Chapter 83 - 81: First Day’s Ranking
Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Ye allocated his newly obtained free attribute point to Spirit.
He invested his 1 skill point into [Charged Strike].
[Spear Stance] provided a comprehensive bonus to all his spear techniques.
Meanwhile, [Charged Strike] was his strongest single-target burst attack.
Lin Ye was alternating which of the two skills he put points into, adding to [Spear Stance] one level and [Charged Strike] the next.
’Balanced development is the only way to handle any unexpected situation.’
The night of hunting had been astonishingly efficient.
With the T-3 Exoskeleton Armor, his endurance lasted for more than two hours, eliminating the need to stop and use Healing out of combat to recover.
The monster density here far surpassed that of the ruined cities in the real world.
Even if the entrance to the ruined city didn’t have those two terrifying Fusion Monsters standing guard, the leveling speed there was nowhere near as fast as it was here.
Of course, there were downsides.
It was impossible to complete the two daily quests, [Abyssal Maw] and [Grinding Teeth and Sucking Blood], in this virtual world.
There was no way he could eat twenty thousand calories.
Nor was there any opportunity to engage in PVP combat with others.
As for [Patrolling Territory], the system was surprisingly accommodating.
Regardless of his location, as long as his total distance traveled in a single day accumulated to the full length of Dongjiang City’s Third Ring Road, the mission was considered complete.
Lin Ye had already accomplished that during his high-speed hunt in the latter half of the night.
As dawn approached, Lin Ye became keenly aware of a problem.
The number of mutated beasts in his area was visibly decreasing.
Lin Ye’s gaze shifted to the roof of a distant high-rise.
In the pre-dawn hours, he had sensed the auras of other human Martial Artists from different directions on several occasions.
Without exception, they were all powerful individuals capable of surviving in such a cruel environment.
They too had adapted to the laws of this place and begun their own efficient hunts.
Just an hour ago, Lin Ye had even encountered several tough characters over Level 15.
He had even spotted a figure from afar, an orange-red Level 17 marker floating above their head.
The person moved like a phantom, weaving between buildings as they hunted a Level 15 mutated bird with swift, clean movements.
It seemed the other person had noticed him too.
Their gazes clashed silently across the several-hundred-meter expanse of night sky, each sensing intense hostility and a clear warning from the other.
In the end, the two tacitly adjusted their routes to avoid each other’s hunting grounds.
Conflict was averted.
But the brief encounter set alarm bells ringing in Lin Ye’s mind.
’As time goes on, the weak are eliminated. Those who remain in these ruins will only get stronger and stronger.’
’And that doesn’t just apply to the mutated beasts, but to the other "Hunters" like me, too.’
’I have to move.’
Lin Ye made his decision.
There were two drawbacks to staying here.
First, he would need to be more cautious.
Just as he had schemed to trap and kill the students from Ningke University Affiliated Middle School, others could just as easily set a trap for him.
Staying in the same area for too long would allow enemies with ulterior motives to figure out his patterns and habits.
Second, the monster density here was no longer what it used to be. His hunting efficiency was starting to drop, so there was no reason to linger.
His mind made up, Lin Ye’s figure vanished like a wisp of smoke, returning to his and Zhang Yuqing’s temporary shelter in just a few bounds.
Zhang Yuqing was still sound asleep, her steady breathing clearly audible in the silent ruins.
Lin Ye didn’t disturb her, simply leaning against the wall and beginning to plan their next route.
However, at that very moment, an announcement rang out simultaneously in the minds of all contestants, completely without warning!
[Day One, Twenty-Four Hours, Concluded!]
[Current Survivors: 179!]
Lin Ye’s eyes narrowed.
people!
He remembered clearly that a total of 293 contestants had entered these virtual ruins yesterday.
Only one day had passed.
And 114 people had been completely eliminated!
This elimination rate was far beyond what Lin Ye had imagined.
Only 51 more people needed to be eliminated to reach the final advancement cutoff of 128.
It might not sound like much.
But Lin Ye knew the competition each subsequent day would only be bloodier and more brutal than the first!
The cold system prompt continued to echo in everyone’s ears without pause.
[Now Announcing the First Day’s Kill Point Rankings!]
Lin Ye’s focus sharpened instantly.
Before his eyes, a virtual screen composed of pale blue data streams slowly unfolded. A massive leaderboard began to materialize on it, appearing line by line from top to bottom!
...
「Meanwhile.」
Dongjiang City, Central Stadium.
Although a full twenty-four hours had passed on the virtual battlefield, in the real world, only two hours had gone by.
This astonishing time dilation was achieved through cutting-edge neural interface technology that altered each contestant’s cerebral perception of time’s passage.
The energy required for this, plus the cost of the life support systems maintaining the vital signs of nearly three hundred Martial Artists, was an astronomical sum.
But for the fabulously wealthy sponsor, the Mingguang Group, this amount of money was a drop in the bucket.
Wang Zhengguo and Chen Meng walked side-by-side down a metal corridor leading to the central adjudication chamber.
Just moments before, they had been summoned by the panel of judges.
A puzzled expression was on Chen Meng’s face.
"Why are they calling us over? The competition just started."
"You don’t think Lin Ye and his group broke the rules, do you?"
Wang Zhengguo shook his head.
"They know better than that."
"We’ll find out when we get there."
Though he said as much, he couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy himself.
The two pushed open the heavy alloy door to the adjudication chamber.
The scene inside stunned them both.
The atmosphere in the spacious room was incredibly tense.
Two supervising teachers in the uniforms of Ninghai Science and Technology University Affiliated Middle School stood before the judges’ bench, their faces livid.
Behind them, seven or eight students, who had just been forcibly awakened from their Life Support Pods, stared at the newcomers with expressions of pure, indignant fury, their eyes practically shooting fire.
A middle-aged man in a referee’s uniform saw Wang Zhengguo and Chen Meng enter, took a step forward, his expression grave.
"You two are the supervising teachers from Dongjiang First Middle School, correct?"
"Your school’s contestants are Lin Ye and Zhang Yuqing, is that right?"
Wang Zhengguo and Chen Meng exchanged a look and nodded.
"We’ve received a complaint from Ningke University Affiliated Middle School."
"Your two students have been accused of maliciously eliminating other competitors."
Wang Zhengguo’s expression instantly turned grim, his brow deeply furrowed.
However, after hearing the referee’s explanation, an amused expression began to form on Chen Meng’s face.
He ignored the referee, turning instead to the opposing teacher from Ningke University, who was looking particularly sour. He spoke with great interest.
His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried clearly throughout the room.
"So, what you’re saying is..."
"...our two students team-wiped your entire group from Ningke University Affiliated Middle School?"
As soon as Chen Meng spoke, it was as if all the air had been sucked out of the adjudication chamber.
The faces of the two teachers from Ningke University visibly flushed a deep, ugly crimson.
What a disgrace!
The geniuses from Ningke University Affiliated Middle School, led by Zhou Qiming, were all beet-red with shame, wishing the ground would open up and swallow them whole.