The forest was dim and shadowy.
The Q University team moved through it. No matter how cautious they were, it was impossible to avoid the faint rustling noises.
It had been two hours since they entered the field. Ten minutes ago, they had finally taken down their nearest rival, the Finance team.
And the reason it was described as “finally” was because they had lost nearly half their people in the process.
Because of that, the Q University team could no longer withstand even the slightest setback or misstep, they had to tread with utmost care.
The leader was the newly appointed Student Council President—Jian Yuyang.
At this moment, his handsome face was streaked with sweat and dirt. “What’s the situation?”
The student scouting ahead panted heavily, grabbed a bottle of water handed over from the side, and gulped down two mouthfuls. “Safe. No ambush!”
“Good! Everyone, full speed ahead—”
At the order, the group quickened their pace.
No one noticed the two figures hiding in the nearby bushes.
When the main team had gone far enough, Jiang Fuyue stood up, took out a map, and checked their direction.
Liu Sisi followed close behind, keeping silent so as not to disturb her.
The two of them had been on their way to locate the “base camp” when they heard footsteps and chose to hide, unexpectedly running into the Q University team.
Jiang Fuyue folded up the map and looked toward the front left. “That way.”
Liu Sisi followed her gaze, and the next second, she frowned. “The trees are sparse over there, and it’s an area that gets a lot of direct sunlight. Logically speaking, a base camp wouldn’t be set up in that kind of place.”
Even as she said that, her feet were already following Jiang Fuyue in that direction.
Jiang Fuyue nodded, affirming her reasoning. “Under normal circumstances, no. But don’t forget, this time there isn’t just one base camp, there are seven.”
Seven universities, each with its own camp, all set within this same forest.
Could every single one of them have picked the best location?
Of course not.
Some of them would inevitably have to settle for less ideal spots.
Liu Sisi asked, “Then why are you sure it’s this direction?”
“Look closer.”
Liu Sisi frowned, and a moment later, she heard it—
“The sound of water?!”
“Mhm.”
If they couldn’t choose the most hidden spot, then they’d pick somewhere near a water source, convenient for daily use.
A base camp wasn’t just for show; it had to support a long-term station—
Guards, tech personnel, logistics, supply management, and more.
Access to water was essential.
And sure enough—
After the two of them passed through the thinner part of the forest and went about two hundred meters farther, they saw a small river, and beside it stood a large tent.
Because they were positioned to the side and rear of the tent, they couldn’t see the school insignia hanging in front. Without any clear identifiers, they couldn’t immediately tell which university’s camp it was.
Jiang Fuyue lowered her voice. “Doesn’t matter. Let’s sneak in first.”
Liu Sisi nodded.
The two rolled forward on the spot, avoiding a surveillance camera from above, and slipped inside easily.
When they circled to the front and saw the school emblem clearly, both froze.
M—Ming University?!
They’d snuck into their own camp?!
Liu Sisi hesitated. “Should we… still go in?”
They couldn’t exactly destroy their own headquarters, could they?
Jiang Fuyue said simply, “Go in.”
This time, no need to sneak. They lifted the tent flap and strode in openly—
And immediately froze again.
Good heavens! Xiao Shan and several school board members were there!
A group of middle-aged men stared blankly as the two young women marched right in. The chatter in the tent instantly stopped; all eyes went wide.
It was Xiao Shan who recovered first.
“What are you two doing here?!”
“Obviously, we came looking for you.” Jiang Fuyue walked up to the table, grabbed two apples from the fruit plate without hesitation, and asked, “Were these washed?”
Xiao Shan stammered, “Y-yes… washed…”
She tossed one apple to Liu Sisi, kept one for herself, and took a big bite—crunch, crunch.
The school directors were utterly dumbfounded.
“Principal Xiao, what’s going on?”
“Who are they?”
Xiao Shan hurried to explain, “Don’t panic, they’re one of ours.”
It took the board members a while to piece things together—turns out, the two girls were students from Ming University.
They had split off from the main team to raid an enemy base… and ended up raiding their own!
“What kind of coincidence is this?”
“Are you still planning to search for the other camps?”
Of course they were but first, Jiang Fuyue and Liu Sisi demolished most of the fruit plate together, ate two pieces of chocolate to replenish energy, and filled up both their water bottles.
Liu Sisi slung her backpack on, ready to go.
Just then, Jiang Fuyue suddenly said, “Wait.”
“?”
Jiang Fuyue, who had also been preparing to leave, now stood before the control panel, staring thoughtfully at the satellite map displayed on the screen.
“Sister Yue?” Liu Sisi called out softly.
Jiang Fuyue set down her pack. “Don’t rush. We need to figure out the positions of the other camps first, make it a clean sweep.”
“…Huh?”
Without answering, Jiang Fuyue strode to the console and gestured to the technician seated there. “Excuse me, could you move aside for a moment?”
“What are you trying to do?” He wasn’t a school board member but an actual technician assigned to this temporary base.
His job was to keep operations running smoothly, he couldn’t care less about whatever mock battle or contest this was.
Jiang Fuyue frowned, her tone turning impatient. “I told you to move. Why so much talking?”
The man gave a short incredulous laugh. “Hey, you little student—”
“Sisi!”
“Yes, ma’am!” At Jiang Fuyue’s order, Liu Sisi rushed forward, took the man down in two swift moves, and restrained him.
The technician barely had time to react before finding his hands bound and his body pinned to the ground, unable to move.
Meanwhile, the girl who had told him to get up was now sitting in his chair, her fingers flying across the keyboard.
His face went pale.
“What are you doing?!”
Jiang Fuyue ignored him completely, focused fully on typing and occasionally pressing other controls on the console.
At first her movements were a bit rough, but soon her fingers were dancing across the keys with fluid precision.
Hearing the noise, Xiao Shan and the other board members gathered around, watching from a distance.
“What’s she doing?”
“…No idea.”
“…Can’t tell.”
“Principal Xiao, do you know?”
Xiao Shan, a little more learned than the rest, ventured a guess: “She’s probably trying to use our camp’s satellite signal to locate the exact positions of the other six schools’ camps.”
“She can do that?!” one director exclaimed.
Xiao Shan nodded. “All the satellite signals in this forest are interconnected. As long as the equipment is in place and the skills are there, it’s not that hard to trace them.”
“Impressive!”
“We’re definitely winning this time, right?!”
Everyone knew, taking down one enemy camp was worth 100 points.
Six camps meant 600 points!
“At last, it’s our turn to shine!”
But just as the group was celebrating, the technician pinned to the ground by Liu Sisi suddenly let out a cold laugh.
“You think you can trace the other camps? Dream on!”
True, the satellite signal was shared but every camp’s operating system was independent. If two or more camps wanted to connect, they needed an access key.
And those keys weren’t fixed, they changed regularly.
As long as he kept his mouth shut, these people might as well be staring at a pile of gold without the key to the door.
“You can forget about torturing me for it. I won’t fall for that!”
Liu Sisi frowned and tightened her grip, ready to make him suffer a bit.
But the technician was tough as nails, he gritted his teeth and didn’t let out a single groan.
Jiang Fuyue, however, didn’t even glance their way. She paid no mind to his words or their silent struggle. Her whole focus was on the screen before her and the keyboard beneath her hands.
Her quiet profile radiated calm: aloof, cool, sharp as frost.
“I told you it’s useless! Stop wasting your time!” the technician sneered, even bound as he was.
Jiang Fuyue frowned and tossed him a cold look. “Noisy.”
The next second, Liu Sisi grabbed a nearby water bottle and stuffed it into his mouth.
“Mmph—mmphh—mmphh!”
The speed and decisiveness of the move left Xiao Shan and the board members completely stunned.
What the—? Ming University freshmen were this fierce?!
For some reason, Director Li suddenly remembered his son getting beaten up once.
Director Liang’s expression turned a little complicated too, his son had also been beaten.
The two old fathers exchanged a knowing glance… and then looked away.
That moment of unspoken understanding was perfect.
“Is she gonna make it work?”
“Looks difficult…”
Difficult? It was extremely difficult.
Though this was just a mock “field exercise,” everything was modeled after real military standards.
The control center was real, the shared signals were real, and the encrypted communication was real too.
As the technician said, every camp had its own encryption protocol—you needed the right key to locate the others.
What Jiang Fuyue was doing now wasn’t just cracking a key; she was breaking the whole encryption framework.
Because the keys could change anytime according to the algorithm.
If the system detected a breach, it would instantly update the keys and trigger an alert. If she couldn’t input the new passwords correctly, the control system would sound the alarm.
Then not only would she fail, she’d also alert the other camps.
Suddenly, the clacking of keys stopped. The previously frozen satellite map on the screen zoomed in rapidly until seven tiny red dots appeared!
One of them marked their current position. The other six… were the remaining camps.
“You found them?!” Director Li exclaimed.
“Look, the one near the river, that’s us, right?”
The technician, gagged by the water bottle, could only widen his eyes in shock, staring at Jiang Fuyue as though he’d just seen a ghost.
“Mmmphh—!” Impossible!
“Mmphh! Absolutely impossible!!*
…
Five minutes later, Jiang Fuyue and Liu Sisi were on the move again.
No need for maps this time, they knew exactly where to go.
As for the technician…
To prevent him from raising the alarm, Liu Sisi tied him up before leaving and asked Xiao Shan and the board to keep an eye on him.
Director Li: “Don’t worry, students! We’ll guard him with our lives!”
Director Liang: “We won’t let Ming University down!”
Other directors: “Right!”
Xiao Shan: …Well, they’d already said everything he wanted to.
Once the girls left, the directors discussed it briefly and decided to remove the bottle from the technician’s mouth.
“You… you’re cheating! I’ll report this! I’ll have Ming University’s score canceled! Release me right now!”
The directors exchanged glances then calmly shoved the bottle back in.
Technician: “?”
Ah, much quieter now.
“Mmphh?! Mmmphh!! MMPHH!!!”
…
Meanwhile, Jiang Fuyue and Liu Sisi advanced another 800 meters when a new camp appeared in sight.
It was located in a low-lying area, camouflaged by trees and thick underbrush, hard to spot at a glance.
Liu Sisi circled around the perimeter and returned. “Central University’s camp.”
Jiang Fuyue nodded slightly.
The two moved in sync slipping past the security line and dodging the cameras with practiced ease.
Inside the camp—
The president of Central University was personally stationed there, standing before the central console while an operator tried to adjust the surveillance feed.
There were plenty of cameras in the forest, not exactly one every few steps, but about every 400–500 meters. It was enough.
Through the shared signal, the camp could view live footage.
The president just wanted to see where his team was, how they were faring, how many points they’d scored.
He had no idea his “elite team” had already been wiped out and that he himself was next.
“Got it yet? Why isn’t the screen loading?”
The technician wiped sweat off his forehead. “Not yet… I’ll try again…”
“Hurry, please. Once they move past the woods, there’ll be fewer cameras.”
“I’ll… do my best.”
“Thanks.”
Just then, a gust of wind blew through the tent. Neither man paid attention.
Then… two soft thuds.
Jiang Fuyue: “You’re out.”
President: “Huh?”
Liu Sisi had already taken down the technician. The man blinked, then sighed.
Meeting the president’s confused stare, he explained kindly, “The camp’s been taken.”
The president blinked harder.
By the time he realized what happened, Jiang Fuyue and Liu Sisi were gone, off to the next camp.
“That’s it?”
“Yep,” said the technician. “As the camp’s top commander, once you’re ‘killed,’ the entire camp is done.”
“So… I’m out?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And Central University’s out too?”
“By exercise rules, yes.”
“….”
The technician scratched his head. “Weird though, how’d they find us? We were hidden so well… And with Ming University’s camp before ours…”
By all logic, after taking Ming’s camp, they should’ve changed direction instead of heading deeper in.
The president was starting to piece things together. “Those two girls, what school are they from?”
“Uh… no idea. Didn’t ask.”
“What now? The camp’s gone, and I don’t know what happened to the team…” The president paced anxiously, covered in paintball marks. “No, I have to call the Ocean University camp and warn them!”
“Ahem.” The technician stopped him. “Sorry, sir… but you’re, uh, already dead.”
“?”
“Dead people can’t make phone calls. Or send warnings.”
The president froze, then awkwardly lowered the phone.
He was… dead?
Central University’s camp was gone?!
The realization hit him like a truck. He began pacing again, furious.
The technician, dizzy from the motion, whispered, “Dead people shouldn’t walk around either.”
“….”
After Central, the nearest were the Trade and Finance Universities.
Same routine, same execution.
Hide. Sneak in. Ambush. Capture.
In less than thirty minutes, they’d taken down both presidents.
And the reason it went so fast?
Because the Business University president had gone next door to visit the Finance University president.
They were alumni and old friends, chatting up a storm about everything from student life to their kids’ summer plans.
So when they were hit with paintballs, they were mid-discussion about whether to send their kids to summer camp in the U.S. or France.
“Old Zhang, did you feel something hit you? I swear something knocked my back just now made a ‘pop’ sound.”
“Huh? You too? I thought it was just me!”
They looked at each other.
Next moment, Jiang Fuyue and Liu Sisi appeared before them like ghosts.
“Congratulations, gentlemen. You’re both out.”
“?”
“?”
Before leaving, Jiang Fuyue paused at the tent flap and looked back. “What’s wrong with domestic camps? Must you send them abroad?”
Both men blinked. “…Huh?”
“I think domestic ones are perfectly fine.” She turned and left.
A few minutes later—
“Actually, the local ones are pretty good.”
“Yeah, at least they’re safe.”
“Maybe we’ll sign them up for one here.”
“…Sounds good.”
After sweeping three more universities, only Q University, B University, and Ocean University remained.
Their camps were in three separate directions, and with just two hours left, there wasn’t enough time to hit them all.
They’d have to choose.
As they hesitated, Liu Sisi’s ears twitched. “Someone’s behind us!”
Both girls dove into the brush.
Moments later, three figures appeared, one of them the bleached-blond boy who’d clashed with Jiang Fuyue earlier.
The other two stood tall, rifles slung professionally— National Defense students.
Jiang Fuyue instantly assessed the situation.
The blond spread out a map. “Three paths ahead. Which way?”
The other two exchanged looks. “Lin Zhaodong, why don’t you choose again?”
“Me? Again?” Blond, no, Lin Zhaodong frowned.
“C’mon, you’ve been right every time so far.”
“Yeah, thanks to you we took out B University’s camp and wiped out Ming’s, that’s two hundred points!”
In the brush, Jiang Fuyue and Liu Sisi exchanged a dark look.
So this punk took out their camp.
Unforgivable.
“Fine,” Lin Zhaodong folded up the map and pointed casually. “That way.”
The trio headed off.
Once they were gone, Jiang Fuyue and Liu Sisi stepped out.
Ironically, Lin Zhaodong’s “lucky streak” had just run out, he’d picked the path leading straight to his own university’s camp.
And it was the farthest one, on rough terrain.
“B University’s already down, so that leaves Q and Ocean….”
Jiang Fuyue recalled the seven red dots from the satellite map, then decided instantly. “We’ll take Q first. There’s a shortcut from the east that leads straight to Ocean’s camp, it’ll save about… two-thirds of the time.”
“Got it.” Liu Sisi nodded.
So they’d take down Q first, then Ocean.
Jiang Fuyue’s lips curved faintly. “As for Ocean…. doesn’t matter.”
After all, Ming University had already secured victory.
What she wanted was that blond boy.
To see him fall beneath her gun—bang.
Thinking of that moment, Liu Sisi couldn’t help but smile too, eyes gleaming with amusement.
That blond punk thought he was so tough?
We’ll see who’s really tougher.
And with that, the two vanished down another path.
…
Q University Camp
Zhou Zhengqi lounged in a chair sipping tea, eyes on the screen streaming the newest episode of Talk Roast.
He liked the regular guest who wore a Pigsy mask: sharp-tongued, quick-witted, always fun to watch.
The internet claimed the guy was a high school teacher.
Zhou didn’t buy it. No teacher could be that cutting. Teachers were meant to nurture, not stab with words.
Years in that line of work dulled your edges.
He laughed heartily at a particularly funny scene.
Q University’s camp was the most hidden of all seven. He had no fear of ambushes or attacks.
No wonder the other schools secretly called Q University “blessed by the RNG gods.”
Because they really were— super lucky, super strong.
