Before the tournament

Max checked the top 10,000 rankings and saw himself at a very dicey 9201th spot. 

Although he had some leeway between himself and the 10,000 th spot, the last day before the tournament was bound to be crazy with those around 10-12,000th ranks trying their best to somehow make it to top 10,000. 

This meant that Max was left with a tricky situation where he could not take it easily, however, he could not even take any big risks as unlike his friends who were at least in a group of three when they went in the forest, Max was dead alone. 

For Max the million points sent by the principal were a god-sent opportunity, because although he had accepted his fate of not being able to take part in the tournament, his heart would have undoubtedly ached when he supported his friends from the stands.