Compared to the night before last, there were not many contestants left in the competitors' lounge tonight. The original four sections had been removed, replaced by a blank bracket for the round of sixty-four.
The contestants were gathered near the round-of-sixty-four bracket by the organisers' staff, who explained the rules for the upcoming matches.
However, world-class international competitions usually came with language barriers. Most participants came from all over the world, but it was impossible to assign an interpreter to every contestant. The organisers only provided translations in two other relatively common languages.
If someone understood none of the three languages, there was really nothing to be done.
The wizard in charge of the briefing clearly knew everyone's patience was limited. He finished covering the key points in only fifteen minutes, then, just as everyone was growing impatient, had them line up to draw numbers as usual.
To keep the competition relatively fair, the organisers required contestants to draw their own numbers. Whatever number they drew was theirs, and whoever they drew would be their opponent. They could not accuse the organisers of rigging things or anything else.
At most, the organisers would provide staff to put the contestants' drawn numbers onto the round-of-sixty-four bracket.
With the Aurors' help, all the contestants obediently formed a line and went forward to draw their numbers.
Some contestants who could not understand what was being said looked utterly confused, but seeing everyone else line up, they followed along to draw numbers. It was not hard to understand—if they did not know what to do, they could just copy everyone else.
Soon, it was Albert's turn. He drew number 21. Just as Albert stepped aside and prepared to hand his number plate to the witch responsible for filling in everyone's names, a male wizard