Chapter 70 - The Team That Everyone Was Looking At

Meanwhile, in White Deer High’s preparation room, Na’er and the teachers sat with the participants, studying their plans for the competition. Everyone had serious expressions on their faces.

The physical education teacher read the rankings given by this year’s general meeting based on the registered teams and their personal information.

“First place: Number Two High’s Super Whirlwind team, led by Captain Miller.”

“Second place: Number Five High’s Crimson Fire team, led by Captain Turner.”

“Third place: Number Four High’s Mighty Wind team, led by Captain Evan.”

“Fourth place: Number Six High’s Invisible team, led by Captain Mitchell.”

“Fifth place: Number Three High’s Youth Force team, led by Captain Voss.”

…

“Eighth Place: Our very own Captain Mill’s team.”

…

“Thirty-second place: Moss’s team.”

Before the physical education teacher could finish, the participants had already expressed their dissatisfaction.

“What kind of arrangement is that? They’re underestimating us!”

“We’re at the bottom of the list?! We’re a dignified team from White Deer High, yet we’re behind Number Twelve High?!” Alan’s chubby face was full of shock. His thick brows furrowed as he pouted.

Na’er heard the participants’ displeasure and surprise, but it didn’t affect her. Instead, she smiled and slowly said, “I know how you feel. This world judges you by your class, so we can’t change their minds. The National Professional Alliance doesn’t know how each team performs, so they can only judge us by our classes and levels.”

Na’er swept her slightly excited gaze across the participants as she spoke, “Speaking of which, there is a certain logic to this prediction. The Super Whirlwind team has a Sword Master, Grand Mage, Great Swordsman, Holy Alchemist, and Crossbow Master. They’re all popular classes. Number Five High, Number Six High, and Number Four High also have participants in excellent classes.”

“However!” Na’er changed the topic and said with a smile, “It’s a good thing that our rankings aren’t high because the other teams won’t pay much attention to us.”

Na’er paused, and the students immediately expressed their views.

“Wow, a Grand Mage, a Holy Alchemist, and a Great Swordsman?! How much money did that cost them? Forget about their strength. Just their class-change scrolls for the five classes are priceless. It would be more appropriate for them to be called the Gold team!”

“Those five classes are the crowd favorites. Fortunately, we aren’t facing them at the beginning of the competition!”

“What’s so great about those classes? If you think they can win by looking at their classes, what’s the point of competing?”

Na’er wasn’t surprised to hear what the participants said about the more popular teams. She glanced over and saw Moss staring at the physical education teacher’s information that he had just brought.

Na’er didn’t say a word and thought it was a little strange. She was about to call out to Moss when he said, “I don’t recognize some of these names since they didn’t appear in the city-wide final exam.”

The physical education teacher on the sidelines said, “I heard that some of the schools had deliberately hid their students’ names for this year’s competition. Moreover, the top teams consist of level nine and above players, while the Super Whirlwind team consists of level ten and above students.”

“Miller, their highest level player, is said to be at least level twelve.” The physical education teacher wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked at Na’er.

Moss frowned when he heard that. He was also quite shocked, but he quickly calmed down and nodded. Moss silently memorized the information on all the participants in his mind.

Na’er was appreciative when she saw Moss’s actions just now. She nodded and said, “What one of you said just now was right. This competition is won by skill and not by class. It’s not as simple as the ABCs. There are an infinite number of possibilities and variables in a competition.”

“As long as you adjust your mentality, make adequate preparations, and play to your strengths in this competition, victory will be ours.”

Na’er looked at everyone as she spoke. Then she fixed her gaze on Moss and said, “Victory belongs to those prepared. You should all learn from Moss. When this meeting ends, I want you all to carefully memorize the information that the physical education teacher brought back so that everyone will know what to do when faced with their enemies.”

…

Every school did an excellent job in intelligence control, especially the top ten teams. The schools’ intelligence staff had information about all the participants in their hands.

However, everyone had different opinions about the opponents they would face. Number Twelve High’s lounge atmosphere was cheerful as everyone gathered on the sofa. The leading teachers and team members discussed this competition intensely.

“Number Two High’s team is too strong. Two of their teams have entered the top ten rankings. It looks like Number Two High has come prepared.”

“They also have good luck. There aren’t many strong opponents in Group B’s team Player Kill competition. That’s where the famous Super Whirlwind team is. They barely need to do anything, and they can get into the finals.”

“Yeah, I agree. Also, Group A1 consists of several strong teams. That’s why they’re called the Group of Death. No matter which team performs well, the Super Whirlwind team will come out on top.”

“Now that you’ve mentioned it, Group A is quite interesting. Two teams from White Deer High are assigned to Group A. Since Group A1 is filled with strong teams, I reckon they would want to meet the Knight’s team in the first round.”

“Yeah, who wouldn’t want to meet with that cannon fodder of a team?”

“That’s right, who wouldn’t want to meet such a free-scoring messenger? !”

…

A few other schools thought the same as Number Twelve High. The vast majority of schools felt that Number Two High would be favored to win this year’s competition, and the Future Star award was very likely to fall into their hands.

Besides the participating schools, the National Professional Alliance also adored Number Two High.

At that moment, the leading members of the organizing committee sat in the VIP seats at the highest point of the stadium and discussed the rankings of the thirty-two teams.

“President, what do you think of the thirty-two participating teams this year? Who do you think will hoist the Future Star award?”

The National Professional Alliance’s secretary-general chatted with the president about the alliance’s future development. When they talked about this year’s annual school professional competition, the president asked with great interest, “Are you trying to trick me again, kid?!”

They spoke more casually since the president and the secretary-general had been partners for many years. They knew each other very well.

“Hahaha! Don’t tell me that you’re also interested in that Miller kid from Number Two High.” The secretary-general smiled and looked at the president with his eyes that seemed to see through everything.

“That Miller kid isn’t half-bad. Number Two High has made ample preparations this year,” the National Professional Alliance president said.

Although the president didn’t answer honestly, the secretary-general could already guess the president’s intentions.

…

The analysis of the participating teams, the comparisons, and the predictions of who would emerge victorious in the competition were eternal topics throughout White Deer Giant Stadium. The bets outside of the competition venue were even more lively.

Fifteen gambling rings had set their bets long before the competition started. Nearly half of the gambling rings rooted for Number Two High.

Now that the rankings were out, almost every gambling ring raised their odds of Number Two High’s Super Whirlwind team winning the competition again.

At the same time, they further raised the odds of Miller from Number Two High winning the Future Star Award.

But among the fifteen gambling rings, a bookie named Hausmann continued to raise the odds of Moss’s team winning the competition and Moss hoisting the Future Star award.

Hausmann made such a decision because he had learned of Moss’s excellent performance in his first Mystic Realm test.