CHAPTER 62: THE VOICE TEST – WHEN SILENCE MEETS NOISE

The next morning, the League facility no longer felt like a monastery of silence.

Speakers buzzed alive.Announcements rolled and every corridor echoed with new energy.

For the first time, the captains were told to speak.

A message flashed across all dorm walls:

"Trial Three: The Voice Test

You may now use language.

But not all voices carry equal weight."

Raj sat up slowly.Not out of hesitation.

But because he understood what this meant.The game was no longer about stitching silently.

It was about resisting the noise while using his own.

The courtyard had changed.Now split into six zones, each one simulating a different match environment — crowded stadium noises, angry teammates, dissenting voices, crowd distractions, and pressure conditions.

Players were grouped differently.

Raj was placed in Zone 4: Conflict Resolution Under Pressure.

Two teammates arguing.One deliberately making poor field placements.The other ignoring instructions.

And Raj?

He wasn’t even introduced.

Just told: "Lead this. Fix this. Do not fail."

The moment the simulation began, the chaos unfolded fast.

Player A placed fielders incorrectly and barked, "I know what I’m doing!"

Player B shouted back, "You cost us the last match too! Don’t ruin this!"

The bowler lost rhythm.The keeper stopped calling line adjustments.

Raj stood at slip — just one of the eleven.

No badge. No signal. No title.But his system had already begun calculating.

⟐ SYSTEM TRIGGERED: VOICE TEST ACTIVE ⟐

▸ Zone: Pressure Conflict

▸ Time Limit: 15 Minutes

▸ Collapse Threshold: 3 Fielding Errors

▸ Objective: Restore Order Without Overriding

▸ Trait Limit: No Passive Leadership Allowed

▸ Voice Required: Once Minimum

For five minutes, he said nothing.

He watched how Player A’s aggression rose after field misreads.

How Player B’s complaints increased after every dot ball.

He studied tension like it was weather.

Then without raising his voice he walked over between overs and tapped Player A’s arm once.

Said one line.

"You trust yourself too much to keep proving it every ball."

Player A blinked.

Froze.

Then turned away—no reply.

But on the next delivery?

He moved the fielder correctly.Then Raj turned to Player B.

"You’re too loud to hear your own timing."

The next over?

No complaints.

Just focus.

By the tenth minute, the keeper had re-engaged.The bowler hit three perfect lengths.

No errors.No collapses.

⟐ SYSTEM RESPONSE: VOICE EFFICIENCY TRIGGERED ⟐

▸ Voice Use: 2 Sentences

▸ Effectiveness: 93%

▸ Collapse Avoidance: Full

▸ Bonus Trait Unlocked: Voice As Needle

 ▸Effect: Every word placed increases emotional stitch strength

▸ Trial Outcome: Passed With Minimum Voice Required

▸ Ranking: Top 3 Among All Zones

Raj didn’t speak again.He didn’t need to.

Because every word that followed silence meant something and that made it heavier than a thousand commands.

While Raj left Zone 4 with minimal words and maximum impact, the rest of the facility stirred with noise.

Zone 1 was a battlefield of commands — players yelling strategies, cutting across each other’s voices.

Zone 3 resembled a pressurized stadium. Fake crowd noises blasted through speakers. Comments, criticism, and applause mixed together to simulate real-match distractions.

And Zone 5,It was chaos.

An artificial simulation of a collapsing batting innings where one had to lead from behind — with every teammate already tuned out.

Three captains broke within five minutes.

One quit entirely.

Only one held the thread together till the end — Player 03, from Raj’s previous squad.

He didn’t win by force.He redirected tension into performance.

Much like Raj.

The system noted both.

By noon, the League released silent evaluation sheets to each player’s dorm — no public scores, no visible feedback. Just one sentence.

Raj’s sheet read:

"You led by thread.You spoke when the needle required it."

He folded the sheet.Tucked it behind his emblem patch.Because recognition didn’t need broadcast.

It needed to echo inward.

Elsewhere in the control room, the League officials reviewed the metrics.

"He’s ranked second in this phase," a data analyst reported. "Only one above him—Player 03."

The head evaluator nodded. "Interesting."

"But Raj used the fewest words of any successful candidate."

The room paused.The evaluation director smiled.

"Then we know what comes next."

That evening, the announcement changed the tone again.

"All Captains: Prepare.

Tomorrow begins the Voice Clash Trials.

Twelve enter.

Only one will remain undefeated.

You will face another captain...In front of the others.The rest will vote."

⟐ SYSTEM UPDATE: VOICE CLASH INITIATED ⟐

▸ Opponent: Random

▸ Format: In-Field Simulation + Command Duel

▸ Audience: All Participants

▸ Outcome: Voted By Peers

▸ Bonus Criteria: Speak Only When Necessary

▸ Raj’s Status: Match Scheduled – Day Two, Round Three

Raj didn’t react.He walked to the nets as usual.Trained under low light.Didn’t practice speeches.Didn’t rehearse strategies.

He simply worked on precision.Because when your thread is tight enough,you don’t need to shout.

You only need to move right and let the game speak for you.

Day One of the Voice Clash Trials arrived with a kind of electricity the League hadn’t felt before.

Twelve players sat in the gallery built into the east wall of the arena. Below them, a circular turf divided into two halves: one labeled "Command Zone," the other "Execution Zone."

The first two matches were intense.

Commands flew.Shouts echoed.Some barked orders like generals.Others floundered under pressure.

By mid-afternoon, only three players had secured full votes from peers , each blending clarity with composure.

But most eyes weren’t on the scoreboard.

They were on the quiet boy in the last row.

Raj hadn’t moved.Hadn’t spoken.Yet every player in the gallery now knew who he was. and that made his silence louder than all the noise below.

When Raj’s name appeared on the digital slate for Round Three, murmurs sparked across the benches.

Match: Player 08 vs. Player 02

Zone: Tactical Defense Overload

Time Limit: 20 minutes

Objective: Defend a total using resource-limited defense

Team Coordination: Required

Audience: Voting Committee (All 10 Peers)

Raj walked down without fanfare.

Player 02, in contrast, jogged in nodding to the others, pumping his fist, signaling energy.

The difference was immediate.

Raj placed his gloves near the Command Zone.Stood with arms crossed, eyes on the field.

Player 02 clapped his team together.

"Alright boys, here’s the play...."

He spoke for three minutes straight.

Positioning.Angles.Field movements.

Raj?

He took three steps forward.Spoke one sentence.

"Watch the gaps, not the ball."

That was it.The match began.Team Raj played tight.

Controlled.

Even when the field setup wasn’t perfect, the players adjusted based on subtle hand cues, body posture, and timing.

Player 02 shouted every few seconds adjustments, warnings, complaints.

By the tenth minute, he was sweating more from stress than movement.

Raj?

Still.

Every move calculated.Every fielder realigned instinctively.

No shouting required.

⟐ SYSTEM NOTICE: VOICE CLASH MATCH ACTIVE ⟐

▸ Raj’s Word Count: 9

▸ Efficiency: 92%

▸ Execution Match Score: 48/50

▸ Peer Influence: Passive

▸ Team Alignment: Full

▸ Bonus Trait Active: Command Without Pressure – Enabled

The match ended with a defensive win.Raj’s team celebrated calmly.

Player 02’s side muttered and drifted apart.

The voting began.

One by one, ten players submitted their verdicts.

And the scoreboard flashed:

Winner: Player 08 – 9 Votes to 1

Raj didn’t pump his fists.Didn’t look at the gallery.He simply picked up his gloves, nodded once to the field and walked back up in silence.

Back in the gallery, the atmosphere had changed.No one laughed.No one whispered.

Ten players sat quietly now—not because of awe, but because something fundamental had shifted.

Raj hadn’t just won a round.He had redefined what winning meant.

Player 03 leaned toward Player 06.

"That’s the third match he’s taken without breaking pace."

Player 06 replied, "He doesn’t play the match. He becomes it."

Inside the system, a flood of updates unraveled like stitched banners unfolding in succession.

⟐ SYSTEM MILESTONE: VOICE CLASH – ROUND THREE COMPLETE ⟐

▸ Match Type: Tactical Defense Overload

▸ Opponent: Player 02 (Eliminated)

▸ Peer Voting: 9-1 Majority

▸ Verbal Input: Lowest Among All Captains

▸ Match Impact Score: 94%

▸ Bonus Trait Unlocked: Resonance Lead

 ▸Effect: Your silence amplifies teammate focus. The less you speak, the more they hear you.

▸ Special Title Acquired: Echoflame

▸ Leader Ranking: Tied #1 with Player 03

Later that evening, a surprise roundtable session was announced.

All remaining captains were brought to the internal conference room.

A large display screen flickered to life with just a sentence:

"Your next trial will test what happens, when silence meets silence."

Everyone turned toward Raj and Player 03 simultaneously.Because they already knew who the next match was and the system confirmed it a heartbeat later:

⟐ NEXT MATCH: RAJ vs. PLAYER 03 ⟐

▸ Theme: The Silent Duel

▸ Format: Shared Squad with Disputed Decisions

▸ Objective: Lead Without Acknowledgment

▸ Outcome: Team Votes Who They Trusted More

▸ Time Limit: 30 Minutes

▸ Bonus Trigger: Influence Without Instructions

Raj didn’t blink.

Player 03 didn’t flinch.

One stitched trust through calm.The other, through quiet charisma and tomorrow, the field would decide which flame burned deeper.

Not the one that burned loudest.But the one that lasted longer.

That night, Raj sat alone by the netlights.He didn’t think about strategies.He didn’t worry about votes.

He simply replayed each moment where silence had won him loyalty.Because tomorrow wasn’t about defeating someone.

It was about proving something.That in a world addicted to noise,

You could still lead by becoming the echo they all remembered.

To be continued......