81 – The Crowd-Pleasing Bla Ga
A cold and emotionless broadcast voice rang out from the token, announcing to the ten teams that had survived until the end:
‘To the remaining participants, congratulations. At this mont, you’ve made it into the top ten of the Coleman Academy Crown Cup. Without question, standing out among 458 freshn, you are the paragons of this year’s cohort. There’s no need for modesty—accept this honor. Across the Kaleburn Continent, you are one of a kind.’
The chanical tone gradually shifted into a magnetic, gentle yet emotionally detached voice of a young man. When he read this blessing aloud, there was a certain ceremonial cadence to it.
‘Your nas will beco the talk of the Academy, leading the trends of the entire freshman group. But at this mont, allow to spoil the mood—every pinnacle fades with ti. Only the first place will be rembered forever.’
‘Let pride and arrogance not beco your final thoughts. Heed this warning.’
‘Additionally, from this mont onward, the Academy will oversee the tournant directly, and all visuals will be stread live to the Grand Plaza of Coleman. These magically engraved recordings will serve as archival footage and instructional material for future Crown Cups. Please take note.’
‘Smooth sailing to all of you. Your valor in battle will be watched by many—so give it your all.’
As the voice faded, the light of the token dimd and eventually went out completely, along with any further sound.
***
The rest area of Coleman Academy was unusually lively today. The freshn erging from the rooms wore a variety of expressions, but most had darkened faces.
So were pounding their chests and stomping their feet, shouting things like, “If I hadn’t botched that move, we would’ve made it!” or “If only I had done XXX back then, we’d be in the top ten!”
Others ca out looking totally confused, scratching their heads and muttering, “Where is this?” “Weren’t we in the competition? How did I fall asleep and end up in the restroom?”
All of that was within the realm of normal. Then there were the ones who stord out, eyes blazing, scanning the crowd until they found their target. Their faces lit up when they spotted them, and they charged forward, grabbing the other by the collar as if about to start a fight.
“You damn bastard, you shot in the butt with a crossbow while I was taking a dump!”
“You shaless jerk! My pants weren’t even up, and I hadn’t deployed my Domain—you ambushed ! Why don’t you fight fair and square if you’ve got guts?!”
“Heh, if you’re still able to hum a tune on the toilet in a danger zone like the Fourfold War Zone, you deserve to get eliminated.” The one with his collar grabbed and sneered. He wasn’t afraid of actually getting hit—this was the Academy. Anyone who dared raise a hand would get a major derit.
Eliminated or not, all of them had already secured official student status by reaching the final phase. No one wanted to risk losing that hard-won qualification.
“You...!” The hot-tempered student was livid, veins bulging on his forehead, but he had enough sense to swallow his anger and lower his raised fist.
“Tch.” The grabbed student straightened his collar. “Coward.”
“You son of a—!”
“Well, since you're such ambush experts, why did you get eliminated too?” At that mont, the burly student’s teammate strolled over slowly after seeing the commotion and joined the fray.
“Right, if you hadn’t been eliminated, would you even be here?”
“Tch, still better than you losers.”
“Ha! If you hadn’t ambushed us, you’d have been out even sooner. Bunch of bumpkin nobles—no real skill, just loophole exploiters.”
“Who are you calling a bumpkin noble?!”
It wasn’t uncommon for teams to co out and imdiately seek out the ones who eliminated them, engaging in so "friendly exchanges of opinions." In fact, they were the norm.
They were all young. Very few could accept defeat gracefully—most were indignant. And to be fair, this year’s conditions were special. The Divine Circle ended up in the northern valley. Most teams were “backstabbed” at night, and those who backstabbed others got backstabbed in turn. Eventually, every team stationed in the valley ended up brawling in a chaotic free-for-all.
Of course, there were also a few who were genuinely accepting of their defeat, stepping out with calm expressions and no resentnt.
So, however, didn’t vent their frustrations on opponents, but on their own teammates.
“What the hell were you doing back there?! I was blocking at the front, and you didn’t even fire a single shot from behind!”
“And you’ve got the nerve to bla ?! You all charged in like dogs after rotten at, and I was left to get pounded by the enemy Divine Princess—none of you ca to help, did you?!”
“Protect you? Isn’t that the fortress’s job? I’m not the spearhead here. You want the whole team to orbit around you?!”
“What the hell is going on?! Divine Child, were you saving your Divine Appraisal for your next life? Why didn’t you use it when the battle started?!”
“What could I do? I couldn’t activate it!”
“Stop making excuses! You couldn’t contribute at the critical mont—that’s on you!”
“Oh, I stay quiet and now you’re emboldened?! Did the enemy even have a Divine Child? No, right? Yet it was three against one, and they still wiped us out. Have you looked in the mirror lately? Are you even qualified to call yourselves Divine Princesses?!”
Clearly, so teams bore more resentnt toward their teammates than their enemies, unleashing a verbal storm once they got out—though no one dared escalate to physical violence.
“Silence! Anyone who keeps yelling will have their enrollnt qualification revoked!”
A voice full of authority imdiately suppressed all argunts. The eliminated students turned their heads toward the center of the lounge, where a tall middle-aged man in a ntor’s robe stood.
“You’ve already been eliminated. What are you all still complaining about? Have you truly reflected on your own failures?”
“.........”
Everyone fell silent.
“Let’s see if you’ve earned the right to be this loud. Soon, your token scores will be calculated.”
“Teams with a score below 50—pack your bags. You’re done here. Coleman Academy welcos you to try again next year.”
“Scores above 50—congratulations, for now. You’ve earned formal enrollnt. But don’t celebrate too soon. Slack off, and next ti it’ll be your turn.”
“If you’re awake, then get out.” The man crossed his arms and turned to leave. As he reached the door, he stopped abruptly.
“By the way, the top ten teams have already been decided. If you’re interested, head to the Grand Plaza and catch the live broadcast. Who knows? One of them might be the team that took you down.”
After the man left, the students glanced at each other with obvious irritation, then silently walked out of the lounge.
So, sowhat satisfied with their teamwork, discussed continuing to work together in the future. But most were dissatisfied with their current teammates and blad one another for the loss. After so heated quarreling, they parted ways unhappily.
Watching this unfold, the middle-aged man shook his head.
A single defeat wasn’t enough to teach these young bulls self-reflection. They only knew how to toss the bla onto their teammates.
Educating hot-blooded youths with sharp edges couldn’t be rushed. The Academy didn’t expect them to imdiately understand their faults and shortcomings.
There was a long road ahead. They’d still have many failures to endure.
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