CHAPTER 338: CHAPTER 338: AN INAUSPICIOUS START

Chapter 338: Off to a Bad Start

Mu Jianling raised an eyebrow: "What is it?"

Ji You, filled with anticipation, watched the powerful teacher eagerly and asked quietly, "Teacher... I want to know, why do you only require Jiaojiao and Yue Qiguang to rank within the top 100 while demanding that I place in the top ten? Does this mean ... that you have higher hopes for me? Do you think I’m the strongest in the Combat Department?"

Guesses are just guesses, but since she was speaking to Teacher Mu directly, Ji You couldn’t hold back and wanted to have a clear answer.

Of course—

Asking this wasn’t due to a lack of confidence. In fact, Ji You felt that her whole being, even the air she breathed out, was oozing with confidence. Primarily, she wanted to hear the teacher admit it personally.

As soon as Ji You threw out this question, Mu Jianling’s lips twitched slightly. She had considered many possibilities, even that Ji You would ask why she was being given special treatment, even going so far as to bring out the Cloud Mist Tea...

But!!! Mu Jianling never expected Ji You to ask such a dumbfounding question.

So, the atmosphere became a bit tense.

Ji You, brimming with confidence, was waiting to hear praise from her teacher.

Suddenly—

Mu Jianling said: "Dreaming is not a mistake, but if your head is full of muddled thoughts all the time, then there really is a problem with your brain."

Ji You: "..."

Ji You felt a tightness in her chest and almost collapsed on the spot, but still undeterred, she persisted stubbornly: "But... teacher, you really do have higher expectations of me." That was no lie.

Mu Jianling glanced at her and said, "I told them to make it to the top 100 because I know their abilities are up to it, but you—"

Ji You had a bad feeling.

Mu Jianling looked at her with a mixture of care and pity for a mentally challenged child and continued: "My expectations for you were just blurted out. Since you won’t even make it into the top 100, what difference does it make, whether more or less?"

Ji You: "..."

Ji You’s mouth quivered, and her hands shook, feeling the world spin and blacking out...

Mu Jianling said: "Cheer up, facing the facts is not a bad thing. Alright, I’m busy, hanging up now."

Click—

Mu Jianling cut off the communication without hesitation.

However—

After hanging up the call, Mu Jianling’s brows knitted slightly, and a few traces of concern flashed across her face: Could it be that the Cloud Mist Tea really has no effect on student Ji You?

Or was it simply not enough?

...

Mu Jianling had been teaching for many years and had countless students with a variety of talents, but Ji You’s case was exceptionally bizarre, something not found even in billions of people.

To say her talent was low was factual, with her ceiling clearly in sight, almost instantly apparent, there was virtually no room for improvement.

But it was also biased to call her untalented since her performance recently had repeatedly surprised her. She wasn’t only on par with other students, but she could even challenge a level 4 Star Beast...

As a teacher, Mu Jianling could not bear to watch her student come to a standstill with no further progress. She believed Principal Hong would feel the same.

...

After pondering for a moment, Mu Jianling set aside the issue and decided to wait until Ji You had consumed Cloud Mist Tea for a while longer before conducting a detailed examination for her.

Over here.

Ji You wore a bitter expression; her inflated confidence deflated the instant she heard Mu Jianling’s words, and even more so, she felt that even a breath she took was filled with dejection.

How——

How is that possible?

If you don’t have faith in yourself, why do you demand that you make it into the top ten of the Alliance? Isn’t that making a joke of yourself? Teacher Mu Jianling wouldn’t be so childish, would he?

It seems, not only does Teacher have peculiar taste in TV dramas, even his style of joking is this strange.

After being dejected for a moment, Ji You could only console herself in this way.

Then, she immediately began to catch up on Material Department courses, which was the study plan Ji You had set for herself, executed without fail even when she was supposed to participate in online competitions.

After learning, organizing her notes, and catching up on homework, Ji You had already processed the blow dealt by Teacher Mu Jianling, her brows even flashing a determined light:

Looking back, since she entered Lanyue Star, nobody had been optimistic about her. Yet here she is.

What do other people’s words count for, after all?

The truly terrifying thing would be if she didn’t even trust herself.

When Ji You competed on the Star Network, to explain why she always used an antique mech, the words she said in the arena weren’t completely bluster.

——To challenge herself, to break through her own limits.

It was also at this moment that Ji You truly calmed her heart, casting aside all her impatience to the winds: from now on——she didn’t need to compare herself with anyone, her opponent would never be others, but herself.

——As long as she made a little progress every day, any progress was good.

With this determination set, Ji You’s entire demeanor changed in an instant, becoming more resilient and more reserved.

Then, she logged into the Star Network again, quickly entering the Alliance’s internal network. Today, the promotion matches had already begun, but what exactly were the rules of these matches?

Ji You was very curious.

Soon, she discovered a bustling noise all around, many people were discussing the strategies of the matches, only——it seemed not to be one-on-one, but a brawl?

Huh?

Ji You craned her neck to listen in, after listening for a while, she somewhat understood. It turns out in this promotion match, all advancing contestants were randomly matched into groups of a hundred, entering a battlefield, then fighting individually; the last ten survivors would advance to the next round, and the losers were immediately eliminated, with no next round.

Ji You stroked her chin: This is a bit tricky.

In a brawl like this, it’s very easy to suffer accidental injuries. One wrong move could mean death, and with failure meaning complete elimination, it implies that everyone will bring their A-game, without holding anything back.

Moreover——

A melee of a hundred people, and with random matching, means you can’t arrange for teammates to watch each other’s backs in advance.

...

In short, the rules are extremely cruel.

Ji You thought for a moment, instead of rushing into the arena, she sifted through some posts on the forum, carefully reading the latest intelligence, and after a complete understanding, she was ready to accept the challenge.

The challenge had no enforced time restrictions, allowing her to schedule her own time, which was very user-friendly.

After submitting her application, the system didn’t immediately transport Ji You into the battlefield, instead she waited in the waiting room until the player count was met, then she was immediately teleported into the arena.

About ten seconds later, Ji You entered the battlefield.

She stumbled in only to find herself colliding with a large stone, scraping her scalp.

Ji You: "..."

That’s not a good start.