In the subsequent lottery drawing, several unusual "interest tickets" indeed emerged, though none were as challenging as the one Lin Fu had drawn. However, at the end, there was one that utterly shocked everyone.
"Team competition, Helheim Star."
The one who drew this lot was just a small Military Academy with little fame, and the team leader was a cute, soft-looking girl.
When she saw the slip of paper in her hand, she was completely stunned.
She stood dumbfounded on stage for a full minute before snapping back to reality.
"A team competition on Helheim Star? They’re really going all out this year!"
"Interesting." Qin Mo stroked his chin, mumbling to himself, "I thought without Mervin, this year’s competition would be boring, but I didn’t expect the surprise to come later."
"Holy shit! They’re really stepping it up."
Ji Xiu jumped up on the spot, "Competing in that godforsaken place? Are you sure?"
As the Galaxy Empire’s designated planet for imprisoning the most vicious criminals, Helheim Star was infamous, a name known to everyone. Parents would often scare their misbehaving children by saying, "If you don’t behave, I’ll send you to Helheim Star."
And immediately, the child would behave.
Helheim Star, cold and misty, its shadow side in perpetual night four-fifths of the time, had an extremely harsh environment where many high-tech products would fail to work.
Even the bigwigs on the main stage were in uproar, and the previously animated host was momentarily dumbfounded, but they quickly received instructions, took over the slip, and began to explain the details.
After the lottery introduction came the media Q&A session.
The participating students were obligated to cooperate and couldn’t leave early.
"Rustle rustle rustle..."
"Make way, make way."
The atmosphere of the venue, which had been relatively normal up until then, instantaneously turned into a melee of shoving and pushing as all the reporters swarmed towards Elbert’s side, with many Military Academy’s dedicated media outlets forgetting to support their own teams and rushing over with zeal.
Yuan Hai, from Channel Three, the dedicated mouthpiece of Elbert, got squeezed out to the perimeter.
He simply couldn’t compete with the crowd.
"Lin Fu, look over here."
"Lin Fu, give us a smile, just a smile."
Amongst the shoving, people fell, were stepped on, equipment got knocked over; there was every sort of chaos, leaving not only the students from the neglected Military Academies embarrassed, but also causing the online viewers of the live broadcast to be shocked.
But humanity’s rubbernecking nature had them more eager to watch such a lively scene.
The human propensity for gathering was engraved in their DNA, and in no time, more and more people crammed into the live stream, until the viewer count exploded.
"It really is a world where fortunes can flip in the blink of an eye."
Someone muttered under their breath.
"Last time at Eighth Star Port, nobody paid any attention, and now they’ve made such a quick comeback."
"Hmph! It’s all scandal, what’s there to be proud of."
"Look at this small incident and the havoc it’s caused. I’ve always said they’re not fit for the spotlight, totally unfit. Even with the ladder all set, they still can’t climb."
Someone muttered this from within the crowd. If you tried to see who it was, you couldn’t find the specific individual.
Then, turning to look back at Elbert’s side with its chaotic scene, it seemed... maybe... they had a point?
Just as this thought surfaced among the crowd, something jaw-dropping occurred.
A tall and graceful figure leapt onto a table, stomping down hard, and the venue fell silent in an instant.
Up on the main stage, the bigwigs were so angry that each one’s blood pressure rocketed, and they saw stars before their eyes.
"How arrogant, how arrogant."
"Excessive, this is just excessive."
"I’ve never seen a freshman dare to jump onto a table at a news conference."