At this point, Dark suddenly had a premonition. Don't tell me it's going to be again...
Just as he thought that, he saw Ms. Marilyn reach for a nameplate—the one bearing the name [Hayley Saint Meredith]!
And this time, Ms. Marilyn did not deliberately build suspense. She simply drew the nameplate straight out!
When the audience saw the name that had once again been assigned a bye, they immediately burst into loud discussion.
Ms. Marilyn's expression also became rather strange.
Both byes had gone to Hayley, the "Bloody Saintess." If the audience did not think this was rigged, that would be truly strange.
Sure enough, on closer listening, the entire venue was filled with cries of "Rigged!" "Backdoor dealings!" and "Shameless!" Even though the target was the "Bloody Saintess," those indignant shouts could not be suppressed.
However, the "Bloody Saintess" herself merely revealed a happy smile, as though she had suddenly become much younger.
Having weathered countless battles, Hayley was naturally unaffected by the audience's comments.
Her reason for entering this World Cup had always been extremely pragmatic. Obtaining the "Gift of God" would count as success.
As for reputation and ranking, they were nothing more than passing clouds to her.
With the Academy Championship as precedent, the contestants knew that the "Gift of God" had once been bestowed upon twelve people. Thus, they had subconsciously set their bottom line at the number "twelve."
The first round was divided into the Winners Bracket and Losers Bracket. In the second round, the eight contestants in the Losers Bracket would duel one another, with the losers eliminated. Those four eliminated contestants would be the ones outside the top twelve.
Since Hayley had been matched against Sloane in the first round, her place in the top twelve was practically assured. However, she still