Meanwhile, many screens were flickering on the sports field, considerately positioned to face every direction. More than a thousand students had gathered on the sports field to watch this novel match between the two teams. Some were watching silently, some had their heads lowered in thought and some were whispering to one another.

　　Under normal circumstances, there would be professional commentary for such a team game competition, but this “Cultivator’s Rift” was a trial version that was not publicly available. Therefore, it fell instead to the female teacher acting as the host to provide related commentary.

　　The contest was currently in the early game laning stage, so basically there wouldn’t be any team battles yet. The female host hence was a little bored as she watched the broadcast.

　　“There are too many things in this shop, it’s really too much to take in. When the camera flashed over it just now, I couldn’t see anything clearly.”

　　“Even Senior Tang Jingze and the others took such a long time to look through everything. I think it would take me an hour before I can get out of this base… the initial amount of game coins is also too small, you just don’t know how to use them or what to buy.”

　　The students were engaged in animated discussion below the stage, and even the old Secretary on stage frowned a little. “This vast line-up of goods is indeed a real headache. A student who has difficulty selecting something could waste a lot of time in the shop.”

　　“The system we are using this time for this brand new five-on-five competition is a trial version; for regular editions in the future, it’s estimated that the number of magic weapons in the shop will be cut by around sixty to seventy percent.”

　　“But this is good too, if there are more goods in the shop, it becomes necessary to choose a suitable magic weapon, one that is useful and flexible. To be able to do that really tests your ability to adapt.

　　“Come to think of it, is there a bonus mechanism in this game?”

　　“Mm, there are rewards. The first team to destroy a tower will be rewarded with five hundred game coins. The first person to slay an enemy will be rewarded with five hundred game coins. If someone else assisted as support in the kill, the bonus will be divided equally. There’s also another thing… the first person to build a finished item, or in short, the first item reward, will be given an individual five hundred game coins.

　　“If you can take the lead by decisively obtaining these three system rewards, the team’s advantage will be greatly increased.”

　　Before he finished speaking, there was an electronic ringing sound from the screen…

　　First Item!

　　Following that, Wang Ling’s name popped up in the system announcement.

　　Wang Ling: individual 500 game coins reward for building first finished item!

　　The female host straightaway exclaimed, “Student Wang Ling of No. 60 High School is the first to build a finished item! He gets five hundred game coins as an individual reward!”

　　The audience was all shocked…

　　When the image on the broadcast screen switched to the shop’s column list of commodities, the sports field instantly resounded with non-stop swearing.

　　F**k! Why the hell was there a finished item that only cost one yuan?!

　　F**k! A guy who hadn’t even left the base actually obtained the “first item” reward? There definitely had to be a bug!

　　“F**k!” At the same time on the red side, five people including Tang Jingze shouted in unison when they saw the system announcement.

　　The cheapest finished item in their team was Liang Fei’s sword Climbing Dragon. They had only needed to conquer two more minion lanes to be able to collect the prize money for “first item”! Who the hell could have known that the prize would be given to a person who hadn’t even left the base!

　　Must appeal! Protest! Replay!

　　“…Is there something wrong with the system? Should we pause the competition to check it out?” Headmaster Jin asked after seeing this scene.

　　“It’s not a problem with the system, it’s just that Student Wang Ling’s spirit sword is very cheap to begin with.” The teacher leading the team, Old Antique, couldn’t help sighing nearby. “Student Wang Ling was born into a poor family, he brought a peach wood sword to the competition this time.”

　　Headmaster Jin couldn’t help the way his lips twitched. “…So, this is your strategy?”

　　“As for that, I don’t know. Perhaps Student Wang Ling has his own reasons.” Old Antique shook his head.

　　As they spoke, the scene on the broadcast screen changed to the column list of commodities and the image stopped on Wang Ling’s small wooden sword. Everyone was aghast when they looked at its price… this peach wood sword which cost one game coin was actually considered a f**king finished item… if it didn’t win the first item reward, then there really would be something wrong!

　　….

　　Wang Ling didn’t think that Jingke would actually be considered a finished item at one game coin. Originally he had bought it out of curiosity, but due to a freak combination of factors, he had ended up obtaining the reward for being the first to build a finished item…

　　Now, he could feel thousands of eyes following him steadily on the broadcast screen — this was a feeling he was very unaccustomed to.

　　This was really too much attention!

　　In order to shift everyone’s gazes elsewhere, he would have to throw a game later on, make a big fuss of the others to ensure their good development and give them ample room to showcase themselves.

　　This was the right way to be a support!

　　Hence, at this moment, Wang Ling decided to refrain from doing anything more. Now that he had a bonus five hundred game coins, he should purchase an income item ¹ and slowly and steadily develop and gain experience.

　　There were a lot of income items in the shop; although he had nine hundred and ninety-nine game coins, he chose one of the cheapest income items that would ensure he remained inconspicuous, then walked out of the shop.

　　[Name: Mysterious Black-Rimmed Glasses]

　　[Type: Functional Magic Weapon]

　　[Quality: Ordinary]

　　[Gold Coins: 300]

　　[Description: Time is money and money is time! A pair of mysterious black-rimmed glasses made by the Mo family; when worn, +2 game coins/1s… ² ]

　　With the glasses on, Wang Ling left and returned to the bot lane, and was surprised to find that Hero Guo had actually already leveled up to Level 3.

　　I wasted too much time in the base!

　　Wang Ling sighed in his heart; he didn’t think that he was a sloppy person, but he had had far less chances to play games compared with regular guys. Because he was always worried that he wouldn’t be able to control his prehistoric powers and would destroy the gaming device, he definitely wasn’t as smooth at games as Super Chen and Hero Guo these two damn fat nerds.

　　But now that he had switched to a new version of the Dao talisman, he could rest easy for the next three months at least.

　　For three months, he didn’t have to worry about destroying any more spoons and chopsticks, or his leaking aura destroying any public facilities.

　　During this stable period, Wang Ling could play games at home on the weekends or find work outside to earn extra money like any regular kid his age.

　　But after these three months, as the power of the Dao talisman seal weakened little by little, his days of fear would come back again.

　　Because the materials used to create the Dao talisman were very special, it took a very long time for Wang Ming, working alone, to refine them. Ordinarily, Wang Ling could forcibly speed up time, but when it came to this matter, he couldn’t be of much help; as soon as he was anywhere near the materials, he became unable to use any of his strength at all, let alone cast any spells.

　　While he was pondering this in his heart, Lotus Sun’s voice was transmitted from the mid lane. “Classmate Wang Ling, be careful! The enemy’s mid lane is out to capture the bot lane!” Members in each team were connected to each other, and voice messages could be transmitted from far away.

　　The bot lane of Cultivator’s Rift was a relatively open space covered in a reed marsh, which made it very strategic for ambushing and capturing people.

　　Wearing his black-rimmed glasses, Wang Ling hid in the reed marsh near his defense turret to secretly observe the situation. Within a short period of time, he had already earned back the money which he had spent on the black-rimmed glasses.

　　“Classmate Wang Ling, don’t linger on the lane! Hurry up and come back! Let’s play it safe! There are three of them, we can’t beat them!” Master of Dopey had noticed that the enemy’s bot group had already disappeared, which meant they were now very likely about to coordinate with the missing mid lane group to capture their bot lane!

　　But, can we really not beat them?

　　Wang Ling cupped his chin and pondered.