Lin Xiaoran still had no idea that, through the cooperation of Andrei and Julian Reik, the remaining challengers had temporarily set aside their hostility toward one another and planned to join forces to eliminate the current first-place contestant, Lin Xiaoran.
Her points were simply too outrageous. Andrei and the others were unwilling to let her win this round and widen the gap between Country L and the other countries.
Thus, this first round since Lin Xiaoran joined the National Fortune Survival Game was their best opportunity to eliminate her.
The next day.
Lin Xiaoran appeared on the livestream looking exhausted.
[Did Student Lin not get enough rest?]
[Could she have had nightmares because she killed Tanaka Ning yesterday?]
[That's very possible!]
[Speaking of which, did any of you notice something yesterday? Student Lin clearly didn't throw the knife hard when she attacked, but the fruit knife flew out so easily. She isn't that strong, is she?]
[Who would pay attention to something like that?!]
[Wasn't Uncle Issho standing beside Student Lin? Maybe he secretly helped her?]
[I know why Student Lin looks so exhausted! Look at her points! They went up by another two hundred. She's already at 1,000!]
[Whoa! Am I dreaming?!]
[Student Lin is invincible! Uncle Issho is invincible!]
The leaderboard had changed again. Lin Xiaoran's score had reached 1,000.
This was also the first 1,000-point score in the entire history of the National Fortune Game!
All the viewers in Country L erupted into excited cheers at the sight, their feelings beyond words.
Viewers from other countries watched with fear, dread, and wrenching anxiety, their spirits sinking to rock bottom. At the same time, they fantasized about how wonderful it would be if their own countries' challengers could be this impressive!
Unfortunately, apart from the newly arrived Lin Xiaoran, there was no one else. Even Andrei from E Country, who had won the previous round, was not actually powerful or outstanding. But the Heroic Spirits summoned by the other challengers were even weaker than his.
Lin Xiaoran's performance was like a phoenix emerging from a flock of ground-bound chickens! Terrifying beyond measure!
In E Country's Andrei's livestream.
[We're done for. Lin Xiaoran's points went up again.]
[Damn it, doesn't she sleep at night?! Why is she working so hard?! Having enough points is good enough!]
[This is infuriating!]
[Aaah! With such an outrageous score, Andrei couldn't catch up even if he wanted to!]
The viewers were frantic.
Just then, another blond man walked into the livestream frame, joining Andrei and his Heroic Spirit, the Barbarian King.
[Who's that?]
[Looks like Julian Reik from the U.S. Why is he here?]
[Huh? Park Bu is here too?]
[And Nikolai from Country A!]
As they appeared, viewers from the U.S., Country H, and Country A all witnessed a strange sight: several challengers had actually gathered together!
But they immediately realized something and could not help growing excited.
[I get it! They've teamed up!]
[Are they planning to target Lin Xiaoran from Country L?! Wow! They're amazing! They thought of this so early!]
[Good, good, good! Here's our chance! You have to give it your all!]
[Right! Kill Lin Xiaoran, then we can settle who wins! Anyone can win! As long as it isn't Lin Xiaoran!]
The National Fortune Analysis Bureau had dedicated staff monitoring every challenger's livestream to facilitate intelligence gathering, so they also discovered Andrei and the others' actions immediately and hurriedly reported the situation to Jiang Jiayou.
"Director Jiang! This is bad! They're targeting Student Lin!"
"What happened?!"
"It's Andrei from E Country! He seems to have organized the other challengers to attack Student Lin!"
As the staff member reported, Jiang Jiayou quickly opened the livestream screen projected by the silver ring on his wrist and began watching.
"Those damned bastards!" Jiang Jiayou's fury surged to the heavens! He bitterly cursed their inhuman behavior!
Nothing outside the National Fortune Game could interfere with what happened inside it, so there was no question that Andrei and the others had initiated this themselves.
Although their actions were reasonable, that did not mean Jiang Jiayou or Country L could accept them!
Had someone else been targeted, Jiang Jiayou would certainly have watched with a smile.
After cursing for quite a while, Jiang Jiayou left the command room, took out his phone, and reported the situation to his superiors, intending to have the foreign ministry fiercely condemn the actions of E Country and the U.S.!
Although they could not change what had already happened, they had to let everyone in Country L know how shameless and despicable the other side was! They had to curse them fiercely!
[Brothers! We're screwed! Hurry over to Andrei's livestream!]
[I'm furious! All these people are actually going to attack Student Lin!]
[Charge, brothers!]
[Student Lin! God Ran! You have to hold on! Kill them all!]
[Kill, kill, kill! Don't leave a single one alive!]
Country L had finally gotten someone like Lin Xiaoran, and hope was in sight, only for something like this to happen. Who could stand it?
They had no way to help Lin Xiaoran, so they had to fight hard outside the game! Wasn't it just arguing? They considered themselves second to none!
For a time, countless viewers flooded into the livestreams of challengers from E Country, the U.S., Country H, and elsewhere.
Fortunately, these were National Fortune Game livestreams, which suffered no network latency or stuttering. Otherwise, so many people appearing at once would surely have crashed the livestream servers.
Inside the game instance.
Lin Xiaoran and Issho were still sitting on yesterday's rock, heading toward the finish line.
Along the way, Lin Xiaoran kept massaging her arms to loosen them up.
Seeing this, Issho asked, "Can you still keep going?"
"Of course I can!" Lin Xiaoran said earnestly.
Although she had studied basic swordsmanship under Issho's guidance last night, training until she was in such agony that she wished she were dead and ultimately could not even lift her hands, Lin Xiaoran would not give up over that!
After all, what man did not dream of becoming a sword immortal, a swordsmanship expert, or a great swordsman?!
Although Lin Xiaoran had now become a cute, beautiful girl, her wish remained the same!
Issho nodded with satisfaction and said, "Your physical constitution is a little better than I expected."
He was speaking honestly. He had originally thought that even if Lin Xiaoran practiced swordsmanship, she might ultimately possess only its form, not its spirit, and would absolutely never reach the Realm of Cutting Iron by comprehending the Breath of All Things!
Yet, as it turned out, Lin Xiaoran's stamina and recovery were actually fairly good.
Of course, they were still nothing compared to those of the people in the world of the seas.
But at least, as long as Lin Xiaoran persevered, it was not impossible for her to become a swordsmanship expert someday!
Note: a swordsmanship expert, not a swordmaster!
Suddenly, Issho frowned slightly and turned to ask Lin Xiaoran, "Are challengers allowed to cooperate with one another?"
"Cooperate?"
Slightly puzzled, Lin Xiaoran thought of something, activated her Observation Haki, and began sensing her surroundings.
By now, Issho's version of Advanced Observation Haki was enough to cover the remaining area of the map.
Thus, Lin Xiaoran naturally "saw" the other challengers' movements.
"They actually gathered together?"