Chapter 147: Competition Schedule and Procedures
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 147: Competition Schedule and Procedures
"Attention, students! The meeting is about to begin. Please enter the hall in an orderly fashion and take your seats according to your class number. Did you hear me? Sit according to your class number!"
A teacher arrived and made the announcement at the top of her lungs. She then led us into a massive meeting hall. Calling it a meeting room was an understatement; it was more like a grand lecture hall. The seats below were marked with numbers at regular intervals—these were the class numbers the teacher had mentioned.
"Well, see you later. Let's head to our spots," I said, bidding Annie a brief farewell before heading inside.
Class 14 was quite high up in the rankings, so I spotted our section almost immediately. It was near the very front.
I glanced at the numbers in the distance and saw they went all the way up to 364. This meant that even with only the class monitors representing their respective classes, there were over three hundred people here. It was a significant crowd.
However, since everyone here was a representative of their class, they carried themselves with the dignity expected of their positions. No one did anything out of line, and everyone took their seats with remarkable speed.
I was no exception, though sitting there made me feel a bit nervous. I glanced to my left and right, offering friendly smiles to those beside me. Not everyone returned the gesture, though.
Ultimately, I found myself fidgeting with the number card in front of me out of boredom.
I noticed quite a few people had notebooks out, looking ready to take notes at a moment's notice. It occurred to me that I probably had a few notebooks and pens myself. They should be in my leg ring, right?
I remembered putting quite a few in each of my storage leg rings. Even if I just used them to keep up appearances, it was better than nothing. After all, the meeting hadn't officially started yet, and some class monitors were still trickling in.
As time ticked by, the hall was filled with the constant hum of whispering. Although most people didn't know each other, a setting like this was perfect for making friends, wasn't it?
We were all from neighboring classes, so there was no harm in being friendly. Even if we ended up facing each other in the arena, it wouldn't get in the way of a potential friendship.
For instance, the monitor of Class 13 on my left seemed like the outgoing type. Seeing me pull out paper and a pen, she leaned over to ask if she could borrow some.
I naturally obliged; it wasn't like I only had one set. In the process, I learned her name: Erica Middleton. Another one with a mouthful of a name.
When the final deadline arrived, not a single one of the 364 classes was absent. This clearly pleased the teacher standing on the stage.
"Alright, time's up. I am very pleased that no one is late. First, let me introduce myself. I am Lina, the Dean of the Freshman Grade, as well as an instructor. I will be presiding over the opening of this Freshman Competition. This is a long-standing tradition of the Witch Academy."
"I've gathered you all here today in the hope that this competition will proceed smoothly. Before we begin, we need to organize various sets of data. Of course, the Academy system has already retrieved your personal data; this is mostly a formality to allow you to perform a final confirmation of the information's accuracy."
"The primary purpose of this meeting is to explain the competition flow and the tournament format. Once that's done, there will be a few more matters to attend to. It might take some time, and today will be quite busy, so I hope for your understanding."
With that, Lina activated the Ley Line Operating System behind her. A massive screen lit up, displaying various pieces of information.
"There are quite a few things to keep in mind for this Freshman Competition. I hope you all read them carefully. Do not overlook anything or violate the regulations, or you may face consequences as severe as disqualification from the rankings and liability for damages."
Lina spoke with a stern expression. Her voice was incredibly loud—abnormally so. From my seat in the front, I could tell she was using magic, likely some kind of amplification spell.
"These regulations will be sent to your phones via an Academy announcement later. Make sure to check them. For now, I will highlight the most important points."
At this, everyone in the room turned solemn. This was critical information.
"There are very few restrictions on combat styles for this competition. This means that in addition to spells, you may use alchemy items, potions, and other means. However, there are certain limits. The specific types of restrictions are clearly marked in the appendix, including but not limited to intensity limits on alchemy items, potion grade restrictions, and spellbook power limits."
"What I just mentioned is very important. During the match, the judgment of victory or defeat will be announced by the referee of the respective arena. In special circumstances—such as forfeiture, voluntary surrender, or passive surrender—you must make your intentions clear. If you are unable to speak, you must use strong physical gestures or intense eye contact/expressions. Otherwise, the referee will not take action."
"Next is the matter of injuries, including minor injuries, serious injuries, near-death states, and death. We have regulations for all these scenarios. But please, rest assured. Regarding the issue of death, which I know concerns you most, the Academy has resurrection methods available. However, maliciously causing the death of an opponent is strictly forbidden in this competition. Violators will face severe punishment from the Academy."
As Teacher Lina explained this, a collective gasp erupted from the crowd below!
What they cared about most was, naturally, the resurrection method!
They can actually resurrect people?
The matter of life and death was something no one could escape, and it was one of the primary sources of fear for all freshmen entering the transcendent world.
Previously, teachers in many classes had mentioned that people might die in the competition, but very few had mentioned that there would be a Resurrection Spell!
With this safety net in place, wouldn't they be able to unleash their full power without any reservations?
After all, if you aren't afraid of dying, your mindset changes completely.
Lina seemed to tolerate the students' shock regarding the resurrection. She didn't suppress the noisy chatter too harshly. Once the students' amazement subsided, she continued explaining the precautions.
Finally, after a detailed explanation of the procedures, that topic came to an end.
"Next, let's discuss the format of the competition—the student match schedule."
"A total of 364 students are participating in this competition. This means the first round will be 1v1 matches with no byes. The first round is an elimination round, which will produce 182 winners."
Hearing this arrangement, many people immediately grew tense. Half the participants would be eliminated in the very first round. If someone had bad luck and ran into one of the heavy hitters from the predicted rankings, wouldn't they be knocked out instantly?
At that moment, many eyes locked onto the people who had been on the previous leaderboards. Tan Han received the most attention, but quite a few people looked my way as well. After all, the events of yesterday were still fresh in everyone's minds.
"Um, Xiao Han, you're the one from the Academy Network who crushed a Fireball Spell with your bare hands, right?"
Erica, sitting beside me, leaned over and whispered the question.
"Something like that," I nodded, admitting it. I hadn't expected just anyone to know about it.
This is a bit troublesome.
Just as Erica was excitedly about to ask more, she was interrupted by Teacher Lina on the stage.
"Of course, the 182 losers will participate in a Great Melee resurrection match. This melee will determine a total of 12 resurrection spots. These 12 will join the 182 winners to form a group of 200, who will then proceed to the next round of the competition."
This meant that anyone ranked below 200 would be completely eliminated.
The pressure of the resurrection match was immense—nearly two hundred people fighting in a chaotic melee for only 12 spots.
Students ranked below 200 would receive no rewards. Well, according to Teacher Lina, there was a consolation prize, but it was essentially just a participation trophy to prove you were there.
The remaining 200 wouldn't have specific individual rankings yet, only specific brackets. Rewards within the same bracket were identical, so there was no need for detailed rankings at that stage.
The next two rounds of matches would divide the participants into four brackets, with 50 people in each.
Only the two brackets representing the top 100 would be eligible to continue into the detailed ranking matches.
This was the Freshman Top 100 List.
Each bracket would then compete for their respective rankings.
These rankings would be determined through several rounds of screening matches.
Take the first bracket as an example, which consisted of fifty people.
50 down to 25, 25 down to 13, 13 down to 7.
After the 13-to-7 round, there would be seven winners and six losers. The six losers would fight to determine 3 winners, who would then earn a spot in the Top 10.
This would ultimately decide the Top 10 candidates.
Finally, the Academy would announce the rewards for the Top 10 rankings, and the referees would give the ten students an initial ranking.
Once the initial rankings were set, a challenge phase would begin among the ten. Each person had the right to challenge twice and the right to refuse once. Additionally, there was a limit of being challenged twice.
A successful challenger would take the rank of the person they defeated, and the loser would drop down one spot. Those who chose not to challenge could forfeit their turn. Once everyone's challenge opportunities were exhausted, the final Top 10 rankings would be set.
That was the entire schedule for the competition.
Following the clear and concise diagrams behind Lina, the entire five-day competition process was explained to us with perfect clarity.
No one raised any objections to the arrangement; we all just accepted it quietly. I was the same, silently taking a photo to record the details.
I wondered how far I would make it.
Once the explanation was finished, Lina had us verify some of our personal information.
Finally, there were a few more things to do, such as taking photos for the competition. According to Teacher Lina, the light screens above the arena would display the contestants when the matches began.
Therefore, everyone was encouraged to think of a pose they found cool or imposing for the photo. Once finalized, that was what would be shown on the big screen.
If someone was thick-skinned or a total attention-seeker, they were free to do something socially suicidal; the Academy wouldn't stop them. Of course, nothing too explicit was allowed—even if you didn't care about your dignity, the Academy cared about its reputation.
Lastly, Teacher Lina was going to take us to the Open-air Arena for a rehearsal to walk through the procedures, such as where the contestants should stand when the competition started.
I certainly wasn't going to refuse, even though Sister Bai had already taken me there once.