"As expected. You already have above-average Vigor and Ki without using resources or using the cultivation manual." Sarah's eyes flickered with surprise. "Did he achieve this with that crazy training he does? He must have been blessed with some kind of innate talent."
—
Vigor: 43.2
Ki: 25.9 (259/259)
Lumen: 10.1
Spirit: 6.1 (61/61)
—
Zed emerged from the chamber and stood beside Sarah to look at the result.
'The machine is pretty accurate.'
"Well, it seems you can already sense and control Ki, at least," Sarah turned to Zed and blinked. "Am I right?"
"Yes." Zed smiled. "So what next?"
Sarah smiled back. "Now you are officially a member of the Players Club. As for why it is called the Players Club, you will know later."
'I already know, but okay.'
"For now, let's get you to join the freshman class. Mr. Liu's class is ongoing, so you should join it right away. Follow me."
"I'm following you a lot today. Can I follow you to your home after school, too?" Zed asked with a chuckle.
Sarah glanced at him as she continued walking and replied, "Why? Do you want to spar with my boyfriend?"
"Ahem… so you have a boyfriend. My bad." Zed wryly smiled.
[Ding! The objective of the side-quest: Follow Desire is established.]
→ Spend a passionate night with Sarah.
'W-what?'
[Well, that's what you desired, my lord.]
'She's got a boyfriend already. I don't think she would want a one-night-dick.'
[That's up to her, my lord.]
'That… is true. But that aside, will this objective change if I sprout a different desire?'
[Yes. It will change accordingly.]
'Then we'll see how it goes.'
As Zed followed Sarah toward the area where all classes were held, he was surprised.
It was a big bamboo forest, and within this forest, there were 100-meter-radius areas of empty ground where the classes were held!
The pathways were clear with cobblestones, so they soon arrived at the freshmen class where a middle-aged man with a long beard was speaking to the freshmen — a total of twenty-eight students.
'Oh, so she is here.' Zed blinked as he saw Lina.
"Hello, Teacher Liu," Sarah greeted him with a smile and a nod.
"A new admission?" Mr. Liu raised his eyebrows as he looked at Zed.
"Indeed."
"Well then, join in. I'll fill him in on what he missed and get him on track." Mr. Liu smiled at Sarah as his eyes shifted to the assets of her figure. "That said, your progress has stagnated, Sarah."
'Pervert bastard.' Sarah smiled. "I was busy with some matters in my city, so I haven't had much time, but I'm back on track now and will be participating in the next Playground for Elite-rank Players."
"Ah, then good. But if you want help with anything, feel free to tell me."
"Sure." Sarah nodded and turned to Zed as she smiled. "Well then, Zed. Good luck and all the best."
"Thanks. You too."
Sarah left.
"What is your name, young man?" Mr. Liu asked with a smile. "Come here, and introduce yourself to the class."
Zed was in his gym robe and didn't bother changing since others had also worn similar but custom-made robes.
"Hello, folks. I am Zed, and my official name is…" Zed glanced at Lina briefly before continuing. "Zed Vaylith."
The students were surprised and started murmuring.
"That's the same surname as Lina's."
"You know him, Lina?"
Naturally, Lina didn't know since she hadn't been told by her father that he had adopted a son.
Zed planned to tell her himself, and then she could verify it later.
"Oh? Are you related to Miss Lina there in any way?" Mr. Liu curiously asked.
"Yes." Zed answered with a smile but didn't elaborate.
After two seconds of silence, Mr. Liu chuckled and said, "Alright, since you're done introducing yourself, take a seat. I had just started explaining the world of Players to the students, so I'll start again."
"You can sit anywhere you like, by the way."
The students had sat on the thin mattresses on the ground, and some just sat on the ground.
Zed also sat down, but he sat at the very front instead of bothering to go back.
"Now then, let me start over since we just started," Mr. Liu began speaking. "Players — this term refers to people who can wield supernatural powers and participate in the Playgrounds."
"Playgrounds are a variety of phenomena that appear in the world in the form of a gate. Each Playground has a random number above it. They represent the number of people allowed to enter. Each Playground also has a different intensity to it that we have to discover and measure."
"And with that, we can determine the tier of the Playground." Mr. Liu smiled and waved his hand. "And Players must only enter the Playground that matches their rank."
A stream of flame appeared and soon shaped into text and numbers.
Tier-1 Playground — Novice-rank Player — 10 to 100
Tier-2 Playground — Elite-rank Player — 101 to 500
Tier-3 Playground — Master-rank Player — 501 to 1000
Tier-4 Playground — Grandmaster-rank Player — 1001 to 2000
Tier-5 Playground — Lord-rank Player — 2002 to ???
"There are a total of five ranks and tiers, as you can see. All of you are considered Novice-rank Players because your stats are below 100."
"Teacher Liu, is there no Player above Lord-rank? What is the limit of Lord-rank?"
"There is no limit. We have created these terms and parted the Players into different ranks according to the intensity of the Playgrounds, and by fighting in them for hundreds of years," Mr. Liu answered and smiled. "We are in constant competition with the other four nations, and we have to keep up, but so far, the strongest Players are those with above 2000 in all stats. As for how strong the strongest of them are, we don't know."
"Unseen wars are being fought between big people of all five nations because everyone wants to unify this world. All five nations occupy 38% of this planet's area, and Playground gates that appear in our territory are ours, but even more appear in the other 62% area of this planet."
"And all five nations compete with each other to get those Playgrounds because the only way to get stronger and lay a better foundation for future generations is to acquire resources from the Playgrounds."
Another student spoke as soon as Mr. Liu finished speaking. "Teacher Liu, what exactly happens in the Playground?"
"Well, generally speaking, each Playground has a set of rules, and they are somehow designed for Players inside to compete against each other by following the rules. Those who perform better and acquire better rankings will get better resources."
The students were amazed.
"Teacher Liu, when can we enter a playground?"
Mr. Liu chuckled. "For that, you will have to acquire a Novice-rank badge."
"Now then, all of you know how to control Ki or Spirit, or both. But you have just started, and you all got the cultivation manuals, so all of you will train for the next two hours. After that, we will finally move on to the combat part — the skills."
Everyone's eyes lit up.
"Alright, you all start training. As for you, Zed, come with me. I'll take you to select your cultivation manual."