Chapter 322: The Tournament
Chapter 322: The Tournament
When Chen Chuan returned to the dormitory, a notification from Hong Fu arrived simultaneously.
"Skill Evaluation Exam completed. Congratulations, Student Chen, on passing this semester's mandatory exam. You received the highest evaluation in the exam. You can check your total evaluation score at the end of the semester."
Chen Chuan felt his mood brighten considerably upon hearing this.
Actually, there were many ways to improve evaluation scores, but most only offered minimal points and could only be done once. For example, when he first entered the academy, he could earn one point by recommending new students through Tan Zhi, but subsequent recommendations wouldn't add any more points.
The most convenient way to improve was to enhance his combat strength. For instance, achieving an eighty percent or higher chance of entering the Third Limit greatly boosted his evaluation score, making it easier than doing anything else.
Passing the skill evaluation exam, in a sense, wasn't so much about increasing the score as it was about restoring it, because students who didn't need the exam started with higher evaluation scores. Only outstanding performance during the exam could increase the score further.
Just like today.
However, it was extremely rare for teachers to voluntarily give extra points, and even if they did, how many could reach the maximum authorized score?
The best way to improve, without a doubt, was to enter the Third Limit. Once a student reached the Third Limit, they would have absolute priority for all academy services.
Even now…
He checked and found that the services he had purchased, such as the Radiant Light service, were already prioritized, unlike before when they were always at the back of the queue.
He thought for a moment and then contacted Mr. Zheng. "Mr. Zheng, I passed the skill evaluation exam today."
Mr. Zheng was very pleased and said, "With your improvement over these few days, passing the exam was definitely not a problem. The only difference is the score. Do you know who the chief examiner was?"
Chen Chuan replied, "A teacher surnamed Jiang."
Mr. Zheng suddenly laughed and said, "Little Jiang? Did he come up with anything unusual?"
Chen Chuan sincerely said, "Teacher Jiang was very considerate of me."
Mr. Zheng said, "Considerate? That's good to hear. We should thank Little Jiang."
Chen Chuan nodded and said, "Yes, that's how I feel too."
Mr. Zheng said, "Although the exam is over, the course I taught you was recommended by the Processing Bureau, so if you want to continue, you can still come."
Chen Chuan said, "I will definitely come."
Mr. Zheng had only taught him the techniques he could currently handle, and there were still many more he hadn't learned. Even without these, finding a sparring partner like Zheng Tongtong was not easy.
The Processing Bureau had provided him with such excellent teaching resources, and he had no reason to give them up.
After ending the call, he glanced at the calendar hanging on the wall. It was already June, and he had been in Central City for half a year. The first semester would be over in less than a month.
Although he called home during his rest periods, he hadn't been back for a long time. This time during the break, he definitely needed to visit Yangzhi to see his aunt's family and also pay a visit to Teacher Cheng and some familiar people.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but think of Teacher Yu Gang.
Yu Gang and Lu Ke had come to Central City earlier than him, but they didn't have a fixed way to contact each other, so he didn't know where they had gone, only that they had gone to the lower city.
The lower city was so large that he had no idea where they were or how they were doing. This time, he would check if they left any contact information.
Having just finished the exam, he didn't continue training but instead made a cup of hot drink and sat on the sofa to browse the Edge Channel.
The channel featured news from various places and some entertainment updates. Sometimes, to relax, he would browse here. Recently, most of the messages were about the Central City Arena Tournament.
There was a lot of discussion on the Edge Channel about the tournament. As soon as he opened it, he saw a dense stream of voice messages, with the hottest topic being the discussion of the tournament participants.
He casually flipped through and saw that photos of a few popular students had been posted, along with scenes from their previous combat segments.
These students were considered the ones who could advance to the later stages of the tournament. Among them, he saw Cao Rui, the student he had encountered in the elevator that day, and he couldn't help but pay more attention, flipping through some of his previous combat scenes.
This student's overall strength was quite good, very fierce, and his combat awareness was excellent, not inferior to the official trainees at all.
This was probably due to the implants they had, which compensated for the deficiencies of their altered organs.
However, he noticed that while these students had many implants, they were not as exaggerated as those he had seen on the cruise ship. Instead, they looked very natural, and if one ignored the embedded lines and intentional implant marks, they looked no different from ordinary students.
It seemed that the external students had good compatibility with their implants, or perhaps those with poor compatibility had already been eliminated.
Since the arena was a life-and-death battle, these students did not directly compete with each other. Their opponents were usually prisoners from the prison, some thrill-seeking fighters, and even some anti-company organization members.
After their capture, these individuals were thrown into the arena, where their only chance of survival was to defeat their opponents in combat. They were not necessarily fighters, but they were allowed to wield various weapons, which increased the brutality and spectacle of the fights, no wonder it attracted so many spectators.
As he browsed, he also skimmed through the previous battle records. Of course, the full process was not free, and he could only view the highlights, but this saved him some time.
Just as he was watching, a call came in from Tan Zhi. Chen Chuan immediately answered.
"Chen, I heard that there's a skill evaluation exam this semester. Did you pass?"
"I just took it and passed," Chen Chuan replied.
"That's great! You know, I heard that according to the school's current policy, if you fail the exam, your evaluation score will decrease. Rumor has it that the lowest-ranked students will be demoted from official trainees to external students. Aren't those external students just tools to be manipulated by others?"
Chen Chuan asked, "Tan, didn't you say before that students who fail can pay a fee?"
Tan Zhi sighed. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. That was the old policy. This time, the school administration has reportedly held a meeting, and the fees have been significantly increased. Moreover, it's said that the fee can only be paid once. For those students who are used to paying their way through, this could be a problem."
Chen Chuan thought for a moment and said, "I heard that students with evaluation scores below fifty percent might be assigned as assistant instructors."
"I've heard that too," Tan Zhi said. "That's quite a number of them. They can't even drop out. Mark my words, it won't be long before we see official trainees in the arena. I just hope we won't be next in line."
Chen Chuan acknowledged with a hum.
After a few more words, they prepared to end the call. Tan Zhi reminded him, "Chen, be careful these days. Wei Wusheng, the fighter who went on a killing spree and boarded the ship, is still at large. You, along with your friends, should be cautious."
In the 1619 version of the book, it's all true!
Hearing this, Tan Zhi sighed. "Don't remind me. I'm hiding in my dorm, afraid to even step outside. I can't even practice my dance outside; I can only satisfy my cravings in the dorm's training room."
It was said that both of them were being held back by their families using this excuse. Just yesterday, they were complaining to me. By the way, you're at the Processing Bureau. When will Wei Wusheng be caught?"
Chen Chuan said, "It's not easy. He's a Third Limit fighter, and it'll be tough to catch him if he's hiding."
Tan Zhi sighed. "Then we can only wait. I don't want to be targeted by him."
Chen Chuan slowly said, "It won't be long."
"That's the best-case scenario. I'll end the call here. Let's grab a drink together when you're free."
Chen Chuan agreed, and they ended the call.
Tan Zhi thought Chen Chuan's words were just to comfort him, but Chen Chuan had his reasons. If Wei Wusheng continued his activities and the Processing Bureau couldn't resolve the issue, they would have to deal with him. This was an opportunity to take him down.
However, Chen Chuan could sense that Wei Wusheng wouldn't come looking for him until he was ready. Wei Wusheng had been active outside for some time, yet he hadn't shown any signs of seeking Chen Chuan out.
Time passed as Chen Chuan switched between browsing channels and reading, and by the time it was almost 10 PM, he was just about to freshen up and go to bed when Ni Qianqian contacted him.
"Chen, I saw that you passed the skill evaluation exam. I heard the main examiner gave you a high score."
"I got lucky this time and had a good examiner," Chen Chuan replied.
Ni Qianqian was surprised. "Really? Are you sure you're talking about Teacher Jiang? He's... well, let's just say he's not the easiest to deal with. Anyway, it's not your concern. You've been preparing for the skill evaluation exam with the teacher, so I won't assign you any tasks for now. But once you're free, you should focus on the bureau's work."
Chen Chuan asked, "What do you need me to do?"
"You know about the arena tournament, right?"
"Yes."
"The tournament will start at the end of June and last until September. Since it's the only tournament of its kind in the Central City of Jinbei Province, participants from various central cities will likely attend. So, we need to find a way to deal with Wei Wusheng before the tournament begins."
Chen Chuan couldn't help but ask, "What's the bureau's plan?"
"Initially, we planned to have the fighters who appeared on the cruise ship cooperate with us. That way, we could take action as soon as Wei Wusheng showed up. But it didn't work out. Now, we've found out that Wei Wusheng has a junior fellow who might have been helping him all along. We might find some clues through him."
"Is he from the Heavenly Tolerance Gang?"
"No, he left the gang years ago. But he used to be Wei Wusheng's junior fellow, so they might still be in contact. The bureau will send someone to approach him tomorrow."
"You don't need to worry about this. But due to the recent deployment of many personnel for this matter, we need you to assist with patrols in Yinglu District for a few days. The bureau will send a car to pick you up; just wait for the notification."
"Alright, I'll wait."
...
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(End of Chapter)
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