novelraw Chapter 162: Archery
Chapter 162: Archery
Riley Perry let out a short laugh and continued up the mountain.
Just then, Victoria Koenig and her partner caught up to them.
"Ria, why did you guys stop climbing?"
Riley Perry smiled warmly. "We’re waiting for you. The more the merrier."
Holly Summers felt like throwing up. ’They obviously stopped because of me... but she twisted it to sound like they were waiting for Victoria and her partner on purpose.’
’This Riley Perry is so vile. I just can’t fathom how someone so disgusting could ever get famous!’
"Alright, Rhonda, if you’re rested enough, you two can go on ahead. We’ll see you at the summit."
Roxanne Fulton was speechless. ’Is it really okay to say that in front of your own teammate?’
Victoria Koenig gave Riley Perry a knowing wink, then grabbed Roxanne Fulton and took off running.
"We’re taking off, Ria!"
Holly Summers was speechless.
Riley couldn’t care less whether Holly was happy or not. A hen came strolling leisurely out of the woods. Riley picked a thumbnail-sized stone off the ground and flicked it. The pebble struck the hen square on the head, and it collapsed instantly.
Holly’s pupils constricted at the sight. She completely forgot that she had just gotten bird droppings in her mouth. The ten bricks that were shattered earlier, the boulder weighing hundreds of pounds that had been moved...
"Riley Perry, in the last episode... when you caught those chickens and rabbits, was that all real?"
Riley glanced at her without a word, walked over to the hen, and picked it up.
"My mom told me not to play with brainless people. Stay away from me."
Holly Summers was furious. ’That damned bitch! How dare she call me brainless?’
"Riley Perry, don’t you think you’re being too cruel?"
This time, Riley genuinely looked at her as if she were an idiot. "Wow, you... you’re really something else!"
"What’s that supposed to mean? Did I say something wrong? That chicken might belong to someone! Does that make it right for you to just kill it?!"
Riley looked down at Holly, who was making a scene, and wagged a slender finger. "First, the chicken is still alive." With that, she flicked the chicken’s head. Its head, which had been drooping limply, slowly began to rise. "Bawk... bawk bawk..."
Riley flicked it again, and the hen’s head drooped back down, looking for all the world like it was dead.
"Second, anyone with half a brain can tell this chicken was placed here by the production team. It’s for the contestants to catch as an ingredient for lunch.
With an intellect like yours, how did you even muddle your way through high school? Oh, I forgot. You didn’t actually graduate, did you?"
Holly Summers’s online bio said she was a high school graduate, but she had actually dropped out in her sophomore year.
She had once mentioned to the "imposter" that her family wasn’t well-off. During her sophomore year, she needed money for tuition. When she went home to ask for it, her mom nagged her about her poor grades, and in a fit of pique, she ran away. She fended for herself for a few years before eventually joining Stardust.
[Holly Summers’s IQ must have taken a nosedive. There’s no other way she could say something so brainless.]
[I don’t think she’s actually brainless. She just can’t stand to see someone else be more skilled, so she’ll find any excuse to be passive-aggressive toward Riley Perry. But Riley isn’t one to take it lying down. Her tongue is sharp and unforgiving!]
[So, when Holly was inspecting the bricks earlier, was she trying to prove Riley faked it? No way. How is her brain even wired?]
[She’s got some real guts! Isn’t she afraid of offending the production team?]
[Didn’t you hear Riley say she never even graduated from high school? Her intelligence is really questionable.]
Holly Summers was fuming. ’Riley never used to be like this. Now it’s like her mouth is coated in poison. The moment she opens it, her words choke me until I can’t speak.’
’To say in front of the entire online audience that I didn’t graduate high school... She’s basically ripping my face off and grinding it into the dirt.’
’I can’t afford to provoke a psycho like her.’
She fell silent and continued walking. As it turned out, less than ten minutes later, she tripped again while climbing a set of steps.
Her sweatpants tore at the knee, and blood started to seep out. Holly grimaced in pain as tears welled in her eyes. She didn’t understand. Why was she so unlucky?
She glanced at Riley, who was a good distance away, and swallowed the words she was about to say. The show’s staff rushed over to check on her, and the doctor hurried over with a medical kit.
This was a mark of Director Warren’s cleverness. Ever since Riley said Holly was bad luck, he’d had a doctor follow her. And look, it was already paying off.
Leo giggled. "Master, is your lowest-grade bad luck talisman really this effective?"
Riley replied, "Fame nurtures one’s fortune. The more famous you are, the better your luck becomes. By the same token, once someone hits a streak of bad luck, they’ll only get unluckier."
Leo clicked his tongue twice, feeling a pang of sympathy for Holly Summers that lasted all of three seconds.
After the doctor finished, Director Warren, feigning concern, went to ask Holly, "Holly, are you able to continue with the rest of the show? If you can’t, you can just withdraw. You’re just having way too much bad luck!" ’In any case,’ he thought, ’if she quits for her own reasons, she still has to pay the contract termination fee!’
Holly was extremely anxious. ’My plan to sabotage Riley failed, and I don’t even know how *that person* is going to punish me yet. If I quit the show now, I can’t even afford the termination fee. Besides, with how unlucky I am right now, if I lose this show, what other production would ever hire me?’
"It’s just a minor injury, Director. I’m fine, I can keep going." ’It’s the last day anyway,’ she thought. ’I can just tough it out and it’ll be over.’
Director Warren gave a reluctant nod. ’Fine, if you don’t want to quit, then don’t.’ In any case, thanks to Holly’s bad luck, their show had already hit three trending topics and gained over seven million new viewers. It would be a waste not to take advantage of that kind of buzz.
He did wonder, though, if Holly would regret it after the show ended. After all, her reputation was currently in the gutter.
While the two of them were talking, the two teams behind them caught up one after another. Riley didn’t rush Holly, letting her walk slowly behind. She wasn’t in a hurry anyway.
Around ten o’clock, they finally reached the third checkpoint.
Chloe Sterling and Ethan Shaw were still stuck there.
The task for the third checkpoint was actually very easy and required no brainpower.
It was archery. A target was tied to a tree by the side of the mountain path. Apparently, the four people ahead of them had already hit the bullseye to pass the challenge.
"Only one person per team needs to hit the bullseye to pass. Each person gets five arrows."
Riley glanced over. The target was about twenty meters away. Anyone with even a little knowledge of archery should have no problem hitting it after a few shots.
Riley looked at Holly. "I know how multi-talented you are. Breaking bricks by hand might not be your thing, but I’m sure archery is right up your alley. You go ahead. I’ll just wait for you to carry me to victory."
Holly was speechless. ’Talented my ass. I made a huge fool of myself as Victoria’s backup dancer the day before yesterday, and now she wants me to do archery, something I’ve never even touched?’
She gritted her teeth. ’Archery doesn’t look that hard. Who knows, maybe I’ll get lucky and hit it by chance?’
So, she picked up the bow and arrow. However, she struggled to draw the string for what felt like an eternity. Her face turned red with the effort, but she only managed to pull the bow halfway. Frustrated to the point of tears again, she fumbled. The bowstring slipped, slicing a cut across her finger. The arrow in her hand spun and flew off, heading straight for where Riley was standing.