The venue, capable of holding a million people, had only begun construction a day earlier. Needless to say, the infrastructure capabilities of the interstellar era were superb, with most of the time spent installing complex virtual reality equipment.
The venue was filled not only with college leaders and first-year students, but also with many senior students, sponsors from local corporations on Red Earth Star, headhunters, and others.
Although you can watch the broadcast directly on a smart device, the equipment and atmosphere at the event venue are definitely better and more comprehensive.
In the central plaza of the venue, virtual reality devices were neatly arranged in Matrix. At this moment, the expressions of the students varied, but most of them were nervous and apprehensive as they entered the plaza.
"I'm so nervous! Will I get instantly killed as soon as I land, like they said on the forum?!"
Ah, I hope I can meet you.
"Oh? We... want to cooperate?"
"You're overthinking it. Instead of giving up your Integral to someone else, you should give them to me. I might not be able to kill others, but I'm confident I can kill you."
"... Hello!"
Yu Yang and the others were joking around to ease the tension when they suddenly spotted Wen Jing in the front row in the distance.
There's no other reason than that the seating arrangement for the competition is based on the current grade rankings.
That area was the most prominent and central front row area in the entire square, and further ahead was the central lecture hall where the school leaders were located.
"Drop!"
"Identity number 9407691, Wen Jing, first-grade winter class, identity confirmed..."
Please proceed to device 31 in area A to participate in the competition.
After verifying his identity, Wen Jing followed the robot's instructions to the designated device.
There were only one hundred pieces of equipment in this area, and the spacing between them was sparser than that of the other equipment. They were already very conspicuous in the square, so even her passive ability to reduce her presence was of little use at this moment.
As Wen Jing entered, a lot of eyes turned to him.
The entire core area was mostly filled with spring semester students and a small number of summer semester students. She was the only one from the winter semester, and her classmates were all at the edge of the venue.
Feeling the intense gaze coming from above the podium, Wen Jing looked over and met Dean Bai's eyes.
Dean Bai's lips curled into a mysterious smile, while many college leaders and mentors, both those Wen Jing recognized and those she didn't, glanced at her several times.
With her record-breaking performance in the Trial Tower being a daily occurrence, Wen Jing is undoubtedly one of the most outstanding talents of this generation, and they have all heard of her before.
Before long, all the students had arrived at their seats and connected their devices.
With only three minutes left before the competition officially began, Dean Bai's voice suddenly resounded throughout the venue from the podium.
Without unnecessary platitudes, it succinctly and clearly states the central point:
"The prize for first place in this year's freshman ranking competition is..."
"It's a low-level, Wilderness Weapon."
Her words caused an uproar. Not only were the students surprised, but even the vice deans and mentors in the stands looked at her unexpectedly.
Chapter 56
Wilderness Weapon!
Although it was a low-level, Wilderness Weapon, it still surprised everyone present.
This is a treasure even more precious than the Empowerment Stone; even the academy's instructors would be tempted, let alone the students present.
Wen Jing's eyes flickered as he recalled the knowledge about Wilderness Weapon he had learned in his introductory class.
Wilderness Weapon, also known as Awakened Weapon, are weapons used by Awakened, as the name suggests. They not only enhance combat power when used in the material universe, but more importantly, they can also be brought into the Ancient Wilderness for battle, without affecting the carrying of other items during the journey.
For the vast majority of low-level Awakened, even those from wealthy families, possessing a low-level Wilderness Weapon is a rare and highly sought-after opportunity.
Mid-to-high-level artifacts are even more out of the question. Every mid-to-high-level Wilderness Weapon has a name and a reputation, and those who possess them are well-known and powerful among the Awakened. The energy of low-level Awakened cannot even power them.
The Integral mall is all-encompassing, with very few items that are difficult to purchase. Wilderness Weapon are among those rare items, usually obtained through barter among powerful Awakened.
Of course, possessing Wilderness Weapon can enhance Awakened's strength, but it's not enough to completely transform them and allow them to challenge opponents of higher levels.
Its value lies in two aspects: firstly, its scarcity, and secondly, it is one of the few items that can enhance the survival ability of Awakened in the Ancient Wilderness world.
In previous years, the highest reward for first place in the grade ranking competition was Empowerment Stone. This year, Dean Bai dropped a bombshell, leaving everyone present with different expressions.
After several changes in expression, Vice Dean Gao Shi finally regained his composure and remarked, "So it's just a low-grade Wilderness Weapon. Dean, you're truly generous..."
The prize for first place this year was a personal heirloom from Dean Bai, unrelated to the academy's finances, and at this point, no one could criticize the prize for being too valuable.
Even the school leaders felt this way, let alone the students present.
A commotion broke out inside the venue. Senior students and corporate executives in the audience were discussing the matter, while many of the freshmen in the array below, who were about to enter virtual reality, had their smart devices constantly receiving messages.
"I'm sorry, I can't keep my promise."
"We did sign a contract, but that was before we knew the first-place reward was Awakened Weapon!"
"Prices have to go up, otherwise there's no point in talking."
Looking at the people in the venue who were thrown into chaos as a result, Dean Bai smiled.
Although the news of the competition format change was leaked, she saved the heavy bait of Awakened Weapon for last, playing a 'reverse card' to catch the match-fixing players off guard.
'With such a good reward, are you really willing to give it up for the signing bonus we agreed on earlier?'
Both those who sell points and those who buy points will have this thought.
Once this chain of suspicion is established, there isn't enough time to reach a new agreement on the distribution of benefits. In the context of a battle royale where everyone is an enemy, this is much fairer than it was at the beginning.
Match countdown: 00:00
As the giant countdown timer atop the venue reached its final seconds, all 10,000+ students simultaneously entered the virtual reality environment.
The virtual reality competition planet appeared simultaneously on the large screen at the top of the venue.
[Star type: Rocky asteroid D3]
[Planet diameter: 100 kilometers]
[Gravity Reference: Red Earth Star ]
[Participant drop interval: 0.35 people/square kilometer]
[Delivery Mode: Average Random]
[Terrain Type: City Ruins 39%, Jungle 10%, Swamp 10%, Mountain/Canyon 20%, Plain 10%, Desert 10%, Anomalous Energy Radiation Zone 1%]
The detailed parameters of the competition star are published from the audience's perspective, but are unknown to the participating students.
The setup is completely modeled after previous Freshman League. The difference is that the planetary parameters for each year's Freshman League are generated by the Mastermind and no one can know them in advance, while this time the basic model used was used in a ranking competition of the Azure Jade Academy decades ago.
The large screen quickly split into thousands of smaller screens, broadcasting the entire planet without any blind spots. The AI director would also intelligently track the areas where battles were taking place, and viewers could also choose to watch from a single person's perspective on their smart devices.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"
More than 10,000 beams of light competed to illuminate the atmosphere of a planet, with each beam representing a freshman in college.
After the light faded, each student saw their surroundings and, regardless of whether they felt lost or confused, instinctively took immediate action.
Whether it's getting familiar with the environment, hiding, or actively hunting...
Battle royale games have a higher degree of randomness, and seem to lack some of the competitiveness and fairness compared to traditional 1v1 games.
But don't forget that the greatest threat to the Awakened comes from the Ancient Wilderness.
When you encounter various crises and enemies during your exploration of the Ancient Wilderness, you won't be able to have a fair 1v1 competition. You can admit defeat in a match, but you can't admit defeat in the Ancient Wilderness.
Therefore, even in this chaotic struggle for survival, if someone manages to survive to the end by sheer luck, that is recognized as a form of skill.
Being able to hide is a skill, and so is having good luck.
*
Wen Jing landed in a desert. She immediately surveyed her surroundings but saw no one.
This is natural, because she discovered that the planet she was on was very small, so small that when she stood in such an open area, the distant horizon appeared as a clearly visible arc.
No matter how good your eyesight is, it's useless because the curvature of the planet blocks your view, limiting your maximum field of vision to no more than 500 meters.
"Since there are only a little over ten thousand participants, the competition venue can't be too big... and the students' throws are clearly spaced out, so the battle doesn't start as soon as they land."
Wen Jing thought to himself, while looking up at the sky.
She landed in the planet's day hemisphere, where the stars shone brightly overhead.
But her Gravity Sensing told her that it was a fake star, mainly serving a decorative purpose.
In the entire virtual reality environment, only the Gravitational Field of the planet beneath our feet is stable, and it truly has mass.
Although the competition venue was limited to this planet, the fake star unexpectedly imposed certain restrictions on Wen Jing —even using Gravity Silk, she was unable to fly on this planet.
The next moment, her expression changed as she noticed a shift in the game information displayed on her retina.
Contestant: Wen Jing
Integral: 1
Rank: 11521
Just a moment ago, her ranking information was '-', but now it has become a number, indicating that people have started to be eliminated, and the number is not small.
It seems that as long as it's a battle royale mode, there will always be warmongers.
Suddenly she turned her head and looked in a certain direction.
Just then, a head popped out from the horizon and met her gaze.
Those who dared to be active in the early stages of landing usually had a certain level of confidence, but after recognizing Wen Jing in just one second, the man opposite him shuddered and turned to run away.