"Next!"
At the entrance of the first building in the Second Stage, a fairly long line had already formed... One Second Stage contestant after another began entering the structure in an orderly fashion.
Of course, the number of people who came out of the first building was far smaller than the number who entered. Those who did not come out had clearly failed the trial inside the first building of the Second Stage.
"Nearly ninety percent were eliminated in the preliminaries... The elimination rate in the Second Stage is also close to sixty percent. Even so, there are still quite a lot of people. No wonder the preliminaries and the Second Stage are held at the same time." Doctor Gels muttered, "Speaking of which, how many people actually came to this National Competition... Could it be that every accomplished person from across the world has shown up?"
He had successfully entered the Second Stage venue some time ago and was currently waiting for Snef and Tina to arrive... About half an hour later, the other two members of the Castle Trio finally arrived.
"You're slow." Doctor Gels looked at the two of them with some displeasure.
Snef said nothing, while Maid Miss said rather innocently, "Even in the preliminary competition, it was possible to run into a troublesome opponent. Doctor, aren't you underestimating this competition a little?"
"Let's not talk about that anymore." Doctor Gels shook his head. "I've already given up more than thirty spots waiting for you to pass the preliminaries... Oh, right. I just saw our team captain, as well as the attendant of the butler. They entered the Second Stage venue even earlier than I did, and they've probably already passed the trials ahead. If we don't hurry, I'm afraid we'll never catch up with them."