163: Chapter 163 What?! Am I about to face a life-or-death situation?

"Brother Jiang, what are you thinking about?"

Gou Fugui was nearby wiping his golden abacus. Seeing Jiang You spacing out, he leaned in and lowered his voice, saying:

"Are you still thinking about what the principal said? Let me tell you, I heard it clear as day that day. The principal himself said yours is the legendary [Eye of Tianshu]. This thing is a divine technique that can glare a seventh-tier demon king to death with a single glance!"

"Although it hasn't been fully developed yet, even if just a tiny bit leaks out, it's still a dimensional strike!"

Hearing Gou Fugui's flattery, Jiang You didn't banter back like he usually did.

He slowly clenched his fists, feeling the blood qi surging within his body.

"The Eye of Tianshu..."

Jiang You's thoughts drifted slightly.

Actually, when he first "transmigrated" to this world three years ago, he also had his chuunibyou, hot-blooded moments.

Back then, he had also fantasized about whether he was the chosen one.

Could he awaken some heaven-defying system, punch wicked young masters, kick demon emperors, be surrounded by beautiful women, and reach the pinnacle of life?

In the end, reality gave him a resounding slap in the face—a blood qi value of 0.8, and besides being able to eat and sleep, he could do absolutely nothing.

So he chose to slack off and lie flat, using the shell of a salted fish to protect his actually somewhat hurt self-esteem.

But now...

Jiang You touched his warm eye sockets.

"My cheat... seems to have actually arrived?"

"Besides, after eating so many of their good things, if I get instantly defeated as soon as I go up, it would indeed be a bit embarrassing for a transmigrator..."

A long-lost tiny flame named "ambition" flickered gently in Jiang You's salted-fish heart.

"Since I really have a cheat, I also want to try... the feeling of being the protagonist for once."

"Phew..."

Jiang You let out a long breath, stood up, and stretched lazily. His joints popped and crackled like roasting beans.

He turned around, his gaze sweeping over his teammates behind him.

Lu Xingye's saber intent had grown colder, and Xiang Batian's muscles had grown harder.

"Since the principal gave our Class F special treatment, we can't let him feel like his money went down the drain."

Jiang You put his hands in his pockets, the specially-made black combat uniform accentuating his tall and straight posture.

Although he still had those sleepy, dead-fish eyes, at this very moment, the aura around him had changed.

It was no longer that wretched "hide whenever possible" vibe.

But rather a calm composure of... "I am standing right here, attack me however you want."

"Let's go."

Jiang You took a step forward and walked toward the gate ahead:

"Go tell those guys outside..."

"Class F didn't come here just to make up the numbers."

"We are here to... crash the party."

Combined with his restrained aura and the black combat uniform, his cool factor was instantly maxed out.

Lu Xingye's hand holding his saber trembled slightly, his eyes filled with fanaticism. "Well said, Captain Jiang! Follow me out there, and we'll wipe them out completely!"

Xiang Batian also roared, "I'm fired up! My biceps are already starving for action!"

The entire Class F was in high spirits. Following behind Jiang You like a pack of tigers about to be released from their cages, they marched with an arrogant swagger toward the core preparation area.

However...

The coolness didn't even last three seconds.

"Um... cough, cough!"

Gou Fugui, who had been holding a tablet to check the schedule, suddenly reached out and grabbed the back of Jiang You's collar just as he was about to slip into the "Core Seed Player Passage."

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?"

Jiang You stumbled from the tug, almost tripping over his own feet and eating dirt. The expert demeanor he had managed to maintain instantly shattered into pieces.

He turned his head and looked at Gou Fugui with a resentful expression:

"Fugui, what are you doing? Didn't you see everyone's emotions were peaking? Can you not interrupt my spellcasting?"

"No... Brother Jiang, I wanted to let you finish showing off too."

Gou Fugui pushed up his glasses, pointed at the tournament format on his tablet, and said with an embarrassed yet polite smile:

"But... you took the wrong path."

"Over there is the experts' passage for [Rank 1] to [Rank 3]."

"We... or rather, you, have to go over there."

Gou Fugui pointed his finger toward a small side door in the farthest corner of the venue, which even had two trash cans piled up next to it.

Hanging crookedly on it was a sign—[Rank 8 (Novice/Trash) Entrance].

Jiang You: "???"

"What on earth?"

Jiang You's eyes widened as he pointed at the door next to the trash cans:

"Who am I? I am Jiang You! I'm the captain of Class F who awakened an SSS-grade Supernatural Ability!"

"And you're making me use the trash entrance?"

"Didn't Principal Pang say I was the core? Didn't he say I was a seed player? Shouldn't I be fast-tracked directly to the finals?"

"Cough, cough. Brother Jiang, don't panic yet. Let me explain the tournament format to you first."

Gou Fugui hurriedly pulled Jiang You back, and the rest of Class F gathered around with curious faces.

"For the sake of fairness, this selection trial has canceled the traditional arena matches. After all, having tens of thousands of people fighting in an arena would take too long."

Gou Fugui pointed to the huge, sci-fi-looking battle hall ahead and said:

"Do you see those battle pods?"

"Everyone has to enter a virtual battle pod to participate in school-wide random matchmaking battles."

"And the matchmaking mechanism divides ranks based on everyone's usual [Campus Combat Points]."

Gou Fugui swiped the screen to display a pyramid-shaped ranking chart:

"The top twenty in points make up Seed Pool No. 1. Winning seven matches directly promotes them to the Hundred Academies Tournament roster, securing their qualification."

"The top fifty make up Seed Pool No. 2, the top hundred make up Seed Pool No. 3... and so on."

"Players in Seed Pool No. 2 will promote to Seed Pool No. 1 if they win seven matches, and drop to Seed Pool No. 3 if they lose three."

Having said this, Gou Fugui paused and looked at Jiang You with an extremely sympathetic gaze:

"As for you, Brother Jiang... because you've slept every day since entering the school, you've never been to the arena or played a single ranked match."

"So your campus points are... 0."

"According to the rules, students with 0 points or ranked below 5,000 are all placed in Seed Pool No. 8."

"Which is commonly known as... the scrap metal and bronze tier."

Jiang You's mouth twitched frantically.

So after getting all fired up for so long, he stepped out only to find he was a Bronze V?

"Then... what about Old Lu and the others?" Jiang You asked, unwilling to give up.

Lu Xingye raised his chin with a proud look. "Although I disdain empty fame, I've casually defeated quite a few people while practicing my saber. My current points rank 20th in the school, just barely placing me in Seed Pool No. 1."

Xiang Batian chuckled and scratched his head. "I'm ranked 37th, in Pool 2."

Even Su Nuonuo weakly raised her hand. "Um... I haven't participated much, so I seem to be in Pool 3 right now..."

Jiang You: "..."

Well, would you look at that.

After all that, the clown was actually me?

In the entire Class F, except for the newcomer Bai Lan, was he really the only one at the absolute bottom?

"And, Brother Jiang, there's an even more serious problem."

Looking at Jiang You's gradually petrifying expression, Gou Fugui hesitated for a moment but decided to deliver the final blow:

"For other tiers, losing three matches only demotes you."

"But Seed Pool No. 8 is the lowest tier; there's no room for retreat."

"If you accumulate three losses in this tier..."

Gou Fugui made a throat-slitting gesture:

"Direct elimination! GG! And there's no redemption match to play!"

"What?!"

Jiang You almost jumped up on the spot.

"This is a fucking hellish start!"

"Not only do I have to start from Bronze, but it's also sudden death?"