National destiny: Global tower climbing skills have decreased by 10,000 times.

Lin Xi took a deep breath and clicked on the first level.

The familiar blue whale, "Neo, the Mother of Resurrection," reappeared on the big screen, presenting three starting options:

'Golden Pearl' - Receive 150 gold coins

Leafy Potion – Changes to a pair of attack/defense, loses 10 maximum health.

Mini Gashapon - Randomly obtain 1 Relic

The coaches looked at the three options and the map, and fell into deep thought.

"This picture... is much more dangerous than the last one."

"Yes, apart from the only route here, you have to fight at least one elite on every other route."

"Yes, and not only that, but we also have to go through at least three or four consecutive battles with only three campfires. If we don't manage the casualties well, the risk is very high."

At this point, the coaches all looked at Coach Lu. Coach Lu stared at the three options for a long time without saying a word before finally speaking:

"If there's only one path to choose from, then you can only go to the one store, and that store is quite far back, so your development will be very limited in front of the store."

"From this perspective, all three options are highly random."

The coaches nodded. Because, from this perspective, either option was a high-stakes gamble with a high degree of randomness.

Even if you choose the safest option, the "small gacha," you might still waste your early game momentum if you don't get any enhancement relics.

"Du Feiyang remains as steady as ever, even so he has minimized the risks."

The coaches agreed, watching as Du Feiyang on the screen chose the "small gashapon" and the most conservative route, which resulted in him drawing a "Red Bull".

"We're lucky. If it were 'Red Bull,' we'd have an advantage in the early game."

"Yeah, let's see if the other kids dare to choose."

Sure enough, after Du Feiyang got the 'Red Ox', his starting damage exceeded 8 points, making him kill monsters faster and quickly taking the lead.

Some of the other students were still hesitating, while others had already made their choices. After a moment's thought, Jin Ying gave up on the "Mini Gashapon" and chose the "Golden Pearl."

"Look, Kim Young chose 'Golden Pearl'."

"He's gambled all his chances on that one and only store."

Coach Lu analyzed, "No, it's not that simple. It's less of a gamble..."

"It's more accurate to say that he was extremely confident in his ability to make the initial transition."

The coaches looked back at the big screen and saw that Jin Ying's progress had started to improve. Although she was a small section behind Du Feiyang, she played steadily and cautiously throughout, and hardly lost any health.

Upon reaching the first campfire, Du Feiyang chose to activate "Double Release," while Jin Ying chose to activate "Electric Shock."

"What is Kim Young doing?"

"He's gambling; he's convinced there will be an electric ball in this round, and he's been building in that direction in advance."

"That's very bold and has a lot of ideas."

Sure enough, upon arriving at the first shop, Jin Ying decisively chose a "Barrage" card and then happened to find a "Thunder" card.

A coach stood up: "He's got it! He really guessed right!"

Coach Lu said, "No, it's not that simple. It's less about gambling and more about a deep understanding of the deck."

"Think about it, how many cards in the robot's entire deck can synergize with the Electric Ball? As long as one of them appears in the shop, his gamble will be a success."

"And coincidentally, from the very beginning he chose the 'Golden Pearl' gambling shop route... This kid has quite the ideas."

The coaches unanimously agreed that Kim Young's performance in this round had indeed exceeded their expectations.

After leaving the store, Jin Ying made rapid progress with her highly efficient electric ball flow, quickly surpassing Du Feiyang and taking the lead over everyone else.

Lin Xi had just reached the first campfire. The "Leaf Ointment" he chose at the start did not give him the status cards he wanted, and his planned "Status Machine" deck was disrupted once again.

Now, looking at the three reward cards given by the previous monster, and then at the scattered cards in his hand, he was caught in a dilemma:

"Sigh, what a bad start. Let's clean it up again, maybe the shop will release it."

So I clicked 'Skip' and selected 'Rest' at the campfire.

Soon, most of the trainees arrived at the first boss. Jin Ying and Du Feiyang were fighting the boss, and several instructors began to speculate:

"Hey? Who do you think will be number one this round?"

"I bet on Du Feiyang! He's one of my students, and he won the last game."

"Oh? Old Zhang, you're that confident? I don't think so. If that's the case, then I'll bet on Jin Ying this time!"

"I'll also bet on Kim Young."

"The two packs of 'Longhua' I lost!"

"I'd bet on Du Feiyang even if it meant a three-way guarantee!"

"You said it yourself, so don't go back on your word later."

"When did Old Zhang become so generous?"

"..."

While the coaches were arguing, the trainees had already reached the second floor.

Due to the high randomness of the initial game options and limited development, many players cannot control their battle losses and are blocked from advancing by the high deathrattle of the "Waterfall Behemoth".

"That was close." Lin Xi sighed. He had just drawn 'Buffer' in the last round, which blocked the massive damage from the final Deathrattle.

But precisely because he drew several extra cards, including the 'Buffer', he was essentially out of luck with the 'State Machine' again this time.

At this moment, a new number on the progress chart caught the coaches' attention.

"Look! A dark horse has emerged."

A student with the serial number 14, named "Lv Si", stood out and took the lead among the students, second only to Jin Ying and Du Feiyang.

"Who is this Lü Si again? I don't remember him at all."

"Look at you, the coach, you don't seem to care at all! I remember you! This Lü Si, the tall boy who doesn't talk much, always likes to sit at the back."

"I remember now, his grades were just average, but he always trained very hard and was one of the most obedient to the coach."

"Look at his deck—'Balance Ball Construction'! He's got it really good."

The coaches opened his deck page:

His deck features a balanced mix of Ice Puck and Electric Ball, along with a "Glass Craft" card, offering both offensive and defensive AOE capabilities. However, due to its low stats, it remains mediocre in the early game.

However, the 'Fragment Sorting' item dropped by the first-floor boss greatly increased his stats, and the previous 'Balance Sphere Construction' began to take effect, accelerating his progress.

"See! You can't go wrong by listening to us. Now Lü Si is finally showing some results, but some students just won't listen."

"It seems that the third spot has been secured."

After defeating the boss, Lin Xi looked at the three reward cards and became conflicted again, momentarily losing her way.

'Fragmentation' - Ability Card, grants 1 Focus.

'Supercritical state' - gain 4 points of energy.

'Activate' - Deals 11 damage to all enemies and releases all charged orbs.

"Why isn't there a scatter cannon again?!"

Lin Xi shouted in his heart, then reluctantly chose the 'supercritical state'.

"If I don't draw the key card again, I'm really going to die on the second floor."