Chapter 87: Chapter 83: This Isn’t Fair
While the qualifying tournament was in full swing, the atmosphere in the freshman homeroom teachers’ office was quite lively.
"This isn’t fair!"
Zhou Shengfa slammed his fist on the desk, making the tea in his thick glass mug slosh violently.
He didn’t even notice his toupee had gone crooked.
A few teachers who were on good terms with him held him back. "Old Zhou, calm down! Cool your head! We have to be rational..."
"Rational? How the hell am I supposed to be rational?!"
Zhou Shengfa pounded on the desk. BANG! BANG! "Why this kind of matchmaking? It’s obvious someone rigged it!"
The teachers looked at each other, none of them having the heart to try and smooth things over anymore.
Each of their classes had one or two students participating in the qualifiers, and in the initial rounds, they were all matched against opponents of comparable strength.
But Su Zhi’s matchmaking luck wasn’t just bad; you could call it cursed.
According to the projections, every single one of his opponents would be a top student from the top twenty of their grade.
If their own students had gotten this kind of draw, storming the principal’s office with their Pet Beasts would have been the least they’d do.
For someone like Old Zhou to just throw a fit in the office without actually breaking anything was, at a place like Beast Taming High School, considered downright scholarly and gentle.
Especially given that if he really wanted to cause destruction, very few people could actually stop him.
"Now, Teacher Zhou, you can’t just pin all the blame on the school,"
the homeroom teacher of Class 1 said softly. "Su Zhi was suspended for two weeks, so his ranking dropped. Isn’t it normal for his matchmaking luck to be poor?"
"Give me a break."
Zhou Shengfa shot her a look. "All of Su Zhi’s opponents are from your class. You definitely think you’ve hit the jackpot."
"Well, of course,"
the Class 1 homeroom teacher admitted frankly, not bothering to hide it.
Zhou Shengfa fell silent.
A few other teachers brought him tea and poured him water, finally managing to serve Teacher Zhou until he calmed down.
After all, they weren’t in the office to drink tea; they were serving as the remote judging panel.
If any controversial details arose during a match, they were needed to make a ruling from behind the scenes.
"Alright, Teacher Zhou, I don’t think you need to be so angry. Just let things play out naturally."
The Class 1 homeroom teacher sat down beside him and patted his shoulder.
"There aren’t many slots from the qualifiers to begin with—only the top four get one. If Su Zhi can’t even make it into the top four, doesn’t that just prove he’s still not up to par?
"And if my students really do lose to Su Zhi, I’ll calmly and graciously accept my kids’ defeat."
—As if. That was just something she said to placate Zhou Shengfa.
The two Elite classes had received the most qualifier slots, almost twenty combined, and her Class 1 had ten of them.
’Su Zhi might get lucky and win one or two matches, but faced with the overwhelming advantage of a whole group of top students, he’ll still be defeated!’
But Zhou Shengfa’s gaze was peculiar. He tucked his hands into his sleeves and looked at her.
"...Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I’m not complaining about the injustice of Su Zhi’s rigged matchmaking?"
The Class 1 homeroom teacher: "?"
"But rather, I’m complaining about the injustice of *your* class’s rigged matchmaking?"
The Class 1 homeroom teacher: "???"
Zhou Shengfa rubbed his eyes, revealing a hint of regretful, secret delight.
"What a mess this has turned into. All those outstanding kids from Class 1... to think they’d be the victims of a rigged draw and miss their chance at the top four~"
"Fuck!"
The moment she saw the live broadcast of the match, the top beauty among the freshman homeroom teachers expressed her feelings with a single, concise word...
·
The Principal’s Office.
Fang Lihua was frozen in front of his computer, his eyes vacant. The qualifiers were being broadcast live on the screen.
The coffee cup in his hand was empty.
The crotch of his pants, which had been soaked with coffee, was already dry.
Su Zhi/Yu Bao vs. 1401 Zhang Wei/Ah Qing (Su Zhi wins)
Su Zhi/Yu Bao vs. 1401 Xu Guangli/Jiaojiao (Su Zhi wins)
Su Zhi/Yu Bao vs. 1401 Cai Xukun/Xiaohanzi (Su Zhi wins)
...
...
’I’m such an idiot. Truly.’
Fang Lihua had been watching since the very first match.
He knew he’d spilled his coffee, but he had no idea when. His head was just buzzing nonstop.
The man in question was now feeling one thing: regret. A whole lot of regret.
According to his plan, he was supposed to use a less conspicuous method to keep Su Zhi out of the city league, making it easier for the Class 1 students to advance. It should have been a win-win, a double dose of joy.
How had it turned into this?
While he was in the midst of his existential crisis, Su Zhi won his fourth battle.
Fang Lihua finally snapped out of his prolonged shock, his brow furrowing deeply.
He wasn’t a Beast Tamer himself, but he had a master’s degree in Beast Taming Theory and had studied countless matches.
Su Zhi’s fighting style was decisive, bizarre, and stealthy. It didn’t seem particularly ferocious on the surface, but in reality, every move was carefully calculated and utterly lethal.
This style wasn’t like a high school student’s at all; it even had hints of a professional competitor.
He wasn’t sure what Fang Yuan’s chances would be against him, but a guaranteed win was now out of the question.
Fang Lihua clenched his fists.
’I absolutely cannot let Su Zhi get to the city league!’
·
Inside the school’s battle arena, the official schedule for the qualifiers came to an end.
The list of the top four had been decided. Class 10 alone took two of the spots, with both Liu Yuhang and Su Zhi advancing.
Cao Mingyu and Shao Ya had already secured direct passes before the tournament, so they only fought two matches symbolically to stay sharp before withdrawing in the third round.
"This isn’t fair!"
Back in the office, the Class 1 homeroom teacher slammed her fist on the desk, her normally charming face twisted with fury.
"Let me go! I’m going to smash Fang Lihua’s office to bits!"
A few female teachers held her back. "Sister Wang, calm down, we don’t have to go that far..."
Zhou Shengfa, hands tucked in his sleeves, said leisurely, "Teacher Wang, you can’t entirely blame the school. If the kids from Class 1 couldn’t win against Su Zhi, it just proves they’re still not up to par."
Teacher Wang’s teeth ground together. "Stop mocking me!"
With a deadpan expression, Zhou Shengfa pulled out a recording pen and turned it to maximum volume:
["And if my students really do lose to Su Zhi, I’ll calmly and graciously accept my kids’ defeat."]
"You... Where did you pull that from??"
"That’s not important."
"..." Teacher Wang looked like she wanted to say something, then stopped, then wanted to start again, but couldn’t get the words out. Finally, with a sob, she buried her face in the desk and cried out of sheer anger.
"Old Zhou, really! Why do you always have to be so competitive with everyone?"
The other teachers scolded Zhou Shengfa as they comforted Teacher Wang.
Zhou Shengfa gave a satisfied smile and put away his recording pen.
·
Battle Arena.
The official qualifiers were over, but the number of students in the audience hadn’t decreased; in fact, it seemed to be growing.
As per tradition, the top four would hold an exhibition Pet Beast Battle, which was much more entertaining to watch than the lightning-paced qualifiers.
Plus, it was now the long break between classes, so sophomores and juniors were also coming over to watch, making it even more lively than the official tournament.
Liu Yuhang was staring intently at Su Zhi.
Seeing this, the other two semifinalists didn’t disturb their... bonding moment, tactfully stepping aside.
"So, shall we have a... match?"
Su Zhi suggested, only to see that Liu Yuhang and Xue Li had already walked onto the arena platform.
"Brother Shu, we haven’t competed against each other since that little quiz, have we?"
Liu Yuhang said, his head lowered.
The moment he stepped onto the platform, he snapped his head up.
The arena lights reflected in the young man’s eyes, which burst forth with a hard, brownish glint.
"Let’s do this! We’ve been waiting for this match for a long time!"
"QUACK!"
·
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Note: Day two of updating 10,000 characters daily. Tomorrow’s update is being prepared.
