Chapter 4
Soon after, the fully equipped Class 1 students returned to the field.
When someone saw that Chu Yunmiao was still in her everyday clothes, they asked in surprise, “Class monitor, aren’t you going to change into protective gear?”
Chu Yunmiao idly toyed with Yu Changning’s brand-new Instructor Card. “If you go out on rescue missions in the future, are the hostages going to be sitting around in protective gear too?” She looked at everyone. “Instructor Yu has been on leave for several days; our training progress was already delayed. This game is a great opportunity. I’ll use it to observe everyone’s overall ability, so I hope you’ll all give it your full strength.”
Lin Mo lifted her chin, looking completely confident. “That’s hard to say. Whether we can give it our full strength depends on how strong the opponent is. If the opponent’s just a paper tiger, then we only need to use thirty percent of our power to win. How are we supposed to show our full strength then?”
She didn’t lower her voice when she said it, and Yu Changning, whom she was clearly targeting, was not far away. She must have heard her.
But the new instructor was currently busy adjusting the field data and didn’t react at all.
Lin Mo only assumed she was intimidated. Smiling, she exchanged a proud glance with the others.
Chu Yunmiao frowned slightly. “Don’t underestimate her.”
Lin Mo did a few warm-up movements, looking eager to fight. “Don’t worry, class monitor. This is about the instructor we’ll be getting next, so we definitely won’t be careless.”
The boy behind her echoed, “Sister Lin Mo is right!
“Class monitor, don’t worry. We already worked out our tactics in the equipment area just now. Just wait and see.”
Chu Yunmiao remembered the one speaking. He was big-built and usually had a rather fiery temper, but at the moment he was holding a defensive weapon in his hands, clearly having compromised for the sake of the tactical setup. From this detail alone, she could tell that during the time Lin Mo and the others had been away, they really had given serious thought to their battle plan. Chu Yunmiao relaxed a little and finally said, “Mm. Do your best.”
The whole Class 1 answered in unison, “Yes!”
At that point, Chu Yunmiao had nothing else to say. She waved at them, then took the Instructor Card and turned toward the center of the field.
The field had already been adjusted by Yu Changning.
The game area could roughly be seen as a perfect circle. At the center stood a climbing platform nearly three meters high, and Chu Yunmiao was standing on top of it. To reach the platform, one had to pass through layer after layer of randomly generated obstacles. Yu Changning had intentionally increased the difficulty; as a result, even without considering the matter of competing for the Instructor Card, just running from the edge to the center would take quite some effort.
Yu Changning casually chose a position and turned back to confirm with the Class 1 students, “Ready?”
Lin Mo nodded.
After she gathered everyone for a one-minute discussion, the Class 1 students dispersed and took their starting positions. Lin Mo and two other tall students in the class each chose a route farther away from Yu Changning, while most of the others deliberately or unconsciously stayed near Yu Changning.
The tactic was simple, but effective—
Lin Mo and the few who were strong at combat would break through and try to get to Chu Yunmiao as early as possible to take the Instructor Card. The others would give up on clearing the course entirely. They had only one task: stop Yu Changning and buy their teammates that one minute of card-holding time.
“The countdown starts, 3—2—1—go!”
At the system announcement, the twenty participants rushed into the game area like cannonballs.
Because the obstacles were generated randomly, the two Class 1 students closest to Yu Changning only discovered after stepping into the obstacle zone that the first stage of this route was a hail of gunfire. Gun barrels hidden everywhere would use heat sensing to lock onto intruders and fire once they had a target. Of course, the firepower wouldn’t cause actual bodily harm, but the system would calculate the damage value; once a trainee lost too much life, they would be eliminated immediately.
The blond boy closest to Yu Changning’s side immediately lit up. “The training ground is helping us!” He shot a look at the teammate behind him. “Luke!”
The other gave him an “OK” gesture, indicating he understood.
The next second, as the three of them charged in, the firing system activated. Guided by the sensors, the gun barrels adjusted their angles and began shooting at the intruders. Luke was right behind Yu Changning; seizing the moment, he tried to shove her. Just as his hand reached out, he realized Yu Changning’s body had turned with startling agility, not only dodging the bullets aimed at her but also neatly avoiding his sneak attack. Before Luke could even react to how she had done it, two bullets whizzed past his calf.
Luke cursed loudly. “What the hell?!”
His blond teammate answered, “The firepower’s way too dense! It’s at least two levels harder than our previous training. Be careful!” Even as he said that, he himself immediately raised his laser gun and took aim at Yu Changning.
Unfortunately, his threat was less of a danger than the field’s own shooting system. Yu Changning moved like a ghost; not a single bullet even grazed a strand of her hair.
Just as she was about to clear the first obstacle, the blond boy shouted, “Don’t let her out!”
At that moment, with no time to communicate, the two Alpha first-years made the same decision in perfect tacit agreement—
They abandoned all attempts to dodge the system’s bullets and focused entirely on attacking Yu Changning.
After all, damage was cumulative. Getting hit a few times at the start wouldn’t immediately eliminate them; if they could use those few seconds well, they might be able to take their opponent down with them.
Luke’s main weapon was shaped somewhat like a whip, but the body of the whip was made of special metal. The instant it made contact with an enemy, it could extend hooks and latch tightly onto the target. The distance was just right. He whipped it out with all his strength, aiming for Yu Changning’s right foot as she stepped forward.
“Got her!” Luke shouted excitedly.
He tightened the whip, wanting to yank Yu Changning back. But in the next second, he felt a surge of tremendous force, and his own body was dragged forward uncontrollably.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang—
The five crucial laser shots fired in quick succession by the blond boy all hit Luke.
[Luke, eliminated.]
[Edson, eliminated.]
“What are you doing?” The blond boy looked at Luke in annoyance. “If you hadn’t blocked her, I would’ve shot her dead!”
He had been completely focused on firing, and in the end it was the bullets from the system hitting him that got him eliminated.
Luca was still dazed. “I got... pulled, pulled over by her.”
“I should’ve just gone after her myself,” the blond boy grumbled. “Your aim is decent enough, but your strength is way too weak.”
Luke came back to his senses and rolled his eyes at him. “Better than you. Half your shots missed, and the other half all hit your own side.”
The two glared at each other, neither willing to back down. After a long moment, Luke was the first to calm down. He sighed and said, “Still, the new instructor really does have some skills. So this is what a fourth-year’s strength looks like?” His face looked a little green. “If I had to train to her level, just how much suffering would I have to go through these four years?”
The blond boy got up and hauled him to his feet. “Don’t start praising the other side first.” He looked into the field. “Look, Sister Lin Mo and Daqiang are already at the third obstacle, and that new instructor is still stuck at the second...”
Before he could finish, the system prompts rang out one after another.
[Gong Zeyang, eliminated.]
[Tan Zhi, eliminated.]
[Stephanie, eliminated.]
“Holy shit?!” The blond boy’s expression changed instantly. “Aren’t they the tacit teamwork trio? They lost too?”
Luke looked baffled. “Wasn’t the second stage ahead a gravity-shift zone? A gravity zone can’t deal damage, so it can’t eliminate people... How did the three of them get out?”
The two walked straight toward the second stage. Before they even saw their three teammates, they heard Stephanie crying, “I was crushed by eight times gravity and couldn’t, c-couldn’t get up, sob sob, but that person didn’t seem affected at all. She just ran right past me. Sob sob. Right before she went out, she turned back and threw a bullet at me, and it directly shattered the warning light on my protective suit, sob sob, so I was eliminated. Did, did she cheat? Why do I feel like only the three of us were pinned to the ground like turtles and couldn’t move, while she was completely fine?”
That turtle comparison was far too vivid. If not for the speaker’s miserable tone, Luke felt he would have burst out laughing on the spot. He and the blond boy exchanged a look and tacitly stayed where they were, not going any farther.
A moment later, the blond boy coughed to break the awkward silence. “L-let’s see how Sister Lin Mo and the others do. Sister Lin Mo comes from a military family; she’s very strong.”
Luke nodded mechanically. “S-Sister Lin Mo can do it...”
They said they trusted her, but when they looked at each other, both could see the guilt in the other’s eyes. They each turned away and said nothing else, only swallowing dryly.
Next, the system issued a few more elimination announcements one after another, and without exception, they were all Class 1 members. By the time the number of eliminated Class 1 students reached eight, Chu Yunmiao, standing on the high platform, noticed that no one was still trying to stop Yu Changning’s advance. Based on her understanding of Lin Mo, if the entire tactic had indeed been formulated by Lin Mo, then they should now be entering the second stage.
Since harassment wasn’t having much effect, they would switch from offense to defense and begin preparing for the second round of defense.
It had to be said that the eight “sacrificed” members were still valuable; Yu Changning’s pace really had been slowed.
When Lin Mo was the first to climb up onto the platform and reach her side, Chu Yunmiao wasn’t surprised at all.
“Class monitor!” Lin Mo was sweating lightly at the temples, clearly finding the obstacles ahead far from easy. She hurriedly wiped her sweat and, still panting, reached out toward Chu Yunmiao. “Quick, quick, quick! The Instructor Card!”
Chu Yunmiao hesitated for a moment, then handed it over before anyone could notice. “Well done.”
Lin Mo flashed a self-satisfied smile. “Easy peasy~”
The next second, Ling Hongqiang and Anthony, who had also been assigned to clear the course, arrived at the platform. At the same time, a countdown board appeared on the system screen.
[Class 1 faction — 00:59]
Seeing the seconds steadily decreasing, Lin Mo tightened her grip on the Instructor Card. “All right, just defend now!”
She glanced down from the platform and saw that Yu Changning had only just begun climbing, so she said to the two beside her, “Follow the plan. I’m falling back to the concealment zone; you two stop her.”
After saying that, she turned and left.
Before she even reached the edge of the platform, she suddenly heard two heavy bangs behind her. Before Lin Mo could even understand what that meant, the foot stepping forward was abruptly tripped.
Then she heard a cool, calm voice. “Going back where?”
The last thought in Lin Mo’s mind before she fell was—
“Is this person fucking teleporting?!”
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Author’s note:
Author cameo in a little skit: The match is so boring. I only want to watch them stick together.