In the group chat, chaos had erupted – and at least ninety percent of it was Cheng Feng’s doing.
Shen Dan watched her fingers fly rapidly across the keyboard, the smooth, dense rhythm reminiscent of a summer downpour – except the rain was made of invisible arrows, piercing the hearts of the unsuspecting brothers in the group.
This woman is a mastermind.
Shen Dan really wanted to discuss Cheng Feng’s latest stunt with her, but the next match was about to start. Cheng Feng gave her a perfunctory wave, quickly suited up, and dashed toward the examiner to swipe her card and enter the arena.
The group chat fell silent soon after. The last message – an unfinished plea from some student – was abruptly cut off, creating a strangely furtive atmosphere.
No matter who was behind the aliases, everyone was flashing student IDs for manual operation majors. Any scheming had to be temporarily shelved the moment the exam bell rang – that was basic undercover etiquette.
And so, on that afternoon destined to be remembered by the league, the entire manual operation mecha competition zone sank into a bizarre mood. Many students’ fighting styles turned chaotic, and not a few threw themselves headfirst into buildings like suicidal maniacs. It was as if the whole lot had been sleepwalking under a curse.
Before long, the system at San Yao backstage was piling up automated reports for “passive play” and “point farming” like falling snowflakes. The invigilators were forced to work overtime, tears and all.
When Cheng Feng, the instigator, came out after finishing her own match, the group chat still hadn’t regained its former liveliness.
She glanced briefly at the stagnant chat box, then clicked to check the group info. She saw that the member count had successfully reached 302 – a major breakthrough compared to yesterday, leaving just a small step away from the thousand-member goal!
She was very pleased.
This is the kind of presence a true polar star should have.
Cheng Feng pulled up her editing materials from the backend and decided to finish the remaining half of her video that very afternoon – to inject a little energy into these young folks, instead of having them just lurk in the group all day without saying a word.
Of course, she was only doing her part as a member of the analysis group.
Cheng Feng dutifully worked on the front lines, and new messages gradually began to appear in the group chat.
Students emerging from the arena – caring neither about their scores nor about lunch -just wanted to find fellow sufferers to vent with.
“That was way too humiliating, folks! You know who got matched against Cheng Feng this morning and was taken down by her in 19 minutes? A third-year senior from UMU, ranked in the top 10% on the leaderboard! He went completely silent after his morning match, and then suffered secondary trauma after watching the replay. I’m genuinely worried about his mental health now.”
“Don’t even talk about the person involved – I was just a bystander spectating, and even I felt the ultimate insult! She dodged a frontal bombardment like it was nothing. If you tell me that’s not cheating, I’ll lose my mind.”
“Take your senior to a psychiatric hospital and get him properly checked out. I’m serious. Don’t brush this off.”
“She deliberately made that noob tutorial, and deliberately only made half of it – was that her way of warning us that she can toy with a top-10% senior as she pleases, and that she doesn’t even consider regular players worth her attention?”
“Does Cheng Feng do this because she’s young and clueless, or is it intentional? I really don’t think she’s that kind of person – her face looks pretty innocent. Could Shen Dan be pulling the strings behind the scenes, making her create these kinds of videos to stir up hate and throw off our performance?”
Shen Dan had been mid-way through enjoying the drama, thoroughly entertained, when she unexpectedly spotted her own name. Her face instantly filled with speechlessness, her rational mind giving way to a flurry of silent curses mentally hurled at her friend across the screen.
How did Meng Jiangnv die? She cried herself to death over the injustice done to her.
Just as the argument reached its peak, the long-absent group owner finally appeared.
He sent two red envelopes in the group to quiet everyone down, signaling that he wanted to speak first.
“Cheng Feng is clearly expressing her contempt for us. Why would she make analysis videos for herself? Because she thinks there isn’t a single capable person in our analysis group!”
Cheng Feng wanted to argue back.
That statement completely disregarded her as a person. She had been working very hard – she just didn’t have enough hours in the day.
“Brothers, regardless of the circumstances, we can’t just let her run wild anymore. This group of ours hasn’t done a single real thing since it was formed. It’s embarrassing to say out loud.”
“I think that 19-minute senior’s approach this morning was actually effective. His biggest mistake was using a three-zone weapon loadout with high frequency but low damage just to pursue firing rate. He should’ve used cannons! All high-damage cannons – bring out whatever you’ve got! Cut off her escape route in one wave and leave her with nowhere to run!”
What Cheng Feng’s video didn’t show was that the 19-minute senior only had two cannons left. That kind of tactic wasn’t feasible.
The only reason the match lasted 19 minutes was that Cheng Feng spent most of the match kiting him and baiting out his cannons.
To be fair, the 19-minute senior had pretty good patience. He only started losing it after she kept provoking him in the later stages.
“This is Cheng Feng’s first analysis group. No one really knows her yet. I hope those who have worked with her or have ideas will share more insights. Also, keep collecting her match footage – don’t forget.”
Very Much Our Uni’s Style: there will be a second, and a third.
Admin: @Very Much Our Uni’s Style???
Shen Dan quickly turned her head and slammed a hand onto Cheng Feng’s optical brain screen, her face serious. “What are you saying? You’re going to blow your cover like this!”
Cheng Feng said, “…Couldn’t help it for a moment.”
She chose to recall the message.
Shen Dan turned Cheng Feng’s screen toward herself and swiftly typed out a line for her.
Very Much Our Uni’s Style: What I mean is, after we finish studying Cheng Feng and thoroughly defeat her, we can move on to studying the second, the third. She’s just a stepping stone on our path forward!
But to her surprise, Shen Dan’s opinion didn’t get any agreement from the others. These students had clear heads and an accurate sense of their own standing.
“Come on, buddy. No putting others down just to lift ourselves up in this analysis group. We have to be fair and objective. Insulting her is just insulting ourselves – after all, none of us has beaten her yet.”
“Sigh. I want to ride the wind and leave, but I’m afraid she’ll come back and mess with me again.”
“I asked around in the alumni group and found a younger schoolmate who’s fought against Cheng Feng. There’s no video, but based on her account, I’ve roughly reverse-engineered some information. I’ve put it together in a document. Feel free to download and read.”
“Awesome, bro! Now that’s the kind of quality this analysis group should have!”
Finally, someone was doing some real technical work. Cheng Feng excitedly clicked to download as well.
