Chapter 270 - 269 : The Points Table

Chapter 270: Chapter 269 : The Points Table

The white-haired woman’s words immediately captured everyone’s attention.

Even though they already knew that first place had slipped from their grasp—and with it, the massive advantage that came with winning the first match—they still wanted to know how they had performed.

They could have simply waited for the announcer to reveal the results to the entire Colosseum.

But none of them wanted that.

After everything they had experienced inside the Virtual Subspace, the last thing they wanted was to stand in the middle of more than 100,000 spectators and become the center of attention again. They had already endured more than enough attention for one day.

However, the white-haired woman had stopped them before they could even return to their respective meeting rooms.

She seemed determined to show them the results herself.

The professor looked around at their reactions, clearly enjoying their curiosity.

Then, without warning, she began clapping.

Clap—Clap—Clap.

Her applause echoed through the quiet hallway.

A strange, almost sadistic smile appeared on her face.

"That is how a Treasure Hunt match should be played!"

Her voice carried through the hallway.

"You have to be bold and brave if you want to achieve victory."

Before anyone could react, her figure suddenly disappeared.

In the next instant, she reappeared directly beside Arthur.

She leaned slightly toward him and reached out toward his face.

Arthur’s expression instantly hardened.

His hand shot forward and caught her wrist before she could touch him.

His crimson eyes narrowed as he stared at her with a stern expression.

The professor looked at his hand around her wrist, then back at his face.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

Jasmine and Victor, who were standing beside Arthur, exchanged confused glances.

They clearly had no idea what was going on with this woman.

The professor eventually smiled and stepped back.

Arthur released her wrist.

She casually adjusted her sleeve as though nothing had happened.

Her strange expression disappeared, and her usual cheerful demeanor returned.

"I am impressed," the professor said.

Her words immediately drew everyone’s attention again.

"You could have taken the crystal without defeating the boss monster."

She paused.

"But you chose not to."

A collective gasp spread through the students.

One of the students from Royal Knight Academy immediately stepped forward.

"W-What does that mean?"

Confusion filled his voice.

"Wasn’t there a spell cast on the crystal that prevented anyone from taking it until the boss monster was killed?"

The professor stared at him.

For a brief moment, there was complete silence.

Then—

"Pfttt..."

Her shoulders began to tremble.

"Heheheheh..."

The professor suddenly burst into laughter.

The students stared at her in confusion.

Arthur remained completely expressionless, his crimson eyes fixed on her.

"Spell?" the professor finally managed to say between laughs. "Is that what he told you?"

Arthur’s expression didn’t change.

His teammates, however, looked just as confused as the other students.

The professor wiped the tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes and finally managed to calm herself.

"There was no such spell cast on the crystal."

Silence.

Absolute silence.

The professor allowed the statement to sink in before continuing.

"The A-Rank monster with that enormous health bar was never meant to be defeated."

The students’ expressions slowly changed.

"The reason it was worth 5 points was precisely because defeating it was considered practically impossible for students whose physical abilities had been restricted."

She gestured toward the direction of the Virtual Subspace.

"The actual objective was much simpler."

"The teams were supposed to distract the monster away from the pedestal, steal the crystal, and escape through the dungeon’s exit."

She smiled.

"That alone would have been enough to secure victory."

Nobody spoke.

The hallway had fallen completely silent.

The professor’s smile widened.

"So, in conclusion..."

She looked around at the students.

"You all have been had by him!"

The moment those words left her mouth, the students’ expressions turned grim.

They finally understood what had happened.

They had believed Arthur’s claim that the crystal was protected by a spell.

At the time, his explanation had seemed completely reasonable.

After all, the A-Rank Chimera had been standing directly beside the crystal.

If the crystal could simply be taken, then why hadn’t someone already taken it?

None of them had possessed enough time to verify Arthur’s claim.

Instead, they had trusted his words and immediately joined the fight against the boss monster.

They had risked their lives.

They had exhausted their mana.

They had used their strongest abilities.

All to defeat a monster they had never actually needed to kill.

Only now did they realize the truth.

They had fallen directly into Arthur’s trap.

’So he used all of us to defeat a boss monster that wasn’t even meant to be defeated...’

’Just to get those 5 points?’

The realization made several students feel both foolish and furious.

Christopher’s face darkened.

"Damn this bastard!"

His voice echoed through the hallway.

The other students could only stand there in disappointment.

It was a hard pill to swallow.

They had been completely manipulated, and there was nothing they could do about it anymore.

Arthur, however, didn’t seem particularly interested in their frustration.

"Forget these fools."

He glanced toward the professor.

"Show us the points. I’m more interested in seeing how far ahead we are."

His words immediately shifted everyone’s attention toward the results.

The white-haired professor smiled.

Without saying a word, she raised her wrist and tapped the watch-like device attached to it.

Beep.

A faint pulse of mana spread through the hallway.

A massive holographic screen materialized in the center of the room.

The students instinctively looked up.

Moments later, the results appeared.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[ MATCH 1: POINTS TABLE! ]

#1 CELESTIAS ACADEMY — 19 POINTS

#2 BLACK STAR ACADEMY — 7 POINTS

#3 GLACIER PEAK ACADEMY — 4 POINTS

#4 MARTIAL STAR ACADEMY — 4 POINTS

#5 LUMINA ACADEMY — 4 POINTS

#6 CHERRY BLOSSOM ACADEMY — 4 POINTS

#7 MIRAGE CROWN ACADEMY — 3 POINTS

#8 RAVEN ACADEMY — 2 POINTS

#9 STORMVEIL ACADEMY — 2 POINTS

#10 THE IRON FORTRESS ACADEMY — 1 POINT

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

A hush immediately fell over the hallway.

Every student stared at the holographic ranking.

For several seconds, nobody said a word.

Then, one by one, their eyes widened.

Celestias Academy had taken the top position with an overwhelming 19 points.

Black Star Academy followed in second place with only 7 points.

Glacier Peak Academy and Martial Star Academy had 4 points each.

Lumina Academy and Cherry Blossom Academy also had 4 points each.

Mirage Crown Academy had 3 points, while Raven Academy and Stormveil Academy had only 2 points each.

At the very bottom was Iron Fortress Academy with just 1 point.

But the number that shocked everyone the most was the gap between first and second place.

12 points.

A difference that was enormous after only a single match.

Christopher stared at the screen in disbelief.

"W-What?"

His eyes widened.

"How can the difference be so huge?"

The white-haired professor slowly turned her gaze toward him.

Her smile disappeared.

Instead, she gave him a cold glare.

"Ask yourself that after giving such a pathetic performance."

Christopher’s expression stiffened.

The professor crossed her arms.

"You should learn a thing or two from Arthur."

Christopher’s face darkened even further.

Arthur, meanwhile, simply stared at the professor.

There was something about this woman that made him uncomfortable.

’For some reason... she’s giving me the creeps.’

The System’s voice suddenly echoed inside his mind.

[Me too, Host.]

Arthur’s eyebrow twitched.

He didn’t even bother responding.

"Let’s leave."

He turned around and began walking away.

His teammates followed him without hesitation.

Behind them, the other students remained where they were, silently staring at the points table.

Some looked disappointed.

Others looked frustrated.

A few simply lowered their heads, clearly unhappy with how their respective academies had performed.

The first match had already created a significant gap between the academies.

And now, everyone understood that the competition would only become more intense from this point onward.

Every academy would have to bring their best in the next match if they wanted to close the gap.

Meanwhile, the white-haired professor remained where she was.

Her eyes stayed fixed on Arthur and his group as they walked farther down the hallway.

A faint smile slowly returned to her face.

She continued watching them until they finally disappeared from sight.

_________

A/N :- Guys, the Chapter order I updated ahead is wrong, but once it’s done, the word count becomes a problem, and fixing it can mess things up even more. So, you’ll have to unlock the Chapters based on their Chapter numbers rather than the order in which they are lined up.

Sorry for the inconvenience. 🙏