Soon, Sunday arrived. The warm-up activities began early that morning, and registration had closed the night before. Robet had nearly missed it.
But when the staff member running the registration desk heard that Robet wanted to enter and saw how tall and broad he was, he almost burst out laughing.
In the end, the staff member cheerfully took Robet's ten-dollar entry fee, figuring there was no reason to turn down free money.
That was right: the hamburger eating contest actually charged an entry fee. Robet even suspected that the ingredient costs and prize money were being paid for with those fees. And the ridiculous hamburger eating contest even had sponsors...
Fortunately, the ten-dollar entry fee came with a ten-thousand-dollar prize for the winner. It couldn't compare to the more than one hundred thousand dollars awarded to the champion of Washington's famous hamburger eating contest, but it was still a thousandfold return!
And Robet was determined to claim that thousandfold return. He hadn't even eaten breakfast!
Soon, with Robet eagerly waiting on an empty stomach, the contest began.
The rules were simple: whoever ate the most hamburgers in ten minutes would be crowned champion.
Each round had fifty contestants, and there were twenty rounds in total. Every contestant had a timer and an official watching over them, while countless spectators and photographers stood around to ensure the contest was fair.
"The organizers can't lose money on a contest like this. The entry fees alone cover the prize money, and that's not even counting the sponsorships or the money they'll make from boosting tourism in the area..." Jonathan muttered as he watched the contestants.
"Yeah. Every hamburger wrapper has a sponsor's name on it, and some of the sponsors are hamburger businesses. The food can't cost that much..." Clark's sharp eyesight let him make out the fine print on the wrappers, confirming that the sponsors had filled every visible corner with advertisements.
"In the first round, contestant number three ate the most, with twenty-seven hamburgers in ten minutes!"
"In the second round, contestant number six ate the most, with twenty-three hamburgers in ten minutes!"
Before long, the results of round after round were announced. Only the person who ate the most hamburgers in each round advanced, and those who moved on soon found out whether they would advance again and keep their chances of becoming champion alive.
By the time Robet's turn came, the record had reached thirty-three hamburgers. The contestants really were skilled competitive eaters, but Robet's arrival meant they were all about to be swept aside!
"Nom! Nom! Nom!" Robet worked both hands at once, alternating as he stuffed hamburgers into his mouth. His incredible speed stunned the other contestants in his group and left them struggling to keep up.
Robet: (￣▽￣)
The contestants around him:
(＃ー.ー)
(,,#Д)
(〇ロ〇)
The spectators around them:
(o_O)!∑(O_O;) w(°ｏ°)w
(Д)b ()好b d(@)
ヽ(＾Д＾)(θθ)(●●)
At first, the spectators were stunned too. But soon they were giving Robet the thumbs-up and cheering. In unison, they began chanting, "Big eater! Big eater! Big eater!"
Clearly, the crowd had been won over by this little guy devouring such an enormous amount of food. It seemed like there was no need to hold the rest of the contest at all; the title could be awarded to Robet right then and there.
And Robet didn't disappoint. In ten minutes, he polished off an astonishing 123 hamburgers!
He still wasn't full!
A conservative estimate put a Saiyan's appetite at about thirty times that of an ordinary person. The hamburgers here weren't especially large, and a normal person could eat four or five. If they forced themselves, six or seven might be possible.
But even that was nowhere near the appetite of a competitive eater, let alone Robet's.
The spectators couldn't understand how Robet's short, skinny body had managed to pack away 123 hamburgers, but that didn't stop them from getting excited. The atmosphere reached its peak.
Even so, the organizers didn't award Robet the title immediately. The rest of the contest continued.
But with Robet setting the bar so high, the remaining rounds felt dull. Even if the other competitive eaters managed to put away twenty or thirty hamburgers, the crowd wasn't impressed anymore.
Clearly, the spectators were the real big eaters—and they were never satisfied!
Some impatient spectators even started booing, their jeers echoing around the venue and affecting the remaining contestants' performances.
Still, even the most stubborn contestant wouldn't dare challenge Robet by claiming he could eat more hamburgers than him. So when the contest ended, there was no doubt that Robet was crowned champion.
The staff rushed onto the stage and helped Robet into a jacket covered with sponsors' names. They also handed him the trophy and an oversized novelty check. It listed his record of 123 hamburgers and his ten-thousand-dollar prize.
Reporters rushed over to photograph Robet, asking him all sorts of nonsensical questions. Robet had no intention of answering. He just smiled at them.
As if! Robet had been through plenty of big moments. He'd even won the Martial Arts Tournament—he just hadn't worn sponsor-branded clothes back then.
It was worth mentioning that, during the interview, Robet spotted the staff member who had managed registration. He looked a little uneasy.
"That's Robet? Wasn't he an idiot? How can he eat so much? And he won all that prize money?" At the same time, Ander, looking tired and pale in the stands, stared at Robet on the winner's podium in disbelief.
"I told you I'd seen him, didn't I? And he seems different. He's not as vacant as he used to be!" Alena snorted in annoyance. She'd brought up Robet earlier, but no one had paid attention. Now that the unremarkable idiot had become a celebrated competitive eater, she couldn't help feeling envious.
For these fifteen- and sixteen-year-old teenagers, becoming famous was something to be proud of. But it wasn't them who had become famous—it was someone they used to bully. That left them feeling deeply resentful.
Especially since Robet had also won a huge sum of prize money!
"Motherfucker! Robet was definitely pretending to be stupid before! Boss, he dared to put on an act in front of us. I don't know what you think, but I'm not letting that slide!" Alec's eyes shifted as he turned to Okinja and spoke indignantly.
"Hmph! No rush. That kid has to come back to school eventually. Whether he's really stupid or just pretending, he'll hand over that prize money for us to spend. Unless he doesn't want to survive at school!" A flash of greed and envy crossed Okinja's eyes as he spoke in a low voice.
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