With the elimination round successfully concluded, the tournament officially entered the Call-Out Challenge stage.
In the Call-Out Challenge, contestants had no fixed order of priority. The order was decided by a live draw.
Under the rules, whoever drew the winning card could choose any contestant as an opponent. But until every contestant had appeared, anyone who had already competed in a challenge could not be chosen again.
In other words, each contestant would appear only once per round.
After a three-day break, the eagerly awaited Call-Out Challenge began.
The first draw contained nine black cards and one red card. Whoever drew the red card would earn the right to compete in the Call-Out Challenge.
That gave the lucky contestant with the red card an enormous advantage.
He could choose someone weaker from the ten contestants, or someone whose abilities were clearly a poor match against his own, improving his final ranking.
Under the rules, a winner could not be called out again until every contestant had appeared. So apart from the freedom to choose an opponent, the elimination process was essentially no different from the previous round.
Win this match, and a contestant would reach the top five.
The rewards for placing in the top five were quite different from those for reaching the top ten.
Anyone hoping to join Vought International as one of its superheroes would receive more favorable contract terms.
Beyond that, the top five would earn the right to challenge The Seven.
Ordinarily, The Seven appeared only on giant LED screens in Shopping Street and in television advertisements. Now the contestants had a chance to compete against them on the same stage.
It was hard not to be tempted by an opportunity like that.
Even if they lost, they were newcomers, so they would face little