Matthew Atksinon & Natalie Russell
Global Layer of the Supernatural Realm
The age difference among the team members next to them was quite large.
The oldest one had all-white hair and was at least 60 years old.
It was hard to imagine that at such an advanced age, he hadn't entered the thirty-fifth layer or hadn't retired yet.
Judging from the looks of it, the other person had probably only entered the Supernatural Realm once every few years.
The youngest one among them was a student around the same age as Matthew and Natalie, and they were acquaintances.
Marcus Kelly from the University of Cambridge.
Therefore, the identity of this team was obvious. They were from the University of Cambridge. Most likely, like Matthew's team, they were also a faculty team, and Marcus had joined them.
"Professor Isabel Grant, what a coincidence." The person who just greeted them was a female professor from the University of Cambridge team.
The other person seemed very enthusiastic, but her smile was obviously fake, a forced smile.
"Yes. What a coincidence." Professor Isabel Grant's response was similar.
Anyone who wasn't blind could see that these two didn't get along.
According to what Matthew had heard, Professor Isabel Grant was originally a professor at the University of Cambridge but later, for unknown reasons, came to the University of Oxford.
In retrospect, it seemed she lost a power struggle for her position to a colleague.
"Is this your team for this year?"
The female professor from the University of Cambridge glanced around at Professor Isabel Grant, then said with a disdainful look, "Not so great. Professor Isabel Grant, how come you're getting worse and worse?"
From her angle, she could only see Aria Powell's side profile and didn't recognize her at first.
Professor Isabel Grant did not explain that there was a seventh-rank expert in their team.
Instead, she immediately mocked her back, "I didn't expect someone of your caliber to be able to join the faculty team? I heard your lover was imprisoned last year. So, did you manage to join the faculty team this time by selling your body? Anyway, that's your usual tactic."
When these words were spoken, the onlookers, watching the drama unfold, were taken aback.
Even Matthew was surprised. He never expected that Professor Isabel Grant, who was always smiling at everyone, would be so fierce when she started to insult people.
"You!!!" The female professor at the University of Cambridge was absolutely furious.
Unfortunately, what Professor Isabel Grant said was true, which made her even more furious.
Just as she was about to continue her tirade...
A new notification appeared in the left eye of all the supernaturals.
[All participants must enter the venue within 10 minutes and find their assigned area. Failure to do so will be considered a forfeit.]
Below this prompt, there was also a number. Those numbers were the team's seat numbers.
After seeing the notification, all the supernatural individuals sprang into action.
The female professor from the University of Cambridge could only utter a harsh "Just you wait and see" before she and her team quickly headed towards the arena's entrance.
Marcus Kelly merely glanced at Natalie and Matthew, said nothing, and left with his team.
Matthew and the others naturally did the same. The arena had many entrances and was quite large.
After passing through a wide archway, the interior layout was immediately apparent.
This arena was very similar to the gladiatorial arenas of ancient Rome.
The central area was the fighting stage, surrounded by countless seats.
After entering the arena, every supernatural quickly found their seats following the signs.
At the moment, Matthew and the others also found their seats and were now looking around.
The seating arrangement was simple, with ten seats placed in a row.
Their seats were in the middle of the stands, but all the seats were arranged from low to high, just like in a movie theater, so they didn't obstruct the view.
"Huh? There's a door here." That was what a male professor said.
Everyone looked over and discovered that at the end of each row of seats, there was a red door.
It was just a simple door, with nothing in front, behind, to the left, or to the right. Just a red door.
"Strange, what's the purpose of this door?" Professor Holland also went over to study it.
At this moment, Aria Powell suddenly smiled and said, "On the other side of the door, there is a resting place."
Upon hearing this, everyone was surprised.
Because there was nothing behind the door, and further away, there was another row of seats, so why would there be a resting area?
"Just open the door, and you'll see," Aria Powell added.
Upon hearing this, Professor Holland immediately turned the doorknob and pulled the door open.
The moment the door opened, a completely different scene was revealed.
It turned out that there was a separate space inside. Judging from the decor, it looked like a private lounge for gatherings.
Matthew glanced around and saw the sofas, tables, and chairs, along with tea and beverages.
"This!!!" Everyone was a little stunned.
The male professor couldn't help but ask, "Can we go in there...?"
"Of course." Aria Powell said, "The competition of Global Layer lasts quite a long time. So, the supernatural realm prepared a place for the teams to rest. The resting place is a very stable space. Its design is like a villa, with food, drinks, and places to sleep."
"From now on, all the supernaturals will watch the competition during the day and rest in the villa at night."
Upon hearing this, everyone went into the villa for a tour, including Aria Powell.
Upon entering the villa, everyone discovered that it truly was just as Ms. Powell described.
The first floor was a place to relax and unwind, with unlimited food and drinks like a lounge.
The second floor had ten rooms for the team members to rest.
The lounge was luxuriously decorated in a modern style.
Matthew leaped up and jumped directly to the second floor, then walked towards a room in front of him.
However, when he was about to open the room, he was prompted to register his fingerprint.
After registering his fingerprint, the room would be his alone, and even his teammates could not enter without his permission.
After registering his fingerprint, Matthew went into the room.
The room was quite simple, like a studio apartment, with a bed, a sofa, and a private bathroom.
"This villa is really well prepared." A female professor smiled and said, "I like the decorating style. I would be willing to live here long-term."
The others nodded in agreement.
The villa has everything someone could need. Staying here would be very comfortable.
Matthew asked curiously, "Ms. Powell, you seem to know a lot about the Global Layer?"
Aria Powell nodded and said, "As long as you reach the seventh-rank standard and sign a confidentiality agreement, you can access the files about the Global Layer."
After a pause, Aria Powell continued, "The former domestic champion provided this file."
Then everyone understood. Power comes with certain privileges.
Ten minutes passed quickly, and a new notification appeared.
[The competition will begin in 20 minutes. All participants, please prepare accordingly.]
[This competition format is a Champion Challenge Format. In each team, as long as one member successfully defeats the defending champion, the team advances to the next round.]
[All team members must participate in the challenge each round unless they are disqualified. Successfully defeating the defending champion will earn you competition points.]
[The challenge lasts ten minutes. If you find yourself no match for the defending champion, you can choose to surrender. If you say "I surrender," the defending champion will stop attacking, and the challenger will be immediately teleported back to their seat.]
[Members who fail the challenge will be disqualified from the next rounds.]
[After defeating defending champions in later rounds, members will receive more points.]
[The final scores for each team will be calculated based on their competition points.]
Seeing these prompts, Matthew understood why the Global Layer was hailed as one of the safest layers.
Someone could voluntarily surrender by simply shouting the word "I surrender," which would stop the defending champion's attack and allow them to return to their seat.
In this format, as long as someone was not a fool who was deliberately showing off, they shouldn't get killed, right?
Matthew also couldn't help but notice some similarities between the rules of this tournament and those of the Tree Race Fighting Tournament, which he had participated in at the third layer.
Not everything was the same, but the option to surrender and the calculation of results based on the team members' total points were common.
Since the third layer was an Amnesiac level, no one had any memories of it.
But Matthew could see the similarities because his memories of all the Amnesiac Layers had returned.
"This competition format…" Professor Holland couldn't help but say, "…is very disadvantageous to us."
The other professors nodded in agreement, all looking worried.
This was obvious.
Since the competition results were calculated based on competition points, team members needed to advance as far as possible to gather them.
Only when a sufficient number of members advanced in each round could more competition points be obtained.
In this kind of format, only the truly strong teams had an advantage. Teams with only a few strong members wouldn't be able to earn many points because of the presence of weak members.
Among the crowd, only Grand Magister Russell and Matthew remained calm and composed.
As a father, Grand Magister Russell's priority was definitely his daughter.
Although the champion challenge format was disadvantageous to them, the surrendering option could effectively prevent casualties.
He had been worried about his daughter's safety, but that was no longer an issue.
As long as the defending champion was found to be strong, Natalie could be persuaded to surrender.
"Indeed, disadvantageous." Aria Powell sighed and then took the initiative to say, "There are actually three types of competition formats in the Global Layer. The standard format, the multi-race format, and the champion challenge format."
"Standard format is a given. It's just normal fighting competition where opponents are determined by drawing lots... This is the most common format."
"The multi-race format is the most dangerous because the opponents are alien races from other planets. They will not show us, humans, any mercy. If we do not surrender in time, we may die on the stage. Fortunately, the multi-race format rarely appears. Maybe only once every ten years or so."
"As for the champion challenge format, it's the safest, but..."
Although Aria Powell didn't say the rest of it, everyone knew what she meant.
The champion challenge format allowed teams to advance as long as someone in the team defeated the defending champion in each round.
Although Aria Powell, a seventh-rank expert, could keep advancing under this format, how many points could she get by herself?
Thinking about this, everyone looked rather grim.
Professor Isabel Grant couldn't help but say, "Ms. Powell, I'm so sorry, we're going to be a burden to you this time."
"Don't say that," Aria Powell said with a smile. "It's just a gain or loss in one Global Layer. It doesn't matter much. We'll just do our best."
She spoke these words with great seriousness. Because before she came, she had mentally prepared herself for poor results.
...
A moment later, everyone left the lounge and went to their seats outside.
The competition was about to begin.
Just as everyone sat down, a voice suddenly came from behind them.
"Aria? Aria Powell."
Hearing someone call her name, Aria Powell couldn't help but turn around and see several familiar figures.
Initially, in this Global Layer competition, she and these people were supposed to be temporary teammates and participate together.
But because she had to repay a favor, she ultimately left the team.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.173: The First Champion – Spider-Man
Ch.174: The Second Champion – Bumblebee
Ch.175: The Third Champion – Cull Obsidian