313 The Crucial Matches in the Top Thirty-Two to the Top Sixteen!

Mike, Donghu University’s president, noticed the score between Liren University and Kyoto was 6:2. He looked at Monte standing beside Jin Chao and immediately congratulated him, “Congratulations to you and your institute for being the first to enter the top 32, President Monte.”

Then Mike cupped his hands and smiled. “President Monte, I’ll look forward to your guidance in the next round!”

Although that was what he said, he was not sincere. In the past, he would have been upset if he had to face Kyoto in the top 16.

However, it was different this year. Six of the eleven participants from Kyoto were first-year students, which was an excellent opportunity for Donghu University to redeem itself.

In last year’s competition, Kyoto beat Donghu University in the top 16. As one of the top 10 universities, Donghu did not even make it into the top 8, and Mike was still brooding over it.

After reviewing the competition schedule, Mike gave Donghu’s team leader a strict order. They had to stop Kyoto from entering the top 32 and make them look even worse than Donghu University’s team last year.

“You flatter me. We have many young members, and we should learn from you,” replied Monte with his signature kind smile as he returned the salute.

Even though Mike seemed polite, Monte knew what Mike was thinking. He understood how petty Mike was.

Monte’s Kyoto team had stopped Mike’s Donghu team from entering the top 16 last year, and Mike felt embarrassed. Therefore, Monte knew Mike would try his best to humiliate Kyoto if he had the chance.

After all, Kyoto had many rookies this year, so how could Mike let go of this opportunity to do so?

“You’re too humble, President Monte. Let’s continue watching the competition, then.” Mike made some small talk before ending his conversation with Monte to continue watching the competition.

…

Although Kyoto’s 64-to-32 advancement match had ended, the discussions about them had never stopped.

“Kyoto Institute is fantastic! It’s another lineup of four seniors leading six rookies!”

“Kyoto’s rookies are pretty strong. They’ve won two out of their four matches.”

“That’s not surprising. This year’s college entrance exams were the most difficult in history, and a few were close to getting full marks. Moreover, Kyoto has recruited the highest number of top students.

“The competition was over before that random first-year student even appeared. I’d like to see what other strange things will happen in the following matches.”

“Moss is in the last two places. His team leader also thinks he’s talking nonsense, so to safely enter the next round, Bishop placed Moss in the last place of all the first-year students.”

“Haha, in that case, we won’t see Moss in the next round against a strong opponent like Donghu University.”

“Yes, we might even see Moss on the substitute bench. With his performance, he’s undoubtedly going to be a waterboy.”

“You’re right. If it were the last time, Moss would be at the front. He should seize this last opportunity to gain more experience.”

Many thought Moss would not appear in the next round or even after. Unless there were an injury or other accidents, he would not be able to participate and remain a substitute.

“Mill, I still like to watch your friend’s matches. If it’s like what they say, it’ll be a pity if your friend becomes a mere substitute.” Mia sighed and muttered.

“Don’t listen to their nonsense. Moss is powerful. Being arranged to fight later is an acknowledgment of his strength” Mill’s tender and smooth face was slightly red as he spoke with slight anger.

“Fine, fine. Don’t get angry, miss. We won’t listen to them chanting. I will blindly support whoever you support!” Mia shook Mill’s arm, stuck her tongue out, and said playfully, “Then let’s wish your friend Moss the best of luck to win the MVP title soon!”

“You’re speaking out of line again!” Mill revealed her trump card by tickling Mia as she said, “Why are you so weird, huh?”

Mill had faith in Moss’s abilities, but Moss was still a first-year student. How could he win the MVP award in a competition where second-year students played the leading role?

Mia was just trying to provoke Mill as her sounds of laughter echoed, attracting the surrounding boys to watch the two beauties tussle playfully.

…

Kyoto steadily advanced into the top 32 with a score of 6:3 and 6:2, respectively. However, many still looked down on them, including the media and other organizations.

That was because Kyoto’s next opponent was Donghu University, one of the top 10 universities. Donghu’s team consisted of three first-year students and eight second-year students.

Donghu thought they had already secured three wins just because they had three more second-year students than Kyoto. They only needed to win three of the remaining seven matches to eliminate the defending champion and advance to the top 16.

The last one-on-one matches were in the top 32 to the top 16 final rounds. The matches after that were team battles.

Strong members like Bishop could play a more significant role in team battles and cover for the rookies. However, no matter how strong Bishop was in the one-on-one matches, he could only get one point. That was why everyone had always looked down on Kyoto.

Ignoring the public’s opinion, Kyoto’s team members were actively preparing for their match against Donghu.

In Eastern University’s Munge Hotel’s suite 1888, Kyoto’s team members were discussing their matches that would occur the following day in a harmonious atmosphere.

“I’m sure you’re all aware of Donghu’s performance. Their strength is not something Taiwu and Liren can compare to.” Sofia pointed at the flashing images on the TV and frowned.

After a pause, she continued, “The rules and composition in the one-on-one matches are not in our favor. Therefore, the order of appearances is critical. What do you guys think is the appropriate order in this regard?”

Sofia appeared calm before her team members. However, she knew the importance of this competition and felt highly nervous inside. Kyoto had to win at least five matches if they intended to advance to the next round.

She was confident in her second-year members, but the showdown would not be as one-on-one or two-on-two as she had imagined. The match would be close if the opposing team’s captain and co-captain fought against Benedict and Carolyn. Since that was the case, the match’s outcome would depend on Benedict and Carolyn’s performance.

“From Donghu’s point of view, they’d want to let the first-year students or relatively weak members meet a strong person like our Captain Bishop. That was why they would place their relatively weaker team members in the middle or at the back.

“If I were the leader of Donghu, I would arrange my members as such: four second-year students, two rookies, and four second-year students. That seems more stable and targeted,” Moss spoke calmly, but his eyes were full of certainty.

Before the meeting, he had carefully studied Donghu’s order of appearance when they encountered opponents of different levels over the past few years and this year.

Moss proposed the order of appearance that Donghu was more used to when they encountered teams similar to Kyoto.

“What do you suggest we do?” Sofia’s eyes lit up as she asked curiously.

The other team members looked at Moss in unison as soon as Sofia finished speaking.