Chapter 57 – Can't Compare with a Freak

“Amazing, breaking into the top 1,000 on the very first day!”

“Unbelievable, is this guy really this year’s freshman?”

“That’s right, I saw a post saying Lin Ze is Ningjiang Academy’s Top Freshman this year!”

“Whoa! Top Freshman, no wonder he’s so strong!”

“Bullshit, there are a dozen or two Top Freshmen every year, but have you ever seen one as fierce as Lin Ze?”

“Indeed, top 1,000 on the first day—I’ve learned something new today.”

The news of Lin Ze breaking into the top 1,000 hit like a bombshell, detonating across the entire forum.

Countless players were shocked, astounded, and bewildered.

In all the years the Glory Virtual Realm had been open, never had a freshman from any Beast-Taming Academy managed to break into the top 1,000 on the very first day.

Absolutely unheard of!

In an instant.

Many people were scrambling for information about Lin Ze.

While the Glory Virtual Realm forum was in an uproar.

Ningjiang Academy’s forum was also buzzing with commotion.

Training Zone.

Inside a Soul Art cultivation room.

Wu Tianze, who had been cultivating for over two hours, stopped, let out a long breath, and walked over to grab a towel to wipe off his sweat.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Jing Tao staring at his phone with a stunned expression, and casually asked:

“What’s wrong? Why the long face?”

Jing Tao snapped back to reality, looked up at Wu Tianze, and smiled bitterly:

“Lin Ze made it into the top 1,000 of the Glory Virtual Realm’s Apprentice Zone.”

Wu Tianze froze for several seconds before it finally sank in.

“Top 1,000? You’re not joking, are you?”

Jing Tao pursed his lips: “I wish I were joking.”

Wu Tianze fell silent, his eyes filled with shock.

Though he had long known Lin Ze would definitely break into the top 1,000.

He never imagined Lin Ze would do it this fast.

In just one day, he had surged into the top 1,000 of the Apprentice Zone.

This had undoubtedly shattered Ningjiang Academy’s—no, the entire Federation’s—record!

Though similar feats had occurred before.

Every single person involved had been a seasoned Apprentice Beast Tamer, having accumulated experience at the apprentice level for a long time, which gave them the strength to soar.

And Lin Ze?

He was just a student who had barely gotten into a Beast-Taming Academy.

To achieve such a feat was truly astonishing!

“I always knew that kid Lin Ze was a monster, but I never thought he’d be this freakish. Compared to him, I feel like I’ve wasted the past two years of training.”

Jing Tao sighed, his face full of dejection and frustration.

Wu Tianze was silent for a moment, then said softly:

“That kind of person is an anomaly. You can’t compare yourself to him.”

Just as Ningjiang Academy was in an uproar over Lin Ze’s feat.

The man himself returned to his apartment, completely unaware.

Sitting down on the sofa, Lin Ze casually summoned his Pet Beast panel.

In today’s battles, he had only summoned Xiao Xue to fight from start to finish.

Over the course of the day, Xiao Xue’s Growth Rate had increased to 64.34%.

A total increase of 6.34%.

The improvement wasn’t particularly large.

But it was foreseeable that as his ranking rose and he encountered stronger opponents, the boost to his Pet Beast would only grow.

“Those ranked within the top 1,000 all have at least two Pet Beasts, and their levels are at minimum Tier 3.”

“Future battles won’t be as easy as today’s.”

Lin Ze’s opponent in his final battle today happened to be the player ranked 1,000.

That person had two Tier 3 Pet Beasts.

One was Tier 3, Stage 5, and the other was Tier 3, Stage 8.

But Lin Ze wasn’t worried.

The stronger the opponent, the happier he was, because it meant the ‘Experience Points’ he could gain would be higher.

Although other Beast Tamers’ pets could grow stronger through real combat, their rate of improvement would never match his pets’.

After all, only he possessed the Cheat.

“Speaking of which, I wonder if Virtual Combat has achievements too?”

Lin Ze muttered to himself.

Based on past patterns, battles involving rankings or competitions usually activated corresponding achievements.

“Even if they do exist, they’d probably require reaching the top and getting No.1 to activate.”

For example, the 【Top Freshman】 achievement from the Admission Assessment worked that way.

It was worth mentioning that.

For ranking 1000th in Virtual Combat, the academy’s fixed monthly reward was 1000 Resource Points.

Within the top 900 was 1500 Resource Points.

Within the top 800 was 2000 Resource Points.

And so on.

Within the top 200 was 5000 Resource Points.

Within the top 100 was 6000 Resource Points.

If one could break into the top 10, the monthly reward was as high as 8000 Resource Points.

And the No.1 at the very top received 10000 Resource Points per month.

Of course.

Up until now, no one at Ningjiang Academy had ever claimed that reward.

The highest ranking a freshman had achieved was merely entering the top 500.

After pondering for a moment, Lin Ze snapped back to reality, closed the panel, and began his nightly routine of releasing Soul Arts.

A moment later.

A familiar notification sounded deep in his mind.

【Achievement Unlocked】

【Soul Art · Mastery】: Cumulative Soul Art casts reached 1000. Completing this achievement grants 500 Achievement Points and Soul Crystal X1.

“Finally got it!”

Lin Ze let out a relieved breath of joy.

All the hard work these past days hadn’t been in vain.

Steadying himself, he used the Soul Crystal without hesitation.

As expected, the Soul Strength increase was still 0.9.

【Lin Ze】

【Constitution 8.2 / Soul 14.8】

【Level: Apprentice】

【Soul Power: 1020/1480】

【Soul Arts: Soul Guardian (Tier 2), Soul Arrow (Level 5), Soul Power Impact (Level 1)】

【Pet Beasts: Snow Maiden, Rock Ghost】

【Achievement Points: 1318】

His Achievement Points had also surged by a large margin.

However, after thinking it over, Lin Ze decided not to use them for now.

The remaining skills of Xiao Xue and Rock Ghost would require exactly 1300 Achievement Points to fully unlock.

Once their Growth Rate reached the threshold, he could unlock them immediately.

Snapping out of his excitement, Lin Ze continued grinding his Soul Art casts.

After 1000 times came 10000 times.

It was a long road ahead.

The next day.

Lin Ze woke up early, courtesy of his biological clock.

Since there was a theory class in the morning, he had breakfast with Guan Ning and then headed to the classroom together.

As expected.

The moment he stepped into the classroom, all the students’ gazes instantly focused on Lin Ze.

Many of them eagerly crowded around him.

A cacophony of voices immediately engulfed Lin Ze.

“Brother Lin, I heard you made it into the top 1000 in Virtual Combat, is that true?”

“Brother Lin, the forum says you’ve been one-shotting your opponents in every match, that’s amazing!”

“Brother Lin has two Tier 4 pets, how could anyone outside the top 1000 possibly be his match!”

“I heard that Brother Lin only used one pet for the entire battle yesterday.”

“Wow, Brother Lin is so amazing, I admire you so much!”

“Hey, don’t go all starry-eyed here.”

“……”

The classroom suddenly became as lively as a bustling market.

From the outside, Lin Ze was completely engulfed by the crowd.

It was clear how enthusiastic and excited everyone was.

Not far away, Li Pengyun and Tan Yong watched the scene, exchanged a glance, and shook their heads with wry smiles in unison.

Any student from Class One, taken out alone, would be a genius elite admired by others.

Yet now, facing Lin Ze, they were no different from the ordinary students who used to flatter and fawn over them.

That said.

Tan Yong and Li Pengyun weren’t surprised by this scene.

After all, Lin Ze was exactly the kind of existence that made people look up to him.

Also a freshman, also a student of Class One, yet he was the only special one.

Compared to him, everyone present was no different from ordinary students.

“Speaking of which, you went to the Virtual Combat room yesterday too, right? What rank did you reach?”

Li Pengyun suddenly asked Tan Yong.

“Over 450,000, and you?”

“A bit lower than you, over 470,000.”

The two sighed in unison.

This score could be considered excellent among past freshmen.

Unfortunately, this year there was an anomaly like Lin Ze, and what would have been a dazzling result suddenly became dim and lackluster.

On the other side.

Guo Xinyi didn’t step forward, still staying in her seat.

But the girl’s gaze was fixed on Lin Ze.

Her eyes flickered, and no one knew what she was thinking.