Chapter 15
Everyone around them was watching.
Faced with Mu Chen’s contemptuous attitude, Xavier felt his cheeks burn. The blood rushed to his head, and he shouted at him,
“What’s that supposed to mean? You don’t believe me?”
Mu Chen raised his eyes and glanced at him without saying a word, but his gaze seemed to convey a message all on its own.
—Do you think I believe you?
Boys this age were all competitive and cared more about saving face than anything else. Especially someone like Xavier, who had to set an example for his “buddies”—how could he let this go so easily?
With nowhere else to turn, Xavier pulled out his trump card. “Since you doubt my abilities, then... then why don’t you come out and fight me one-on-one, if you’ve got the guts!”
Mu Chen looked at Xavier in confusion, as if he’d said something incomprehensible.
When the little merman didn’t reply, Xavier gave a cold snort, trying to save face. “What, are you scared?”
“...”
Mu Chen stood up from his seat. “How are we going to compete?”
Xavier suddenly felt a shadow fall over him. He watched Mu Chen walk up to him, his brows furrowing unconsciously.
Who would have thought that this merman, so fair and delicate, with a smile sweeter than any girl’s, would stand a centimeter or two taller than him?
Xavier kept his expression steady. “If you doubt my skill at piloting a mecha, then let’s go use the virtual cockpits. We’ll see which of us is really no good.”
Xiya’s expression changed when she heard that.
Virtual mecha cockpits were only open to older students. They required a certain degree of mental control, and improper operation could easily lead to injury.
Xiya stepped in front of Mu Chen. “Xavier, are you picking on the new student? The teacher said first-year students aren’t allowed to touch those things, and you’re still—”
Xavier impatiently cut her off. “Who says we’re not allowed? People made those rules. It’s only because you’re all too weak to pilot one.”
“Exactly.” His lackeys chimed in, egging him on. “Xavier’s piloted one loads of times. Why can he do it and you can’t?”
Xiya was furious with the unreasonable, conceited boys. “If you keep this up, I’m telling Teacher Petty.”
Xavier: “Go ahead and tell the teacher. Is that all you’ve got—”
“You!”
Just as the atmosphere grew more and more tense,
“All right.”
A clear, bright voice suddenly came from the crowd.
“Then let’s try the virtual cockpit...” The little merman tilted his head and gave an utterly harmless smile. His two sweet dimples were so striking that it was impossible to look away. “Sounds pretty interesting.”
Xiya was afraid he’d get hurt. “Mu Chen, don’t listen to them.”
“It’s fine.” Mu Chen smiled at her. “I’m just curious. I want to take a look.”
As he spoke, he walked up to Xavier, who was still staring at his face in a daze. “...Aren’t you going to take me there?”
...
One row of bright lights after another switched on, and the silent, shadowy warehouse gradually came into view beneath their white glow.
Several oval cockpits stood before them, their entire surfaces black and gleaming with a metallic sheen.
Xavier tipped his head back and nodded toward Mu Chen. “There. Those are the virtual cockpits. Let me make one thing clear: don’t back out when you lose, then run off crying to your big brother to complain... Heh.”
With that, he opened the hatch with practiced ease and climbed into the cockpit along the metal supports beneath it.
Xavier adjusted his seat and was about to close the hatch when he saw through the glass in front of him that Mu Chen was stuck halfway up, tugging at his own hair as if he couldn’t decide whether to climb in or not.
The other boy’s waist-length silver hair had gotten caught in the hatch.
Xavier couldn’t help laughing at him... Good grief, could someone this clumsy really pilot a virtual mecha?
He whistled at Mu Chen, his mockery plain as day. “You can still back out. Think about it. Why not go back and play with your dolls?”
Mu Chen ignored him and slowly pulled his hair free from the gap, bit by bit.
Meanwhile, Xavier had already begun establishing a mental link.
A glowing blue grid flooded his vision as reality gradually merged with the virtual world. The last thing he saw was Mu Chen sitting in the cockpit, arranging his long hair.
Xavier curled his lip in disdain.
Was this guy serious?
After an unknown amount of time, Xavier felt his mental avatar floating above a vast, empty sea. The scene before him gradually came back into focus.
Lines of text appeared on the control panel:
“Entering [Battle Mode]. No advanced permissions detected. [Youth Protection Mode] has been activated...”
“Player [2/2] loading...”
Xavier’s brows knitted instinctively, his gaze fixed on the “2/2.”
How could he be the second one to load in?
Had Mu Chen already gotten in?
A cold, mechanical system voice sounded beside him, but Xavier’s thoughts had begun to wander.
He’d been identified as having A+ or even S-rank genetic talent since childhood and had used virtual cockpits several times before. His mental compatibility was very high, so he connected much faster than an average person.
But that merman had never used one of these before. How could he possibly have finished connecting already?
[Progress: 100%. Loading complete...]
As the mechanical voice faded, Xavier entered a place resembling an indoor training arena. Another mecha stood parked not far away.
Mu Chen should be inside it.
At that moment, however, the other boy’s movements were extremely clumsy. The mechanical arm he raised slammed into his own head with a “Bang!” He was as awkward as a turtle flipped onto its back.
It was as if the pressure Mu Chen had given him in that instant had been nothing but an illusion.
No longer interested in watching Mu Chen’s clumsy antics, Xavier sent him a message through his terminal. “Hey! I’ll give you some time to get used to it. Don’t complain later that I bullied you.”
Half an hour later, the two mechas retreated behind the red line as instructed by the system.
Since they didn’t have advanced permissions, they were using small mechas about one or two stories tall for this simulation. With protection mode enabled, some heavy weapons would be disabled. The first person to score 100 points would be declared the winner.
Of course, Xavier had no intention of going all out against Mu Chen. He only wanted to teach him a little lesson. After all, Mu Chen was Prince Wright’s merman, and if Xavier made him cry, he’d have a hard time explaining himself to the royal family.
—Ding!
An electronic chime sounded, and the red line disappeared.
Xavier deftly activated the high-pressure air guns mounted on either side of his mecha and aimed at the blue mecha in front of him.
With a “Whoosh!” the rapidly surging current of air, like a cloud of mist, struck the blue mecha’s left shoulder. It staggered back a step.
A scoring chime rang out.
[Red 10pts]
In that brief instant, intense pain surged through Mu Chen’s neural network. The recoil of the air gun numbed his left shoulder, leaving almost his entire arm unable to move. A few strands of silver hair had fallen messily across his forehead.
So this was what it felt like to get hit?
It had been a long time since he’d felt pain like this. But...
The red mecha was reflected in Mu Chen’s eyes. It was as if someone had lit a fire, sparks dancing across the blue ocean of his gaze. His lips unconsciously curved into a smile.
He enjoyed this feeling.
Taking advantage of Mu Chen’s brief paralysis after the hit, Xavier launched several more attacks. During that time, Mu Chen barely dodged or struck back at all.
The sound of the red side scoring echoed throughout the arena.
[Red 20pts]
[Red 30pts]
...
[Red 40pts]
Looking down at the blue mecha he’d knocked to the ground, Xavier aimed the laser gun in his hand at the drive unit on its chest.
He was already getting tired of this one-sided beating and just wanted to end the match as soon as possible.
A shadow fell over Mu Chen, blocking half his view. As he watched the mechanical giant’s heavy body about to come down on him, his blood began to boil. The pounding in his ears hurt, color spread across his fair cheeks, and his eyes began to tremble with excitement.
Layer upon layer of glowing blue rings formed around the metallic barrel of the laser gun, indicating that it was in the final stage of charging.
Xavier looked at the mecha pinned beneath him, unable to move. He was about to say goodbye to Mu Chen when the other boy silently mouthed something at him.
Before he could react, a heavy force suddenly tugged at the arm holding his weapon. Mu Chen had grabbed the barrel of his gun, and the misdirected laser scorched a ring into the arena floor beside him.
The mecha beneath Xavier seemed to possess astonishing strength. For a moment, he was completely unable to wrench himself free. A look of disbelief flashed through his eyes. Forgetting that his weapon was pinned, he swung a punch at Mu Chen.
But the blue mecha seemed able to predict his movements. Its clumsy body suddenly sprang into the air, dodging the deadly blow, while Xavier lost his balance and crashed down to the ground.
The two of them had completely switched positions.
The curve of Xavier’s lips froze, and a sharp pain shot through his back.
[Blue 5pts]
Mu Chen began scoring.
The gap between their scores was still enormous.
Xavier refused to back down. Using the gun barrel as a pivot, he readjusted his mecha’s balance and threw a heavy punch, trying to counterattack.
But the moment he threw the punch, Mu Chen grabbed his wrist.
The blue mecha seemed to be able to read his mind, seeing through every move he made.
It was almost as if... as if Mu Chen had thoroughly studied his attack patterns.
[Blue 10pts]
[Blue 15pts]
...
[Blue 50pts]
As the system’s chimes rang out again and again, the score turned around.
How could this be happening?
The successive impacts had slowed Xavier’s thoughts. In the chaos, scenes from their earlier fight began flashing through his mind.
Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of something he’d forgotten from earlier:
Beneath the transparent cockpit was a pair of blue eyes, so calm they seemed almost inhuman. Like an emotionless scanner, they were observing every bit of information they received.
So he hadn’t been unable to dodge. He’d been analyzing my movements?
Xavier’s eyes trembled. The realization made the blood drain from his body, and cold sweat broke out across his back.
His thoughts came back into focus. He fixed his gaze on the blue figure, and the sound of the blue side scoring rang in his ears again.
Five points again.
From the start until now, Mu Chen hadn’t used a single weapon. Every point he’d scored had come from punching, which was why his score had risen so slowly. Otherwise, the match would have been over by now.
Could he not use weapons?
Through the transparent cockpit, Xavier saw those blue eyes kindled with sparks. Almost the instant the question came to him, another thought surfaced.
It wasn’t that Mu Chen couldn’t use weapons. He simply didn’t want to.
He just enjoyed using his own two hands to beat his opponent, punch by punch, until they were unable to fight back.
...
Ten minutes later,
[Blue 100pts]
The red warning lights came on. The match was over.
Xavier climbed out of the virtual cockpit. His black hair was damp with sweat, and all his former arrogance had vanished. Still reeling from that humiliating defeat, he said to Mu Chen, a little dazed, “You won...”
Mu Chen lowered his head and straightened the hem of his clothes, giving a distracted “Mm.”
When he looked up again, he was once more the sweetly smiling little merman who seemed so well-behaved and harmless.
It was as if his madness just now had been nothing but Xavier’s imagination.
Xavier suddenly felt more defeated than ever before. He lowered his eyes, his fists clenched tight.
He’d imagined how the other boy might act after winning. Maybe he’d gloat or show off. He could even look down on Xavier, for all he cared.
But why did he have to be so casually indifferent?
“You...”
Seeing that Mu Chen really was turning to leave, Xavier called after him. “Are you going to tell everyone right now that I lost?”
He’d lost, and Mu Chen could do whatever he wanted with that result. He just couldn’t believe the outcome of the match had made no impression on the other boy at all.
Mu Chen: “Why would I tell them?”
“Using the virtual cockpit violates the school rules...”
As Xavier stared at him in a daze, Mu Chen raised one corner of his lips and said in a carefree tone,
“And is this even that impressive?”