Chapter 6

The cave had only one exit: that narrow, long passage. If they headed that way, Chu Yunmiao’s speed would never match hers; she would definitely be caught halfway there. Chu Yunmiao understood that perfectly, so she chose to stall Yu Changning inside the cave instead. She set herself a small goal: keep the Instructor Card in her hands for at least 20 seconds.

Unfortunately, even 20 seconds was no easy feat.

Chu Yunmiao could tell Yu Changning was holding back. She stayed right on Chu Yunmiao’s heels, maintaining a distance of only two or three body lengths. More than once, Chu Yunmiao felt that if Yu Changning simply reached out, she’d be able to grab her, but Yu Changning never acted immediately. She merely watched, unhurried, as Chu Yunmiao struggled and took pleasure in it. Humans couldn’t sustain top-speed running for long; after more than ten seconds, Chu Yunmiao’s chest felt like it was about to explode. She knew very well that she was close to her limit.

Just as her speed began to drop, and Yu Changning seemed ready to bring the chase to an end, Chu Yunmiao suddenly heard Lin Mo’s voice from ahead.

“Boss! This way!”

Enduring the pain of her injuries, Lin Mo raised her hand and fired two shots at Yu Changning.

Bang—bang—

Those two shots still failed to do any real damage to Yu Changning, but they did buy Chu Yunmiao a little breathing room. She was able to widen the gap slightly again and sprint toward Lin Mo.

When she reached Lin Mo, Lin Mo grabbed her arm without hesitation. “Go!”

The eyes beneath Yu Changning’s mask narrowed slightly as she looked at the point where the two of them were touching. The next second, she kicked off the ground and shot after them like lightning.

Chu Yunmiao’s scalp prickled.

She was actually still accelerating in this situation.

She gritted her teeth. Though unwilling, she had to accept the reality of the situation. She said to Lin Mo, “It’s useless.”

Lin Mo sucked in a breath. “Boss, trust me!”

She glanced back at Yu Changning, and a grim, determined curve appeared at the corner of her bloodied mouth. “Even if Class 1 is wiped out today, I’m dragging that bastard down with us!”

As soon as she said that, she raised her gun again; but this time she wasn’t aiming at Yu Changning. She fired into the darkness ahead.

Chu Yunmiao still hadn’t figured out what Lin Mo was doing when her ears suddenly caught a faint rustling sound. In the blink of an eye, a huge black pair of pincers shot out from the darkness and came smashing down on the two of them.

Bang—

【Lin Mo eliminated.】

Before being eliminated, Lin Mo used her last bit of strength to shove Chu Yunmiao out of the way. Chu Yunmiao staggered two steps before finally regaining her balance, only then realizing that a massive creature had been awakened from the darkness and was now raging, ready to massacre everything in sight.

It was a Queen Chimera.

There were all kinds of races in the universe, but if one had to name the one everyone hated, it would definitely be the zerg. The zerg had terrifying destructive power and astonishing organization; whenever they appeared, planets often ended up suffering. This Xenochitin Hive Cavern was one of the obstacle stages in the game. Its difficulty wasn’t especially high; under normal circumstances, trainees only needed to pass through from the surface and clear out the zerg worker ants blocking the way. But because they had been dodging Yu Changning’s pursuit, they had entered the underground section of the cave, and none of them had expected the system to have hidden a sleeping Queen Chimera here.

Lin Mo had clearly noticed that, and had used her last two shots to wake the Queen Chimera directly.

By then, Chu Yunmiao finally understood the true meaning behind Lin Mo’s final words about “dragging that bastard down with us.”

Class 1 had already been wiped out; so if Yu Changning was also eliminated by the berserk Queen Chimera, wouldn’t that leave no winner at all?

The system-simulated Queen Chimera locked onto Chu Yunmiao, the nearest target, right after eliminating Lin Mo, and launched an attack. Chu Yunmiao had prepared for it, but evading was still a little messy—

She had already spent too much energy during her chase with Yu Changning, and unlike Lin Mo and the others, she wasn’t equipped from head to toe. What she was wearing now was still the everyday uniform she’d had on when heading to the administration building. Every dodge took the impact head-on.

Just as Chu Yunmiao watched helplessly as the Queen Chimera’s giant pincers were about to pierce through her body, her waist suddenly tightened. She looked down in a daze and saw that an arm had appeared around her waist at some point. Long and slender, yet incredibly reliable, it gave a slight tug and pulled her out of the Queen Chimera’s attack range. The next moment, Chu Yunmiao felt her back crash into something—

She had pressed against a warm chest.

The Imperial Crown Princess looked back and, as expected, saw a figure wearing a protective mask. Yu Changning had arrived in time; not only had she saved her at the critical moment, she was also now guiding her with effortless ease as she fought the Queen Chimera.

A sense of frustration welled up at once. Chu Yunmiao simply took the chance to rest, hoping to recover her strength as quickly as possible.

When she had caught her breath a little, she nudged the arm holding her around the waist. “Let me go.”

During the fight, Yu Changning replied, “No.”

Chu Yunmiao frowned. “Why?”

Yu Changning: “If I let go, the countdown will break.”

Only then did Chu Yunmiao notice that from the moment Yu Changning had touched her, the system had started counting down. At this point, Yu Changning’s card-holding time had already passed 20 seconds—

The Instructor Card was in her hands, and because she was the holder, catching her was the same as catching the Instructor Card.

Chu Yunmiao looked at the Instructor Card in her own hand and couldn’t decide whether she should just throw it away, or obediently keep holding it so that Yu Changning could continue protecting her. She raised her eyes toward the Queen Chimera, whose scales flashed with a black metallic sheen and whose body was as large as a small battle frigate. “What level is this obstacle stage, anyway? How did they spawn a monster like this?”

“...Are you sure you can keep holding on with me for 60 seconds?”

Yu Changning’s voice sounded above her head, and the breath she exhaled brushed against a few strands of the Imperial Crown Princess’s hair, making them bend.

Her tone was oddly helpless. “Tch. 60 seconds.”

Once her card-holding time reached 60 seconds, the game field would reset, and this Queen Chimera that had appeared at just the right moment would vanish as well.

No sense at all.

Yu Changning carried Chu Yunmiao as she leapt onto a stone pillar, then subtly brushed her chin against the Imperial Crown Princess’s ear.

“If you don’t like it, I won’t play with it anymore.”

Chu Yunmiao: “???”

What don’t I like, and what exactly are you playing with?

Very quickly, Yu Changning’s actions answered her confusion.

The new instructor, who had been ostracized by Class 1’s mecha brigade, took a sword hilt from her waist, activated the switch, and a glowing blue lightsaber instantly appeared in her right hand.

Only then did Chu Yunmiao realize belatedly that Yu Changning had chosen that laser sword from the equipment area and kept it on her person all along, but throughout the entire match before this, she had never even used it.

So fighting Lin Mo and the others hadn’t even been worth drawing a weapon?

Chu Yunmiao unconsciously looked toward Lin Mo’s “corpse” not far away.

Inside the training ground, those judged eliminated by the system would no longer take environmental damage. They could leave on their own without affecting others, or quietly wait in place for the game to end.

Clearly, Lin Mo hadn’t found a good chance to withdraw and had been obediently lying there pretending to be dead.

At this point, she apparently also realized the fact that she wasn’t even worthy of making Yu Changning draw a weapon. She couldn’t stop flailing on the ground, looking for all the world like a zombie that had just risen from the dead.

Chu Yunmiao knew she shouldn’t kick her friend while she was down, but seeing her like that, she still couldn’t help wanting to laugh.

Just as the corner of her mouth lifted a little, the arm around her waist suddenly tightened, pushing away all the laughter caused by Lin Mo. Yu Changning pulled Chu Yunmiao around, forcing the Imperial Crown Princess’s gaze away from those irrelevant things so she could only look at her.

“Hold on tighter,” Yu Changning demanded matter-of-factly.

Chu Yunmiao understood the weight of the situation, so she didn’t argue about their somewhat strange posture and obediently reached out to hug Yu Changning back.

Even so, she was still a little restrained, her arms forming a loose circle that didn’t quite want to touch Yu Changning.

How could Yu Changning not see through the Crown Princess’s thoughts?

If all your attention in childhood, adolescence, and youth... every stage of your life, had been focused on one person alone, then the moment she glared at you, you’d know whether you should be hugging her to comfort her or just kissing her directly.

She suddenly exerted force and attacked the Queen Chimera with her sword.

Chu Yunmiao’s mind went blank for a moment. When she came to herself, she fought back the urge to scream, but her arms no longer dared to just go through the motions; she obediently, tightly hugged Yu Changning.

To be honest, this kind of scene wasn’t something she had never seen before.

There had been a period when the Empire was obsessed with interstellar insect-war movies; every one of them had gorgeous climax scenes of the protagonist battling the Queen Chimera or the Chimera King. The super-3D special effects were so realistic and thrilling that Chu Yunmiao had clung to Yu Changning and practically wanted to live in the cinema.

But this was the first time she’d been entirely immersed in the middle of the fight like this.

Her own strength didn’t allow it; in normal virtual training, she had only ever fought a few small fry among the zerg. But now, hanging onto Yu Changning and feeling the other woman’s combat with her whole body and mind, she seemed to glimpse a realm she had not yet reached. The sensation was too strange, enough to carry her past embarrassment and tension. For several seconds, Chu Yunmiao simply dazedly felt Yu Changning’s presence, as if she had been taken back to several years ago, when the two of them had been closest, giving her a dizzying sense of time and space being thrown out of joint.

She didn’t know that the group from Class 1 lucky enough to be watching had already lost their minds.

Ling Hongqiang only regretted that his grades in cultural studies weren’t high enough; at this moment, he could only dumbly repeat, “So strong! So strong! She, she’s completely crushing the Queen Chimera!”

Anthony reminded them, “She’s still holding the boss too... How does she seem totally unaffected?”

As a girl, Stephanie’s focus was a little different. “The boss is so thin, of course it doesn’t affect her. Waaah, am I the only one who thinks those two look like the two leads in In Love During the Insect War?”

Lin Mo lay on the ground. Hearing the conversation coming through her earphones, she nearly coughed up blood again. “The leads of that movie are one Alpha and one Omega, okay? Don’t compare the boss to some delicate little Omega.”

Stephanie was unconvinced. “But the new instructor is really amazing. Being her Omega would be something people could only beg for, right?”

Lin Mo: “...”

So angry. So angry she didn’t want to talk.

Ling Hongqiang suddenly remembered something. “Wait, Lin Mo-jie.”

He asked, “Why do I feel like this new instructor is even stronger than Old Yu?”

“Sh-she, she’s really a fourth-year student? That’s impossible, right? Did you get it wrong?”

Lin Mo had lain on the ground for how long, and she’d been thinking about this question for just as long.

“...The boss told me that herself.”

Ling Hongqiang fell silent for a moment. “If fourth-years are this strong, I’d be more than willing to have her be our new instructor.”

As soon as he said that, everyone in Class 1 chimed in.

“I am too!”

“So okay, so okay!”

“Waaah, I want the new instructor!”

“...” Lin Mo looked at the person who, in just a few dozen seconds, was already close to beating the Queen Chimera to death and licked her lips. “I- I guess that’s not impossible.”

“Boo—”

The crowd let out mocking jeers, and Lin Mo didn’t blush or panic at all; she pretended not to hear them.

Amid the laughter and noise, the countdown had already entered its final ten seconds. The Queen Chimera was also at the end of its rope, ready to fall at any moment. Not only Lin Mo, but even Chu Yunmiao in Yu Changning’s arms felt that nothing else could possibly go wrong.

And yet, at that very moment, one unremarkable attack from the Queen Chimera somehow made Yu Changning stagger. Chu Yunmiao, held in her arms, lost her balance and tilted to the side with her. In that instant of danger, Yu Changning steadied herself just in time, firmly catching Chu Yunmiao in one arm while hurling the lightsaber out with the other, delivering the Queen Chimera its final blow.

【00:03】

【00:02】

【00:01】

【00:00】

【Match over; instructor wins!】

The moment the Queen Chimera fell, Chu Yunmiao sensitively noticed that something had dropped out of her coat pocket.

She turned to look for it, but Yu Changning had already taken her down from the high ground. When they landed, it made an unusual pattering sound.

Chu Yunmiao pushed at Yu Changning’s shoulder. “Did you step on something?”

Yu Changning: “Hm?”

She cooperated obediently with Chu Yunmiao and slowly shifted her long boot away.

On the ground lay a pale-blue candy wrapper, stamped with a dirty footprint.

Chu Yunmiao realized it at once. “Ah... that bag of candy.”

“Sorry.” Yu Changning looked down at her, her tone steady and almost cold. “My mistake.”

Chu Yunmiao wasn’t a petty person, but that bag of candy had been given to her by that Omega on the bus; it represented the other party’s goodwill, and she couldn’t help feeling a little apologetic. Although pinning the final mishap on Yu Changning was a bit odd, she wasn’t going to dump all the blame on her: “It’s fine.

“I’m responsible too; I should have put it away properly before the match started.”

She hadn’t thought that far ahead at the time, and there had indeed been some negligence.

Chu Yunmiao bent down to pick up the candy, but the other woman stopped her.

Yu Changning lightly caught her wrist, the soft pad of her finger secretly rubbing the tender skin on the inside of the Imperial Crown Princess’s arm. “It’s ruined. Don’t keep it.”

She paused. “I’ll make it up to you with something better.”

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Author’s Note:

Yu Changning: Ugly thing, die already!