"A freshman won?"
"Unbelievable. Freshmen have beaten second-years before, but weren't those cases where we saw it coming?"
Some freshmen were exceptional. Their privileged upbringing had given them sparring partners early on, helping them improve their practical combat abilities, and they were practically famous even before enrollment.
But such freshmen were ultimately rare. Most—one could even say ninety-nine percent of freshmen—had no chance of defeating upperclassmen. That was why this sudden upset was so shocking.
"So this is the strength of someone topping the rankings? I got scammed! You people kept saying that even with good talent, she still needed time to develop!"
"How does she need time to develop? She's just steamrolling everyone!"
"Fuck, my money!!"
"Where did this monster come from? Why had I never heard of her before? She just suddenly appeared."
"Right now, I just want to know how much the people who bet on her winning earned."
The moment those words were spoken, the area fell silent. The envy, jealousy, and resentment nearly solidified into something tangible.
".Did the gambling addicts really win? I can't accept this!"
Once the victor had been decided and people had somewhat recovered from the shock of "a freshman actually won," they suddenly realized that the bets they had staked everything on had truly gone down the drain.
"Is the rooftop access still open? I need to go up and calm down for a bit."
"It's already full. You'll have to wait until the others finish jumping."
Conversations like these could be heard everywhere.
As for Xu Zhi, who had stolen the show, she had undoubtedly entered many people's sights.
Or rather, upperclassmen had already been watching her. Such an outrageous entrance test score was difficult to ignore. In fact, the student council had placed her on its observation list