Continuing from Part 1.

I'm not sure about the rules of the show in other countries, but in Japan, only three out of ten contestants in the studio were actually able to sit in front of Minomonta. They went through three rounds of quizzes where they had to arrange four items such as historical events or mountains of different heights in the correct order. The fastest contestant got the chance to play.

I cut a piece of thick paper to the same size as the machine contestants used to answer the questions and drew four circles the same size as its buttons. I studied the types of questions that came up and trained myself to quickly arrange four different items and press the buttons with both thumbs.

The show's staff told me what day the show would be taping and told me to come up with four friends that I could call as my "lifeline" in case I needed help with a difficult question. I was working for a small web company that had all of four employees besides me at the time. My boss was really curious and wanted to be on the show, but I respectfully declined and asked my four most knowledgeable friends to standby the day of. My boss wasn't too thrilled — on top of which, he was already irritated because I had to take several days off work due to being called over to Fuji television.

Of course, I also read up on the quiz itself. You don't need to know everything about the world to win a quiz show; you just need to understand quizzes — especially when it's a multiple-choice format like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. I repeatedly simulated different scenarios, planning when to ask my friends for help, when to give up and settle for a lower prize, and when to aim for the top prize.

This story will continue through Part 4.