Chapter 316: The Cute and Charming Villain Role
Free City.
A rather unique city. It had no subordinate cities under its jurisdiction, and its land area was far smaller than most others. In fact, in the beginning, it had merely been a “refugee city.”
Later—no one quite knew how—various merchant guilds began arriving, attempting to sell supplies to the refugees and squeeze out whatever value they could. Seeing profit, other guilds followed suit. More and more merchants gathered here. Because other cities were tightly monopolized, many outsiders chose to conduct trade in Free City instead.
There was more than one great financial conglomerate in this world—but each city typically had only one dominant monopoly.
Except in Free City.
No city lord here struck deals to support monopolies. Anyone could do business. Gradually, it became a commercial free city where almost anything was permitted.
The city’s “officials” had originally been nothing more than an organized group of refugees. Even now, though they were considered “nobility,” compared to other major cities, their foundation was weak.
Which also meant—they were easier to negotiate with.
The League originally chose Free City precisely because it was neutral, and the Tournament Committee could more easily communicate with its administrators and assume partial control during the event.
After years of development, thanks to the League’s prestige and the Committee’s power, Free City had effectively become the League City.
Especially during the League season, the city’s population would surge dramatically. Countless commercial activities sprang up in response.
Many streamers had already arrived early. Over the next couple of days, the seeded finalist teams were scheduled to arrive in accordance with regulations.
At the harbor docks and outside the official League hotel, numerous streamers had set up live broadcasts, waiting for the seeded teams.
One of them, known as “Early Rising Trainee,” was among the crowd. He had a sizable following and was considered a major streamer. Invited by the Tournament Committee to watch the matches, he was far from alone. These invited streamers were accommodated in the same hotel as the competitors—though on different floors.
That gave them a convenient edge for live coverage.
A specialized floating camera hovered by his shoulder, allowing viewers to see nearly from his perspective.
“Ah, another convoy’s arriving. No-prize guessing game—who do you think it is?”
Seeing the barrage of comments, Early Rising thought for a moment.
“A lot of seeded teams have arrived over the past two days, but there are still dozens who haven’t. Hard to guess.”
Soon, the convoy stopped outside the hotel.
This hotel had been constructed after the League’s rise to prominence—vast in scale, easily capable of accommodating all seeded teams with room to spare.
Besides Early Rising, numerous media outlets and streamers had gathered.
Under the gaze of countless spectators, the vehicle doors opened.
First to step out were the accompanying staff—analysts, nutritionists, and others.
Then came the competitors, dressed in Light Academy’s exquisitely tailored white-and-gold uniforms, a lotus embroidered over the chest.
“It’s Light Academy from Lian City. Finally, they’re here.”
Early Rising sounded slightly surprised.
The livestream chat immediately recognized them from the sacred yet sharp uniform and the lotus emblem.
[Big-city team!]
[The arrogant big city has finally arrived.]
[Where’s that first-year? Where, where?]
[Wow, another one with super obvious external traits. That’s Winter, right? So cold!]
[But she’s beautiful though. She looks icy, but her expression isn’t exactly iceberg beauty. Kinda polite?]
[With such obvious traits, she’s definitely a big shot. Looks like Lian City can score well again this year.]
[So which one’s the first-year exactly?]
[Probably the youngest-looking one?]
[But the pretty girl with glasses and the red-eyed one who looks short-tempered both seem young!]
The Light Academy Lian City team did not linger in the lobby. After arriving, they entered the competitors’ exclusive elevator and left the first floor directly.
[So cold. Didn’t even greet the media. Classic big city.]
[Greet what? Teams like that have media booking their time in advance. First time watching the League?]
[Just got internet in my village. Explain?]
[Put it in cringe fantasy terms—there are a few giants in the League. Evergreen powerhouses. Almost every year they achieve solid results and are favorites for the top ten. From the moment they appear, countless eyes are already on them. They don’t need to chase attention—the attention chases them. Same with the media.]
[In simple terms, that was one of the damned Demon King teams!]
[You’re all so cringe…]
[But isn’t it kinda cool?]
[So is there ever a hero team defeating the Demon King?]
[Verdict: rarely. A dark horse in preliminaries isn’t a real dark horse. In group stages, still not really. In the finals? Almost never.]
By this stage, your starting point in life—your resources, your teammates, your education, your daily training—determined everything.
Those gaps couldn’t be bridged by a single phrase like “exceptional talent.”
Thus, true dark horses were exceedingly rare in the finals.
[Didn’t they expand the preliminaries this year? There were more surprises than before. I think a dark horse could appear.]
[They look so composed. I want to see the expressions on their faces when they lose. That’d be even more entertaining!]
[What a nasty hobby.]
[Don’t you want to see it? Unexpected matches are the most fun.]
[Lian City Light Academy has plenty of fans. Watch yourself.]
Inside the exclusive area, Xu Zhi had no idea their team had already been labeled some bizarre villain archetype.
Xi Min was explaining the upcoming arrangements.
As a seeded team, they had their own dedicated training area in the building. They could arrange scrimmages with friendly city teams or even take time off to explore Free City.
After all, it wasn’t every day that so many conglomerate industries blossomed in one place.
“Do you want to go out and have some fun?” Xi Min asked democratically.
The students shook their heads, bored. Xu Zhi also looked indifferent.
Reasonable enough. Aside from Xu Zhi, the rest were practically young masters and ladies. What hadn’t they seen in the Upper District?
“Then try to go out less. If the media corners you, don’t say anything reckless. Call me immediately.”
In previous years, hot-blooded players had been caught alone by the press and made arrogant remarks, damaging Lian City Light Academy’s reputation for a time.
“And Xu Zhi.”
She looked at her.
“After the group stage begins, some matches will invite seeded teams to provide commentary for entertainment value. I mentioned that first-year match to you before. The Tournament Committee invited two members from our team to commentate—and specifically requested that you appear. Do you want to go?”
