The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　"Duang!"

　As the group chatted, a bell suddenly rang out from the center of the Duel City. It was exactly eight o'clock.

　The World Cup qualifiers, which lasted for 36 hours, have finally come to an end!

　However, the players who have started a duel after the bell rings can still continue to duel, and the points from that duel will also be included in the ranking.

　After the final duel, the organizing committee will need some time to confirm the fairness of the final result, which will take time.

　Therefore, the final results of the preliminary selection will be announced at 9 p.m., which is one hour later.

　During this hour, players who have finished their matches will no longer be restricted by the gate and can freely enter and exit the Duel City.

　Viewers can wait for the results at any location with a screen. Duel City will remain open until midnight.

　Both competitors and spectators are welcome to continue celebrating in the city. However, St. Mary's Academy requires competitors to return to the competition waiting area after the competition.

　This is for the safety of the athletes, and also to understand their competition status more quickly.

　After the bell rang, students and professors returned one after another. Dark and Pandora had already arrived at the waiting area for the Light System contestants, and brought Sophia and Alice in with them.

　The waiting area offers tea and desserts, and there's a large screen on the wall directly opposite that's showing a projection of the contestants' rankings.

　The ranking refreshes every half minute, from first to last place. Each page has 300 names, so it takes eleven refreshes to view all the rankings. However, on the smaller vertical screens on either side of the main screen, there are also leaderboards for points and popularity.

　The points leaderboard shows the top 128, and the popularity leaderboard shows the top 100.

　The points leaderboard will remain in effect until the preliminary rounds end. However, the popularity leaderboard will remain in effect until the World Cup ends.

　Lily Laplace's name still holds a commanding lead on the popularity charts, leaving the second-place winner far behind.

　Many viewers who were unfamiliar with the professors at St. Marian College were asking who Lily was.

　But those asked all shook their heads and said, "It's a mystery." No one knew who Lily was, because the existence of the little fairy itself was a mystery.

　Dak sat down on the bench with Nikola in his arms, his eyes scanning the leaderboard.

　His final ranking is currently set at 40th, which secures his place in the preliminary rounds.

　This was the goal he set for himself before the start of the competition, and so far he has accomplished it quite well, with plenty of room for improvement.

　The World Cup stage is the time to prove one's strength.

　Although most of the top-ranked players held back, it was practically the same as not holding back at all.

　Dark gradually realized that he was still quite competitive in this World Cup duel challenge.

　Next, it was time to pray to the goddess of fortune—though she might not favor him, his luck had always been good. The contestants' rankings in the preliminary rounds were their identification numbers. The preliminary rounds were a single-elimination tournament.

　According to the latest rules, the host will randomly draw three sets of numbers before the competition begins. One set will play in the competition, and the other two sets will be reserved for the competition.

　After each duel, a random draw will be conducted to add a reserve group, continuing until the end of the first round of matches.

　Therefore, players who haven't had their turn yet must stay online the entire time.

　Before a player's number is drawn, they cannot know who their opponent will be. This set of rules is extremely unfriendly to the players.

　However, for the event organizers, it is a measure that can ensure fairness as much as possible.

　Furthermore, the unpredictable groupings can increase audience anticipation.

　It's uncertain. After all, if the schedule is set in advance, some viewers will only watch the duels they want to see, which could easily lead to early departures or absenteeism.

　Players will also have a lot of time to study and investigate their opponents, making the competition more targeted and preventing a fair display of each player's true strength.

　While it's true that the qualifiers are single-elimination, we can't place all the weight on pre-match preparations to determine the winner.

　Players can conduct research and build decks accordingly.

　However, the organizers hoped to shorten this time to better showcase the players' adaptability and increase unpredictability. This would also indirectly reduce the advantage of players with connections. Although players with strong backgrounds could still compile detailed information on all 128 players during the one-day break and allow their teams to develop targeted strategies.

　But there aren't many players who can achieve this level. This still helps individual players. Hmm…

　In short, as the young master of the Dimon family, Dark Dimon could certainly do this easily.

　The reason why the contestants chose to hold back during the preliminary rounds is precisely this.

　The team compiled the contestant information, which mainly consisted of what the contestants had shown during the preliminary rounds.

　As for those cards that haven't been revealed at all, we can only rely on estimation and speculation.

　Dac did not have the idea of ​​"not using an advantage when it exists".

　He certainly wouldn't let his team research targeted strategies. But he would still need to collect player information as necessary.

　He was quite certain that when he woke up the next morning, detailed information about all 128 preliminary contestants would be presented to him.

　There is indeed a rest day between the preliminary and semi-final rounds. However, this rest day is not for the contestants who advance to the next round.

　8:05.

　Many students and professors have already arrived at the players' waiting area.

　Diana and Rose walked in hand in hand, surrounded by colorful shopping bags, almost skipping along.

　Undoubtedly, they also reaped a great harvest. Of course, this doesn't refer to the bags of snacks and souvenirs.

　Diana is ranked 306th, and Rose is ranked 302nd. Their rankings are very close, both just over 300.

　It is evident that they have done their best in the preliminary rounds and should have gained a great deal of "divine inspiration" and valuable experience.

　It's worth noting that this is the first time Rose has surpassed Diana in the rankings of duels.

　It is clear that Rose's growth rate is greater.

　Although she didn't use the "Star Goddess" card in the preliminary rounds, simply gaining the "Star Goddess's" favor was enough for her to transform rapidly.

　As for Diana, she did use the "Stardust Armor" in duels, but only when challenging opponents whose strength far surpassed her own.

　If you look closely, you'll find that they actually lost more often.

　In the early Age of Gods, many were fortunate enough to acquire immense power. However, very few were able to control themselves and refrain from abusing that power. Diana clearly possessed exceptional self-control.

　These are the results of years of honing skills in the academy.

　Aurora returned to the waiting area a little later.

　She clearly went through another battle after the preliminary rounds ended. But that crucial victory didn't help her break into the top 128.

　Her final ranking was 142, and she unfortunately missed the opportunity to participate in the preliminary round.

　But this result is perfectly acceptable to her.

　Keep in mind, she's only a second-year student, yet she's already come within one step of qualifying for the World Cup. This near miss won't negatively impact her; on the contrary, it will further strengthen the bond between the residents of Freedom City.

　Her hard work and dedication in the preliminary rounds were certainly seen by all the residents, and she undoubtedly delivered some brilliant performances that left a deep impression.

　In this situation, if a team barely made it into the qualifiers and then was eliminated in the first round, it might bring some unnecessary negative consequences.

　Whether it's Diana, Rose, or Aurora, their stage is in the next World Cup, or even the one after that.

　Dak expressed great anticipation for this.

　It's 8:17.

　With the mysterious appearance of Professor Lily.

　All the students and professors of St. Mary's College gathered in the waiting area. Professor Pavajohns took out the attendance board and called out names one by one. After confirming that no one was missing, he couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.

　While being a contestant, she also had to shoulder the responsibility of managing students, so her shoulders were not light.

　Fortunately, the students who went on this expedition were all very well-behaved, and even the two little princesses were not naughty, which put her at ease.

　"Now that everyone is here, let's head straight to the restaurant and wait for the results."

　After Professor Jones put the roll call board away, he suddenly spoke.

　The students, who had originally planned to have a celebratory dinner together after the game, suddenly changed their expressions and began whispering among themselves.

　However, Professor Jones was not seeking their opinions, but rather issuing orders.

　No matter how much the students protested in their hearts, they could only get the result of "protests being invalid".

　Professor Jones then led the way out of the contestants' waiting area and onto the main road heading due east towards the duel arena.

　Head towards the center of the city—the location of the Alliance Duel Arena and the Alliance Headquarters.

　The Alliance Hotel, which combines restaurants, entertainment, and accommodation, is located there but is only open to Alliance leaders and national leaders.

　Tonight, a high-level banquet will be held in the rooftop restaurant of the Alliance Hotel, inviting a series of leaders including the King, the Pope, the Elf Queen, and the Lionheart.

　The theme of this banquet was "cooperation and win-win," aiming to eliminate barriers between nations and races and address the crisis of the Age of Gods.

　—Although this idea is far too idealistic, it always needs to be proposed by someone.

　The principal of St. Mary's College, Cynthia Saint Arte, presided over the banquet.

　The restaurant that Dak and the others were about to visit was the banquet venue! Even Dak had only just learned of this arrangement.

　Although he was somewhat reluctant, he still had no choice but to participate.

　Because even if he weren't a student, he couldn't escape this banquet.

　The planned dinner party, which included Sofia, had to be cancelled.

　However, he did not abandon Sofia.

　Sophia's family is a noble family in a small town in the south of the kingdom.

　Her father is a viscount, and her brother-in-law is a baron. She is a noblewoman now and will surely be a noblewoman in the future.

　Regardless of whether they are qualified or not, bringing them to the banquet will never seem out of place.

　—Although Sophia repeatedly declined after learning the scale of the dinner, Dark saw that her attitude wasn't actually that firm, so he insisted on inviting her, and she eventually agreed.

　As for the other person in the entourage, Alice.

　—She has already been marked by the Dimon family, so even if she wanted to escape, it would be impossible for her to do so.

　At this moment, Alice was still in shock at the fact that she was actually older than the "kind older sister," and she didn't seem to have any intention of running away.

　The results of the preliminary rounds have not yet been released, but various actions have already been rapidly launched.

　Dark hadn't even stepped into the Alliance Hotel before he got Alice's firsthand information.

　Of the four contestants who possessed the "God Card" in this preliminary round, Alice was undoubtedly the easiest to approach and win over. After interacting with her, Dark had no doubt that if the Holy Church were to contact her, they could easily bring her into their camp.

　Moreover, half of the welfare home she lived in was funded by the Holy Church, so she had a natural affinity for the Holy Church.

　Unfortunately, in this world, the first to strike wins! The Holy Church acted swiftly indeed.

　Evan Pearson's reaction was also quite good. But this side was faster!

Chapter 1523 The Secrets of the Preliminary Selection Rankings Revealed (6k)

　"There's nothing we can do, it's fate!" Dark couldn't help but sigh after reading the data.

　His preemptive strike was entirely based on Pandora's earlier contact with Alice.

　It can only be said that Alice was destined to belong to the Dimon faction. Senior Pandora realized Alice's value even faster than him, and her mere presence rendered Evan Pearson's attempts to win her over futile.

　If Alice were to be taken along for a walk now, she would naturally bear the imprint of the Dimon family and St. Marian Academy. Anyone else who wanted to make a move would have to think twice about their own strength.

　However, Dark could guess that the Holy Church would definitely not give up. A fierce battle for talent was bound to erupt in this city, which was teeming with a large influx of migrants.

　Any force with a name or influence will not remain silent at this time. Others with ulterior motives will also become restless. Therefore, the security pressure on the Free City will increase. Security problems both inside and outside the city will gradually worsen.

　St. Mary's College brought all its students and professors to the banquet venue tonight as a precaution.

　Because within the entire Free City, apart from the City Lord's Mansion, the Alliance Hotel tonight is probably the safest place.

　Enter the Alliance Hotel.

　Professor Pava Jones didn't say anything, and staff immediately came forward, separating the students and professors into different rooms based on age and gender. Since they were attending a banquet, it was impossible to attend in their current attire.

　Moreover, after a full thirty-six battles, the students and professors were, frankly, not in a good light.

　Washing up, resting, and changing clothes were all things they had to do at that moment. After entrusting Sophia and Alice to Senior Pandora, Dak carried Nikolai and mingled into the line of male students.

　The term "male students" actually refers to Shrek, Mars, Snake, Elsie, Doron, Witt, and Robert, among others.

　Everyone was very familiar with each other, so there was no need for formalities. The group of boys chatted and laughed as they entered the room arranged by the academy. "It seems that besides Dark, only Shrek senior successfully advanced."

　After asking around, Duolong returned to Dak's side and began to ramble on.

　He seemed to be in a good mood, at least better than before the competition.