38: Chapter 38 I'm signing up!

Lin Ye pinched his phone, laughing out loud on the spot.

In his mind, an image emerged of that chubby little girl from back then, clutching the corner of her little clothes and timidly hiding behind him. Comparing that with the current class monitor, Xiao Qingwu—who possessed a tall figure, a cold temperament, and was the most dazzling student in the entire department—the sense of contrast was maxed out.

He really hadn't remembered wrong, he just didn't expect this girl to mind the title 'little chubby girl' so much.

Seeing that Lin Ye did not speak and only low laughter remained, Xiao Qingwu felt even more stifled. She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the shyness in her heart, and her tone instantly turned back to being serious, carrying an unrefusable firmness.

"I won't ramble on about all these nonsense things with you. Lin Ye, you must return to the school immediately, right now!"

Lin Ye's smile paused, and he slightly raised his eyebrows: "What for? I just left the school, and I still have personal matters to deal with."

"The head teacher is about to hold a temporary class meeting to announce important matters publicly. All members are required to be present, and no absences or lateness are allowed!" Xiao Qingwu's tone was exceptionally serious, without a shred of joking intent. "I specifically called to notify you, so hurry back and don't wait for the teacher to call your name out in criticism."

Lin Ye felt somewhat helpless. Just as he had settled the matter of the fiendish aura, he was entangled by school trivialities again.

He originally wanted to open his mouth to shirk it, thinking his situation was special and there was no need at all to attend an ordinary class meeting.

But before he could speak, Xiao Qingwu seemed to have predicted his thoughts, and her tone sank a few more degrees: "This is a unified notice, and no one in the entire department can be an exception. Hurry back, and don't make it difficult for me."

The other end of the receiver fell silent for a moment, and her softened tone could be faintly heard, carrying a trace of unnoticeable entreaty.

Lin Ye rubbed the space between his eyebrows and completely abandoned the idea of shirking.

Fine then.

Anyway, accommodation wasn't urgent; the Divine Kingdom reproduction card was already in hand, and the crisis of the fiendish aura couldn't be resolved immediately for the time being, so a little extra time didn't matter.

"Got it, I'll return to the school immediately right now."

"Hurry up."

The call was hung up hastily.

Listening to the busy tone coming from his ear, Lin Ye chuckled and shook his head. He turned his direction, hailed a cab, and quickly retraced his steps toward the school's location.

In his heart, he was secretly curious: what important matter was the head teacher suddenly calling a temporary meeting for, requiring everyone to be present?

Under the boost of financial power, a journey that originally took over an hour was driven by the driver to arrive in just forty minutes.

Lin Ye rushed back to the main teaching building.

At this moment, the classrooms of each class were basically full, and the corridor was quiet, leaving only a few scattered students hurriedly returning to their classes.

When he stepped into the doorway of his own class, Teacher Zhao had not yet arrived, which could be considered returning right at the very last moment.

The classroom was noisy with voices, and everyone was whispering about the purpose of this temporary class meeting, each with a face full of curiosity, and no one knew the reason for the sudden meeting.

Lin Ye ignored the fragmented discussions around him, walked straight to his window-side seat, and sat down. Just as he put down his phone, steady footsteps came from the corridor.

The next second, Teacher Zhao holding an electronic public notice document, walked into the classroom with a serious expression.

The originally noisy classroom instantly fell into pin-drop silence. All the students immediately sat straight, and their gazes fell in unison onto the podium.

Teacher Zhao had no superfluous buildup. After standing still, he got straight to the point and said in a deep voice: "Calling everyone for a temporary meeting is about the major internal school competition in three days—the School-wide Projection Confrontation Competition."

As soon as these words came out, a burst of fragmented uproar instantly sounded off the stage, and the eyes of many people instantly lit up with light.

The Projection Confrontation Competition was a key event of the academy every semester. Completely different from ordinary trials, its gold content was extremely high.

Teacher Zhao raised his hand to suppress the discussion of the crowd, and continued: "Participation in this confrontation competition is completely voluntary for all members and is not mandatory, but I will explain the rules and pros and cons in advance. The top ten students in this internal school competition will directly obtain the qualification to participate in the Federal Youth High School Martial Arts League."

The Federal League!

The breathing of the whole class of students stagnated, and intense desire instantly ignited in the depths of their eyes.

That was a large-scale competition at the federal level. As long as one could be shortlisted, there would not only be generous military merit rewards, but it was also an excellent resume for future further education and joining federal martial arts departments.

Looking at everyone's excited appearance, Teacher Zhao poured a basin of cold water instead, and his tone became increasingly serious: "I'll say the ugly words upfront. Although the opportunity is good, it is definitely not suitable for everyone. Among the more than eight hundred students in our entire grade, there are dozens of them whose talent ratings reach B-grade and above, and there are even over a dozen top A-grade geniuses."

"The unified advice from the school and the teaching research group is that students with C-grade and below talents do not need to sign up to participate."

"The gap in strength is right before our eyes. Going there would just mean being eliminated in the first round, purely wasting time and energy. Rather than going up to embarrass oneself and play the foil, it's better to cultivate with peace of mind and consolidate the foundation."

As his voice fell, the excitement on the faces of many people in the classroom instantly faded, replaced by helplessness and disappointment.

More than half of the entire class possessed the most ordinary C-grade talent, and there were even a minority of D-grades. Everyone knew in their hearts that what the teacher said was the truth, and stubbornly going to participate would purely be asking for trouble.

Just as everyone was secretly giving up and sighing in low voices, a clear youthful voice sounded abruptly in the quiet classroom.

"Teacher, I'm signing up."

The moment the voice landed clearly, the entire classroom fell into complete dead silence.

All the classmates turned their heads in unison, their gazes nailed tightly onto Lin Ye by the window. Their faces were filled with extreme bewilderment and disbelief, followed closely by overwhelming banter and ridicule sweeping across the entire venue.

Who didn't know? Lin Ye was the universally acknowledged F-grade bottom-ranked rating of the entire department and even the entire grade, a bona fide waste god!

Even though his theoretical score steadily sat at first place in the entire department, in the divine world, actual combat ratings were the hard currency. An F-grade foundation had no power to fight back at all in front of real geniuses!

"Lin Ye? He wants to sign up? Did I hear wrong?"

"Is he crazy? Who doesn't know that his rating is only F-? No matter how powerful his theoretical first place is, actual combat simply cannot rank!"

"Exactly, with dozens of B-grade and several A-grade big shots in the grade, what kind of excitement is an F-grade joining in on? Going up is purely sending heads!"

"Beating Lu Ren before was indeed dazzling, but that was just an accident. Besides, Lu Ren was only a D-grade. Speaking of true hard strength, he is too far behind, and he simply cannot withstand a formal battle!"

"No matter how powerful theoretical first place is, it's useless! Projection battle relies on Divine Kingdom strength and kin combat power. What does he have to compare with others?"

One astonished, mocking, and puzzled gaze after another nailed tightly onto Lin Ye. Some people had faces full of playful expressions watching a show, while others secretly shook their heads, feeling that he was too impulsive.

Even his seatmate couldn't help but tug at Lin Ye's clothes corner, lowering his voice to dissuade him: "Don't be impulsive! An F-grade rating simply doesn't have the capital to participate. Going will only lead to being crushed, don't try to force it!"

Teacher Zhao on the podium instantly furrowed his brows tightly, and his expression sank a few degrees.

He admitted that Lin Ye's theoretical talent was peerless and he was the most worry-free top student in the class, and last time's upset defeat of Lu Ren was indeed surprising.

But an accident was an accident after all, and it couldn't change the fact that he was at the bottom of the martial arts department with an F-grade rating.

But in his eyes, Lu Ren was also just an existence at the very bottom, and someone of D-grade like him didn't have much combat power either. The battle between the two was purely pecking at each other like newbies.