After dividing up the supplies, the group drew up a watch schedule before settling in to rest.
Everyone’s fatigue level was getting dangerously high, so they decided to rotate shifts every two hours for the time being, hoping to clear at least one level of their characters’ negative status effects.
Each watch would be manned by two or three people to keep the camp secure.
Cheng Feng found a corner, used her stiff backpack as a pillow, and lay down, letting her character idle.
She hadn’t eaten a thing all day. After logging out, she grabbed a bowl of noodles from the vending machine, then followed one of the proctors to the restroom for a quick shower.
As soon as she’d cleaned herself up, she lay back down, caught a brief nap with her eyes closed, and then got up when it was her turn to stand watch.
She was paired with Zhong Yijie.
Zhong Yijie was the sort of person who had almost no sense of security.
The two split responsibility for opposite sides of the camp. Zhong Yijie hugged his long-barreled rifle the entire time, hardly daring to blink. Cheng Feng merely stood up to stretch her limbs, and he immediately hissed at her in a panic, urging her to get back down.
Their base wasn’t particularly well hidden, but it made up for that with an excellent field of view, making it difficult for anyone to launch a surprise attack. There also weren’t any elevated positions nearby suitable for a sniper.
Only after Cheng Feng went out into the streets and planted ten landmines in and around the area did a hint of relief finally appear on Zhong Yijie’s drawn, haggard face.
The dim, murky dawn gradually gave way to full daylight. From where they were, they could just make out the rolling mountain forests in the distance.
Yesterday, the hills had still been lush and vibrant, blanketed in rich green. But under the gentle morning light today, patches of the trees had already begun to thin, leaving stretches of bare woodland here and there. Behind her, Zhong Yijie let out several wistful, hard-to-interpret sighs.
This kid, Cheng Feng thought, doesn’t just have a chronic lack of security – he’s sentimental too, Are military students really all this emotionally fragile?
Once everyone had finished their preparations, Watermelon came upstairs to take over the watch. He pointed downstairs, telling them to go get some rest.
This time, Cheng Feng actually fell asleep.
No one – including Zhong Yijie – woke her in the meantime. By the time she opened her eyes again, it was already four in the afternoon in game time.
Outside, rain was pouring down.
She pushed the window open a crack, and icy wind immediately swept in, carrying fine spray with it.
Sheets of rain battered the streets below. Mud and silt washed down from higher ground, staining the once gray pavement with streaks of brown. Anything farther away looked as though it were veiled behind a curtain of white gauze, impossible to make out clearly.
Only she and Watermelon were still physically present in the room.
A wounded teammate lay in the corner as well, but because the simulation system replicated a certain degree of pain, the examinee had logged out and left their character idling to recover from accumulated fatigue.
Watermelon handed her a bottle of water and filled her in.
“It started raining at eight this morning. It eased into a drizzle for a while, and we spotted people moving around outside, so we took turns going out on patrol. Around two in the afternoon, the rain picked up again. The low-lying area at the foot of the mountain has started flooding. People who escaped from there said the water had already risen past their knees. I’d guess it’s up to chest level by now.”
Cheng Feng nodded as she munched on a biscuit.
Just then, Zhong Yijie came in carrying his rifle. He was soaked from head to toe. With a flick of his arm, he sent droplets of water flying all over Cheng Feng.
“The people on the mountain can’t get down anymore. There was a group trying to camp at the foot of the mountain and pick off anyone escaping, but they nearly got swept away by the flood themselves, so they ran too. That means we’ve got a lot more people gathering around our side.” He took off his cap and sighed in relief. “Good thing we came down early. Everyone who stayed around that mountain this year is unbelievably unlucky.”
Though, to be fair, about seventy percent of that misfortune was their doing.
Zhong Yijie leaned against the wall and sat down, then turned to ask, “Want to head out and farm some points? If you do, we’ll come with you.”
Cheng Feng hesitated for a moment before shaking her head.
Rain this heavy would drown out critical sounds like approaching footsteps. Without a squad communication channel, this wasn’t an ideal situation for hit-and-run tactics. They were better off holding their base securely and waiting for Xiang Yunjian and the others to arrive.
Faced with Cheng Feng’s request, no one objected. Nor did they leave her behind to go out farming points on their own. Instead, they stayed with her, passing the time around their base.
Times had changed.
The scraps of resources outside that they used to fight over? None of them cared about them anymore.
With his nerves stretched taut the entire time, Zhong Yijie wasn’t particularly sleepy.
Watermelon, on the other hand, was getting bored. “Want to play cards?”
Cheng Feng and Zhong Yijie both turned to look at him.
This lifestyle was simply too decadent.
Too decadent!
It was outright corrupting the iron will of military university students!
The three of them played Fight the Landlord for half an hour. Zhong Yijie drew the landlord role three games in a row – and lost all three. The repeated beatings finally shocked his sluggish brain back into working order. Tossing his terrible hand onto the floor with both hands, he looked at Cheng Feng and asked, “…You’re still not leaving? You… do remember you’re not actually on our team, right?”
That was the heart of the matter.
The fact that Cheng Feng had managed to sleep until now meant that it wasn’t just Zhong Yijie and the others who hadn’t woken her.
Even Xiang Yunjian and the rest of her own team hadn’t contacted her.
Cheng Feng had already come down from the mountain in the early hours of the morning, yet Xiang Yunjian still hadn’t come to pick her up.
She couldn’t make the first move.
The moment she did, she’d lose.
Cheng Feng lifted her head and said expressionlessly, “I’m not leaving until they come and get me.”
Her tone was calm, but carried unmistakable resolve. The words Zhong Yijie had been about to use to persuade her quietly died in his throat.
She was rich.
She had every right to say that.
Jiang Linxia had originally intended to bring Cheng Feng back as soon as possible.
He figured that, stranded in someone else’s squad, the kid would surely feel out of place. And if she happened to run into a bunch of unscrupulous allies, they might even throw her away as cannon fodder.
So he’d been keeping a constant eye on the red dots on the map and had even marked Cheng Feng’s communication channel as a priority alert.
Unfortunately, things hadn’t gone according to plan.
After rotating shifts and resting through the night, they were ready to set out at around eight in the morning – only to be caught in a torrential downpour.
They hadn’t traveled far before they ran into an ambush.
Two teams had lain in wait along the route they had to take, forcing the four of them to abandon their eastward advance and retreat.
The pounding rain severely impaired everyone’s judgment.
The two sides exchanged a round of fire before breaking into a frantic chase through the storm. With the rain drenching them, every movement felt heavy, and their stamina drained at twice the normal rate.
Xiang Yunjian spared a glance at the map when he had a moment, confirming that Cheng Feng was still alive.
And not only alive – she seemed to be doing pretty well. She hadn’t even come complaining to them for help.
That eased his worries a little.
Another half hour passed before the four of them finally broke through the encirclement and dealt with the group of troublesome examinees.
Xiang Yunjian checked the map again and found that Cheng Feng had remained in the exact same location the entire time. It seemed Zhong Yijie hadn’t sent her out to do any hard labor. That comment – “Zhong Yijie is very nice” – was probably genuinely heartfelt.
…Robots really were every human’s best friend. Not just their teammates’.
The four of them stood beneath the eaves, sorting through the loot they had recovered from outside in the rain.
Jiang Linxia completely emptied his backpack. After rummaging through everything, the only useful supplies he found were a few bullets – not even enough to cover what he had just spent during the fight. He immediately became furious.
“These people are so poor! They actually came out to rob others with this kind of inventory? Where did these broke-ass losers even come from? Ugh, seriously!”
They were running out of ammunition.
The city map was complicated, with roads extending in all directions. Compared to weapons like grenades, firearms were much more suitable for this kind of terrain.
The four of them turned their attention toward the supply package they had prepared for Cheng Feng.
They had to clarify something first:
They had hesitated.
It was Yan Shen who spoke first. “Cheng Feng hasn’t moved for more than half a day. Zhong Yijie’s team is probably severely short on supplies, so they can only stay at their base and defend passively. Letting Cheng Feng stay there with them for a while is actually pretty safe.”
Jiang Linxia surprisingly agreed. “What a great babysitting service. Thanks to Zhong Yijie, Cheng Feng doesn’t have to wander around outside with us, getting drenched in the rain.”
Yan Shen took a bite of his biscuit, then stuffed the remaining half back into his pocket, saving it for when his fullness level dropped at night. He nodded in agreement. “We really misunderstood that kid. Who would’ve thought he was actually a good person?”
Jiang Linxia immediately followed up, putting a more noble spin on their actions. “When we go back this time, they’ll get one gratitude point from Mr. Kong and Mr. Luo!”
Xin Kuang added, “Maybe even the principal’s gratitude.”
Jiang Linxia cleared his throat and spoke with great emotion, “We strictly hold ourselves to high standards while being generous toward our MVP. We work diligently and tirelessly, going out there to get soaked in the rain just so she can farm points. Wouldn’t the principal be grateful to us too?”
“The rain really is heavy today,” Xiang Yunjian replied mercilessly. “Don’t stay out there too long and get your brains knocked loose.”
The entire period of wavering lasted no more than three seconds. After that, the four of them unanimously decided to let Cheng Feng spend a little more time playing with Zhong Yijie and the others.
While stuffing bullets into his own pockets, Yan Shen casually remarked, “Is it just my imagination, or are there fewer examinees this year?”
The next second, the live broadcast administrator thoughtfully displayed the exam statistics on the right side of the screen.
The instructors had not paid much attention to the situation outside the arena for a long time. Seeing the constantly updated data appear, one of them was startled. He had only just sat down in his chair and almost sprang back up again.
The comment section instantly came alive. Players who had been quietly lurking all this time emerged, and comments began flooding through the chat at a rapid pace.
“The pace of this year’s competition is way too fast! In just 24 hours, the number of eliminated players is already close to 400!”
“Although the number of eliminations is usually higher on the first day, in previous years it was generally around 200 to 300. This year has clearly gone far beyond that.”
“Well, Cheng Feng blew up an entire mountain in the middle of the night. One-fifth of the people on the map got dragged into that disaster.”
Immediately afterward, the administrator released the ranking of the top ten teams by points.
Cheng Feng had personally secured 27 kills. Xiang Yunjian and the others had spent the entire day moving around outside, and as of now, their kill count stood at 43. Together, the two sides had accumulated a total of 70 eliminations.
“Seventy kills. Xiang Yunjian’s team alone accounts for one-sixth of the total score. Why have this year’s results become so polarized?”
“Zhong Yijie’s team has 29 kills too – they’re already in third place! If Xiang Yunjian had been moving with Cheng Feng, their team’s score would probably have broken 100 by now!”
“How many points did Xiang Yunjian’s team get last year? I remember it was 89?”
“Class B’s dad is really carrying everyone to victory! Terrifyingly powerful!”
“An excellent MVP shouldn’t just be able to win the gold trophy herself – she should also be able to lead her classmates into the top three. I hope all future ‘Purple Stars’ are held to this standard.”
The instructor forced himself to remain calm. He picked up his own cup from the table, took a sip, and then nodded toward the colleague beside him, who was watching with undisguised envy.
“Pretty average performance. The netizens are really making a fuss over nothing. Their score is only twice that of the second-place team – what’s there to get excited about? There are still two days left. They could still get overturned at any moment, so we need to stay cautious.”
After saying that, he seemed to realize that his words sounded a little unlucky, so he hurriedly added, “Luckily, the thing I trust most about Xiang Yunjian is his caution.”
His colleague shot back sourly, “His caution also made him miss out on dozens of supply bags.”
And then he wouldn’t even bear to eat a single compressed biscuit.
Heaven itself could testify to the tragedy.
The water in the instructor’s hand trembled. Through gritted teeth, he said, “Soon!”
That “soon” lasted all the way until one in the morning.
By then, only a light drizzle remained lingering on the horizon.
Xiang Yunjian and the others were completely soaked through. The combination of intense physical exertion and the assault of the cold temperature had left clear signs of exhaustion on their faces.
After making a round of patrols in the night without finding any suitable targets, they decided to go look for Cheng Feng.
Before setting off, the four of them hid inside a pitch-black room and redistributed their supplies.
Jiang Linxia pulled open his backpack and demanded from Yan Shen and Xin Kuang. “Come on, return all the bullets you borrowed.”
Yan Shen was reluctant to give them up. He dragged his feet and said, “Cheng Feng has been staying in the room all day. I guess she isn’t really short on supplies.”
Xin Kuang hesitated for a moment, his palm pressing down on his ammunition box. “I think so too.”
“That doesn’t matter. It’s still our goodwill!” Jiang Linxia pointed at them and scolded with a laugh. “Are you two ever going to stop? You have to be a person of your word! This is being livestreamed – how many pairs of eyes are watching you right now?”
The two of them sighed and groaned dramatically, but in the end, they still handed over the bullets and grenades.
Jiang Linxia zipped up the bag and stuffed Cheng Feng with a backpack that looked quite full – though half of it was probably just useless junk.
Xiang Yunjian thought for a moment, then tried to make up for it. “Tomorrow, we’ll take her to sweep the supply points. Let her have some fun.”
“Heh.”
Leaning against the window, Yan Shen casually tossed a grenade up and caught it again.
This team is impossible to stay in.
A bunch of biased idiots.
It was already so late, yet Cheng Feng was still awake.
She lay on her side on the floor, propping up the weight of her head with one hand while sorting cards with the other. With a sorrowful sigh, she complained, “It’s midnight. It’s already the second day. They’ve completely forgotten about their teammate. They don’t even have me in their hearts!”
Watermelon tried to smooth things over. “It was probably the rain that caused more people to move around in the western part of the map. They’re all just trying to earn points and get MVP.”
Not long afterward, Cheng Feng casually glanced over and noticed that those few red dots had actually moved closer.
She immediately sat up straight and smoothed out her clothes.
Before long, an unhurried knock sounded from outside the door.
“They’re here, they’re here!”
Watermelon excitedly rushed over to open the door. Sure enough, it was Xiang Yunjian and the others.
Cheng Feng remained seated where she was, coldly meeting the gazes of the people outside.
A dim lamp had been lit inside the room.
With the people inside and outside the room standing in contrast, it only made one side look even more miserable.
Jiang Linxia peered through the crack of the door at Cheng Feng, raised his chin, and teased, “Looks like you’ve been living pretty comfortably.”
Seeing the four of them looking exhausted and worn out, Zhong Yijie immediately felt a surge of sympathy. He welcomed them inside and said, “You can have this base. The map is empty now anyway; we’ll move somewhere else.”
Jiang Linxia was stunned.
Why was Zhong Yijie suddenly being so generous? Weren’t these animals supposed to take advantage of others when they were down?
Even Xiang Yunjian was momentarily caught off guard. Then he said, “No need.”
But the other guys refused to accept their refusal. They casually picked up the neatly packed backpacks by the corner, put on their guns and hats, and said with great generosity, “I guess you guys are tired too. You can rest here for a while. Cheng Feng planted explosive devices nearby, so it’s pretty safe.”
They seemed eager to leave. As they spoke, they had already moved to the doorway.
The two people who had been taking the watch shift on the roof also came down, greeting them with bright smiles.
The dazzling radiance of their selflessness suddenly left the four of them completely at a loss.
Xiang Yunjian said even more politely, “Thank you for taking care of Cheng Feng.”
Watermelon and the others hurriedly waved their hands.
“Not at all, not at all. It was nothing!”
Jiang Linxia laughed. “Why are you all being so formal? What’s gotten into you?”
“Not being formal.”
“We wouldn’t dare!”
“Thank you, Sister Feng, for taking care of us.”
“I learned a lot from Sister Feng.”
“I’ll remember her forever.”
Jiang Linxia lightly punched Watermelon on the shoulder. “Alright, that’s enough. You’re laying it on too thick. Anyway, thank you all.”
Cheng Feng let out a cold laugh from the side.
The group happily ran off, looking as though they were heading out for a vacation rather than leaving a battlefield.
Standing at the doorway, Cheng Feng slowly waved goodbye, pretending she hadn’t noticed Xiang Yunjian and the others at all.
Jiang Linxia walked over, nudged her shoe with his foot, and said, “They’re already gone.”
Cheng Feng lowered her hand dejectedly and returned to the room without even looking sideways.
“Wow!” Jiang Linxia widened his eyes. “Little one, do you know how long we were out there getting soaked in the rain just to farm points? Making money to support the family isn’t easy, you know.”
