118 Chapter 117: After the tournamen (1/2)

”How are you feeling?”

I glanced up as Teacher Yi tossed that question casually at me, still lying on the bed in the infirmary.

”I'm all right.” Physically, anyway, given how Teacher Yi healed me completely. Mentally, however, was a whole different matter entirely.

As if she sensed my dark mood, Teacher Yi glanced at me. ”You did well, you know. You should hold your head proud.”

That still doesn't change the fact that I lost, I thought darkly. However, I appreciated her concern, so I merely nodded.

”Thank you.”

Teacher Yi watched me for a few more moments, and then sighed.

”Go rest in your room tonight and sleep it off. But make sure you attend classes tomorrow or I'll ask your classmates to drag you out of bed if I have to. Understand?”

”Yeah.”

As depressed as I was, I wasn't pathetic enough to mope about and skip classes. That was something only angsty, self-centered and irresponsible teenagers did. I might have the body of a sixteen-year-old, but I was mentally thirty (or thirty-three). The world hadn't ended, and I still had responsibilities to fulfill as a student.

Besides, I had a promise to keep. And I couldn't allow my depression to affect my friends. Zhu Jiao, one of my best friends, had won. He deserved to savor his victory and be happy about it. Me being bitter and sulking about my defeat wasn't just poor sportsmanship. It would ruin Zhu Jiao's mood and made him feel guilt.

That was why I had to do my best and put on an appearance of being fine. No, I was fine. Yeah, I lost.Yeah, losing hurts. But it wasn't the end of the world. I was used to losing. This wasn't the first time I had been defeated.

Why then does it hurt so much?

Most probably because I was so close to victory. I had made it all the way to the final, reached such great heights. However, it was precisely because the greater the heights, the greater the fall. It really wasn't a pleasant feeling crashing back down to earth again.

But it was a good fight.

I had to admit that, at least. It was one of the most difficult battle I had ever engaged in. even though I went all out and even went to the extent of breaking my self-imposed taboo of using Heaven and Earth Formula, I still lost convincingly.

If I was cynical, I might have complained that Zhu Jiao had too much plot armor, that the story was working for him, that the whole thing was unfair to begin with. I was fighting against a protagonist who had all the luck in the world, was an unprecedented genius whose role was to win every battle and impress the mob charaacters and get praised to high heaven. My victory was impossible to begin with.

However, isn't that exactly my goal? To overturn the will of heaven, to defy destiny and forge my own fate? To break out of all these stupid clichés and carve my own place in this world, to leave an impact that no mob character should be able to make?

Yeah. It was precisely because this world was unfair that I wanted to rebel against Heaven and the gods. Whoever was writing this and dictating the events of this world…fuck you. I wanted to show him the middle finger and do what I could.

The problem is that…since I failed to win the tournament and the would-be protagonist still ended up being the champion as anticipated…it means I'm still too weak to change my fate. I still need a lot more power if I want to defy destiny and steal the heavens.

”Student Fei Wu? Are you feeling all right?”

I realized that I must have been completey lost in thought. Teacher Yi was staring at me worriedly while I blanked out, and I shook my head to clear my mind of unnecessary thoughts. Nodding, I hopped off the bed.

”Yeah, just thinking of stuff. I'll be returning to my room now.”

The celebration party that Tong Xue promised to throw wouldn't be held until tomorrow at the earliest. He was considerate enough to take note that both Zhu Jiao and I would need some time to receive treatment and recover from our injuries.

”How is Zhu Jiao?” I asked, remembering my friend. Even though I hadn't seen him ever since I lost consciousness, I was certain I at least did quite a substantial amount of damage to him. Despite that sturdy Golden Kirin Sacred Armor protecting him, I had delivered quite a few devastating blows that were powerful enough to demolish an entire building. There was no way he emerged out of our match unscathed.

”Student Zhu Jiao is fine,” Teacher Yi replied with a smile. ”He's doing better than you, actually. I patched him up and sent him back to his room. To be honest, he actually wanted to wait for you to wake up, but I advised him and your other friends against it.”

So it wasn't just Zhu Jiao, but Tang Qi Hong, Tong Xue and the rest of the gang had been here as well. I had half-expected to see them earlier when I woke up, and was a little disappointed to see that they were absent. Now I understood it was because Teacher Yi shooed the away. I raised an eyebrow at that, but Teacher Yi continued, unimpeded.

”I'm sure you would like some time alone, wouldn't you?”

”That's true,” I conceded with a nod. ”Thank you.”

I did appreciate being left on my own for now. The last thing I needed was sympathy from my friends, telling me that I did my best, etc. Furthermore, this was Zhu Jiao's moment. They should be congratulating him, not spending their time worrying about me.

I could handle this. I was mentally an adult, after all. This wasn't the first time I failed. I was used to losing.

But damn it…why does it hurt so much?

Probably because this was the first time I had come so far…only to fall short of the goal when it was right within my reach.

Fuck!

I gritted my teeth and resisted the urge to hit something. Not when I was still in the infirmary and Teacher Yi was watching me. It was a good thing she sent everyone home. I needed some time alone to clear my head and calm down.

”Thank you,” I told her again and rose from the bed. As I staggered on my feet, I winced from a faint soreness that throbbed throughout my body.

”Careful,” Teacher Yi warned as she strode over to help me steady myself. ”I might have healed all of your injuries, but you still need rest. Don't force yourself unnecessarily.”

”Yeah. I understand.”

Sighing, I stretched my right hand and anxiously tested my right leg. It seemed that the broken bones in both limbs had been mended. There was a slight pain when I moved them, but nothing too debilitating.

Compared to before, when I was desperately fighting against Zhu Jiao, the tiny sting was nothing. I was happy that I could walk without falling over.

”Make sure you go back straight to the dormitory without detouring anywhere else.”

Teacher Yi was beginning to sound like a fussy mom right now, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at me sternly. I nodded. In the first place, I had no intention of going anywhere else unless I got abducted by someone along the way. After Li Chun Long's Treegons failed to assassinate me or Zhu Jiao, the staff had swept the academy clean to make sure there weren't any illegal familiars or monsters or magical beasts dwelling within campus grounds.

In other words, I should be safe as long as I remained within the academy's territory.

”I have my hands full treating all the injured students from the tournament. I don't have time to look for you if you go missing.”

Despite Teacher Yi's reprimand, I knew she was only looking out for me. She was actually more concerned about my mental state than worried about getting more work dumped on her. I raised a hand and saluted her to show that I would obey, and then left the infirmary without wasting any more time. I didn't want to disturb Teacher Yi when she was already so busy.

Rather anticlimactically, nothing happened on my journey back to my dormitory room. It had gotten pretty late, and the sun had clearly set long ago. Glancing at the huge clock in the huge academy tower that stood several blocks away from the main campus building, I saw that it was a little after ten. Unsurprisingly, there were almost no students lingering in the main campus grounds, and what little students remained – particularly those crazy enough to continue training at this hour, or absorbing yin qi from the night air – I was able to easily avoid.

I was the guy most well known for mastering Shadow Steps, after all.

Too exhausted and sore to do anything else, I went straight to bed and collapsed on the mattress. Relieved that I didn't have to face anyone, even my best friends, I buried my face into my pillow and tried to go to sleep.

…

Instead of sleep, what came were bitter tears.

Squeezing my eyes shut and pressing my face deeper into my pillow, I quietly wept.

*

”Congratulations to our champion for the 28th annual tournament of Wu Ling Academy! Student Zhu Jiao!”

Everyone clapped as Zhu Jiao went up the stage. Xiao Zhang beamed as he welcomed this year's champion up on stage and shook his hand. Turning around, he received a trophy from Teacher Shu Xue, and then turned around to pass it to Zhu Jiao. The spiky-haired protagonist accepted it and then turned toward the student body and raised it high.

”WOOO!”

”WAAAAH!”

The students went wild, clapping and cheering thunderously. What, did you think this was some sort of wuxia or xianxia story where the other competitors only knew how to be jealous over their losses and behave like spoilt brats, whining like arrogant young masters with totally no sense of sportsmanship? Even if Zhu Jiao was the main character of some wuxia/xianxia story, the people around him were real students.

Of course, it was natural to feel a bit of envy, but everyone had been convinced by Zhu Jiao's performance. He had defeated strong opponents, emerged top of the Group of Death, defeated major heavyweights including the strongest girl and current student council president in Wu Ling Academy. He had proved not with words, but with actions, and persuaded everyone beyond a doubt that he was presently the strongest student in Wu Ling Academy.

Anyone who wasn't convinced was welcome to challenge him.

Let's be honest. The whole ”the protagonist is trash” and nobody believing that he could have won a tournament was a contrived manner of forcing the mob characters to praise the so-called ”underdog” that the protagonist was, and a convenient way for the protagonist to perform the stupid ”face-slapping” that was so popular in Chinese novels. Honestly, it was downright disgusting and forced how practically everyone would trash-talk the protagonist before the tournament, and in each round constantly preach about how he would lose to this genius, or that genius, only to receive slaps in the face when the protagonist proved them wrong each time. You would think they would have learned their lesson, but no, they continued to look down and underestimate the protagonist because the authors for some reason couldn't get it around their heads that real characters don't behave so one-dimensionally, and so that the protagonist could continue slapping their faces and get praised to high heaven later.

It was sickening, really.

”As a reward for winning the tournament, you will receive a thousand gold coins, and you may select a level five martial arts manual from the library, free of charge.”

”Thank you very much, Principal.”

Zhu Jiao bowed gratefully.

Xiao Zhang then turned to sweep his gaze across the rest of the students and smiled. Stroking his long mustache, he continued.

”Of course, the finalists will also receive appropriate rewards for wherever they finish in the tournaments. Those who end up in the group stages…while your rewards may not be as much as those who make it to the finals, you nonetheless will receive some resources, which will be dependent on your final ranking.”

By now, all the group matches and final rankings had been established. Hell, they were done before my final against Zhu Jiao.

Xiao Zhang's gaze swept over me, and my heart skipped a beat. As tradition demanded, only the champion had the right to go up the stage and receive the trophy. There were no silver medals, no bronze medals. Just a trophy for the champion.

However, for us finalists who had made it this far, we received rewards in the form of gold coins, the currency for this timeline.

That's enough for me.