After three long days of online cha training, everyone had lost interest in the upcoming competition.
Because everyone around them was just terrible. Once they got into a cha, they walked like they were performing drunken boxing. And they were supposed to fight like *that*?
’So you win by bumping into , knocking to the ground, and I can’t even get back up?’
"..."
It sounded utterly moronic.
However, since most people weren’t learning well, the atmosphere surrounding the competition was surprisingly positive.
It wasn’t until the day before the competition that everyone saw a real cha for the first ti. The garrisoned army had made a grand gesture, bringing in 100 chas. There would be no training today. Instead, the instructors would lead them on a tour to familiarize them with the real machines.
The massive Gundams stood in the hall like a range of great mountains.
The silver chas glinted with a cold light. Compared to the ones in the virtual world, they were more imposing, more awe-inspiring.
The instructor led all the students from the squadron into a cha’s cockpit. Then, pairs of instructors began to duel. The young students watched as their instructors stood on the control platforms and engaged their opponents.
An image of the two dueling chas was projected onto a large screen. Their tal bodies scraped against each other, creating brilliant orange sparks.
For every move the instructor made, the cha mirrored it perfectly.
The machine moving as an extension of their will—now *that* was what a hero looked like in their eyes!
After the demonstration, he encouraged everyone, saying that with enough practice, they could all achieve the sa results.
Then, using the remaining ti, he had every student take a turn on the control platform to try and link up with a real cha via their consciousness and spiritual power.
This was the A1 squadron, where the top students were gathered. Most of them succeeded in their attempts, managing to make the cha move. Huo Jia, for example, even made it look effortless.
Of course, he was a seeded contender to begin with, so no one was particularly shocked to see it.
But when Jiang Qiuqiu took her turn at the controls, successfully commanding the cha and even making it run a short lap, everyone was stunned.
’Since when was there soone so skilled in their class?’
Although Jiang Qiuqiu had done pretty well in the first two rounds of training, nobody had paid that much attention. They just thought the girl had decent aptitude.
But after this, people quickly realized—she was way too good!
Each student’s turn lasted four or five minutes. After everyone had a chance to pilot a cha, they all gathered on the training grounds. The head instructor appeared once more and made an announcent: the military training was over.
...
The abrupt announcent left everyone feeling like it wasn’t real.
’This... it’s over just like that?’
"I’m sure you all feel that ti has flown by. That’s because ti becos imperceptible when you’re training hard."
"Your teachers and I have been observing your training through the monitors this whole ti, and most of you have perford very well."
"The path of a cha Soldier is a difficult one. You will encounter countless stumbling blocks, and a single careless misstep can send you tumbling. So will get back up quickly. Others, because the fall was too painful, will choose to retreat. On this final day of your training, I want to leave you with a piece of advice."
"Take one step forward, and a whole new world opens up. Take one step back, and all your progress is lost."
’On this path, there’s no turning back.’
After the official business was concluded, it was ti for the competition. A ten-thousand-person free-for-all, starting online. First would be a round-robin tournant to determine the top 100 combatants. Only those top 100 would qualify to pilot real chas and compete in the official tournant on the training grounds.
-
「Night. Inside the dorm.」
The young won were discussing the upcoming competition.
"This competition is just... We can barely even stand, and now we’re supposed to fight?"
"I bet they’ll determine the top 100 in less than a day. It feels like each match will be over in a matter of seconds."
"Not necessarily. I heard our instructor say that so of the students in Class A are incredible cha pilots."
We all got the sa chas, the sa practice, but they’re...
"I’m so envious of how skilled they are," one of the girls sighed. The competition was just around the corner, and she couldn’t pilot her cha at all. She could barely manage to get into the cockpit against the g-forces, and even then, she was completely unsteady. She was dood to lose.
She knew she didn’t deserve to win, but the thought of how pathetic her loss would be made her eyes sting and turn red. Her voice trembled on the verge of tears. "The competition is tomorrow, and I’m going to lose so, so badly. I heard from so of the upperclassn that they even keep video recordings of the matches... I’m going to lose pathetically, and it’s going to be on video... WAHHHH."
’That would be so humiliating.’
However, the girl had clearly started crying too soon. After crying herself to sleep, she woke up and discovered that when it ca to pathetic losses, it wouldn’t be her turn for a good long while.
...
Her entry number was 5399. Five thousand other people had to compete before it was her turn, aning she wouldn’t even go on until the second day.
In other words, at least three to five thousand people would get humiliated before her.
After three to five thousand people had already bombed, everyone would probably be numb to it by the ti it was her turn.
’She’d cried too hastily.’
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