Chapter 70 – Using a Honey Trap at the Critical Moment is Perfectly Fine

The two girls stared at the post, clicking their tongues in amazement.

Suddenly.

Liu Man seemed to think of something, her eyes lighting up as she said:

“Speaking of which, our team is still short one person, so why not just invite Lin Ze to join? What do you think?”

Guo Xinyi was taken aback. “Invite Lin Ze?”

“That’s right. The Secret Realm Exploration Squad requires a minimum of five people, and we’re still short one. Inviting Lin Ze to join would be perfect.”

Liu Man clapped her hands together, feeling pleased with her sudden inspiration.

She had been troubled by this matter for quite some time.

Not just anyone could be invited to join a Secret Realm Exploration Squad.

One had to consider both year level and club affiliation, as well as strength.

Someone like Lin Ze—outstanding in strength, more capable than many Second Year students, and a First Year who hadn’t joined any club yet—was undoubtedly a very suitable choice.

Guo Xinyi understood this as well and instinctively nodded, but then hesitated slightly.

“Will Lin Ze agree?”

Liu Man grinned and pressed down on Guo Xinyi’s shoulders, blinking as she said:

“That’s where you come in!”

“Huh?”

“You’re from the same year, so you two should have a decent relationship, right?”

Guo Xinyi thought about it. She and Lin Ze had only spoken a few times, it seemed.

Their relationship was far from what could be called familiar.

Thinking about it, she felt a strange sense of disappointment well up inside her.

Liu Man stared at Guo Xinyi’s expression for a moment, a flicker of understanding passing through her eyes.

She patted her junior’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry. If Lin Ze wants to enter the Secret Realm, joining us is the fastest way.”

Although the Secret Realms that Ningjiang Academy opened to students had all been fully explored, they still carried considerable danger.

In light of this.

The academy had a rule that students entering the Secret Realm for exploration must form a team of five.

And each member’s strength must not be below Tier 3.

In other words, one must possess at least one Tier 3 Pet Beast.

This single requirement alone ruled out the vast majority of First Year students from even considering entering the Secret Realm.

If Lin Ze was interested in exploring the Secret Realm, teaming up with Second Year students was indeed the fastest approach.

After all, there were only five First Year students who possessed Tier 3 Pet Beasts.

And those five would almost certainly never team up together.

At the very least, Lv Gang, who had joined the Gaoshan Club, would definitely be hostile toward Lin Ze.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Guo Xinyi finally nodded.

“I understand. I’ll find a chance to try inviting him tomorrow.”

Liu Man broke into a bright smile.

“Then I’ll leave it to you… And if it comes down to it, using a little charm wouldn’t hurt either.”

“Senior sister!!”

Lin Ze had no idea that two girls were discussing him behind his back.

The day after the Wager Duel.

After eating breakfast, he headed straight to the Virtual Combat room.

Preparing to continue climbing the rankings.

Guan Ning had a class she wanted to attend, so she didn’t go with Lin Ze.

The two parted ways at the fork in the road.

Before long.

Lin Ze arrived at the Virtual Combat building.

As he stepped through the entrance, eight out of every ten students he encountered turned to look at him.

Shock, curiosity, awe, admiration…

All kinds of gazes, each different from the last.

The aftermath of defeating Luo Han in the Wager Duel was on full display in this moment.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a few girls walking over this way, laughing and chattering, looking like they wanted to strike up a conversation. Lin Ze quickly quickened his pace and stepped into a Virtual Combat room.

These past few days, he had been bothered by passersby more times than he could count.

Those people were so enthusiastic it gave him a headache, and every time Lin Ze had to put in considerable effort just to get away.

Now he was getting a bit scared too.

“Indeed, fame is a double-edged sword.”

With a sigh, Lin Ze casually picked a corner booth, logged in quickly, and entered the Glory Virtual Realm.

The familiar pure white space soon came into view.

After getting acclimated, Lin Ze casually opened his Personal Panel.

Name: Lin Ze

Gender: Male

Level: Apprentice

Points: 8120

Matches: 812

Win Rate: 100%

Rank: No. 98

The current first place in the apprentice tier had 9010 points.

That was less than 900 points more than him.

The gap wasn’t particularly large.

“Aiming to reach the top today.”

Lin Ze smiled faintly and began matching for battles.

Previously, as his opponents’ strength increased, it had become difficult to earn 10 points per match in his later games.

But times had changed.

With his greatly enhanced strength, Lin Ze was confident he could continue his winning streak.

If things went smoothly, he wouldn’t need more than twenty matches to surpass the first place score.

As he was pondering, the matchmaking success notification popped up.

Lin Ze’s figure quickly vanished from the pure white space.

Meanwhile.

The Virtual Realm Forum was buzzing with activity again.

As Lin Ze’s fame grew, quite a few idle players had been keeping tabs on his every move.

The moment Lin Ze started matching for battles, these people immediately got the news and spread it far and wide.

“Caught a super freshman!”

“Lin Ze is online again!”

“Everyone, come watch!”

“Where’s the big shot from yesterday? Please keep giving us real-time updates!”

“Same request +1!”

Upon hearing that Lin Ze had appeared again, the players were instantly thrilled and flocked over.

The once somewhat quiet forum suddenly became as lively as a bustling market.

Many players were even requesting that players with posting permissions start a thread to track Lin Ze’s battles in real time.

Their requests were quickly answered.

Before long, the big shot from yesterday popped up.

[Lin Ze Battle Status Real-Time Update!]

[Current opponent: No. 85 Zhang Hong]

The moment this thread was posted, countless players swarmed in like sharks smelling blood.

Within just a few seconds.

Over a thousand comments had been added below the post.

Some veteran players couldn’t help but marvel inwardly.

In just two days, this freshman had garnered so much attention.

His popularity completely crushed any Apprentice Beast Tamer on the rankings.

But thinking about it, it made perfect sense.

Who had ever seen a newly admitted Beast-Taming Academy freshman break into the top hundred in battles in just two days?

With such an achievement, it was no wonder so many people were paying attention to him.

“I wonder how high Lin Ze can climb today?”

“At least he should break into the top fifty.”

“I don’t think it’ll stop there—both of Lin Ze’s Pet Beasts are at Tier 4, Stage 7-8. Breaking into the top thirty would be a breeze.”

“I actually think Lin Ze can reach the top!”

“The guy above is joking, right? First place Cui Jing’an has two Tier 4, Stage 9 Pet Beasts. How could Lin Ze possibly win?”

“Bro, your info is way outdated. Lin Ze had a Wager Duel yesterday with a Second Year student from Ningjiang Academy and won. And get this—that guy had a Tier 5 Pet Beast!”

“Whoa, seriously?!”

“No way!?”

The sudden revelation left countless players stunned.

Just yesterday his Pet Beasts were Tier 4, Stage 7-8, and now suddenly they were Tier 5?

Many people expressed doubt.

Some even accused the leaker of just trying to grab attention.

Then the video of the Wager Duel was released.

The entire Forum fell silent for a moment.

Then.

A massive uproar suddenly erupted.