Chapter 232: The Regional Selection Begins

The television screens across New Liberty lit up almost simultaneously.

Living rooms, dormitories, academy lounges, restaurants, student apartments, and even crowded city squares where enormous public screens had been installed.

Millions of people stopped whatever they were doing.

The Inter-Academy Selection Tournament had reached its next stage- the City Qualifiers were over, and now came the part everyone had been waiting for.

The screen displayed the familiar emblem of the tournament- a silver circle surrounded by thirty-two smaller symbols.

Each symbol represented one of New Liberty’s thirty-two cities, from City A to City AF.

The tournament’s official broadcast music played for several seconds before fading. Then the screen switched. Two announcers appeared inside a professional broadcasting studio.

A man and a woman, both wearing formal black-and-silver suits bearing the tournament insignia.

The male announcer smiled toward the camera.

"Good evening, citizens of New Liberty."

The female announcer followed.

"After months of intense competition, countless battles, unexpected awakenings, shocking victories, and more than a few results that nobody saw coming..." She paused. "The City Qualifiers have officially concluded."

The words appeared across the screen.

[CITY QUALIFIERS - COMPLETE]

A wave of excitement swept across the country, but the male announcer immediately continued.

"And now..."

The screen behind them changed. The thirty-two city symbols disappeared, and four enormous symbols replaced them.

NORTH, EAST, SOUTH, and WEST.

"Tonight," he announced, "we will reveal the academies that have successfully qualified from every city."

The female announcer nodded.

"These academies will advance to the Regional Selection."

A graphic appeared.

[INTER-ACADEMY SELECTION TOURNAMENT]

[REGIONAL SELECTION]

[QUALIFIED ACADEMIES - ANNOUNCEMENT]

Then came the sentence that instantly changed the atmosphere. The male announcer leaned slightly toward the camera.

"And to all qualified academies..." A small smile appeared on his face. "Your preparation time is over."

"Because the Regional Selection begins today."

Across the country, students froze.

"What?"

"Today?!"

"Already?!"

The female announcer continued.

"Unlike the City Qualifiers, there will be no gathering ceremony. No traveling to a central venue. No opening parade. And... no preliminary waiting period."

"The Regional Selection will begin simultaneously across all four regions."

A countdown appeared on the screen.

[REGIONAL SELECTION]

[START TIME: 20:00]

The male announcer continued.

"Every qualified academy has already received its official regional assignment."

"The locations, rules, objectives, survival conditions, restrictions, and advancement requirements have been delivered directly to the academies."

"And from this moment onward..." He paused. "The countdown has begun."

***

City A...

The broadcast changed, and a large letter appeared.

[CITY A]

Below it were the names of the academies that had qualified, one by one. The first academy appeared, then the second, and so on.

Each name was accompanied by its City Qualifier ranking. Students watching from their homes immediately began cheering. Some screamed. Others jumped from their seats, and a few stared at the screen in disbelief.

The female announcer spoke over the broadcast.

"These are the academies that have earned the right to represent City A in the Northern Regional Selection."

The screen shifted.

[CITY B]

More academy names appeared. The announcement continued, city after city, while the entire country watched.

There was no massive arena, no cheering crowd, and no students standing beside one another. Everyone was just watching from wherever they happened to be, and somehow... That made it feel even more serious.

There was nowhere to hide from the announcement. Everyone could see and understand exactly what was happening. The names of the strongest academies in each city were being carved into the next stage of the tournament.

***

City B...

When the broadcast reached City B, the atmosphere became noticeably louder. Several powerful academies appeared. Then finally...

[SUN’S PEAK ACADEMY]

A cheer erupted inside the academy dormitory, and students watching from their rooms began shouting.

"We made it!"

"We’re through!"

"Regional Selection!"

Elsewhere in the city, another group of students watched the same screen.

[IRONVALE ACADEMY]

Their name appeared, and the students immediately erupted. Someone actually jumped onto a couch.

"We’re in!"

Another student clenched his fist.

"Regional Selection..."

The excitement was obvious, but there were also academies whose names failed to appear. For those students, the broadcast was painfully quiet.

Some lowered their heads, while some stared at the television for several seconds after their city’s results disappeared. For them, the tournament was over.

But for everyone whose name had appeared? It was only getting started.

***

City AF...

Eventually, the broadcast reached the final city.

[CITY AF]

The female announcer’s voice became slightly more solemn.

"And finally... the academies advancing from City AF."

The first names appeared, followed by others, until...

[WEST TOWN SAINTS ACADEMY]

The screen briefly displayed the academy’s name, and beneath it were the qualifying students. For several seconds, the broadcast lingered on their names.

Across City AF, countless people immediately recognized them, especially Ezra.

The student whose performance during the final moments of the City Qualifier had become one of the tournament’s biggest mysteries.

Some viewers immediately began discussing him.

"Is he really using Spatial Light?"

"That doesn’t look like Spatial Light."

"Who cares? Did you see what he did?"

"He took twelve attacks from an A-Rank!"

"Liar! Why didn’t I see that?"

"I have my sources. It is true. He took those attacks!"

"Then killed it in one hit!"

"Three punches! Did you even watch it well?!"

"No. It was three punches after saying nine more."

"That’s even crazier!"

Meanwhile, inside West Town Saints Academy, Ezra sat silently in front of a television. Kelvina was beside him. Perry stood behind the couch.

The three watched their academy’s name remain on the screen.

Kelvina grinned.

"Regional Selection." Her fingers slowly curled into fists. "I wonder who we’re going to fight."

Perry sighed.

"Can you think about anything other than fighting?"

Kelvina looked at him.

"No."

Perry closed his eyes.

"I knew it."

Ezra, however, said nothing. His purple eyes remained fixed on the television, as the announcers continued to show the Four Regions

The broadcast switched once again, and a map of New Liberty appeared. Thirty-two cities were divided into four sections.

The female announcer explained:

"Each region contains eight cities. Every academy that qualified from those cities will participate within its assigned region. However, the Regional Selection will not simply be another collection of city battles."

The map vanished, and a massive glowing structure appeared on the screen. A circular object surrounded by four enormous rings.

[REGIONAL CORE]

The male announcer spoke.

"The objective is simple, and the same as stated earlier."

"Reach the Regional Core."

The screen went black. Then three words appeared.

[ONE OBJECTIVE.]

"However..."

The three words shattered.

[MULTIPLE STAGES.]

The female announcer smiled.

"The path to the Regional Core will be divided into several stages. Each stage will test a different aspect of an academy’s ability to survive, cooperate, adapt, and compete."

The male announcer continued.

"Your academy may fight. You may cooperate. You may negotiate. You may retreat. You may even choose to avoid combat entirely."

"But remember..." His expression became serious. "Every decision you make will affect your chances of reaching the Core."

The screen displayed one final warning.

[THE REGIONAL SELECTION MAY LAST MORE THAN ONE MONTH.]

That sentence caused the greatest reaction yet.

"More than a month?!"

"You’re kidding!"

"So we’re supposed to fight for an entire month?!"

"What kind of selection is this?!"

"No one asked you to fight for a month, you idiot..."

"..."

Inside homes across the country, parents immediately started talking. Teachers began reviewing academy preparations, students started calling teammates, and academy administrators? They were already moving.

Because the next announcement made everything official- Preparation Begins

The male announcer looked directly into the camera.

"Qualified academies have been instructed to prepare immediately. You will not be transported to a central gathering point. You will not wait for another announcement. You will begin from your assigned starting location."

The female announcer continued.

"At precisely 20:00 tonight..." A countdown appeared.

[03:47:12]

"The Regional Selection will begin."

Across the country, the realization finally settled in. This wasn’t an announcement about something happening next week, or sometime in the future. It was happening today.

The male announcer smiled.

"To every student who has earned the right to advance..." He paused. "Congratulations."

The female announcer finished.

"And to every academy that will participate..." Her smile disappeared. "Prepare yourselves."

The tournament emblem filled the screen- then came the final announcement.

[REGIONAL SELECTION]

[FOUR REGIONS]

[THIRTY-TWO CITIES]

[QUALIFIED ACADEMIES CONFIRMED]

[START TIME: 20:00 TODAY]

[ESTIMATED DURATION: ONE MONTH OR LONGER]

The broadcast ended, and the television returned to its normal programming, but nobody watching immediately changed the channel.

For several seconds, millions of people just stared at the screen. Then- chaos.

***

At Sun’s Peak Academy, Graham McGregor was already standing.

"Everyone." His teammates turned toward him. "We have less than four hours."

He grabbed the academy’s preparation tablet.

"Check every weapon."

"Restock everything."

"Review our abilities."

"Call the support team."

His expression hardened.

"We’re not going into the Regional Selection unprepared."

***

At Ironvale Academy, students were already running through the halls.

"Where’s the equipment list?!"

"Get the medical supplies!"

"Who’s responsible for food?"

"Why are you packing snacks?!"

"They said it could last more than a month!"

"That’s exactly why!"

***

At West Town Saints Academy, Kelvina was already stretching.

Perry stared at her. "We haven’t even received the starting conditions yet."

Kelvina smiled.

"Then let’s find out."

Ezra stood by the window. His reflection stared back at him. Behind him, the television replayed the Regional Selection announcement.

Ezra quietly said:

"So it begins."

And in countless other academies across New Liberty, the same scene was unfolding, while the clock continued counting down.

[03:21:47]

[03:21:46]

[03:21:45]

The Regional Selection had not even begun yet, but already... New Liberty was preparing for war.