced at the number selector on the screen and picked number 23. "We're in luck!" someone from Team Austenberg cheered as soon as the question popped up.

The question Joy got was moderately difficult, not too hard. She had secured the second-highest score in the first round, only behind Flora, so she felt confident she could ace it again. Seeing the question, Joy let out a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, it's not too hard.

She quickly started working through the questions. The first one was easy, the second one a bit tricky, but she managed.

Then came the third question....

The further Joy went, the more she started to sweat. The questions looked straightforward but were filled with traps. One small mistake and she'd get it wrong.

Given her current knowledge, cracking them was tough.

Joy's hand, gripping the stylus, began to tremble subtly. She felt the weight of everyone's eyes on her. After such a stellar performance in the first round, if she couldn't solve these, how would they see her? Determined, she kept guessing and scribbling down every formula she knew for the questions she couldn't crack.

"Oh no, she totally messed that one up!" someone from the audience shouted as Joy moved to the next question.

Mr. Tanner was equally distressed.

How could she miss it?

It was such an easy one!

Joy should have nailed it!

Was it the pressure getting to her?

That's what everyone thought, still holding high hopes for Joy after her previous performance.

"I think she's going to crash," Selene squinted towards the visibly nervous Joy.

Flora glanced over, a smirk playing on her lips. "It's not a feeling. It's a certainty." Her tone was confident.

Flora knew Joy's capabilities. The first-round scores were beyond what Joy could achieve alone, especially considering her ties with Abbey. Flora had a hunch about what happened.

But with Abbey no longer able to meddle in the competition, Joy was on her own.

And on stage, Joy kept making mistakes.

Gradually, the hopeful looks from the audience turned into disappointment and confusion.

"What's going on with Joy? Why did she get that one wrong? That shouldn't have happened!"All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

"And that last question, it was clearly a trap, and she didn't even notice!"

"No way, with her skills, how did she score so high in the first round?"

Based on her abilities, she should have only scored around eighty points at best.

Mr. Tanner's face darkened. The joy from

the alene's top performance in

now seemed like a distant

memory.

He could never have imagined Joy doing so poorly.

Actually, given Joy's usual level, her current score was normal.

Mr. Tanner could reluctantly accept it.

But her high score from the first round had set his expectations.

sky-high, leading to this crushiol net swelongs to

disappointment.

Listening to the whispers from the crowd, Joy, who had been holding back her tears, finally let them fall.