Lost

"I lost."

When Zhou En shouted those words, he felt a trace of confusion. It had already been almost hopeless for him to defeat Li Hui, yet now Su Lin, someone terrifyingly strong, had appeared out of nowhere.

Did he still have any hope of becoming an official team member? As he staggered down from the ring in a daze, Zhou En could no longer remember how long he had been sitting in the lounge.

His mind was filled with uncertainty about the future.

As time passed, the first round of matches gradually drew to a close.

Naturally, Su Lin was currently ranked first in points, while Zhou En was second.

According to the elimination match rules, only the top five were qualified to enter the second round.

So every hopeful contender was fighting with all their might, hoping to make it into the top five.

Everyone had joined the club to become official team members. With such a good opportunity before them, how could they possibly give up?

However, there were only five spots in the top five. After the fierce eliminations, those ranked sixth and below could only shake their heads in disappointment and leave.

They knew that if they missed this chance, they would never again have anything to do with combat competitions.

The top five had also been decided. Each of them was beaming with joy; if this had not been a public venue, they would have already been screaming excitedly.

First place: Su Lin.

Second place: Zhou En.

Third place: Yang Guo.

Fourth place: Sun Ruisha.

Fifth place: Shu Min.

Liu Yu picked up the microphone, cleared her throat, and said, "First, congratulations to the five contestants for qualifying for the next round. To make the competition fairer, the second round will be held tomorrow morning."

Everyone nodded after hearing this. Competing the next day was undoubtedly the fairest arrangement for challengers like them.

When Zhou En heard that the competition would not take place until the next day, he did not say much. He found Chubby in the crowd, and the two of them left the gymnasium to eat.

"Zhou En, you're not still thinking about those five official team member spots, are you?" On the way, Chubby poked Zhou En's arm and asked in disbelief.

Zhou En nodded.

"I won't give up so easily."

"Hey, hey, hey, Zhou En, you don't even know what martial art Li Hui uses, and you're still saying you'll defeat him?" Chubby asked incredulously.

Having known Chubby's temperament for so many years, Zhou En frowned and asked.

"Do you know something?"

Chubby scratched his scalp and said, "Nothing gets past you. Fine, I'll tell you, so you can give up on this idea."

Ignoring Zhou En's displeased expression, Chubby said, "Li Hui studies Taekwondo."

"Taekwondo?"

"Yes, Zhou En, you know Taekwondo, right? You'd better not fight Li Hui," Chubby warned seriously.

Of course Zhou En knew what Chubby meant. If Wing Chun pursued speed, then Taekwondo pursued power.

With Li Hui's years of training, one could only imagine how terrifying the force behind his attacks would be.

Chubby said, "If even one of Li Hui's punches or kicks grazes you, you'll be in for it."

"For your own safety and health, Zhou En, give up! You won't have any chance of winning. Going up there will only make you humiliate yourself."

Chubby tried earnestly to persuade him.

Zhou En still stubbornly shook his head. This was a joke—he had already come this far. How could he give up so easily?

"Ugh." In the end, Chubby could only let out a helpless sigh.

The day passed quickly. By the time the sun shone upon the earth the next morning, the stadium was already packed with people.

Calling the crowd a sea of people would not have been an exaggeration. It far exceeded the number of spectators who had come yesterday.

Wang Li looked at the enormous crowd before her, and a barely noticeable excitement appeared on her pretty face. Just yesterday, she had received a call from the broadcasting company.

Naturally, they had praised her abilities as a host. Zhang Li had long since grown used to such compliments.

What truly excited her was that the company had secured the hosting rights for the Hundred Schools War, and they planned to have her serve as a commentator.

How could that not excite Zhang Li? After receiving the news, Zhang Li had not slept well all night.

"Hello, everyone. I'm your commentator, Wang Li. I'll still be providing commentary for today's matches."

"The person beside me is the club's head coach, Coach Liu Yu."

"Hello, Coach Liu Yu."

"Hello."

"Coach Liu Yu, you've trained students at the club for so long. In your opinion, do any of these five candidate team members have a chance of becoming official team members?"

Liu Yu brushed her beautiful hair behind her ear and gently shook her head.

"From what I can see, this group of bench trainees has little hope."

It was a joke. If she admitted that someone could defeat an official team member, everyone present would question the club's training methods.

"However." Just as Zhang Li was about to speak, Liu Yu spoke again. Everyone thought—

"I think Su Lin has some hope."

As soon as she said this, the crowd began discussing it heatedly.

"Who's Su Lin? Why not Zhou En?"

"Ha, brother, you didn't come watch yesterday's matches, did you?"

"Huh? Did something exciting happen yesterday?"

"Yeah. Zhou En was defeated by some nobody named Su Lin."

"What?"

"I heard that Su Lin is also the sole inheritor of Wing Chun."

"Really?" Similar conversations filled every corner of the field. In short, no one thought highly of Zhou En.

"Today's matches will still use the ring system. If you are down for ten seconds and fail to get up, you lose. Voluntarily admitting defeat also counts as a loss."

"Of course, in consideration of the freshmen, the club has specially allowed the fifth-ranked contestant from the first round to challenge first, followed by fourth place, then third place, and so on."

Upon hearing this, Zhou En looked toward Liu Yu in the stands, and a trace of gratitude appeared in his eyes. He could tell that she had opened this convenient door for him.

"Alright, now let's welcome our fifth-place contestant, Shu Min, to issue his challenge," Zhang Li said.

Amid the audience's applause, Shu Min walked tremblingly onto the competition ring. It was clear that he was nervous.

At that moment, Zhang Li also jogged down from the stands and went straight to Shu Min's side.

"Student Shu Min, may I ask who you will be challenging today?" As she spoke, she handed the microphone to Shu Min.

Shu Min said, "Senior Wu Min."

As soon as he said this, an uproar immediately swept through the entire venue. Everyone knew who Wu Min was.

The club captain—the strongest of the five official team members. Shu Min actually wanted to challenge him? Was he crazy?