Anna didnât have time to prepare for the competition and wasnât even sure what the rules were when she arrived there. She and Ryan entered the venue one after the other, both taken aback by the large crowd on stage.
âIs this what youâre wearing?â Nancy asked as she pushed her way through the crowd to Anna.
âWhatâs the problem with that?â Puzzled, Anna asked.
Anna was dressed in a yellow trench coat, a camel cashmere sweater, and light gray wide-leg pants. She thought her outfit was fashionable and stylish.
Ryan, who was standing behind her, commented, âItâs pretty.â
Hearing their words, Nancy was so angry that she wanted to take off her high heels and strike each of them. She pointed unhappily to the audience seats on stage and said to Ryan, âYou, sit up there. Iâll handle the rest for you, Anna.â Nancy then vanished into the crowd.
When she arrived at the competition site, Anna finally realized why Nancy was so angry. She expected it to be a simple written test or interview, and she was surprised by how formal it was.
Surrounded by high-definition cameras, Anna even thought she had accidentally entered a live room at the time. And most of the cameras focused on the competitors on the stage. Like Anna, they had passed the initial round of off-site screening. Unlike Anna, they were all dressed in White coats and stood on the stage politely.
âWhy arenât you wearing a uniform? You cannot participate in the 4T9 Youâre on Your Own Now competition.â Anna had just stepped onto the stage when the referee approached her with a solemn expression on his face. He appeared to want to kick her out right away.
Stiffened, Anna smiled at him in embarrassment. Luckily, Nancy rushed in and shoved Annaâs hands just as she was about to speak up for herself.
âItâs not even game time yet! And sheâs wearing the uniform now,â Nancy crossed her arms and smiled, panting from exhaustion.
After the judge walked away, she turned around and took off Annaâs trench coat, saying, âPut on your white coat and act like a doctor!â
While getting dressed, Anna muttered, âYou didnât tell me anything about this competition! Is this a contest or a reality show?â
âThe organizers will film the competition and create a promotional video that will be displayed on the official websites of major hospitals. The entire game video will be uploaded to social media, and you can even find previous competition videos online. Do you really care about the competition?â Nancy became enraged.
âIs it too late to care about it now?â Anna asked, shrugging her shoulders.
âYouâd better start praying now;â Nancy said, rolling her eyes. She then turned around and walked away.
The competition used a live elimination system; the three people with the highest scores would be able to go to the next round.
After a few rounds, Anna became familiar with the situation. At that time, some of the contestants were already eliminated.
The third round of the competition was a two-person quiz. The moderator would divide the contestants into pairs and make them compete in a medical knowledge quiz. The three groups with the lowest â479 Youâre on Your Own Now scores would eventually be eliminated.
There were only twelve people left on stage at the time. Anna was good at taking quizzes and thought those questions were very easy. She didnât want to be the winner, but she wasnât going to be eliminated so soon.
After four rounds, only six people were left on the stage. Anna had no idea how she made it that far, others and ready to take on a new challenge by the time she realized it.
âThe top three competitors will be determined after the next final round, Among these six young people on stage, three of them will be the winners of the eighth Birmingham Medical Intern Knowledge Competition.â
The audience applauded and cheered in response to the moderatorâs passionate speech. Then, he slowly announced, âDr.
Cooper from Birmingham hospital will then present the questions to the interns. Please welcome Dr. Cooper!â
Dr. Cooper was a competent, medium-sized man in his fifties. His hair was gray, but he was full of energy. Anna had heard of him because he was a legendary doctor. She had heard that he once set a record by performing twelve surgeries in twenty-one hours. Many people were taken aback by this, while others questioned it.
Nancy had a lot of respect for Dr. Cooper, and she even wanted to meet him after learning that he was planning to return to the United States. However, he declined her invitation because he was busy. So, Nancy shook Ryan beside her as she sat on the audience stage, out of control with excitement.
âDr. Cooper now spends the majority of his time conducting medical research and rarely performs surgery now. Iâm sure everyone here has 479 Youâre on Your Own Now: â heard of his miraculous work, though. Dr. Cooper, would you like to share your experience with us today?â
Everyone was quiet after the host finished. Cooper sat in the middle of the judgesâ table, remembering what had happened previously. He hadnât told anyone about this experience in the past few years, mainly because he didnât want to bring it up.
He had performed a brutal surgery on a patient a few years ago. Although he had been a doctor for decades, he was deeply scared by it and stopped performing operations after that.
Shuddering softly, he said, âIt happened two years ago. | was on an academic exchange program in Ireland and working at a local hospital at the time. A heinous incident occurred in Ireland a month before the end of my studies.â
Dr. Cooper took a breather before speaking. The next words sent shivers down Annaâs spine, although she was only a listener.
âA drug trafficking organization was apprehended by the local police. Because the organization was called âCrescent Moon; the police called their actionâ Operation Sun. During the arrest, an accident occurred. Someone deliberately set off a series of explosions, resulting in numerous casualties. That day, the hospital received hundreds of injured patients.â
When he mentioned this, he began to recall those horrifying images. He took a deep breath and looked around the room before returning to his senses.