Luo Yu frowned.
"If that's the case, isn't the probability of not hitting the mark extremely low?"
The gaunt man said, "Every person who places a bet can predict ten rankings, and if they get even one right, they earn points. The more accurate predictions, the better. Of course, the more people who guess the same as you, the smaller your profits will be, and you might even lose money."
Luo Yu nodded.
"I think I roughly understand how it works."
"Couldn't the rankings be rigged in advance, though?"
Luo Yu thought, since this gaunt youth could reveal so much to him in advance, then others could connect with the freshmen too. If they staged a fake contest, wouldn't that be wildly profitable?
The gaunt youth shook his head repeatedly.
"This betting pool is run by the student council. Whoever dares to cheat is as good as dead. No one has the guts to do it—who would dare to offend the student council."
"You might earn the points but not live to spend them. Don't want to stay at the school, huh?"
"Junior, what rank do you want to bet on yourself? If it's beyond a hundred, don't even mention it; ranks beyond a hundred aren't included in the betting pool."
Luo Yu glanced at the gaunt youth. He could sense a certain gambler's aura.
The stench of gambling was overpowering.
"Senior, bet on me for second place," Luo Yu said.
The gaunt youth first nodded, ready to tap his phone screen, when suddenly, his body shuddered, and he looked up at Luo Yu in astonishment.
"What?"
"Second?"
"You want to bet on yourself for second place?"
"Yeah," Luo Yu smiled and said, "I think I can be quite confident about taking second place."
"Only quite confident?" The gaunt youth took a deep breath, "Junior, you really can't joke about this. My points didn't come from a windfall. What makes you think you can take second, especially with a whole bunch of hot favorites this year?"
"What makes me think that?" Luo Yu pondered for a moment. If he wasn't taking first, then he was aiming for second—who needed to waste any more effort?
The gaunt youth began listing names as if he were counting treasures:
"This year's top favorites for the first-year new students are undoubtedly Great Xia's God's Child. We've all seen the competition videos from the Da Jing martial arts exam, so practically everyone is predicting him for first place, which means there's no money in predicting that correctly."
"Second place is harder to predict. War God Li Tianwang, the successor of Lyu Bu, Lyu Chan, the most beautiful freshman girl, Dajiuer, Huo Tongtian of Zhenyue, the Grassroot Hero Xu Baiday... these are all strong contenders for second place. Brother, you just blurted out second place, really shocking me."
Without offering further explanation, Luo Yu, in front of him, bound the app to his student card information and predicted a second-place finish for himself.
"My goodness, Junior, this isn't something to joke about!" The gaunt youth was taken aback, thinking it was a joke. But now you're serious?
Luo Yu looked up at him.
He directly wagered all one thousand of his points into the betting pool.
The gaunt youth: "????"
"My heavens."
"Stop kidding, those thousand points are only a new student privilege, and it's a waste if you blow it."
"Second place, easy," Luo Yu stated calmly.
The gaunt youth sized him up.
He saw nothing special about the unremarkable young man in front of him, other than his big black-framed glasses.
Little did he know, he had inadvertently come across Luo Yu's sealed true self, his glasses!
"Bro, you're really bold—bolder than the bold ones," the gaunt youth remarked.
This all-in move completely baffled the gaunt youth.
Was he going to follow the bet or not?
Indeed, it was a difficult multiple-choice question. This junior looked like he was playing around and unreliable.
Then, he watched Luo Yu swiftly operate the app, completing predictions for the top ten names.
The gaunt youth was left with his mouth agape, utterly stunned.
My goodness!
This youngster?
He'd been frantically searching for combat videos of all the new students in the past few days, analyzing their fighting capability, and painstakingly predicting the ranks.
After having bet only a little over a hundred twenty points, he felt heartbroken.
Yet this freshman, with a series of clicks, input ten names without a hint of thought—it looked as unreliable as could be.
The gaunt youth felt he shouldn't be fooling around with the new student. Better to stick to the rankings he had set the night before. He sighed at Luo Yu:
"Bro, you've been too hasty in your betting. This time you're definitely going to lose everything you have."
Luo Yu maintained his expression, even feeling a bit like smirking.
He asked, "Senior, why not bet on the rankings the way I entered them? It's a sure win."
The gaunt young man shook his head repeatedly.
"Forget it, forget it!"
"I really can't get involved."
He complained inwardly, thinking, You want to die, but I surely don't want to die with you.
While they were talking, they had already arrived at the gymnasium.
The interior of the gymnasium was spacious, surrounded by roomy sofa-style seating, seemingly able to accommodate tens of thousands of people without any problem.
The flooring in the center of the court was made of special spirit wood, a material developed after the resurgence of spiritual energy.
Many of the sofa seats were already taken by early arrivals, with luggage placed to one side, some whispering to each other and others resting with their eyes closed.
Luo Yu's entrance did not attract much attention.
"Junior, just find a seat anywhere; I won't keep you company," the senior said.
Luo Yu hesitated. "I was wondering, everyone came directly with their luggage; why not head to the dorm first?"
The gaunt young man blinked.
"Good question, congratulations on spotting the oversight."
Having said that, the gaunt young man didn't offer an explanation and just scrammed.
Luo Yu smiled and didn't press further.
He looked around and finally chose a spot with fewer people to sit down, placing his luggage aside as well.
The gaunt young man who had fled patted his chest.
He let out a sigh of relief.
"This junior seems quite sharp when he talks."
"Why so foolish when placing bets, giving himself second place and randomizing the others? He really doesn't take points seriously at all."
"Bet with him?"
"Only idiots would, and I'm not one."
"Bai Feng, weren't you responsible for receiving the new students? You're done already?" A young yet dark-skinned man approached.
"No, I've just escorted a junior here," the gaunt young man, Bai Feng, answered. "Li Heizi, did you place your bets?"
The dark-skinned man nodded. "I did. Luoshenzi is unquestionably predicted to be first; anyone not an idiot predicts Luoshenzi first."
"For second place, it has to be War God Li Zhenyue, obviously. His Ancient Spirit is an unbeatable legend, almost mythical."
"For the others, it's up to the wise to see wisdom and the benevolent, benevolence."
"I think the Grassroot Hero Xu Baiday might be a potential second place, given that his Ancient Spirit is indeed a genuine demonic immortal," Bai Feng said.
Li Heizi chuckled. "We'll just have to wait and see."
Bai Feng continued, "Let me tell you something interesting. That junior who just arrived went all in with a thousand points, betting on himself for second place and randomly picked nine others for the top ten."
"Ouch— Which newbie is that bold? What's his name?" Li Heizi looked shocked.
"Named Xia Luo, never heard of him before, probably some obscure nobody," Bai Feng guessed.
"That's way too bold. Has his brain short-circuited? Isn't that just giving points away for free?" Li Heizi expressed his bewilderment. "Show me what his predicted rankings are."
Bai Feng tapped on the screen, displaying Luo Yu's predicted top ten rankings.
Li Heizi shook his head incessantly.
"Impossible. If he hits even one, no, to be safe, if he hits two, I'll eat shit, a whole bucket of it."
"You didn't follow him and bet the same, did you?"
Bai Feng laughed in surprise and waved his hand:
"It's a joke. Although I'm short on points, am I so indecisive as to bet with a foolish junior? That would be really stupid of me."
"Ha, knew you wouldn't be that dumb," Li Heizi kept shaking his head.
As the sun set and the gymnasium lights came on, more and more new students arrived to report.
Luo Yu even spotted a few familiar faces.
Lyu Chan in men's clothing, the campus goddess Diao Lingluo with a white half-sleeve shirt and jeans yet still unable to conceal her figure, and the youthful and spirited Huo Tongtian with his bright teeth and rosy lips.
However, he didn't go over to greet them as he was in low-profile mode.
Just then, the gymnasium stirred as a woman walked in...