Chapter 1 The Beginning

The sun gradually rose, shining brightly in the clear blue sky.

Amidst the noisy atmosphere of the surrounding audience stands, the participating teams rested and waited, discussing their strategies in the final moments.

At exactly 8:30, Dean Lu Zhongsu's voice was broadcast throughout the Rising Sun Practice Field, delivering a brief address before decisively announcing the start.

"The first match of this year's freshman competition, the Crown Department versus the Gemology Department, a gauntlet match, is now officially beginning!"

A virtual screen popped up above the arena, displaying the list of players from both sides participating in the gauntlet match.

A total of forty names were arranged on two sides, with an area left blank in the middle, obviously for the names of whoever took the stage to be moved to the center for viewing.

The noisy scene quieted down for a few seconds, then suddenly erupted in waves of sound.

*Whirr*—

The momentum broke through the clouds.

"Go, smash the Crown!"

"First-years, sink the Gems!"

Before anyone from either side had taken the stage, students from both departments in the stands were already cheering for their own contestants and shouting slogans in excitement.

The roar made the contestants' heads buzz, and many turned pale, becoming even more nervous.

Zhou Jing couldn't help but pick at his ear, a strange expression on his face.

This sense of déjà vu, how is it so much like a school sports meet…

Oh right, it seems I am a student now.

Li Yun turned to look at everyone, his eyes sweeping across the tense and excited faces, before settling on Zhou Jing for a second, then he finally spoke:

"Everyone, don't be nervous. The arena has special devices that can reduce external interference, so don't be distracted by the audience, and focus all your attention on your opponents. I know some of you aspire to become Superpower League players, and this is a chance to experience it, to slowly get used to fighting in the spotlight."

Many nodded, secretly cheering themselves on.

Soon, the draw was completed, and the screen showed that the Gemology Department would choose someone to take the stage first, followed by alternating first moves, one change per match.

*Rumble*—

The arena changed simultaneously, the ground rising to form an uneven hilly terrain, randomly determining the environment for the first match.

The group didn't have to wait long before the opponent decided on their choice.

A contestant's name from the Gemology Department moved to the center of the screen, representing their appearance.

An unfamiliar participating student jumped onto the arena, not one of the specially selected students.

Deng Yunjie discussed with his companions for a few sentences, then decided on a challenger, although not one of the five core members from the Crown side, but still an important backbone force.

The name on the screen changed accordingly, and their own player took the stage.

After a ten-second countdown, the battle between the two officially began, each using their abilities to fight fiercely in the undulating hilly arena.

Zhou Jing and the others were together at…

The gauntlet match was a format where participants fought one-on-one to advance; the winner advanced to the next round, while the loser was eliminated and could not return in subsequent rounds.

Each victory in the first round was worth 1 point, the second round 2 points, and so on.

In the first round, because each side had twenty players, there would definitely be twenty matches, but after that, there were many variables.

The number of advancing contestants would vary, and the number of matches in each subsequent round would depend on the side with fewer people—for example, if one side fought twenty matches in the first round but only had five people advance to the next round, then only five battles would be held in the next round.

This meant that the side with fewer people had to send everyone onto the stage, while the side with more people had room to flexibly choose who to send out of those remaining.

This kind of rule had two ways to end: either eliminate all of the opponent's contestants, or play all five rounds.

—The gauntlet match only lasted five rounds, and after the fifth round, no matter how many people were left on both sides, the match would end, and the cumulative points would determine the winner.

If you won by eliminating all of your opponents before the fifth round, you could also get extra points.

And the total scores earned in the gauntlet match and the team match were added together to determine the final victory. After the three departments finished playing, the ranking was determined by the total score earned from the competition.

Zhou Jing pinched his chin and muttered to himself:

"This kind of format requires balancing the preservation of strength and the restraint of the opponent's scoring, as well as trying to control the rounds to maximize the score, while also paying attention to the stamina distribution of the seeded players, otherwise they won't have any strength even if they advance to the later stages. So there are several strategic directions, either to ensure that the strong players steadily advance in the early rounds, easily defeating their opponents, or to take down the opponent's strong players in the early rounds, so that the opponent has no one to use later…"

He could see that in the first round, both sides were holding on to the idea of preserving their strength, planning to select strong players who could steadily win after the opponent made their first move, and also using their own "inferior horses" to test the opponent's core combat power.

Those non-core contestants could come in handy here.

As for their own seeded players, they basically all took a wait-and-see approach in the first round, and would not take the stage first to be targeted.

—But he was an exception.

Deng Yunjie had told him that the B-level potential assessment was a misdirection, and although Zhou Jing was a specially selected student, he might also be recognized as an "inferior horse" by the opponent, making the opponent think that their seeded player could steadily win this match, and there was a certain chance of drawing out the opponent's core and catching them off guard.

Even if the plan didn't succeed, the opponent would only send out an ordinary player to test the waters, which was equivalent to their side steadily winning this match, which was similar to the result of a wait-and-see approach, and there was no loss.

As for the possibility of the opponent sending out a restraining ability user… it could only be said that the Crown Department's instructor group had a lot of confidence in Zhou Jing's combat power.

Moreover, body 강화자 (meat body strengtheners) generally have low potential and are rarely selected as participating players, so the opponent basically would not deliberately select ability users who restrained body 강화자 (meat body strengthening) when choosing participating students.

With this in mind, Zhou Jing calmed down and silently observed each of the enemy's players' abilities on the sidelines.

…

As players took the stage one by one, and victories and defeats were decided, the sea of people in the stands shouted continuously, cheering for the winners of their respective departments, mixed with the booing of the War Flag Department watching the show.

Like a roaring tsunami, the competitive atmosphere was heated.

Because both sides tacitly preserved their strength, the current record was almost evenly divided, and the side that waited to strike always won, with similar numbers of advancing players on each side.

Finally, when the first round reached the sixth match, Deng Yunjie looked at Zhou Jing and nodded:

"It's your turn."

Zhou Jing took a deep breath, picked up his prepared weapon, and strode onto the arena that had been transformed into a stone forest under the gaze of the crowd.

As soon as he entered the field, the noisy sounds from the outside became much quieter, as if the volume had dropped from 100 to 20, a significant isolation effect.

He looked up at the screen, waiting for his opponent.

More than ten seconds later, a familiar name moved in the opponent's list.

Zhou Jing turned to look at the opposite side, and saw a tall and sturdy figure stepping onto the arena from the other side, revealing a familiar sneer, it was Lin Kun.

"It's actually you…" Zhou Jing was a little surprised.

Originally, he had expected to be a dark horse in the second round, with their side launching a counterattack to snipe Lin Kun and eliminate the strong enemy… but he didn't expect the other side to take the initiative to fight.

I'm taking the stage first, and Lin Kun isn't going to fight an ordinary player, but is coming directly for me, is he that confident?

On the other side, Lin Kun clenched his fists, his eyes flashing:

"Our last battle wasn't finished, today we'll decide the outcome!"

Zhou Jing wanted to scratch his head a little, and said helplessly, "Come on, that was half a year ago, are you still holding onto that?"

Lin Kun snorted, "I have a habit of writing diaries."

Then it seems like you're not a serious person either…

Zhou Jing rolled his eyes.

He paused, then shook his head, tsking, "Your instructor group, choosing you to fight me, obviously thinks you can steadily win against me… do you think you can?"

Hearing this, Lin Kun's sneer became even more exaggerated, making him look extremely ferocious.

"Of course… I'm not the same as I used to be! Your tricks and skills will never be able to fool me again, today I'm going to use my fists to give you a makeover, and beat your handsome face until it's bruised and swollen."

"Oh, thank you for the compliment." Zhou Jing was stunned, flattered.

"??"

Lin Kun's face stiffened.

So you only heard me complimenting you on being handsome? Is that the point, you bastard!

Lin Kun only felt that Zhou Jing was deliberately teasing him, and was indignant in his heart. He tore off his top, directly activated Destroyer King transformation, and his whole body swelled up into a small giant.

He slammed his fists together, making a muffled thud, and his baleful aura overflowed, his tone cold:

"Today, only one of us will walk off the arena standing!"

"Tsk, such a bad temper, and violent and belligerent, no wonder no girls like to talk to you."

Zhou Jing casually complained, not even looking at Lin Kun's suddenly flushed and angry expression, just holding the long knife in his hand in front of him, one hand gripping the hilt, the other gripping the scabbard, slowly drawing the knife.

*Clang!*

A sharp cold light slid out of the scabbard.

This time it wasn't a training knife with a rubber-wrapped club, but a real cold weapon.

—And it was sharpened.

Real weapons could be used in official matches, although killing, maiming, and deliberately causing serious injury were not allowed, slight bloodshed was permitted, and the academy had made early preparations for protection in the arena, and the referee could intervene at any time to stop it.

Zhou Jing casually threw away the scabbard, flicked the blade with his finger, and a crisp hum sounded.

At this time, he looked at Lin Kun again, a long-lost interest flowing in his eyes, and the corner of his mouth hooked up:

"KunKun, you're in luck, this is the first time I've used a real knife to slash someone, I pay attention to the user experience, if there's anything I don't slash well, please give me a lot of feedback."

"…"

Lin Kun had to admit that in the field of trash talk, he was not skilled enough and had lost.

And why are you calling me KunKun, are we that familiar?

Lin Kun muttered to himself, suddenly saw Zhou Jing's abnormal smile, his heart skipped a beat, and suddenly a bad feeling arose…

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