"What the hell…" Samantha gaped at the Gior's main office as her expression scrunched up. Her expectations weren't a lot since Gior was just a new agency, but she still held at least some hope for it.
However, when she glanced at the dilapidated four-storey high building, which had its paint coming off from a lot of places, a feeling of revulsion and doubt welled up inside her as she glanced towards Katy and asked, "Katy…are you starting to regret your decision because I definitely am,"
Meanwhile, on Katy's face was a reminiscent smile as she looked at the building that would soon be demolished and, in its place, a massive skyscraper would be built.
"Regret? Never, I'm even more excited now. Let's go in," Katy answered honestly with a hint of excitement, which invited a weird stare from Samantha.
"Whatever, let's go," Samantha sighed at Katy's remark and followed after her while muttering under her breath, "I won't be surprised if there are applicants who would go back home just after seeing this sight."
Unlike the exterior, the interior was cleanly furnished, and Samantha no longer felt as disgruntled after seeing that.
They showed their application printouts to the receptionist and were soon guided to a hall on the ground floor.
There were several rows of classroom benches inside, and there was enough space to accommodate around a hundred candidates.
However, including Katy and Samantha, there were only twenty-six other applicants inside the room.
"The written part of the examination will start in half an hour," The examiner, who was a middle-aged man, told them and pointed them towards their assigned seats.
"Good luck." Katy nodded towards Samantha, who nodded in return, and the two went to their respective seats according to their application number.
The entrance test for actors in Gior comprised three tests. Written part, psychology part and lastly the interview part.
From the forum messages which she had read for hours in her previous life, Katy knew that the written and the interview part was the main deal breaker, and the psychology part of the test was something that didn't carry much weightage in their selection.
It was with these points in mind that she had prepared for the tests along with Samantha.
With a confident exhale of breath, Katy took her seat and waited for the test to start.
A few other candidates also entered the hall from time to time, and by the time the test was about to start, the total number of candidates rose to 32.
"Alright," The examiner clapped his hands once to attract everyone's attention and continued, "In this hall, two parts of your test will be conducted. First would be the basic written test, and second, your psychological test.
Both tests would be of 2 hours each, and there will be a thirty-minute break between them for you all to relieve yourself and eat some snacks from the canteen outside.
I'll be distributing your answer scripts and question papers now. Five minutes later, turn over your question papers and start writing,"
After informing all the candidates about the necessary instructions, the papers were distributed, and the test finally started.
Samantha, who was a little nervous about the test, couldn't help but freeze when she glanced over the question paper.
'This…' She involuntarily glanced towards Katy, who was already staring towards her with a smirk on her face.
'This crazy woman!' A sense of excitement rose inside Samantha the very next moment as she picked up her pen and started filling up her answer script, and she kept doing so until the very last second of the test.
"Alright, time's up!" the examiner reminded them and started collecting the answer scripts the next moment. "Those whose answer scripts have been collected can go out now to relieve themselves. Make sure to return here within fifteen minutes."
"So how was your paper?" Katy asked Samantha with a teasing smile on her face.
"Is there even a reason to ask? It went fantastically!!" Samantha exclaimed in elation and tightly hugged Katy the very next moment, "Thanks to you, I'm getting very good marks!"
Her elation was so intense that she almost lifted Katy, who was similar in weight to her, off the floor.
"Why are you squeezing me to death if you're so thankful?" Katy said with difficulty and was finally able to leave Samantha's clutches.
"All that food that you eat is surely going somewhere," Katy commented in exasperation while taking deep breaths to recover herself.
"Let's go and freshen up quickly, or we'll be late for the next test," Katy said, and the two left for the washroom.
Thirty minutes later, when everyone returned to the hall, they noticed that the projector was turned on and all the excess benches in the classroom were removed.
The remaining benches were arranged in a pattern so that projector screen was clearly visible to everyone.
"Welcome back, everyone. The next test is subdivided into three sections. In the first section, you'll be shown 11 pictures and a blank slide for 30 seconds each on the projector one after the other.
After each picture, you'll be given four minutes to write a story related to the picture with a hundred words and on the blank slide, you are required to write any story that comes to your mind…"
The examiner clearly briefed everyone about the test procedures and handed them answer booklets. Soon everyone prepared their mind for the test as a ten-second countdown began on the projector screen.
Plenty of nervous exhales could be heard in the classroom, but Katy wasn't among them.
She had never heard of anyone who had failed in the psychological test in her previous life, so her only desire was to perform this test better than she did in her previous life.
Though the memories of the pictures were almost forgotten by her, she still vaguely remembered a few stories which she had made previously.
With this goal in mind, Katy focused her gaze on the projector screen as the first picture appeared on it.
A wave of silence spread through the entire hall that very moment, and after thirty seconds, the sound of hurried scribbling filled the room.
After two hours, the projector finally turned off, and the candidate finally let go of their pen and rubbed their fingers to relieve their strained muscles.
"Good work, everyone. The results will be updated on the website within a week, and the selected candidates will be called for the interview. You may leave," The examiner said with a smile and busied himself with the test booklets.
"You said it would be easy, but you never told that it would be so lengthy!" Samantha whined while coming out of the exam hall.
"You were still able to finish it, weren't you?" Katy asked with a snort.
"Yes…but look at my index finger. It's almost deformed thanks to that intense writing session," Samantha said as she showed the state of her finger to Katy.
Katy ignored her antics and said, "It's still two in the afternoon. How about we grab a lunch from a nearby mall and watch a movie to reward ourselves for these past few days?"
"You read my mind, let's go! I've not watched any series in the last few days, and all my being is craving for entertainment." Samantha enthusiastically agreed to the idea, and the two soon left for the nearby mall to have some fun.