61~ So-called ‘Driving the Tiger to Swallow the Wolf’
The moment the team numbers were revealed, Tillysha felt more than ten pairs of eyes land on her. Tracing their origin, she found that most of the gazers had quickly averted their eyes, except for Aileen, who was glaring unabashedly at the number on her forehead, a sneer curling her lips.
It was obvious that Aileen wasn’t the only one who had her sights set on Tillysha. The instant the numbers became visible, no less than five teams had prioritized confirming her team’s number, their intentions as clear as daylight.
Without discussing whether the roles were balanced or not, all the teams present were groups of four or more, each unfamiliar with the other’s tactics and gameplay styles. At such a juncture, taking the initiative to chase after someone was a gamble, a high-risk move.
Everyone wanted to pick on the softest persimmon. Among the crowd of four-people or five-people teams, Dillin’s duo was practically a walking experience package, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that they’d caught the attention of the hungry wolves.
Who would let a juicy, moving slab of meat like a newly awakened Godkin and his seemingly not-so-bright companion go by?
Even those who hadn’t planned to chase after Tillysha wanted to at least confirm her number. You never know, right?
Tillysha’s appearance was so radiant it almost blinded everyone, and while unspoken agreements hung in the air, they couldn’t help but mask their intentions—except for Aileen, whose open hostility towards Tillysha was so blatant that her eyes practically screamed “Watch me take you down first once we enter the Secret Realm.”
In response to Aileen’s challenge, Tillysha gave her a polite smile and glanced up at Aileen’s team number.
Team 57.
Tch, little brat, what are you pretending at?
The petty Aileen interpreted Tillysha’s polite smile as fake and a sign of her backing down.
It was too late to surrender to her now. Once they entered the Secret Realm, she would make sure Tillysha realized exactly whom she had messed with.
With the identity and number tablets connected, the space twisted, revealing a vortex that was clearly not from the main plane, rolling like waves, each one stronger than the last, until it transformed into a tempestuous tsunami.
Anything concerning space and time belonged to the absolute upper echelons, like the long-dead powerful individuals who created this Secret Realm outside Coleman Forest. The creator’s name had long been erased by time.
The crowd knew that the Crown Cup had officially begun.
Aistride’s demeanor remained calm, yet her eyes carried a trace of serious intent that was hard to discern. Princess Filisia’s mouth curved into a confident and relaxed smile, and she unconsciously glanced at Aistride.
John hurriedly checked to make sure all his belongings were securely with him.
In the center of the crowd, Tillysha lifted her serene emerald eyes, her golden hair resembling golden grains fluttering in the wind.
“Time’s up. May you all new stars of Coleman Academy triumph,” said the gray-robed elder, his cloudy gaze scanning over all the trainees. “Finally, I’ll leave you with Coleman Academy’s motto.”
“Only those who come out on top will be remembered by history.”
White light swallowed the vision, carrying the stupefied students along with it.
Next, all the students felt as if they were merging into the white light, being swept away from the main dimension and into a completely alien space.
The shift in time and space caused the brain to misfire, resulting in dizziness and confusion.
This was also part of the test, evaluating students’ ability to adapt to and recover from mental abnormalities. Those with weak wills, mere decorative cushions, were not welcomed by the academy.
Tillysha wasn’t affected by any of it, although she couldn’t see anything but white at first. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in some unknown forest.
Clearly, this wasn’t any place in Caleburn but an entirely independent Secret Realm.
Tillysha had once skimmed over a book called “Theory of Secret Realms” which made it clear that the Secret Realms scattered throughout Caleburn didn’t actually exist within it. They were independent small worlds with only the portals located within Caleburn.
These small worlds weren’t as stable as Caleburn, a world created by the gods. They required massive Divine Authority to maintain, so once the creator stopped supplying energy, their collapse was inevitable, and Secret Realms followed the same course.
If this Secret Realm could be used as a Crown Cup venue by Coleman Academy and hadn’t yet withered after many years, there must be some reason the academy considered it absolutely secure, free of any hidden dangers.
But these things were far removed from Tillysha. Right now, she was merely an inexperienced, newly awakened Godkin.
Glancing to her side, her puppet had been transported along with her. Activating the elves’ keen five senses, she detected no other living presence.
At present, the location randomly assigned to her seemed relatively safe. At least there were no other teams nearby. Moreover, the random teleportation occurred collectively with her teammate, so they weren’t separated.
Having roughly understood the mechanisms, Tillysha was pretty versed in them.
Just then, the tablet dangling from her thigh emitted a vibration, so Tillysha took it out for inspection. The black crystal tablet flickered a few times, and several red dots appeared on the screen along with two blue dots.
These red dots surrounded the blue ones on all sides, completely enclosing them, and they were all rapidly closing in on the blue dots.
Tillysha comprehended the situation in an instant.
The blue dots were her and the ‘Dillin’ by her side, and the red dots were teams hunting her with lethal intent.
Teams 13, 22, and 57, to be exact.
So eager to eliminate her, are they?
Tillysha absentmindedly stroked the silk-like tresses brushing her exquisite collarbone.
Unlike the mechanics of Chicken Royale where the weaker players could play it safe and try to climb the ranks by avoiding combat, the Crown Cup played by entirely different rules. Everyone likes to pick on weak teams, and teams with less impressive configurations would be targeted first.
It was a fact that being hunted by so many was quite troublesome, and Tillysha didn’t have absolute confidence in taking them all out at once.
But none of that mattered. Whether she and these pursuers were foes was secondary—what was crucial was that these pursuers were hostile to each other.
Tillysha had memorized the contest rules thoroughly before the game began. Though hunting down weaker teams may seem a tad unfair, there were indeed many restrictions in place.
For instance, the hunted could see the positions of their hunters.
The key point was that hunters targeting the same prey couldn’t see each other’s positions.
Back in her previous lifetime, there was a strategy in her world known as ‘Driving the Tiger to Swallow the Wolf.’
