Matthew Atkinson & Natalie Russell
Third Layer of the Supernatural Realm
Because no one has stepped forward to become the new Ring Champion, the defense of the ring mode was abruptly ended.
This also meant that the fighting tournament had ended ahead of schedule.
The reason the competition didn't switch to the Regular Path was that Matthew was already the Ring Champion and had accumulated a lot of points by killing numerous participants; therefore, even if the tournament had continued, no one else could have surpassed him.
The only way Matthew's score could be surpassed was for someone else to step onto the ring to defend it, and no one had come forward to do so within the allotted time.
After the fighting tournament ended, a prompt appeared simultaneously in the left eye of all participants.
[Attention: This Supernatural Realm mission has ended. You will be teleported back in 60 seconds. 59, 58, 57...]
Seeing the countdown begin, everyone was filled with emotion.
Compared to the ten hours spent in the second layer of the Supernatural Realm, the time required for the third layer was indeed quite long.
Including break times, the total time was about 80 hours.
This was because Matthew chose the Defense Path, which sped up the process.
If no one chose the Defense Mode at the beginning and the tournament instead entered the Regular Path, the competition would likely last longer, and the total time would definitely exceed 100 hours.
Seeing that they will be teleported back soon, Matthew stuffed his new glasses into his pocket.
Anyway, this thing couldn't be broken.
He had just tried that, and even with his current strength, he couldn't deform the glasses in the slightest.
In the Amnesiac Layer, someone couldn't bring any items out of the realm except for the clothes they are wearing.
However, supernatural items obtained in the Supernatural Realm were not subject to this restriction.
At this moment.
Filip Walker suddenly stood up and said, "Matthew, Miss Natalie, I want to express my gratitude to you both. Thank you."
"No need to be so polite now," Matthew waved his hand and said, "You'll probably thank us after we get out of here."
"That's different." Filip Walker said, "Once we get out, we'll all lose our memories. Given my personality, although I'll be grateful to the two of you, I don't know how genuine it will be."
This guy was honest and knew himself well.
Seemingly aware that time was running out, Filip Walker quickened his pace.
"Besides, I've always had some misunderstandings about you, Matthew... After we get out, I might only thank Miss Natalie."
"We originally thought this was just a regular competition between freshmen, and we could just follow you both and win without lifting a finger. But we didn't expect the result to be based on the team's total points, and the ranking to be based on those points... We're the ones who dragged you down."
"Although we ultimately won the championship among all three races, we all know that it was all thanks to Matthew's life-threatening and arduous battles."
"While I still have my memory, I must express my gratitude to Matthew and Miss Natalie. Thank you for everything."
Seeing this, the others also stood up and expressed their gratitude.
This made Matthew and Natalie feel a little uncomfortable.
Fortunately, sixty seconds passed quickly.
When the countdown ended, everyone disappeared at once.
The once bustling Tree Race Arena instantly became empty, like a dead city.
...
Matthew Atkinson & Natalie Russell
Oxford, United Kingdom
The University of Oxford, Training Grounds
On the training grounds, several teaching and university staff members gathered, chatting and laughing, with no sign of worry on their faces.
This was because the third layer of the Supernatural Realm was generally considered relatively safe for freshmen.
In the third layer of the Supernatural Realm, each year, even those mediocre supernatural academies had a relatively low loss rate, which would not exceed 15% at most.
Moreover, the University of Oxford was a prestigious institution with a strong student body, which led to a lower loss rate.
"Time is almost up, everyone. Get ready to welcome back our students."
That's what one member of university management said.
Upon hearing this, the teaching and university staff ended their conversations and took their places.
A moment later, on the empty training grounds, a large number of students suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
The teaching and university staff glanced at the number of students and smiled with satisfaction.
As expected, in this year's third layer of the Supernatural Realm, the University of Oxford's loss rate remained very low.
The number of students was quickly tallied.
There were more than 180 students in total.
Only two unlucky students didn't come back.
The teaching staff were delighted to receive this data, and the university staff smiled as well.
"Welcome back, students."
After hearing what a university staff member said, the students on the training grounds gradually came to their senses.
This was normal.
After all, their memories of the Supernatural Realm had just been erased, so it was inevitable that they would feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Then, everyone turned their gaze toward Natalie.
From the moment Natalie received an SSS-grade mission rating in the first layer of the Supernatural Realm, she became known as the "number one freshman".
When she reached the second layer of the Supernatural Realm, she once again received an SSS-grade mission rating, which further solidified her title.
What everyone was curious about now was whether this top freshman, leading a team of ten, could once again achieve an SSS-grade mission rating.
And in Natalie's team, Filip Walker, Sam Harris, and the others all looked expectant and excited.
They would soon find out whether Natalie had helped them achieve their goals.
"Next, we will tally everyone's grades."
A teaching staff member shouted, "Students who have received the task reward, please report to your professor immediately."
After these words fell, immediately, quite a few students raised their hands.
The professors also began helping students compile statistics on their grades in the third layer of the Supernatural Realm.
Because the third layer of the Supernatural Realm required a team of ten people, results were distributed in groups of ten, making it easy to gather grades.
So, the professors were very quick in compiling the data.
However, as the data were compiled, the professors' expressions grew increasingly grim.
Because the students in more than a dozen teams all had C-grades.
Forget about A-grade mission ratings; even B-grade mission ratings only appeared three times.
The only university director at present frowned deeply at the students' results.
They were the University of Oxford.
If they didn't even have a team capable of achieving an A-grade mission rating, what right did they have to be considered a prestigious university?
Now, only Natalie's team remained, without any results.
All the teaching and university staff and students looked towards Natalie.
The university director even came directly to the side of the line.
When the director arrived, Professor Isabel Grant couldn't remain silent and asked, "Natalie, haven't your results come out yet?"
Natalie shook her head and said. "No."
Since the results hadn't come out, they could only keep waiting.
...
At the same time.
The University of Cambridge, Training Grounds
Standing in front of the students were many university and teaching staff. And their numbers were far greater than those at Oxford University.
It was not that the university management of the University of Cambridge valued freshmen more than that of the University of Oxford.
But today's situation was different.
In this third layer of the Supernatural Realm, to surpass the University of Oxford and maintain its status as the top university, the University of Cambridge specifically joined forces with Imperial College London.
Half of Marcus Kelly's team were top students from Imperial College London.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have gotten such high scores in his layer.
As for Victor's team, it was even more outrageous.
It gathered almost all the top freshmen from across Russia, forming a super-strong team.
Since the fighting tournament wasn't about killing monsters, the requirements for teamwork among members shouldn't be too high.
Therefore, those standing on the University of Cambridge training grounds at this moment include not only the teaching and university staff of the University of Cambridge, but also some teaching and university staff of Imperial College London.
"Our results are here."
Suddenly, a student in Marcus Kelly's group raised his hand and spoke.
Upon hearing this, the teaching and university staff were all invigorated.
A male Professor quickly walked over and asked, "Marcus, how are your grades?"
Marcus Kelly shook his head, looking somewhat disappointed, and said, "Still S-rank, no breakthrough."
Hearing this, the university staff were also somewhat disappointed.
Their collaboration with Imperial College London to form a high-quality team was aimed at winning the fighting tournament championship or even achieving an SSS-grade mission rating.
In recent months, the University of Oxford has been in the limelight so much that people have almost forgotten that the University of Cambridge was the top university in the country.
Therefore, the University of Cambridge urgently needed to turn things around.
They initially thought that this third layer of the Supernatural Realm, the fighting tournament, would be a good opportunity.
Unfortunately...
"An S-grade mission rating is pretty good."
The male professor offered a word of comfort, then asked, "What are your rankings?"
"Third in the world."
Marcus Kelly said unhappily.
He was very dissatisfied with this result.
After the collaboration between the two prestigious universities, their grade was not much higher than the second layer last time.
"Professor, you should see our rewards for yourself." Marcus Kelly said.
He didn't want to narrate it step-by-step anymore.
Upon hearing this, the professor put his hand on Marcus Kelly's shoulder.
Then, he loudly read out the results of Marcus Kelly and others.
"Marcus Kelly, Calvin Ryan, Casper White..."
"Points Earned in This Layer: 81"
"Comprehensive Grade: S"
"Overall Ranking: 3rd."
"Obtained Basic Reward: 204 Attribute Points"
As these results were read aloud, the other students around looked at Marcus Kelly and the others with envy.
The teaching and university staff did not make any special statement.
A super team composed of the top students from two universities achieved this result...
It couldn't be called bad.
However, there was still a gap between what the university management expected and what they got.
A university director stepped forward and asked, "Marcus Kelly, what about Natalie from the University of Oxford? What are her grades?"
"There's no official announcement; how can I know what her grade is?"
Upon hearing the name Natalie, Marcus Kelly immediately became irritated, and his tone became somewhat aggressive.
Because people always compared the two of them.
And in those comparisons, Marcus Kelly was always the one who fell short.
The director looked displeased after being contradicted by a student.
However, he also knew that Marcus Kelly was a prodigy at the University of Cambridge and was valued by the principal, so even he couldn't reprimand him.
Therefore, he could only swallow his dissatisfaction.
"Director, and other managers, I have some news to report."
Marcus Kelly's professor suddenly spoke up.
"During the hour I waited, I learned from some friends that to compete for the third layer of the Supernatural Realm championship this year, many countries have gathered the top freshmen from their major universities to form a super team to participate in the tournament."
"Therefore, I think it is excellent that Marcus Kelly and his team were able to achieve such results."
"Perhaps their achievements are already the best in the country."
Upon hearing this, the directors' and managers' eyes lit up.
If that were the case, the situation would not be so bad.
Even if they couldn't beat foreign universities, as long as they got first place in the United Kingdom, they were still the top university in the country.
Even Marcus Kelly's expression relaxed a bit, as he hoped what his professor said would come true.
However, just then, all the students on the training grounds changed their expressions.
That annoying super announcement was here again.
---------------
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.102: Third SSS-Grade Rating
Ch.103: The Pride of the United Kingdom