Oh My God! Was This Part of Your Plan, Too!?

The moment Lin Xia drew the card.

Zhu Tingyu and Liu Yucheng immediately stopped attacking. They froze in place, their eyes fixed on the golden card.

In this world, aside from their initial Awakening Cards, Awakeners could only own Summoning Cards.

What's more, Cards could only be obtained by leveling up or exploring secret realms.

No matter which way you looked at it, there was no way anyone should have a Card at this stage!

"How does Lin Xia have a Card!?"

The female teacher's eyes widened. "Did he enter a secret realm!?"

Xie Feng checked Lin Xia's status panel and confirmed he was only level 1. "He hasn't leveled up, so he most likely got it by exploring a secret realm!"

"Oh my God, this is unbelievable!"

"He entered a secret realm right after awakening, not only got a Card, but made it back alive?!"

"I have a question. If he got a Card, why didn't he level up!?"

Several teachers turned to Xie Feng, hoping he could explain.

"I don't know... That kid has way too many secrets!"

Xie Feng shook his head. "What I'm more curious about now is what rank this Card is!"

Listening to them talk, Wu Ziyang held his forehead and sat down.

He still hadn't recovered from the shock of being counterattacked.

And now Lin Xia had pulled off something this astonishing!

"No wonder he could kill that young master from the Zhang Family..."

Wu Ziyang's voice grew weak, filled with regret. "I shouldn't have underestimated him..."

Boom!

A loud crash rang out across the field. Everyone stopped fighting and turned to look.

A golden light faded.

The round, pink Majin Buu stood there in a cape, fists crossed at his waist, looking utterly confident.

"Th-this... Is that a summon?!"

"Holy crap, did Lin Xia summon it? Where did he get a Summoning Card?!"

"And it's SSR rank... Good thing I didn't pick him as my opponent!"

"Now I finally understand why three people ganged up on Lin Xia... Wait, no, I mean, that was totally justified!"

The students' stunned expressions quickly spread through the crowd.

The teachers, Xie Feng among them, were so shocked they couldn't speak.

At this stage, simply having a Summoning Card was hard to believe.

And this one was the highest rank, SSR!

But soon, their shock turned to anticipation as they wondered how powerful Majin Buu was.

"Buu, he's your opponent."

Lin Xia glanced at Liu Yucheng and said quietly, "Remember, don't turn him into chocolate. I don't want anyone finding out about that ability."

As soon as he finished speaking, Fat Buu nodded and charged.

Watching the pink blob flying toward him, Liu Yucheng had already assumed a defensive stance.

Thud!

The two fists collided, and Buu and Liu Yucheng started trading blows.

Buu's OVR Value was 89.

Against Liu Yucheng, who had an OVR Value of just 71, it was practically like fighting an NPC.

After a few exchanges, Liu Yucheng was already on the back foot.

Watching from the sidelines, the students not only saw how powerful Buu was, but also concluded that Liu Yucheng was bound to lose.

So they turned their attention back to their own fights.

Meanwhile,

Lin Xia and Zhu Tingyu were locked in an even match.

Their fight drew the teachers' attention away from Buu and back to them.

In this gamified world, stats determined combat power.

So with both of them being SSRs and having an OVR Value of 82, the fight came down to who could avoid making a mistake.

The moment either of them showed an opening, the fight would likely be over.

That was exactly why Lin Xia focused intently on every attack and defense, pushing his nerves to the limit.

He couldn't see the expression beneath Zhu Tingyu's mask.

But judging by how her attacks were gradually weakening, she was no better off than he was.

"At this rate, it'll be hard to determine a winner."

A teacher on the platform murmured.

"Lin Xia never intended to win. Otherwise, Zhu Tingyu would've been eliminated long ago!"

The speaker was Wu Ziyang.

He folded his arms, his expression complicated. There was a hint of sourness and defiance in it, and, if you looked closely, even a trace of disdain.

The other teachers exchanged puzzled glances at his words.

Only Xie Feng slowly smiled. He didn't comment, but gestured for Wu Ziyang to continue.

"Someone who held off two people attacking together for several rounds without losing—would he really struggle in a one-on-one fight?"

Wu Ziyang thought the teachers were nowhere near as observant as he was. He lifted his chin, wearing an extremely smug expression.

"When Zhu Tingyu and Lin Xia were exchanging blasts earlier, I noticed that as she kept launching fireballs, Zhu Tingyu's breathing grew more labored.

"And the fireballs she fired grew weaker, too.

"That means using ranged skills drains her stamina.

"But Lin Xia doesn't have that problem. His Energy Bullets seem to be cost-free skills. I didn't see any negative effects on him.

"So... if Lin Xia really wanted to win, all he had to do was keep firing blasts until Zhu Tingyu ran out of stamina."

With that, Wu Ziyang swept his gaze over everyone, looking pleased with himself.

"But... Zhu Tingyu is wearing a mask. How could you tell her breathing was getting more labored?"

Xie Feng raised an eyebrow and asked curiously.

"It's an innate talent."

Wu Ziyang shrugged.

Meanwhile,

On the field, Lin Xia and Zhu Tingyu's arms collided, and they struggled against each other. Zhu Tingyu asked, "Did you figure out a long time ago..."

"That firing blasts would drain your stamina?"

Lin Xia grinned. "So, are you touched by my noble decision not to take advantage of you?"

"Hmph, not at all!"

Zhu Tingyu shoved Lin Xia away in a fluster, then launched another attack.

As she fought, she couldn't understand how Lin Xia had seen through her despite how careful she'd been.

When Zhu Tingyu had fired her fireballs earlier, she'd deliberately limited their number so she wouldn't reveal the stamina cost.

But even so, Lin Xia had figured it out...

The boy's sharp eye made her feel a chill.

After all, the worst thing you could do on a battlefield was reveal your weaknesses to the enemy!

And that was exactly why Lin Xia's gentlemanly choice to fight her fairly instead of wearing her down with blasts warmed her heart a little.

It was also why Zhu Tingyu didn't use her strongest element, [Poison], whose negative effect was absurdly powerful!

If Lin Xia was giving her a fair fight, she absolutely wouldn't ruin it!

But just then, Liu Yucheng's shout made everyone stop and turn to look!

"Lin... Lin Xia!"

Liu Yucheng looked shaken as he pointed at Buu, whose body was rapidly swelling. Panic and confusion filled his voice as he asked,

"He looks like he's about to explode... Was this part of your plan, too!?"