39 4.1

The instant Lu Guantiang had spotted Zhang Hua's last note, the mission had been deemed a success.

Chen Yu didn't linger, he directly absorbed the energy and progressed to the next world.

Before he could adjust, however, he sensed a strong blow coming toward him. Instinctively dodging, when he opened his eyes, he found himself sitting high above the ground, confronting a huge humanoid robot.

Uncertain how seriously he should retaliate, Chen Yu kept half his mind on eluding the other's attacks and turned the rest of his attention to swiftly skimming the plot.

Apparently, the system had sent him to a world poles apart from the last one.

Here, there was no royalty, the most exalted organization was the military, especially mecha operators. Also, only women could give birth—Chen Yu checked.

But leaving aside gender, class, nationality, everyone strove above all for physical strength and expertise in mecha control, since that was the sole path to absolute freedom. Because war was a constant reality, this ideology was particularly encouraged by the various governments, which sought to create the strongest military forces.

This body's name was Jin Yongguang, he was a twelfth-grade student at the Elite Federation Academy, less than a year away from graduating.

His family was a top-tier political giant, every descendant except for him pursued a position in the government. While his parents hadn't approved of his entering the military, considering such a crude profession beneath Jin Jia's designated heir, Jin Yongguang had pushed his decision through.

Even at the risk of being disowned, he'd refused to relinquish his obsession with battles and mecha and successfully entered this world-class academy. From this, Chen Yu could guess that despite this boy's sunny, forthright personality, at heart he was extremely stubborn. Fortunately, he wasn't unskilled, he was consistently ranked within the top three of his grade.

Chen Yu furrowed his brows.

He could handle staying in character, but he wasn't experienced enough with mecha to guarantee that he could keep this position. Although he'd played around with mecha in his first life and dabbled in it during a few other missions, he'd found the comprehensive safety precautions too stifling, there had been no thrill at all. Well, he sighed, he'd endure it for one task.

Resolving to tolerate the boredom, he read through to how this child had died.

Surprisingly, Jin Yongguang was close friends with the plot's protagonist, Murong Wen, who came from a commoner family and could only attend the academy through a scholarship. Notwithstanding their vastly different backgrounds, the two had bonded from the academy's initiation ceremony due to their balanced levels of strength.

Actually, Jin Yongguang wasn't all brawn and no brains, he'd realized from the beginning that Murong Wen had approached him largely in order to gain the favor of Jin Jia's heir. He'd continued to maintain their good relationship, however, because he felt that being able to spar with a skilled partner was worth it. Thus, they always stayed friendly as they competed for their year's second place.

At this, Chen Yu facepalmed. This simple-minded fellow...

But this was rather odd. Given the fact that Jin Yongguang's power rivaled that of the protagonist's and that, at least on the surface, they were bosom buddies, how did he become a piece of cannon fodder?

Indeed, there had been a dramatic turning point.

Jin Yongguang's downfall had started from the regular quarterly assessment trials, which determined the student rankings. Like everyone had predicted, he had been pitted against Murong Wen in the semi-finals. As soon as the round began, he had immediately attacked wholeheartedly with a flurry of punches. This was a habit he'd developed from training with Murong Wen, when he'd determined that he could only clip the faster boy if he didn't let up on his strikes at any point. Unexpectedly, however, the opponent's mecha didn't respond quickly enough, so that every hit landed, causing great injury to the pilot even with the mecha's defense mechanisms.

Since the academy's ultimate goal was to cultivate the future's elite soldiers, it encouraged competition, but it harshly punished cruelty against comrades.

Nevertheless, the teachers didn't stop the competition but, spitefully declaring Jin Yongguang the winner of the semi-final round, they pushed Hou Yi, the reigning champion of the twelfth grade, onto the stage. This student was the product of generations of military heroes, and he lived up to his family name, never having scored less than perfect marks. Obviously, Jin Yongguang was no match for him, he was promptly crushed with more critical injuries than Murong Wen's.

Chen Yu faltered. Hou Yi? This name was too loaded with connections to Lu Guanting...Shaking his head, he put the notion aside. That moon goddess myth didn't even exist in this world.

Returning from his brief daze, he rushed through the aftermath of the assessment.

Despite his disastrous performance that got him expelled from the academy and, worse, labelled a viciously inhuman brute, Jin Jia was a noble household, it didn't disown its child. Instead, his parents exiled him to a distant planet for 'recuperation,' 'temporarily' transferring his position as heir to his younger brother.

From his hospital room, Jin Yongguang wasted away the rest of his life, mourning his inability to fight again as well as his carelessness in hurting his friend. Although he sensed that he'd been framed, because he didn't believe he was clever enough to seek revenge, he put it out of his mind.

Even when he learned that Murong Wen's admirable, resolute recovery had gotten him adopted into the Hou family and, a few years later, that he'd become one of history's youngest captains, he merely felt relieved. As for his family, being a battle maniac, he had never cared much about taking over the political Jin Jia, so he scarcely noticed that his position had been usurped.

Jin Yongguang's sole regret was that he'd never reached the pinnacle of mecha control.

For Chen Yu, who meticulously repaid every insult, the original owner's choice to genuinely not bear a grudge was fairly novel. After all, it wasn't as if the boy hadn't realized that he'd been tricked, he'd just...forgiven it...? Chen Yu smiled. Of course, that didn't mean he'd be so merciful, but all in all, the kid was interesting, silly yet cute. En, a worthwhile little original.

His mood was further improved because this world suited his current taste. Having to deal with political maneuvering would have been tiresome directly after dealing with palace life. Luckily, the culture here adhered to the 'might is right' creed, even political leaders had to treat soldiers with respect.

Hm, reviewing the plot, Chen Yu encountered several points that needed investigation—who had caused Murong Wen's delayed reaction during the competition and why; what had motivated Hou Yi, a student who was famously neutral according to the original owner's memory, to avenge Murong Wen; how many members of Jin Jia had been involved in the scheme—but right now, he chose to focus on the fight he was engaged in.

Apparently, he'd arrived during one of Jin Yongguang's sparring matches with the protagonist in the virtual world. Chen Yu generally believed himself to be a mild-mannered person, but for various reasons, he'd been feeling a bit out of sorts since his last mission.

This was a perfect opportunity to vent.

Thus, after a couple moves to test the controls on his mecha, he leaned slightly to avoid Murong Wen's kick and aggressively seized the flying foot, using his opponent's momentum to flip his body over. However, the protagonist wasn't the son of heaven for nothing, the other mecha rapidly recoiled from the surprise attack and swept his leg out of Jin Yongguang's grip to elegantly turn over in the air, landing solidly on his feet.

Inside the cockpit, Murong Wen stared confusedly. Halfheartedly lurching around, then tactically striking, this wasn't Yongguang's style...

Meanwhile, Chen Yu had also realized that he hadn't been straightforward enough in his attack, so he flew forward, pounding his heavy fists on the other's cockpit area. Even though this world's mecha were fortified everywhere and could absorb a great deal of shock, such repeated hits still damaged the mecha's structural integrity.

Additionally, although they were fighting virtually, in order to motivate trainees to improve, the network was set up so that pain, without the injuries, was faithfully passed along to the players, which meant that jolting the mecha sufficiently could cause the opponent to surrender.

In this way, the two grappled as usual for several hours, with Murong Wen finally tapping out. The sweaty boys climbed down from the doors in the mecha's chests, grinning widely at each other.

Chen Yu was, in fact, quite happy. He hadn't expected that physically beating someone would be so fulfilling. This mission may not be as tedious as he'd thought.

Collapsing simultaneously on the training room's ground, the two puffed wearily. Murong Wen spoke first, panting out, "Yongguang, you've adjusted your techniques?"

Chen Yu turned his head to observe the protagonist.

Hm, this...he'd been prepared from the original owner's memories, but no matter how he looked at it, this Murong Wen was not very imposing. A boy not even 160 centimeters tall gazed back at him with a flushed, cute face, his round grape-like eyes blinking innocently at him. He was certainly pleasant to look at, but...where was the protagonist halo?

Curious whether the original owner was also cut from this mold, Chen Yu glanced at one of the reflective walls.

Thankfully, his image contrasted sharply with Murong Wen's. While Jin Yongguang wasn't a towering, buff type, he was taller with compact muscles, his face exuding a kind of brilliant charisma. He still had a teardrop shaped mole under his eye, but against his bronzed skin, it was almost unnoticeable. Only when he smiled did it add a touch of charm to his otherwise pure-to-the-bones appearance.

Content with his new body, he answered excitedly, "Yes, my parents hired a special instructor for me, he told me to try some new moves. How was it?"

Despite this display of their disparate statuses, Murong Wen's smile didn't twitch. After all, this was his friend, he was happy to see him improve. Besides, over so many years, he'd gotten used to it. In an equally eager tone, he congratulated Yongguang, then the two separated, agreeing to meet at dinner.

Logging off the virtual world, Chen Yu lay in the pod for a moment, humming. How interesting...this Murong Wen, would he stay such a saint regardless of what happened?

He filed away the question and stood to rinse off the sweat from the spar. The academy was the best in the Federation, naturally their facilities were excellent as well. Every student was provided an en-suite dorm room, along with an individual network login pod.

A cursory scan of Jin Yongguang's space indicated that he was truly uncomplicated. A sparse collection of uniforms and exercise clothes was stacked neatly in the closet, academy textbooks occupied the whole desk, the sole decoration was a poster of the newest mecha model.

Chen Yu, who seemed to have inherited some of the original owner's love for mecha, nodded approvingly. Quickly showering and changing into the academy's uniform, he strode toward the dining hall.

As one of the top three students in his grade, he and Murong Wen were both granted the privilege of wearing special black uniforms which stood out from the crowd of nondescript tan clothing, so the two easily found each other. They sat down with a tray of food each and began eating together, but the difference between them was so stark that Chen Yu almost laughed out loud.

Whereas the black clothing made Murong Wen appear like a dress-up doll, it set off Jin Yongguang's energetic aura, so that he seemed to blaze. Even the way they ate was as different as heaven and earth. Murong Wen daintily cut up his food into tiny bites, while Jin Yongguang just inhaled plate after plate.

Chen Yu rubbed his forehead. Had the system lied to him? Who was really the aristocratic son here?

Nevertheless, partly to prevent going OOC and partly because he was hungry, Chen Yu didn't abruptly become refined, he went on shoveling food into his mouth without a pause. Occasionally, Murong Wen would offer some of his dishes to him, which he accepted without hesitation.

On the inside, however, Chen Yu sneered. Was this show of demureness for him or for that Hou Yi?

Yes, he'd noticed the other boy in a black uniform from the moment they'd entered. He sat looking as gentle and refined as jade, a gentleman in every sense of the word, smiling kindly at the regular students sitting around him. Many people, beguiled by his genial aura, even forgot how skilled he was when he battled. But underneath Hou Yi's soft façade, his features were extremely sharp, as if they'd been carved from marble, his eyes glittering like black diamonds.

Inspecting that figure, Chen Yu's temples ached again. That damn system had definitely lied to him. How could Murong Wen be the protagonist when there was such an abnormally exceptional existence around?

Silently, he decided he'd find out what was going on in this world the instant he returned to his room.