Chapter 136: The First Day of Competition
Chapter 136: The First Day of Competition
At the opening ceremony of the High School League, Jiang Yuexing didn't linger for long. After a brief speech, she hurriedly left, appearing exceptionally busy.
It was quite normal, considering her status as the Governor of Jiangnan Province and the top authority in the region, making her duties undeniably demanding.
However, the ceremony lost much of its appeal after Jiang Yuexing's departure, becoming rather dull and uninteresting.
The stage was filled with boring old men giving speeches, which was incredibly tedious.
Li Wu could only pass the time by daydreaming, pondering: 'Should I aim for first place or settle for it?'
As Li Wu's daydreaming continued, the opening ceremony finally concluded with the last old man finishing his speech.
"It's finally over! These old men sure can talk; they went on for two hours. Let's go, it's time for lunch. We'll recharge and start the matches this afternoon!"
Saying this, Li Wu stretched and prepared to leave the main arena with Doudou and the others. However, after taking only a few steps, they were stopped.
The ones who stopped them were two girls. One had short hair and a no-nonsense demeanor, while the other had a well-endowed figure, likely from a wealthy background.
Li Wu instantly recognized them as Hengheng Monster's teammates.
"Unspoken"
As soon as Hengheng Monster saw them, he pushed past his teammates and confronted Li Wu, his face contorted with anger. "Li Wu, don't let me face you in the competition, or I'll make you cry!"
After delivering his threat, Hengheng Monster skillfully turned and walked away, swinging his single ponytail.
Li Wu was accustomed to such situations, but he was curious why Hengheng Monster's teammates hadn't left yet.
Hengheng Monster was also a bit confused. After taking a few steps, he realized his teammates hadn't followed and turned back to look.
Just then, he saw his teammates taking out their phones and approaching Li Wu.
"Hey, handsome, let's add each other as friends!"
"If you add me, I'll go easy on you during the match!"
Hengheng Monster's face turned green with anger.
These two teammates, with their lack of empathy, had just promised to support him, encouraging him to confront Li Wu.
Hengheng Monster had been touched by their words, but now he realized they had ulterior motives.
What made Hengheng Monster even angrier was that Li Wu accepted their friend request and smiled at him. This almost made Hengheng Monster sick with rage, and he snorted and ran off.
After teasing Hengheng Monster, Li Wu felt much better.
However, his good mood quickly soured as he was leaving the arena. He bumped into one of the three teams that had been sitting in the front row earlier.
There was no conflict between them, but the encounter occurred outside the main arena.
The other team was in the process of retrieving their Summon Beasts, and as Li Wu observed their attributes, his eyebrows furrowed so tightly that they could have held a mosquito.
Li Wu's intense gaze and frown caught the attention of the other team.
However, they didn't pay him any mind. They glanced at Li Wu and his group before striding away.
Throughout the encounter, there were no nods, smiles, or even a flicker of acknowledgment in their eyes, making Li Wu feel as if he were just another minor character in their eyes.
This was something Li Wu couldn't tolerate.
He silently vowed to avoid facing that team in the competition. Otherwise, he would make them pay dearly.
However, sometimes, you can't help but think about certain things, even if it's just in your mind.
Li Wu had just made this silent vow when, later that afternoon, he encountered that very team again.
The High School League's provincial tournament had a specific format.
In the preliminary round, 84 teams were divided into two groups of 42 teams each. The competition within each group was based on a points system rather than elimination.
Each team in a group would play against every other team, earning one point for a win and none for a loss.
After the initial round, the top four teams from each group would advance to the quarterfinals.
Li Wu's team, Team 042, was grouped with the team they had encountered earlier, Team 001.
One team was at the top, while the other was at the bottom.
It seemed like a distant match-up, but in reality, they were quite close. The first match for Li Wu's team was against Team 001.
This made the situation a bit awkward.
Although Li Wu had mentally prepared himself, he was well aware of the other team's Summon Beast attributes, and he knew his team couldn't possibly win against them, at least not yet.
Even if they managed to win, it would likely result in mutual losses for both teams.
With such a close match-up in the preliminary round, where each team had to play at least three matches in a day, a mutual loss could significantly impact the subsequent matches.
Therefore, Li Wu decided to play it safe.
It was only the preliminary round, and there was no need to go all out against the other team from the start.
He would hold back for now and surprise them in the finals.
This decision was made by Li Wu within three seconds of seeing the opponent's information.
However, only Li Wu and his team were aware of this decision. Others were not informed, so many people were eagerly anticipating the upcoming match between Li Wu's team and their opponents.
(End)
No matter if it was the Hengheng Monster who had been bullied earlier, or the others watching Team Three from the Outer Province, when they saw that the seed team of Lu Wu and the team from the outer province were scheduled to face each other in the first match, those who didn't have matches at that time all came to the arena to spectate.
Even those who couldn't make it in person were closely following the battle on the official website.
Everyone was well aware that Lu Wu's team, as well as the outer province's Team 001, were unlikely to go all out in their first match.
But since both were seed teams, it was expected to be somewhat exciting.
To their surprise, when the match between Lu Wu's team began, what they witnessed was Lu Wu's team conceding.
This outcome instantly infuriated many onlookers. Fortunately, the competing summoners could understand Lu Wu's decision at this point.
Avoiding direct confrontation early on was a wise choice.
However, the audience wasn't limited to summoners alone; the High School League, being one of the most influential tournaments, attracted the attention of the entire alliance.
Statistics showed that nearly ten million people were simultaneously watching on the Jiangnan Province's official website when the match started, and over a million were specifically following Lu Wu's team.
After all, this was the first face-off between Jiangnan Province and the Outer Province's Peach-Picking Team.
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Lu Wu's concession left many viewers dissatisfied, and the trolls were quick to voice their complaints online.
"How could Team 042 do this? How could they concede without even engaging in combat?"
"Preserving strength doesn't mean backing down like this; it's humiliating for our Jiangnan Province!"
"And they're supposed to be a seed team, yet they show no backbone!"
.................
At the arena, the Hengheng Monster was also displeased.
Since she wasn't grouped with Lu Wu, she couldn't face him in the preliminaries. So, she came here hoping to see someone else beat Lu Wu up.
But instead, she witnessed this solitude.
This made the Hengheng Monster feel very disappointed.
What made her even more upset was that after witnessing this loneliness, she rushed back to fight her match, scored a point, and then hurried back to watch Lu Wu's second match.
But just as she arrived, the referee announced the end of the second match, and Lu Wu's team conceded again.
Because Lu Wu's opponent in the second match was a top-tier seed team from Jiangnan Province, the one that had been sitting in the front row earlier.
So, once again, the Hengheng Monster missed the chance to see Lu Wu get beaten.
This further intensified her disappointment.
What made her even more upset was that when she logged into the official website to check Lu Wu's third match, she saw numerous trolls targeting Lu Wu's team.
She should have been happy about this.
But for some reason, seeing those comments didn't bring her joy.
She couldn't help but recall how Lu Wu had surpassed her ranking in the underground cave, and now, seeing Lu Wu being trolled, the Hengheng Monster felt offended as well.
So, the Hengheng Monster was determined. For once, she hoped Lu Wu would rise to the challenge.
She wanted to see Lu Wu make a powerful comeback in the third match and impress everyone.
If Lu Wu could do that, and if they met in the finals, beating Lu Wu would be even more satisfying.
The Hengheng Monster specifically checked, and Lu Wu's third-match opponent was no longer a top-tier seed team but an ordinary one.
This time, surely Lu Wu wouldn't concede, right?
Surely he would fight this time, right?
He wouldn't back down again, would he?
Yes, Lu Wu responded to the Hengheng Monster's expectations. Amidst the boos and hisses from the online audience, Lu Wu finally entered the third match.
However, as soon as Lu Wu entered, he couldn't help but grimace upon seeing his opponent's summon beast.
He felt like punching his earlier self; the jinx was real, and he had encountered a super dark horse.
But this time, Lu Wu didn't concede immediately. He tested the waters.
To his surprise, the opponent, very shyly, expressed that if their opponent was Lu Wu's team, they felt they could give it a shot.
Lu Wu's face darkened at that moment.
What, they were looking down on him?
Did they think he wasn't good enough?
Lu Wu almost lost his temper, but reason prevailed. He stroked his nose and said that as an ordinary team, they had come this far, and as a seed team, it was their duty to show concern for the ordinary teams.
Yes, Lu Wu, after delivering a speech filled with grand words, conceded once again, completing a three-match surrender streak on the first day!
As Lu Wu declared his surrender, the Hengheng Monster was so angry she almost jumped up.
But through the online spectators, the captain of one of the three teams from the outer province, the same one who had laughed at Lu Wu earlier, narrowed his eyes.
And Lu Wu, after checking his opponent for the next day, his face darkened again; it was another seed team.
Chapter end
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