(My birthday is the day after tomorrow, so I'm asking for time off in advance. And there's another piece of good news: my next attempt at driving test subject two has been confirmed for early next month. Second-attempt warrior, charge, charge, charge!)
"Mr. Wang, we qualified from the round-robin stage at the top of our group. Dou Ling Royal Academy should have topped theirs too, right? How did we draw them? Aren't group winners only supposed to draw runners-up from other groups in the round of sixteen?"
Wang Yan smiled and said, "Judging by their strength, Dou Ling Royal Academy should have qualified at the top of their group. But a dark horse emerged in their group and remained undefeated before facing them. For some reason, Dou Ling Royal Academy forfeited their last match against that dark-horse academy, so they qualified in second place. I never expected them to run into us."
"All right, let me explain the rules for the knockout stage first."
"To make the matches more exciting and better showcase the competing academies' overall strength, the Knockout Tournament won't determine match formats by drawing lots as the round-robin stage did. Each knockout match will take place over two days, with a team battle and an individual elimination contest."
"Winning the team battle doesn't necessarily mean you'll advance. In the individual elimination contest held the next day, if you can defeat all seven opposing members using no more than three of your own, you can turn defeat into victory. The team that won the team battle, meanwhile, only needs to defeat three opponents with its seven members to secure advancement."
"This format demonstrates the importance of a team's overall strength while also giving teams with exceptionally powerful individuals a chance. For example, even if we lose the team