When the lunch break arrived, I made my way towards the canteen. Rahul and Abed accompanied me.

"It's so unfair. Haven't we proved ourselves enough by getting through the ridiculously challenging entrance test for getting into this college? I can't help but get anxious knowing that if I don't study enough I will be kicked out of college and I can't study when I am stressed." Rahul wailed as he brought up the topic of the test.

Expelling a student from college solely because of poor performance in a single test isn't normal but this college didn't follow the norms like other institutes in the first place.

"Due to the extreme difficulty of NEAT, the college filters out the weak students so that the only students that remain are the ones that somewhat have a chance at this exam. The college eliminates every student that does not deserve their efforts and services so that they can focus only on those few selected students." Abed tried his best to answer Rahul's queries and end his worry. But looking at Rahul's irritated face, it seemed to be only making things worse.

"It's easy for you to say. A genius like you doesn't have to worry about something like scoring less." Rahul countered with the genius card.

"Hehe." Abed gently scratched his cheek, flustered by Rahul's compliment.

"And what do you mean by, doesn't deserve their efforts? Aren't we paying hefty fees for their service? That's a total rip off. What happens to the fees? Do they simply take all of it?" Rahul queried.

"No, they return the entire fees to the students. Everything is clarified during the time of admission. The college just wants to increase the pass out rate to uplift its reputation. I heard that this rule is applied to every test that is conducted in our college. So we cannot afford to take it easy in any of the tests."

"Every Test!?" Rahul's eyes widened in surprise. I could see the hope fading away from his eyes, "Isn't the purpose of a college to teach students how to gradually improve their results? How are we supposed to perform well in the first test itself?"

I agree with Rahul. Not everyone is gifted. But one can improve in time by putting in the work. This test might end up being a problem for someone like me who has just started studying. But this college doesn't seem to care about that.

I heard the noise of students shouting and cheering which got louder as we got closer to the canteen. On reaching the canteen, we saw that all the students crowded around a table. The rest of the tables and chairs were moved to the sides to make room in the centre. Only two guys were seated on chairs on the opposite sides of the table. A guy stood next to the table with a book in his hand.

"What's going on here?" I asked.

"Ohh. They have started it already. Finally, something that I like about this stupid college." With a pause, Rahul made a hand gesture, "Asura, let me introduce you to 'THE QUIZ'."

"The quiz?"

"The Quiz is a competitive game practised in this institute, as a fun way to solve questions."

Fun way, huh?

Rahul resumed his explanation, "During this time when only a few days are left for the exam. The students who are done with the theory section compete with other students in the quiz, to find out who can solve the questions faster."

The thing that struck me the most was that some of the students have already moved on to the problem-solving part.

"The Quiz involves a gamble between the two students. The gamble can be anything, but both the participants have to agree on it beforehand. The only rule is that the losing side has to keep their side of the deal. Isn't it an interesting way to practice questions and have fun at the same time?" I could see light rays coming out of his eyes as he spoke enthusiastically.

"Why waste so much time solving only a few questions and that too in between all of this ridiculous noise?"

"You are so lame," he pouted.

"Does the college know about this? I asked, ignoring the straight on the face insult.

"I can not say with complete certainty but I think the college faculty knows about the quiz. I have even heard that the teachers support it. The most intriguing thing is, rumours are floating around the college that the quiz was actually started by one of the teachers. But still, the quiz is restricted only to the canteen. Maybe some of the staff members don't approve of it."

If the teachers are involved with this, then it drastically increases its significance. This might turn out to be interesting.