Even a Chuunibyou Had to Draw Lots

Xiong Aixin was a kind-looking young man with a typical chubby build and an innocent appearance. Si Ming used the Youth Martial Arts Tournament as a starting point to quickly build rapport and extended an invitation, which Xiong Aixin accepted without hesitation.

In fact, Si Ming still had some doubts about Xiong Aixin's ability to pass the first round of testing. After all, she had lost to Ying Zhou at the Youth Martial Arts Tournament. No matter how Si Ming thought about it, he didn't believe that Ying Zhou had the ability to pass the first round of testing. Even in his berserk state when he was angry, his chances of winning were no more than 20%.

After asking, I learned that Xiong Aixin did not use his self-created Courage and Loving Heart Fist, but instead honestly used the family-inherited boxing technique of his martial arts school. He fought steadily and surely. In addition, he was the fifth to appear, and his opponent had exhausted a lot of physical strength and True Qi. In the end, he managed to grind his way to victory.

As for the other Yun Yinmo, Si Ming knew her even before the Youth Martial Arts Tournament. She was also a logistics staff member at the Mohist Knight Guard base, with a similar function to Zhong Lingxiu. However, they weren't very familiar with each other, just like employees in different departments of a large company. Sometimes, they might never exchange a single word in their entire lives.

However, in an environment full of strangers, this kind of nodding acquaintance has the advantage of being one step ahead. After a little consideration, Yun Yinmo nodded in agreement.

When Si Ming returned with Xiong Aixin and Yun Yinmo, he saw a thin young man standing next to Tao Chengsi. The young man looked somewhat frail, but he had delicate features, a cheerful demeanor, and a gentle smile that easily won people's favor.

"Let me introduce you. This gentleman is named Qian Yu, a disciple of Confucian School, and skilled in using the Judging Official."

The boy smiled and greeted the others with Confucian School etiquette.

Si Ming wanted to introduce the two people beside him, but he knew nothing about them except their names, so he gestured for them to introduce themselves.

"My name is Xiong Aixin, a descendant of the Xiong Family Martial Arts School. I am skilled in the Five Bears Mountain-Splitting Fist. My favorite foods are bananas and honey, my favorite thing to do is sleep, and my favorite thing to watch is anime about girls transforming into girls. I have created my own set of Courage and Loving Heart Fist, which is still being improved. I hope you can give me your guidance and help me complete this set of fist techniques as soon as possible."

Xiong Aixin treated it like a self-introduction from when she enrolled, and said a bunch of worthless information.

Yun Yinmo is skilled in finger techniques and hidden weapons.

A girl with short, ear-length hair and black-rimmed glasses introduced herself in extremely concise language, forming a stark contrast to Xiong Aixin.

Then Si Ming and Tao Chengsi briefly introduced themselves. The latter quickly added, "There's still one person left in our team's quota. We need to find another one quickly, otherwise the remaining teams will likely be the ones that have already formed combinations."

His concerns were not unfounded, as the candidates in the venue were also looking for partners. The initial stage of the search was the easiest, as they could easily form teams by either knowing each other or communicating through eloquence. The real difficulty lay in finding the right way to fill the maximum number of members in teams that were not yet full.

For example, if one team already has four members and another team has three members, and the two teams want to cooperate, one person must be eliminated. Deciding who to eliminate becomes a very difficult decision. If the team members are not determined early, there will not be enough time to prepare a tactical plan.

Xiong Aixin suddenly said, "If we're looking for someone who's alone, there seems to be someone over there."

Si Ming looked in the direction they were pointing to and found that the person they were referring to was the boy he had previously suspected of having chuunibyou (middle school syndrome). It seemed that because his temperament was too special, no one thought of recruiting him into the team, or perhaps they thought that it was better to leave the position vacant than to find someone who didn't fit in and reduce the team's fighting strength.

Sure enough, Tao Chengsi frowned and said, "You can tell at a glance that this kind of person has a self-centered personality. They probably think the world revolves around them, and even if they run into obstacles everywhere, they will only blame everything on the world. It's the most troublesome to recruit this kind of person into the team. Not only will they not cooperate with the group, but they may also drag everyone down."

Si Ming looked around and said, "But there aren't any other lone individuals right now. I don't think we should judge a book by its cover. We should talk to him first, assess his character, and then consider whether to refuse him entry into the team. After all, the fact that he passed the first round of testing proves that he has considerable strength."

Because of the urgency, he didn't wait for his companion to speak, and walked towards the strangely dressed boy after finishing his sentence.

"Hello, classmate. My name is Si Ming, a disciple of the Mohist School. May I ask your name?"

The boy with bandaged hands let out a low laugh, "Hmph, so you still managed to get noticed, didn't you? Although I tried my best to conceal my aura and disguise myself as an ordinary person, the truth will eventually come out. In the end, I couldn't escape the cycle of this mortal world. You saw through my strangeness. Alas, even the seal set by the Mystic Sect masters has weakened under the erosion of a thousand years. As the vessel, I can only..."

"Um... I'll find someone else. Sorry to bother you."

Si Ming wiped away his cold sweat and turned to leave.

"My name is Chen Shimi. I'm School of Fiction's disciple, skilled in Swordsmanship. My swordsmanship is light and agile, and I know a method of controlling the sword with my inner energy."

The boy introduced himself in a rapid-fire manner, afraid that Si Ming, the only person who had spoken to him so far, would refuse to invite him to join the team.

"So you're School of Fiction, no wonder..."

Upon hearing this, Si Ming suddenly realized that if the person was a disciple of School of Fiction, then he could understand the other party's various behaviors.

If the disciples of the Legalist School are a concentration camp for obsessive-compulsive disorder, then the disciples of the School of Fiction are a disaster area for paranoia. Every disciple of the School of Fiction is cultivated with imagination from childhood, but young people lack self-control and are easily trapped in it, unable to extricate themselves, and regard themselves as a member of the world of fantasy.

Male School of Fiction's delusions manifest in three main categories: literary youth, chuunibyou (middle school syndrome), and Long Aotian, while female School of Fiction's delusions manifest in three main categories: artistic, princess syndrome, and Mary Sue.

The name "Chen Shimi" sounds incredibly unrealistic, and it's clearly a character name he created for himself, unless his parents are the kind of oddballs who would name their children "Lu Yan Zhi Tong," "Guang Yin Jing Gang," or "Wang Zi Pin Pin."

"Oh, you can control your sword with your inner energy, that's wonderful! Our team is short one person, and we sincerely invite you, Chen, to join us."

Sword Manipulation Technique has little to do with swordsmanship or cultivation; it's simply about projecting internal True Qi to control a sword remotely to attack enemies. It sounds impressive, but in actual combat, it may not be as agile as True Person controlling a sword, especially for martial artists with weak Internal Cultivation strength. They can't stray too far, their speed is limited, and their power is generally weak, making them easy targets for a single palm strike. It's usually used for surprise attacks and rarely for direct combat.

However, this tactic, which becomes useless in one-on-one combat, can have unexpected effects in teamwork, equivalent to having an extra mid-range attack method, without needing to take up space.

After all, the opponent in the second round of testing was only one teacher, and there was only one circle of space around him. If everyone attacked together, not to mention the need for coordination, there was obviously not enough space to maneuver and dodge.

Upon hearing Si Ming's invitation, Chen Shimi Shi Mi spread his five fingers, covering his face with only his eyes peeking out from between them, and once again let out that low laugh.

"Among mortals, you are the most insightful. Perhaps you haven't realized that you've made the most valuable decision of your life! In truth, as a lone swordsman, I should have refused your invitation, for I am destined to be a solitary star, and anyone who approaches me will encounter disaster. But since you have so earnestly begged me, even at the cost of your life, I have no choice but to reluctantly accept."

"Uh, actually I didn't really want you to join that strongly. Since you find it difficult, let's just pretend I never said that."

"No! A gentleman's word is as good as his bond. Now that I have agreed, as the chosen one of this era, Curse by the gods, I must not break my promise, or it will trigger a powerful backlash from some indescribable, Anomalies being."

Si Ming said firmly, leaving Chen Shimi no room for refusal.

Chapter 100 Even Chuunibyou Needs to Draw Lotteries

In the end, the eighteen candidates were not able to form three six-person teams according to the optimal configuration. Except for Si Ming's team, which completed the maximum, the others formed three-person, four-person, and five-person teams respectively.

Just as Tao Chengsi had predicted, the closer they got to the maximum number of players, the harder it became to reach the full quota. If a five-person team wanted to poach players from other teams, they had to persuade those teams to abandon their teammates.

If everyone were strangers, it wouldn't matter; they would cooperate when there's mutual benefit and disperse when there isn't. But in this environment full of strangers, those who can quickly establish cooperative relationships in the early stages are often acquaintances, which makes things awkward. For fifteen- or sixteen-year-old teenagers, they often prefer to give up benefits rather than betray friendship.

Even someone as casually acquainted as Si Ming and Yun Yinmo wouldn't easily abandon them, since it was he who initially extended the invitation. If he were to turn his back on someone because of their persuasion, he might become an object of scorn if word got out.

Especially with a crowd of onlookers surrounding the martial arts hall, it takes a lot of shame to do something so opportunistic and treacherous in front of everyone.

Si Ming introduced Chen Shimi to the team. Upon hearing that Chen Shimi knew Sword Manipulation Technique, Tao Chengsi had no further objections and instead urged, "Now that we have enough people, let's draw lots now. The sooner we know which teacher we'll be facing next, the sooner we can prepare our tactics."

His real purpose was to ensure that team members wouldn't be recruited by other groups. Before the draw, team members could freely switch teams, and no one could guarantee what would happen along the way. But after the draw, members were no longer allowed to leave the group.

Si Ming immediately thought of this as well, and couldn't help but glance at Tao Chengsi. The intelligence this guy was showing really showed a tendency to become a wise and capable person.