Chapter 54 – I'm Really Lucky

“What an astonishing number!”

Lin Ze marveled inwardly.

But then he reconsidered—the Federation’s total population had already surpassed two billion last year.

With such a massive population base, it was hardly surprising that hundreds of thousands of Beast Tamers had emerged.

Not to mention that the Apprentice level was the most populous of all levels.

Beast Tamer levels formed a pyramid—the higher you went, the more the numbers dwindled at a geometric rate.

Shaking his head, Lin Ze dispelled the stray thoughts and tapped open the Leaderboard to take a look.

No.1 Tao Xingwen / 9843 points

No.2 Xiang Junming / 9815 points

No.3 Lü Yan / 9798 points

No.100 He Yang / 8061 points

“Everyone in the top hundred has over 8000 points.”

Lin Ze quickly scrolled down.

“The thousandth place has 4200 points as well.”

According to the rules of Virtual Combat, each victory earned a player 5 to 10 points.

Of course, losses deducted the same amount.

In other words.

Players within the top thousand had roughly several hundred more wins than losses.

“I’ll aim to break into the top thousand within a week.”

A glint flashed in Lin Ze’s eyes.

He opened the Forum and took a look—mostly players bragging and shooting the breeze.

Finding no valuable intel, Lin Ze quickly lost interest and returned to the initial interface, tapping the Match Matching button in the top right corner.

[Matching in progress…]

[An opponent has been matched for you. The battle will begin in 30 seconds. Please prepare.]

[30, 29, 28…]

The instant the Countdown hit zero, Lin Ze’s vision blurred.

By the time his sight cleared, he found himself standing on an incredibly spacious Arena Platform.

No sooner had he steadied himself than his gaze shot toward the opposite side of the platform.

With a flash of light, his opponent for this battle materialized on the platform as well.

A middle-aged man around forty, with a beard covering his chin.

The man happened to look over at the same moment.

When he caught sight of Lin Ze’s strikingly youthful face, the bearded man couldn’t help but pause, then realization dawned as he said:

“You’re a student, aren’t you? First time participating in Virtual Combat?”

Lin Ze raised an eyebrow slightly, a little surprised.

Guessing he was a student from his age wasn’t all that impressive.

But being able to tell at a glance that he was a newcomer participating for the first time—that was genuinely unexpected.

Seeming to read his confusion, the bearded man let out a chuckle.

“No need to be so surprised. When you’ve done enough battles, you naturally learn to tell veterans from newcomers—it’s a kind of instinct.”

“Of course, the bigger reason is that around this time every year, a flood of Freshmen who just got into the Beast-Taming Academy pour into the Glory Virtual Realm. At this time of year, it’s easy to match up with new players like you.”

Only then did Lin Ze understand.

The bearded man’s face then lit up with delight, and he laughed heartily:

“Looks like I’m in luck today—running into a newcomer. This battle is as good as won!”

“That’s not necessarily true.”

Lin Ze said with a faint, enigmatic smile.

The bearded man paid it no mind, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

In the Apprentice Zone of the Glory Virtual Realm, if there was one group that was the easiest to deal with, it was definitely students.

Especially Freshmen who had just gotten into the Beast-Taming Academy.

They’d usually only just become Apprentice Beast Tamers not long ago.

Their Pet Beasts were typically only at the first or second tier.

The easiest to handle.

Of course, there were also talented student prodigies with real strength.

But those were ultimately in the minority.

The bearded man refused to believe he could be that unlucky—that the new player he’d matched with just happened to be one of those genius students.

“Free points are free points!”

The bearded man gleefully summoned his pet beast.

A Tier 2 Stage 1 Gloom Wolf.

Seeing this, Lin Ze immediately understood.

The bearded man before him had likely passed his Apprentice Assessment at Basic or Intermediate difficulty.

That was why he hadn’t earned a second Contract Slot.

Otherwise, a seasoned Apprentice Beast Tamer like him would surely have already raised a second pet beast.

“Right—any Beast Tamer strong enough to pass Advanced Difficulty wouldn’t lack talent. How could someone like that still be stuck at apprentice level at this age, with such a low Virtual Combat ranking?”

In Match Matching, opponents’ rankings usually weren’t too far apart.

Lin Ze’s ranking was in the 570,000s.

So by the rules, his matched opponents generally wouldn’t be ranked higher than 550,000.

Thoughts spinning through his mind, Lin Ze’s movements were anything but slow.

With a flicker of intent, Xiao Xue appeared beside him out of thin air.

“Huh? A pet beast I’ve never seen before!”

The bearded man eyed Xiao Xue with wary surprise.

When his gaze landed on her delicate features, he froze for a moment, then a look of envy crept across his face.

“Tsk tsk, kid, you’ve got quite the luck with the ladies—actually contracted such a beautiful Humanoid Pet Beast. Nice!”

Sensing the bearded man’s lecherous stare, Xiao Xue raised an eyebrow and wrinkled her nose in annoyance.

She slowly lifted her pale hand, palm aimed at the bearded man from across the arena.

He just chuckled carelessly and ordered his Gloom Wolf to attack.

“If I finish this within half a minute, I should get seven or eight points—my ranking can jump up by at least a few hundred spots!”

Pleased at the thought, the bearded man couldn’t help but grin.

But the very next second.

His smile froze solid.

Crack! Crack!

With crisp, sharp sounds, countless dense ice blades materialized in the air above the arena platform.

Bone-piercing cold flooded the entire arena in an instant.

The bearded man shuddered violently, his smug grin long gone.

Replaced by sheer, unbridled terror.

“Wh-what is this…”

Even the dullest person could feel, from the plummeting temperature around them, the terrifying power contained in those airborne ice blades.

No doubt about it.

This girl’s pet beast was nowhere near the Tier 1 or 2 level he’d guessed.

Tier 3?

Or even… Tier 4?

The bearded man’s mind went blank with shock, completely incapable of thought.

Not that he had any time to think.

With a sharp sweep of Xiao Xue’s hand.

The countless ice blades shot forth in an instant, and under the bearded man’s horrified gaze, they engulfed him and his Gloom Wolf alike.

Shhk!

Shhk shhk!

The sound of ice blades tearing through flesh was nearly drowned out by the dense whistling of the air.

A violent shockwave spread outward, carrying countless shattered ice particles.

By the time the Ice Waterfall skill ended, a thin layer of frost coated the arena floor.

And the bearded man and his Gloom Wolf had vanished without a trace—not even a shred of flesh left behind.

[Combat ended. Victor: Lin Ze]

[Player Lin Ze has earned 10 Points]

“The maximum score, huh.”

A flicker of delight passed through Lin Ze’s eyes.

The points earned from a combat victory mainly depended on the victor’s performance in the battle.

Clearly.

The faster you ended the fight, the higher the score.

Lin Ze then glanced at his Personal Info and noticed that his ranking had changed from No. 573620 to No. 572884.

A direct rise of over 700 places.

Lin Ze wasn’t surprised.

The further down the rankings, the more people shared the same score.

A single point increase could boost one’s rank by dozens or even hundreds of places.

Perfectly normal.

Without even needing a rest, Lin Ze immediately started the next match.