Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Li Leyang’s roommates also couldn’t console him.

The first match was truly miserable—miserable beyond miserable.

The four people in their dorm were all in different groups, and it was the same for Ning Zhu’s side.

Li Leyang was in the first match, Wang Huan in the second, Chen Mo in the third, and Lu Sunyi in the fourth.

Then for Ning Zhu’s dormitory: Lin Ting was in the tenth match, Lu Xianle in the eleventh, and Ning Zhu herself was in the final twelfth match.

Seven people—none of them were in the same group.

It was a reasonable guess that this grouping system was deliberately designed to split up acquaintances to prevent them from forming alliances.

In these twelve matches, eight people would advance from each round. That number didn’t seem large among a hundred participants, but if a strong student appeared, dragging one or even two others along with them wasn’t impossible.

However, those “dragged along” students would not be advancing based on their own strength, which did not meet the requirements of a selection competition. So such situations had to be eliminated at the source.

If everyone was unfamiliar with each other, then it would be purely based on individual ability.

Li Leyang was crying so loudly not because he didn’t have acquaintances in his group.

It was because he was in the first match!

Without a doubt, the first match was the worst.

No one knew how deep or strict the rules of this format would be. Everyone was waiting to observe the first round to gather experience, so they could increase their chances in their own matches.

But the students in the first match had no one to learn from.

They were pure test subjects!

Even more frightening was that this suddenly decided format meant even the refereeing teachers had little experience.

It wasn’t just students learning from them— even the referees had to study the rules through their matches.

Ning Zhu comforted Li Leyang, saying, “Look at it another way, being in the first group is actually not bad. Everyone is still confused, so there won’t be too many tricky tactics. The referees will also be more forgiving. Even if you accidentally break a rule, you probably won’t be disqualified immediately.”

As soon as she said this, Li Leyang perked up. “That makes sense!”

Ning Zhu continued, “Right? The first group is actually the most ‘fair.’ You just need to follow the rules and bravely push your way into the final circle.”

Li Leyang followed her logic and the more he thought about it, the more reasonable it sounded. “I read the rules. They specifically emphasized no forming alliances, but the teachers are still too naive. I know those guys too well—they don’t dare act openly, but they’ll definitely try to stir trouble in private… The first group is actually good; even if they want to cause trouble, they won’t have much time or ideas!”

Ning Zhu nodded repeatedly. “So don’t panic. The first group is good!”

Li Leyang was quite famous in the Aries Division.

First, because his surname was Li, yet he wasn’t from the main Li family branch.

Second, because his talent was high and his personality was lively and flamboyant, and he had offended quite a few noble family students in the preparatory class.

Third, because he was close friends with Ning Zhu.

Ning Zhu, as the “Ancient God Card Holder” plus owner of a three-star [Spirit Energy Card], already had extremely high fame.

And apart from hanging out with her dormmates, the only person she was close to was Li Leyang.

Some time ago, there was even a post on the school forum attacking Li Leyang:

“He couldn’t cling to the main family, so now he’s clinging to the Ancient God Card Holder instead.”

“What’s he even called a ‘Fun Sheep’ for? He’s clearly just a lapdog!”

The post contained personal attacks and was deleted by the moderators.

Neither Li Leyang nor Ning Zhu saw it—Lu Xianle, the internet-savvy one, happened to notice it and secretly told Ning Zhu about it.

In general, Li Leyang had extremely good relationships—lots of close brothers.

At the same time, he also had extremely bad relationships—plenty of people who disliked him.

Ning Zhu wasn’t just comforting him; she genuinely felt that being placed in the first group was good for Li Leyang, since it greatly reduced the chance of him being targeted.

Li Leyang calmed himself down, then started worrying about Ning Zhu instead. “I originally thought you being in group twelve was lucky, but now something feels off!”

He added, “After eleven matches, everyone will have figured out the patterns… especially since the list was released in advance. What if they gang up and target you!”

Ning Zhu: “It’s fine.”

Li Leyang went to check the list. After a while, he replied: “Damn! Cai Xinji is in Group Twelve!”

Ning Zhu hadn’t seen him in a long time and had almost forgotten this person.

Li Leyang continued: “That guy is super petty! He probably doesn’t even expect to qualify for the freshman cup, and he might very well trip you up… Ahhh, and there’s also Luo Yu, that crazy woman! She’s definitely going to target you, one hundred percent…”

Ning Zhu had already been enrolled for two months, but due to the rotating class system, plus being busy making cards, attending extra lessons, and studying things like Star God Cards and the history of Spirit Cards, she really didn’t have time to socialize. So the number of classmates she actually knew could be counted on two hands.

She also glanced at the Group Twelve roster.

There were actually two familiar names.

One was Cai Xinji, and the other was Yuan Xiaona.

When she saw Yuan Xiaona’s name, Ning Zhu was slightly surprised.

So she had also enrolled.

Ning Zhu had thought she would have been scared off by the first class of the semester and gone straight home.

Yuan Xiaona was someone Ning Zhu had met on the “Somersault Cloud Express” ride when entering the academy.

Ning Zhu was originally supposed to sit with Ye Jianrong, but Ye Jianrong switched seats with Yuan Xiaona because she knew Li Leyang.

Later, in the [Scenario Card], Ning Zhu had pulled Yuan Xiaona once, but Yuan Xiaona didn’t even look at her and ran off without hesitation. After that, Ning Zhu never saw her again.

As for the Luo Yu Li Leyang mentioned…

Ning Zhu didn’t know her personally, but she had learned about several major aristocratic families in Spirit Card history, including the “Luo family.”

There were many Spirit Card families.

New rising families aside, even those with a few hundred years of inheritance numbered over a dozen, not to mention those with a history of over a thousand years.

Among them, the oldest four families were: Li, Han, Luo, and Ye.

Over the years, these four families had branched out extensively. Some descendants even abandoned the identity of card masters entirely, integrated into ordinary society, and held governmental positions or worked in well-known enterprises.

Luo Yu was from the main Luo family branch.

However, her talent was very average, and her personality was extremely strange. The reason Li Leyang called her that way was because she “liked” him.

But Luo Yu’s “liking” was far from normal.

Every time she saw Li Leyang, she would prank him.

For example, secretly slipping him a [Octopus Card], or stealthily giving him a [Numb Card]. Once, she went too far—so far that Li Leyang was furious enough to want a duel. She actually gave him a [Pee Card]…

The effect of that card wasn’t frequent urination, but rather making it look like he had wet himself.

Ning Zhu had never dealt with Luo Yu directly, but she had heard Li Leyang complain about her many times, so she was already very familiar with the name.

Li Leyang continued, “Ning Ning, you’re in serious trouble! There are so many psychos in Group Twelve!”

Ning Zhu said, “I’ll be careful. I should be able to sneak into the final circle.”

Li Leyang’s sense of justice flared up. “Once I clear the first match, I’ll properly study the system and tactics for you. I guarantee you’ll be swimming like a fish in water in the twelfth match!”

Ning Zhu smiled. “Then I’ll thank Brother Yang in advance.”

Li Leyang chuckled and shamelessly complimented her back in a business-flattery tone: “When Ning God rises to greatness in the future, don’t forget about this little one.”

Lu Xianle, who was assigned to the eleventh match, was also feeling uneasy.

Ning Zhu said, “Don’t worry. Brother Yang will analyze tactics for us after his match.”

Lu Xianle immediately slid into a dramatic kneel: “I’m going to buy Brother Yang the [Super Energy Refresh Fragrant Milk Coffee Card] right now!”

That was Li Leyang’s favorite coffee. It was called “fragrant,” but it was actually extremely bitter. None of them liked it at all.

Aries Division’s execution speed needed no explanation.

October 21st.

Their departmental selection competition began just like that—fresh and unceremoniously.

Li Suwen personally came forward to explain the rules to everyone.

More than a hundred contestants would enter a designated [Scenario Card] through a [Perception Card].

Inside this [Scenario Card], everyone would fight in the form of [Character Cards]. People inside the field would not be able to tell who was who, which was also to prevent students from forming cliques and pulling off underhanded tricks.

The rules of the match were simple and brutal.

Land and start looting cards—saving students money.

Meet and immediately fight—whether you have cards or not, you fight first.

Once “killed,” you are eliminated.

And the killer can pick up the opponent’s cards.

Li Suwen clearly had never played any battle royale games, so she found it novel and said enthusiastically:

“To save time, this [Scenario Card] will gradually shrink. It will shrink every fifteen minutes. After one hour, it will be reduced to the size of a basketball court with no cover. At that point, if there are eight people left on the field, they all directly advance. If there are more than eight people, then rankings will be determined by number of kills, and the top eight advance!”

Li Suwen was afraid the students wouldn’t understand, so she carefully explained again.

But the freshmen actually understood very well.

Even if they had never played battle royale games, they had heard of them and were very familiar with this “poison circle” system.

Everyone responded lazily, “Got it!”

Li Suwen was slightly puzzled in her heart: “Did I not explain clearly enough? Why isn’t anyone excited?”

She personally thought this format was extremely interesting, and even wanted to collect data from this match to promote it in the Card Master Tournament… ah, a three-academy melee or something like that would be great!

The first Aries Division selection match officially began.

Because of the extremely large number of applicants, the entire Aries Division temporarily suspended classes for two and a half days.

Twelve matches total—if there were six matches per day, it would take exactly two days, and the remaining half-day would be the “final round.”

The Aries Division teachers also considered that students would want to observe and learn, and they themselves valued practical combat education more, so they were very willing to let everyone watch the matches. As a result, the venue was set in the gymnasium.

The Spirit Card Academy’s massive gymnasium was built on a hillside. Students even came an hour early just to grab front-row seats. Senior students came to join the fun, and some even opened betting threads on the forum.

The thread was quickly banned for suspected gambling, which was not allowed by official regulations.

The Aries Division had decided the number of applicants yesterday, held an emergency meeting at night to finalize the rules, and by today it was already implemented…

This level of efficiency left the Libra Division completely stunned.

No…

This wasn’t even “efficiency” anymore. This was pure “explosive power”!

As expected of Aries—no hesitation, straight to action!

Many students from the Libra Division also came over.

The gymnasium was large enough to hold over ten thousand people, so their presence didn’t stand out at all.

Among the upperclassmen, those without classes slipped over as well.

Even those with classes skipped them to come.

And those who got caught skipping class still secretly checked the forum during lessons.

In short, everyone was very curious, especially about this first match—they were all extremely excited.

Li Leyang was nervous again… and again.

Ning Zhu patted him on the shoulder and said, “Start by surviving. Loot enough cards first, then talk.”

Li Leyang took a deep breath. “Got it!”

Li Suwen finished explaining the rules, and the first match began.

On the large screen, the participant list first lit up. Then the screen went black, and when it lit up again, it had already switched to the internal footage of the [Scenario Card].

Ning Zhu sat with Lu Xianle on her left and Wang Huan behind her.

These seats had been grabbed by Wang Huan and the others. In order to cheer on Brother Yang from up close, they had come early in the morning to secure seats.

Wang Huan exclaimed, “It really is an ‘island’!”

Ning Zhu was also a little surprised. “This [Scenario Card] is pretty huge.”

At that moment, a pleasant female voice sounded:

“Hello everyone, I am Gu Lingyue, a third-year student from the Aries Division. I will be providing commentary for this match together with my partner Bi Keman.”

The students below burst into excited cries.

“Wow, there’s commentary too! So professional!”

“Ahhh, it’s Goddess Lingyue!”

“Senior Lingyue’s voice is so nice, why am I not Bi Keman!”

Then a very likable male voice sounded.

“Hello everyone, I’m Bi Keman, second-year student of the Aries Division. Please juniors and freshmen, don’t envy me—sitting next to Senior Gu… I rely not on luck, but on strength!”

A wave of boos erupted, and some students even tried to throw banana peels upward.

Gu Lingyue said, “Then please let Junior Bi Keman explain the [Scenario Card] in detail for everyone.”

Bi Keman spoke at an astonishing speed, answering everyone’s questions in just a few words:

“This [Scenario Card] is called the [Lonely Island Card]. It is a specially designed card made for use with [Perception Cards].

“As everyone should already understand, with the support of [Perception Cards], card masters do not need to physically enter the [Scenario Card]. Because of this, the difficulty and cost of producing the [Lonely Island Card] are greatly reduced!

“The [Lonely Island Card] in front of you is an irregular circular island with a diameter of about six kilometers. It contains multiple zones, and everyone may choose their own teleportation point. After landing, you can randomly pick up different cards, including but not limited to [Spell Cards], [Equipment Cards], [Spirit Energy Cards], and [Item Cards].

“Of course, there are no forbidden cards in the [Lonely Island Card]. The maximum star rating of cards is two stars, but two-star cards can be synthesized after collecting a certain number, with a chance to produce a three-star card!

“Also, each participant’s card bag capacity is limited. Without an [Expansion Card], you can hold at most nine cards at the same time. Please pick carefully and combine your loadouts wisely!”

As Bi Keman spoke, the screen began to display multiple split views.

The [Lonely Island Card] was divided into twenty sub-areas, each with people randomly landing in different locations.

Ning Zhu immediately spotted Li Leyang and said to the people beside her, “Brother Yang is at the ‘Quarry’.”

Wang Huan said, “That place is a bit troublesome—complicated terrain and hard to move through, not good for collecting cards.”