Chapter 320: Group Stage
Chapter 320: Group Stage
The next day.
November 3rd.
Holy Water High School.
When Qiao Sang stepped into Training Field 1, she saw Wang Yao, Shi Gaofeng, Xu Yixuan, He Datao, and others gathered around Zhang Dezhou, engaged in a heated argument. Zhang Dezhou looked utterly miserable.
"What are you all talking about?" Qiao Sang asked as she approached.
Zhang Dezhou looked up, his eyes instantly turning red upon seeing Qiao Sang.
Like a wronged heroine in a cliché school drama, he shouted, trying to hold back his tears, "It wasn't me!"
Qiao Sang was taken aback.
What's going on?
"Who are you saying it wasn't you?" Qiao Sang asked, confused.
"The person who posted online to sell your information wasn't me!" Zhang Dezhou said, his voice filled with sorrow and anger.
He recalled the events of last night and this morning, feeling increasingly aggrieved.
Being a reserve was one thing, but when he returned for the evening study session yesterday, he was bombarded with the same question by several groups of people: whether his ID was "Genius Yoyomu."
At first, he didn't understand, but then he realized that this ID belonged to the Holy Water Traitor who had been selling Qiao Sang's information online.
The moment he learned that everyone was spreading the rumor that he was the owner of that ID, Zhang Dezhou felt like he had a million question marks on his face.
What the heck?
Who the hell started this rumor?
Is Zhang Dezhou the kind of person who would betray his teammates?
He spent the entire night explaining himself, but some people still looked at him with a "I understand" expression, almost driving him to the brink of despair.
He managed to sleep and feel better, but when he arrived at the Training Field this morning, he was questioned by the School Team members again!
The only thing that gave him comfort was that Xu Yixuan and He Datao were still level-headed and believed him.
However, Zhang Dezhou still felt deeply wronged. His emotions got the better of him when he saw Qiao Sang.
Seriously, even though he was a reserve, he genuinely admired Qiao Sang's strength and didn't want her to misunderstand him.
"I know it wasn't you", Qiao Sang said.
This statement left Zhang Dezhou speechless.
She believes me?
She actually believes me?!
Wang Yao frowned. "Qiao Sang, but based on the analysis, the person most likely to sell your information from our school is him."
"That's because you don't know Zhang Dezhou", Xu Yixuan said. "He may not be the strongest, but his character is solid. His grades have always been in the bottom few of the class, but he has never cheated."
"Exactly", He Datao added. "Analyzing the posts on Litan Beastmaster High School's forum isn't something Zhang Dezhou would do. He just goes to other schools' posts and curses them out. He's not that smart!"
Zhang Dezhou's lips twitched, and his gratitude for these two friends quickly turned to a wry smile.
Shi Gaofeng, unhappy, interjected, "So what if he's in the bottom few? Anyone who can get into Holy Water High School isn't stupid."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Dezhou looked at Shi Gaofeng, feeling both surprised and touched.
They locked eyes, and in that moment, they understood each other.
Bro, I didn't expect you to be a slacker too!
The Training Field fell into silence. Then, Qiao Sang cleared her throat and said, "Actually, the person who posted to sell my information was me."
She sighed inwardly. Her cover was blown, but she couldn't let Zhang Dezhou take the blame. Seeing him on the verge of tears made her feel even worse.
Zhang Dezhou: "!!"
Everyone stood there, utterly stunned.
"You sold your own information?!" Wang Yao finally reacted, his face full of shock.
“It’s me.” Qiao Sang scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. “Think about the ID. Put together, doesn’t it spell out my name?”
Everyone: “!!!”
Actually, in the discussion thread on the Forum about the ID “Genius Yoyomu,” someone had pointed out that “yoyoymu” combined formed the character “Sang” and speculated if it could be Qiao Sang.
But they were mercilessly ridiculed by other netizens.
After all, who in their right mind would sell their own information?
This was the National School Beastmaster League!
It only happened once a year!
During the entire high school career, there were only three chances!
Even someone with a brain fart wouldn’t do something like that, let alone someone as extraordinary as Qiao Sang.
“Ahem, it’s like this. It was a late afternoon,” Qiao Sang began to explain the whole story.
A few minutes later, Wang Yao fell silent for a moment before asking, “So, there really was someone at our school selling your information, but they got the wrong person, and you intercepted it.”
“Right,” Qiao Sang nodded.
“Then why did you open a thread online to sell your own information?” Shi Gaofeng asked, utterly confused.
Qiao Sang replied seriously, “Because I found out it’s incredibly profitable.”
Everyone fell into another brief silence.
Suddenly, Xu Yixuan spoke up, “Can I get my 1000 credits back for the information I bought?”
Qiao Sang: “!!!”
Dang, I forgot about that!
The atmosphere in the Training Field returned to its usual normalcy, and Zhang Dezhou, now cleared of suspicion, chatted and laughed with everyone.
“Hahaha, I told you, you’re not that kind of person!” He Datao patted Zhang Dezhou’s shoulder and laughed.
“Get lost!”
After about twenty minutes of free training, Sun Boyi and Zheng Guoping walked in.
“Everyone, stop for a moment. I have something to say,” Sun Boyi announced. “After morning training and lunch, we’ll head to Hongrao Town in Shanglong County.”
“Sophomore Year, follow me to the Beast Companion Training Center in Jiudu District,” Zheng Guoping added.
Qiao Sang wasn’t surprised at all.
When she found out the competition location yesterday, she had already looked it up. Huicheng Beast Tamer High School was in Hongrao Town, Shanglong County.
The location wasn’t too far.
After the preliminary round, the main competition began, which was divided into the Group Stage and the Elimination Stage.
The Group Stage used a round-robin format, dividing the 576 qualifiers from each grade into 16 groups, with 36 participants in each group.
During the Group Stage, only 18 participants from each group would advance.
Based on their points, participants of similar strength levels would be distributed across different groups, meaning a group could have both top and bottom-ranked participants.
The competition venues for the Group Stage would be scattered throughout the province.
At least Hongrao Town was still within Hanggang City, while some remote venues were in other cities.
Additionally, the venues and times for the Sophomore Year to Junior Year divisions would be staggered. For example, the Sophomore Year main competition had already started today.
“Hongrao Town, I heard there’s a remarkable person there who won the lottery three times,” Xu Yixuan suddenly remembered a news article he had read recently.
“How big were the prizes?” He Datao asked curiously.
Qiao Sang wasn’t particularly impressed.
Such lottery news was plentiful, designed to fuel people’s gambling mentality and make them believe they could win big too, encouraging them to buy tickets.
“One time it was ten crates of A-Class Energy Recovery Liquid, another time it was an S-Class Artifact, and the last time it was a Bigmouth Dragon Egg.”
Qiao Sang: “!!!”
(End of Chapter)
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