High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1956: Chapter 177: The Altered Rules

”Do you remember how many hunting teams participated in last year’s school hunting competition?” Xin Fat Man did not immediately answer Zheng Qing’s question: ”...Not the freshman competition, but the formal Campus Cup hunting competition.”

”Twenty-seven?” Zheng Qing blurted out the first number that came to mind.

The Fat Wizard rolled his eyes.

Zheng Qing immediately realized his mistake and quickly corrected himself: ”Oh oh, I remember now, twenty-seven was the number of officially registered hunting teams last year. This year, our Absolution has also become an official hunting team... I remember the Doctor said that the Ouroboros Hunting Team also successfully advanced, so should it be twenty-nine?”

Xin Fat Man took a deep breath, a trace of blue flashed across his face, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

Zheng Qing had never known that the fat man’s forehead could show veins and was quite surprised, looking a few more times.

”I should have known you’re just a mascot as a captain... why did I waste time asking you?” The Fat Wizard muttered, full of regret.

Zheng Qing did not mind the fat man’s muttering.

He only noticed that the little tortoiseshell at his feet was about to finish that piece of roast meat, and he hurriedly rinsed his mouth with fruit juice and sped up his eating pace.

”We are not yet an official hunting team.”

The Fat Wizard’s first response denied the concept in Zheng Qing’s mind: ”We simply have the qualification to submit an officialization application to the school... Suggestions like Matthew’s Caron Hunting Team, due to factors like personnel, harvest, training, have yet to reach this step, having already declared failure. This is also the fate of most newly formed hunting teams.”

”I remember the Doctor said...” Zheng Qing instinctively wanted to refute.

”Having the opportunity to participate in the school hunting competition doesn’t mean being able to participate! Xiao Xiao previously completed the hunting team’s annual training plan, Absolution’s officialization application, and defense as prerequisites for becoming official! Although it’s just a procedure, if the application and defense fail, there’s no qualification to become a registered official hunting team!”

The Fat Wizard interrupted his captain’s murmuring, growling lowly: ”Have you thrown your hands so far that they’re in the Mariana Trench and don’t even know it? You’re throwing them far too thoroughly!”

Zheng Qing obediently finished eating without making a sound.

Taking a few deep breaths and smoothing his thoughts, Xin Fat Man picked up the previous topic, shook the piece of parchment in his hand, and changed the question: ”...Do you remember last year’s school hunting competition schedule?”

Absolution’s captain nodded vigorously: ”I remember, I remember—the Freshman Competition, the Hunting Meeting, the Round Robin, and finally, the finals for the Academy Cup.”

The Fat Wizard’s face softened a little.

”To be precise, only the Round Robin and the Finals are part of the official schedule.” He corrected the young cost student’s misunderstanding: ”The Freshman Competition is an unranked competition for freshmen, and the Hunting Meeting is a show match... There were a total of a hundred and eleven hunting teams participating in last year’s school hunting competition, of which twenty did not need to participate in the Round Robin and could directly compete for the Academy Cup.”

”How come I remember it was twenty-seven?” Zheng Qing was still fixated on that number in his mind.

”Twenty-seven is the number of registered hunting teams in the school!” Xin Fat Man gritted his teeth, letting out a muffled groan: ”The Absolution Hunting Team can also become a registered hunting team after completing their advanced mission in the school hunting competition...”

”Wait, I remember now.” Zheng Qing bit his chopsticks, furrowed his brow, as Zhang Ji Xin’s words flashed through his mind: ”But I remember the Elders said that after a hunting team has been established for a year and passes the assessment, they can participate in the Round Robin, then get first place in it, win the Academy Cup, and only then can they officially register with the Mage Alliance... that’s not quite what you said, eh.”

”Are the Alliance-registered hunting teams and the school-registered hunting teams the same thing?” Xin Fat Man no longer had the strength to be angry: ”To give an extreme example, are the Wizards registered with the Gypsy Witch Coven at the same level as those registered with the Mage Alliance? Are all twenty-seven registered hunting teams in the school Academy Cup winners?”

This explanation made things much clearer.

Zheng Qing suddenly understood, casually tossed a piece of roast meat to the tortoiseshell cat staring at him earnestly at his feet, then took two mouthfuls of rice, speaking muffled: ”So, what did this year’s hunting competition rules become?”

Xin Fat Man didn’t notice that the conversation’s initiative had returned to his captain, holding the meeting minutes parchment, squinting over the detailed content again.

”Isn’t it that in previous years, over ninety regular hunting teams first went through a Round Robin, competing for seven or eight spots in the finals, then competed alongside the twenty teams who had pre-seeded spots for the Academy Cup?”

The fat man first sorted out his thoughts, then flicked the parchment, protesting angrily: ”This year, the Hunting Committee canceled the Round Robin! They’re directly doing a black box operation, determined by the Hunting Committee, for finals spots... their listed reason is to save a lot of time!”

”Oh oh oh, I have some impression of that.” Zheng Qing suddenly recalled the fuzzy picture in his mind, biting his chopsticks again: ”During the meeting, someone did mention that the school hunting competitions every year last for a month, severely affecting everyone’s study life. The Round Robin wasting time indeed is quite serious.”

”Was the person speaking wearing a red robe?” the fat man huffed discontentedly.

Zheng Qing shrugged, smiling as he ate two more mouthfuls of rice: ”What about the part you mentioned about rookie hunting teams being able to participate in the hunting competition?”

”Wasn’t it that only preparatory hunting teams who had been registered for a year, like our Absolution, were eligible to participate in the Round Robin and then fight for a spot in the finals?”

Mentioning this, Xin Fat Man became inflamed again:

”This year’s rules say that including rookie hunting teams, any hunting team can take the Hunting Committee’s qualification assessment... as long as they pass, they can directly enter the Academy Cup competition! Then what was the point of us wasting this year, with the Doctor filling out so many forms? No, I have to go listen to the Doctor’s opinion on this... it’s chaotic. And the Elders, didn’t they discuss this matter with their brother carefully? How can one trust hunting teams that come through such assessments!”

With that, the Fat Wizard left Zheng Qing, clutching the parchment tightly, rushing toward the library.

The lunch box in front of Zheng Qing was almost empty, he raised his chopsticks wanting the fat man to wait, but hesitated and gave up on the idea.

Indeed, this situation was somewhat unfair to the reserve hunting teams who had diligently accumulated points over the past year.

But fairness and unfairness are inherently very subtle concepts, difficult to satisfy everyone—like Matthew’s team, unable to enter the Round Robin due to their diviner suddenly dropping out. This too is unfair to them. Under the new rules, he just needs to find a new diviner to have a chance to participate in the school hunting competition again, surely with both hands raised in agreement.

And students like him surely form the majority of the school.

Thinking in this way, the ’School Hunting Competition Reform Measures’ promoted by the Student Council unexpectedly became quite reasonable. A reform that can earn most ordinary students’ appreciation, uniting the majority of students, is a good reform.

Thinking of this, the young cost student sighed slightly, using chopsticks to pick up the last small piece of pickled cucumber, tossed it in front of the tortoiseshell.

The little cat sniffed at it, covered its nose with disgust, its watery eyes squinted into a line, flicked its tail, and turned around to leave.

A picture of a heartless and ruthless scoundrel cat.

”Next time don’t come to mooch food from me!” the young cost student called after it.

The tortoiseshell didn’t turn back, leaped gracefully, and disappeared into the bushes by the roadside. On the bench’s side back, a twin-tailed squirrel atop the plane tree, having been watching the scene, laughed until it nearly fell.