Chapter Ch77.1 - Mango
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
The half hectare of game terrain suddenly lit up.
Obstacle courses were a compet.i.tive type game that originated from military training activities.
Wu Jin lifted his eyes and roughly took in his surroundings from his starting point. His line of sight hovered over the ups and downs of the terrain, and his hearing was magnified to its peak––the turbulence of the river could be heard 30 meters away.
Ditches, slopes, and contours were identified on the terrain and quickly used as landmarks, corresponding to the cross-country map that rose up slowly a few minutes ago.
A short while later, Wu Jin turned towards Wei Shi and reported their exact position, “We’re at (N16, W2).”
On the stage, Ying Xiangxiang was cheerful as she reported, “Most of the players finished the map calibration within two minutes, but the fastest was Little Witch and Wei Yan.”
Beneath the stage, the ‘Evil Cult’ Scarf fans that had been killed off by the a.s.sorted Scarf fans all expressed their sorrow.
Blood Pigeon picked up the microphone and explained, “The calibration of the field map is mainly based on players’ memories, and their ability to align themselves will be based on points and lines on the map. Contestant Wei Yan is very experienced and has excellent calculation abilities. This result isn’t surprising.”
Ying Xiangxiang also knew this and quipped, “I remember that the audience once commented that no matter what the compet.i.tion is, Little Witch can still turn it into a math test––however, this map is far from simple. Instructor Blood Pigeon, who do you think will pull out the first flag?”
Blood Pigeon didn’t hesitate, “Since this tests their tacit understanding, Jingyi. There’s no doubt about it––” He paused, then said with some consternation, “Someone has picked up a flag?!”
Inside the miniature map, Wu Jin and Wei Shi were positioned one in front and one behind as they made their way through the minefield with their water guns in hand.
Wu Jin walked very carefully. According to the map, the closest colored flag was on the upper part of a hill. The two people waded through the low river and saw their first flag.
Wu Jin’s eyes brightened, and he ran towards the target. However, the moment he reached out for the flag––soundproof gla.s.s suddenly emerged from the weeds, forming a delicate transparent cage that kept him sealed within.
“……” Wu Jin was stunned. He smacked against the gla.s.s and looked blankly at the big boss.
The camera took in the scene from outside the cage, and the audience roared with excitement.
“It’s a play… a beautiful youth trapped in a cage!”
“Why does this bewildered Little Witch poke at my heart so much? Begging Contestant Wei to rough, oh, no! Be gentle…”
Wei Shi’s expression remained unchanged, but his eyes shifted slightly as he stood there with his back to the camera.
Inside the cage, a mechanical prompt rang out.
“Flag task. You draw, I guess. Please pay attention to the topic. The firstk2026;”
Inside the gla.s.s cage, moist, warm air drifted out from beneath his feet, quickly creating a fog effect on the clear gla.s.s. In a flash, Wu Jin reached out his index finger and drew on the gla.s.sk2013;k2013;
A small, round animal.
While the audience was still blank and confused, Wei Shi replied instantly, “Hamster.”
––Flag progress 1/3.
The audience immediately became excited. While they were still discussing, Wei Shi had already calmly answered the next question, “Saber-toothed tiger.”
Progress 2/3.
Audience: “……”
On the foggy gla.s.s, the fat and simple strokes simply showed a cat with two front teeth. How the h.e.l.l did he guess that?!
Wu Jin’s expression was full of guilt as he wiped away the abstract drawing on the foggy gla.s.s. By then, the third question had already come out.
‘Monkey.’
Wu Jin was about to start drawing when the scoreboard on the big screen jumped. There was a group who had already successfully obtained a flag! Wu Jin’s eyes turned serious, and he no longer paid attention to details and started to draw––
On the podium, not only Blood Pigeon, but even Ying Xiangxiang were showing incredulous expressions.
The first group to obtain a flag wasn’t Jingyi or the newly popular Scarf CP. At this time, Wei Yan was still drawing seriously on the gla.s.s, while Qin Jinbao’s artwork was just as abstract as Wu Jin’s––
In one corner of the map, Thin Fire held a small yellow flag as he continued cursing out Caesar.
Blood Pigeon: “… How did the two of them do it?”
Ying Xiangxiang went over the replay, and her expression was dazed, “Contestant Wei Yan took the vocabulary group ‘high tech’, then Little Witch took ‘animal world’. Little Thin was third and took ‘home and family’ … The three words were ‘grandpa, son, grandson’.”
Blood Pigeon: “And then?”
Ying Xiangxiang: “And then, Little Thin raised his middle finger from behind the gla.s.s.”
Blood Pigeon: “……”
Ying Xiangxiang’s expression was apathetic, “Caesar said all three answers in one go.”
The replay between the two who could still curse each other out across a gla.s.s cover was cut off without hesitation. “What’s the point in showing them? What about Jingyi? Dolma? Scarf?”
Blood Pigeon recovered his wits and turned the camera towards Jingyi. The screen showed that Ming Yao had advanced to the third question. His drawing skills were slightly better than Wu Jin’s, and Zuo Botang’s knowledge was extensive. He wasn’t arrogant or impetuous as he waited outside the gla.s.s, his eyes solemn and clear.
Ying Xiangxiang was pleased, “One of the mandatory skills in raising the country’s children: One is five. Jingyi lives up to its name as one of the five shooting methods. This is an exemplary trainee. Please don’t learn from that group of players just now––Alright, Jingyi’s pair cooperates together very well and should become the second group to win a flag if nothing unexpected happens. Now, let’s take a look at Little Witch’s group again––”
The camera shifted to Wu Jin, and the audience burst into laughter.
Little Witch was indeed anxious. His drawing skills that were already poor to start with became even messier after he sped up. Everything Wu Jin drew seemed to come out chubby, and the small animals that came out at his fingertips obviously didn’t have the essence of monkeys. Instead, they came out looking rather like round little potatoes.
Ying Xiangxiang smiled broadly and replied for Wei Shi, “Potato spirit! So, it looks like the results are clear. The second group is Jingyi…”
Wu Jin added a simple gun in front of the monkey.
It had a long muzzle, no scope, and shot out a beam of light. It was the neutron weapon that had been used in both the Crosson Show auditions and the first elimination match––
Wei Shi swallowed the words ‘potato spirit’ that he’d been about to blurt out, “Monkey.”
The answer was correct, and Scarf was one step ahead of Jingyi in obtaining a flag!
Not only Ying Xiangxiang, but even the audience had their mouths open in disbelief.
The gla.s.s cover rose up slowly, and the youth who was damp from being inside carried a small purple flag with him as he left the cage, the ends of his small curls carrying moisture as they flipped up.
The man raised his brows and looked at him.
––“I said it before, even a monkey can kill people with this gun. This gun has an automatic aiming function, and I pulled the trigger for you.”
––“Big brother, what was my role, then!”
––“You are the monkey.”
Countless words tumbled around Wu Jin’s heart, but he had no choice but to heft up the water gun in front of the camera, his gaze seeming to inadvertently collide with the big boss’s gaze.
Wei Shi gestured for the little monkey to lead the way.
Wu Jin looked down. The water gun seemed to have become a bubble gun, colorful soap bubbles appearing when he pressed on it, the spray both bright and beautiful.
Inside the field, the Scarf CP obtained a half minute lead on Jingyi and continued to advance deeper into the map.
Wu Jin volunteered to crawl under piles of wire, or jump around the triangle cone, like a small beast with an excess of energy, blocking the first line of fire for the big guy. The man followed behind him in silence with the gun in his hands. Occasionally, other contestants would pop up––only to be immediately shot into wooden statues by the Scarf CP.
The two of them were completely oblivious to the fact that the scrolling comments in the live broadcast had already exploded.
“My little a.s.sault ahhhh––so cute it’s affecting my liver! Are you so insistent on protecting Contestant Wei behind you?! If you watch my back, I will become your sharpest knife. My G.o.d, I suddenly want to support a reverse CP!”
“Is this tacit understanding? Wait a minute, even one body with two souls wouldn’t know each other so well, right? Not only do they fight side by side, even their brain wave communication is absolute… Just now, I pulled over all three of my roommates and told them to look at the monkey Little Witch drew. Two of them guessed that it was a potato spirit, and one of them cried and asked me if I was torturing her with this kind of drawing because the dormitory was dirty… I just want to say that anyone who can guess that this is a monkey must be possessed!!”
Fifteen minutes into the game.
Wu Jin fired once and put the third flag into his pocket before looking towards the highest point on the map.
The three hills converged in front of them, and water flowed down around the side. There were anti-landing piles embedded in the rock, and 10 colored flags fluttered in the wind along the miniature mountain ridge.
At this time, on the scoreboard, Jingyi, Caesar x Thin Fire, and Scarf were all tied for first place, with three colored flags each. The points that could be obtained on the plain had basically cancelled each other out, and the match points were all up on the ridge.
There were several entrances to the foot of the mountains. Fresh fruit baskets were placed at each entrance, and the virtual screen showed the rules for climbing the hill––
Head-carrying fruit.
“……!!” Wu Jin imagined an image of fruit on top of the big boss’s head, then didn’t hesitate to use brain waves to indicate that he’d do it himself.
The youth puffed up his cheeks and rummaged around the fruit basket before finally pulling out a small mango that looked like it would be easy to carry.
The small curls were crushed by the mango that gave off a sweet and fruity scent. Beneath the scattered locks, the watery pupils that were the same color as the mango glittered and flashed.
Like a piece of mango-flavored gummy candy.
Wei Shi’s eyes were dark as he led the little gummy candy across the bridge and up the hill.
Behind the mountain, the sound of water gunfire suddenly rang out, and both people paid attention to it at the same time––