The middle-aged bearded man saw that the speaker was a young girl and guessed she might be a classmate of the bear demi-human.
Anyone who would mess with their hair to look like that was either crazy or had the skills to back up their arrogance...
So, he didn't get angry at being exposed. He just scoffed,
"I'm doing this for your classmate's own good! A first-year student should focus on school instead of joining bounty competitions!
Tell you what, I'll transfer you another hundred Star Coins. Let's just say I'm treating you to some nutrient fluid!"
"...No need."
Zhang Lyra hung her head, her expression unreadable.
What she lacked wasn't five or six hundred Star Coins. The current team was no longer willing to take her into competitions, so her plans were completely ruined...
"Suit yourself!"
The bearded middle-aged man left with the other two.
There was only one Qilin Military Academy on Planet Shuomo! They wouldn't dare actually harm the students!
Although what he did was underhanded, no one could definitely find fault with it!
It wasn't like he didn't give her a cut. That little demi-human girl had to accept it no matter what. He was just teaching her about the real world early!
Zhang Lyra also knew there was no point arguing with them. These thugs definitely weren't doing this for the first time...
Wang Tianwei, on the other hand, was more curious about why Lyra, an absolute top student from Class A, would come to fight in the arena.
Although the Zero Boundary Arena looked quite official from the outside... as far as she knew, apart from professional arena fighters, military students like them coming here was no different from fighting in underground matches...
Besides, she had previously said she was preparing for midterms, and she definitely hadn't just met those old veterans today...
Knowing she had been scammed, Zhang Lyra was shrouded in a gloomy aura. Even after the three of them had walked far away, she didn't say a word.
Wang Tianwei pulled her outside to sit on a public bench and bought a drink, handing it over.
"...Tell me, what happened?"
Zhang Lyra stared blankly at the crowd for a long time, while fine condensation slowly formed on the side of the cold cup in her hands.
Wang Tianwei didn't rush her. She just took occasional sips of her own drink and opened her optical computer to search for information on the "Zero Boundary Arena."
"...I want to make money."
It took a long time for Zhang Lyra to finally squeeze out this sentence.
Wang Tianwei turned to her, signaling that she was listening.
Zhang Lyra didn't dare look at her expression, but the lack of strange judgments gave her a little more courage.
"My family needs money... The school is closed during the week, and as a demi-human, it's not easy for me to find a part-time job.
The competition in Class A is fierce, and when I have time, I want to study more... So after looking around, fighting in the arena is the best choice.
I just didn't expect the people I met to be so unreliable."
Zhang Lyra spoke more fluently as she went on. After explaining the whole story, she felt much more relieved.
Taking a sip of the cold drink, the sweet, carbonated water cooled her from her mouth all the way to her stomach, and she no longer felt as dazed as before.
There's a first time for everything. At least she had tried the preliminaries, right?
If these people were no good, she would just find someone else next time!
Wang Tianwei remembered she hadn't seen her in the cafeteria for a week.
"So you're so short on money that you don't even eat lunch? I remember you have a scholarship, right? Have you applied for a Qilin student loan?"
Zhang Lyra gave a bitter smile.
"My family situation is a bit special... It's not like I can't afford to eat at all. Last week I really was drinking nutrient fluid, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to hold out."
Wang Tianwei watched her silently, waiting for her to finish.
"...It's just that thinking about my family eating the cheapest nutrient fluid while I'm eating in the school cafeteria gives me a sense of guilt...
I originally wanted to earn some extra money so I could help out with household expenses when I go back for summer vacation, and maybe improve their meals..."
"...Then why didn't you find people you know? Those three guys from just now looked totally unreliable. Did you not want others to know?"
Zhang Lyra shook her head slightly.
"No... I invited a few classmates, but they all refused. At this time, everyone probably just wants to focus on their studies."
No wonder! Wang Tianwei fell silent for a moment.
"Is this legal?"
Hearing her question, Zhang Lyra almost choked.
"Cough, cough! Of course it's legal! 'Zero Boundary' is the largest arena on Planet Shuomo, and many famous competitors come from their clubs!
The arenas under their banner are all registered, and they pay bounties promptly... That's why I chose this one."
Wiping the condensation off the cup with her finger,
"The school doesn't forbid students from going out to compete... Of course, there probably isn't anyone else who comes out to participate in bounty matches this early."
Wang Tianwei asked curiously,
"Early?"
"Yeah... Some students might come to participate in arena matches to gain combat experience right before graduation. If they get a good ranking, they can even earn extra academy credits.
It's just that the matches here are real mecha combat... not simulation pods. So if you get injured or your mecha is damaged, you have to bear the cost yourself.
Also, the people here use all kinds of methods... They don't fight as cleanly as they do at school."
She had only found this out today.
"Ah... I see."
Wang Tianwei nodded, biting on her straw.
Zhang Lyra had already moved past her earlier displeasure, her eyes looking up at the clouds in the sky.
"Actually, I saw on the Zero Boundary forums that people were scalping competition slots. I just didn't expect to run into them so quickly..."
Wang Tianwei curled her lips.
"Looking on the bright side, it's better than them scamming you directly in the arena."
"Haha, you're right."
Another moment of silence followed.
Wang Tianwei thought about it for a long time... It was true!
Although Qilin didn't have that many large and small elimination exams, how could a military academy's management not be strict? Where would she find the extra time for a work-study program?
And as a warrior, Zhang Lyra was going to the battlefield in the future... If she neglected her studies just to work, it would be putting the cart before the horse.
"Do you earn a lot fighting matches here?"
"In the beginning, the prize money for a match is five thousand. If you win, you get the qualification to fight in Zero Boundary.
After that, it ranges from fifty thousand to two hundred thousand.
If you can level up to LV2 or LV3, people will start placing bets, and you can earn anywhere from tens of thousands to millions per match.
If you make a name for yourself, you can earn over ten million... Of course, it also depends on the event. I heard there's no upper limit."
"Huh? Then repairing a mecha must be quite a big expense, right?"
Zhang Lyra's gaze returned to the cup in her hands.
"Yeah, but Zero Boundary has its own repair bays, and you can get a discount on mecha repairs.
Minor damages can be put off for a while. If you win a few more matches, you can even earn enough money to modify your mecha..."
That's right! Individual soldiers also needed to modify their own mechas!
In Lyra's situation, if she didn't find a way to make money, she would probably still be using the prototype mecha issued by Qilin by the time she graduated...
"Emmm... Then you need a reliable team of teammates even more, and preferably strong ones! Otherwise, the money you earn won't even cover the maintenance and repair fees."
"Good teammates are hard to find..."
Zhang Lyra slumped into her chair, her pair of bear ears drooping.
"What's the minimum number of people for a team here? Are there any restrictions?"
"Three people, over eighteen years old. Other than that, there isn't really anything..."
Wang Tianwei nodded and began typing on her optical computer.
"Let's go."
"?"
Zhang Lyra looked at her in confusion.
"We're going to wait for our teammates somewhere else!"
