Chapter 138 - Shooting Range
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
Early morning.
The star ship with 350 trainees on board slowly landed at the Crosson base.
The trainees tumbled out of the starship like dumplings into a pot, and the program producer held up a loudspeaker but was pushed aside by the starving trainees who were stampeding towards the canteen even before he could start summarizing the game.
Crosson canteen.
The robot that held a large basket of barbecued pork buns was intercepted and swept away by Caesar before it could even start serving. The second basket was picked up by Caesar again, and then a third…
Thin Fire, who was the first one in line in front of the window, complained loudly, “The steamed buns, where are the buns?! I’ve been waiting for nearly 10 minutes!”
Zoe quickly put down his chopsticks and dragged Caesar away.
Zoe: “Didn’t I tell you to watch over Little Witch!”
Caesar slapped his chest and guaranteed, “Nothing happened all night. He must have drilled into his quilt and slept soundly!”
Wen Lin handed Caesar the soy milk, “Alright, report if the situation changes.”
After breakfast, Caesar tossed all the steamed buns and soymilk into a box, then wandered back to the starship and sat at the door to Wu Jin’s compartment. He burped as he kept watch outside.
All the while, he scoffed at Zoe’s task.
It was so early in the morning. How could anyone come into the cubicle to mess with Little Witch?!
There was a squeak from behind him as Wei Shi pushed open the door to the room from inside.
The friendship of having gone drinking together in Floating City was still fresh in his mind, so Caesar was in high spirits, “Big brother! Have you eaten yet?!”
Wei Shi nodded.
Then, Caesar was still full of enthusiasm as he stuffed him with a bun, “You and Little Witch slept in the same room, hey, no wonder I didn’t see you yesterday… Oh, Zoe told me to keep watch at Little Witch’s door and not let anyone in… just now, the Red and White Roses came by, heh, but I drove them all away! Alright, see you later!”
A few minutes later, Wu Jin finished washing up and moved slowly behind Caesar as he went back to bed. The doctor who checked over the players after the game one by one came by and gave Wu Jin and Lan a doctor’s note ordering ‘three days of rest’.
Caesar was uneasy, “How are you, Little Witch?”
Wu Jin smiled broadly as he nodded. He’d recovered a lot already when compared to his state when he’d just come out of the life-saving capsule.
The big boss was like a high-level, human-shaped power bank, selflessly dedicating his body temperature to him all night! Wu Jin felt like he was charged full of electricity, and the small curls on his head were practically making the little buzz-buzz sounds that Pikachu’s tail made.
It was just that the big boss didn’t seem to have slept well!
Wu Jin suddenly thought of something, “How’s Lan?”
Caesar: “Oh, she’s fine! Chu Chu picked her up and brought her back in the morning.”
Wu Jin was curious, “Chu Chu?”
Caesar was very knowledgeable about the female contestants’ backgrounds, “Ah, yes, Chu Chu and Lan are both registered in the Empire. They came to the Federation to partic.i.p.ate in the survival shows and will go back to the Empire in the future. That thing, exporting domestic sales or something!”
Wu Jin understood.
Caesar was full of gossip, and who knew where he’d obtained it all. His expression was enigmatic, “Little Witch, did you know? Chu Chu’s background is very deep. Her family are great aristocrats in the Empire, and it’s said that Chu Chu is an heir to the throne––”
“!!!” Wu Jin, who was eating steamed buns, almost choked.
Caesar added, “The kind that’s over 600th in line.”
“……” Wu Jin understood. Being over 600th in line, then no matter what, it would never be Chu Chu’s turn. However, it did seem that aristocratic ladies had a high degree of freedom when it came to choosing their careers in the 31st century.
When they neared the dorms, Wu Jin and Caesar said goodbye. There was n.o.body inside.
Wen Lin was near the top of the rankings and was likely doing a post-game interview. Zoe, as the captain of White Moonlight, was much busier than the other three.
There was a k2018;meow’ from the window. The black cat swished its tail as it greeted Wu Jin. Wu Jin then quickly rescued Brother Rabbit, who’d been forced to have its fur licked by the black cat.
Because the big boss had warned it, the black cat didn’t dare to make a move on Brother Rabbit, but for some reason, it often took advantage of Brother Rabbit’s inattention to go up and lick.
Wu Jin also tracked down the little Pterosaur. The monitoring system showed that it was playing happily in a grove on the Crosson grounds.
Through the monitoring on the little Pterosaur’s claw, Wu Jin seemed to see that it was rolling something around in the mud––a small camera that belonged to the Crosson show.
“!!!” Wu Jin hurried out of the dorm. A quarter of an hour later, he was hugging a small mud-covered Pterosaur and apologizing to the crew.
The field crew laughed loudly, “I was just saying, how come one of the cameras is missing! This serial number, it’s the one for the corridor outside your dorm. This Pterosaur is making trouble! Come, come, let’s watch the recording.”
They played the surveillance recording, and the room fell silent.
It was the black cat who’d dug out the camera. The black cat played with the camera with its paws for three days, until Zoe and Wen Lin returned to the dorm one hour ago––then, the black had pawed it over to the little Pterosaur and made it take the blame.
“This cat is really quite interesting.” The field staff was emotional.
The little Pterosaur was acquitted, but it was completely unaware of everything, rubbing randomly against Wu Jin in an intimate manner.
“Good fight.” The field crew gave Wu Jin a thumbs up. Wu Jin smiled and lifted up his small, round face.
At two o’clock in the afternoon, Wu Jin’s communicator vibrated, informing him to prepare for his interview.
Wu Jin released the little Pterosaur back into the woods. Before entering the interview room, he happened to encounter his teammate Wen Lin, who was holding a long object.
“Brother Wen Lin!” Wu Jin’s eyes brightened.
Wen Lin smiled slightly, “Go in, I’ll wait for you outside.”
Wu Jin nodded. When the interview was over, he would go and come clean to Brother Zoe and Wen Lin, and seriously explain his relationship with the big boss, doing his best to have the big boss enter the warm embrace of the White Moonlight family––
The little editor who was leading the way saw Wu Jin’s appearance and quickly tried to comfort him, “Relax, relax! It’s not your first time doing an interview. What are you so nervous about! Don’t hiccup, Little Witch!” Then, he pushed him into the small room, “Here you are! The instructor is waiting for you.”
The lights in the interview room were bright, and the soft sound of conversation could be heard from behind the curtains.
The manager of the Versailles replica scenic spot, Instructor Xia Zuo, was still making preparations for the interview on the other side of the curtain. Wu Jin turned his gaze to the moving screen, which was showing a replay of the game. The discussions in the scrolling comments were in full swing.
“Little Witch ahhhhhhh––I’m crying, mama loves you! The fight was too beautiful wuwuwu! Mama will be taking the Federal college examination next year; mama will work hard like Little Witch QAQ!”
“Thin army pa.s.sing by! Casually throwing out some gossip and support, is anyone interested in gentleman Little Thin? Boy x girl CP Thin x Ning, anyone?!”
“Did you see my son! The smartest one, the one wearing a dress, the one who played the best––”
Wu Jin choked, the backs of his ears turning red as he went through the scrolling comments hastily, his gaze pausing on one particular comment in the discussion area.
“Exactly how long did it take His Majesty Wei Shi to clear the field after he jumped down from the roof? Nine minutes! It’s so cool I’m dead!Begging to know if Contestant Wei has signed with a battle team yet?! It looks like his price is going to shoot up after this compet.i.tion! Begging Contestant Wei to consider Silver Thread Roll!! His style is so fierce, it’s absolutely compatible with Little Thin and Ning Fengbei!”
“Please consider White Moonlight! The Scarf CP being in the same team, think about it wuwuwu!”
“All of White Moonlight’s fans are against it! Zolin & Double a.s.sault is already perfect! I’m taking away the whole White Moonlight team. The four little ones have been broken in so well. If G.o.d Wei comes in, will you have him play as a subst.i.tute?”
“I really want to know which team Contestant Wei signs to.”
“Really want to know +1. G.o.d Wei must have come for the debut position. Conservatively speaking, he will only sign a contract after he keeps his place for the finals. If he maintains the same level he did from the last game, his price will only go up.”
“Really want to know +2. And I also want to know which team my Qiukui is signing to! Amongst the players who are acknowledged as having the ability to make a debut… only the two of them are individual trainees, right? Just have them set up a team and be done with it. The requirements for setting up a team in the Azure League just so happens to be at least two debut contestants [Smile].”
“…Upstairs, don’t YY! How much manpower and financial resources does it take to form a team? Who will invest? Who will be the manager? Who will be the coach? Who will you look for for training matches? There’s never been any trainee who made their debut and immediately went to form their own team, unless their second ident.i.ty is a tyrant president…”
YY- slang for 意淫, which means to ‘obtain pleasure by imagining a s.e.xual act’, but in general usage it’s toned down more to basically indulging in the pairing of your choice~
Instructor Xia Zuo still hadn’t appeared. Wu Jin looked left and right, then quietly pulled the progress bar of the replay forward slightly until it showed the replay of the final minutes of the match.
The big boss stood at the top of the Palace of Versailles and sniped down.
The sun pierced through the clouds. The roof of the Palace of Versailles wasn’t flat, and Louis XIV had decorated it with sculptures of his conquests. Armor, helmets, and copper torch ornaments reflected the sun, and Wei Shi stood there in the center of the bright field of vision.
Wu Jin suddenly thought of the ceiling mural in the Palace of Versailles.
In the blue sky of the vault, holy light shone through the thick clouds. The musket in the big boss’s hand was like a scepter in the hands of a G.o.d, and when he jumped down from the roof over a window to the terrace, all of his opponents would be judged by his gun.
Wu Jin’s eyes shone.
There wasn’t anyone who wouldn’t worship the power to conquer everything.
At this point, his thoughts seemed to be divided into two.
Half of his thoughts seemed to be on fire, thinking that if he worked harder, just a little harder––he could become the ruler of the game like the big boss. There were three more elimination matches, and the big boss was also his opponent in them. He had to come up with tactics to deal with the big boss before the finals, even if hope was slim.
The other half of his thoughts…
The corner of Wu Jin’s lips rose for a moment, and he had to exert great efforts to press it back down. He really wished he could go back and watch it again.
Instructor Xia Zuo: “Little Witch, would you like to continue watching for a while, or shall we start the interview?”
“!!!” Wu Jin instantly turned around and sat cleverly, “… h.e.l.lo, Instructor! Let’s-let’s start now.”
Instructor Xia Zuo smiled gently.
In the center of the screen, the task items that Wu Jin dealt with appeared one after another. Lully’s music, Lemoyne’s painting, Montespan’s perfume… it even included Louis XVI’s scepter, Queen Marie’s necklace, and finally, Julie’s sword.
“Which one does Contestant Wu have the deepest impression of?”
Wu Jin thought about it a little, “The sword, Julie’s sword.”
Xia Zuo raised his eyebrows.
Wu Jin explained, “Choosing any other character card would put you into their position, and you would be driven by their fate and given the task of redeeming them.”
Instructor Xia Zuo: “What about Julie?”
Wu Jin: “Julie sent out that sword and only asked me to fight bravely. She didn’t ask for the reason and wasn’t concerned with the consequences.”
Julie’s life was similar to many characters in the Palace of Versailles. She’d been born into a commoner’s family and committed herself to becoming a mistress for the sake of her father’s future. Her beauty was enough to allow her to live a carefree life, but she’d escaped from the Palace of Versailles on horseback and dedicated her life to the sword.
Xia Zuo nodded after a small pause. “That’s true. Julie didn’t issue any tasks––because she’d already done everything she wanted to do and wasn’t obsessed with anything.”
Xia Zuo’s gaze swept over the remainder of the mission items, “Madame de Montespan had a good hand, but ended up as the ultimate loser. Madame de Pompadour, her vision was too broad, and her ambition too vast. For Marie Antoinette, even if there had been no necklace fraud, there would still have been the earring incident that would drag down her reputation. She wanted too much to be a Queen and to be seen as an ‘angel from Austria to France’, just like how she’d been educated as a child.”
“The stories in the Palace of Versailles are nothing more than G.o.d’s choice of fate.” Xia Zuo jotted down a few words into his notebook, the pen rustling across paper.
“Little Witch, do you know where you ranked? Not the final ranking, I’m talking about the Crosson promotion rankings.”
Wu Jin shook his head. He was curious.
There had been 15 survivors left when he was eliminated, and he should be ranked 15th overall. The remaining 14 people included contestants from both the Crosson and Hyacinth shows.
Instructor Xia Zuo nodded, “Guess?”
Wu Jin gave a guess. It wasn’t radical or conservative, “…10th?”
Xia Zuo: “11th.”
This instructor for the fifth elimination match didn’t miss the subtlest of expressions on Wu Jin’s face. The youth’s eyes were round and unaggressive, making him appear like a harmless little animal. It was hard to imagine him having that kind of eye-catching outburst in the compet.i.tion.
As expected, Wu Jin did feel a moment of regret, but he soon put it behind him and continued to sit properly.
Xia Zuo asked him, “Little Witch has fallen out of the ranks for the debut position. According to the rules of the Crosson Show, the top 10 in each elimination match will obtain special rewards during the finals, and each round of rewards will be more generous than the previous round. If you hadn’t chosen to save Miss Vera at the time, you would likely have remained in the top 10. Do you regret it?”
Wu Jin shook his head and smiled as he said, “No regrets. I’ll fight again in the next round.”
Xia Zuo finally showed a look of admiration.
The 15 minute interview ended, and the instructor’s a.s.sistant handed Wu Jin a long box.
Wu Jin hadn’t estimated the weight properly and was almost toppled by the box when he accepted it.
The a.s.sistant hastened to apologize, “Little Witch didn’t get hurt, right?! I’m sorry, I forgot that you need to rest for a few days…”
Wu Jin shook his head. The weight in his arms felt familiar––
Wu Jin quietly opened up a corner of the box and saw the handle of a knight’s sword as well as a flowery letter J.
Wu Jin was surprised.
The a.s.sistant laughed, “The task prop you selected will be given to you as a gift! Take it back and add it to your collection. The program director said, in the future, if any trainee becomes popular, when the reporter comes to interview them, they must remember to show off these task props! They’ve already thought out the lines for you…”
“Thinking back to the years of hard work as an intern… much thanks to the care and encouragement that Crosson’s program producer provided. Without the program producer, I wouldn’t be where I am today…”
Wu Jin automatically filtered the words from his ears.
There was a note stuffed beneath the handle of the sword. It looked like it had been torn off from a notebook.
“Brave, devout, never regret.”
Xia Zuo’s writing.
From behind him, the Crosson’s temporary instructor smiled at Wu Jin.
A few minutes later, Wu Jin met up with Wen Lin with the sword in his arms, “Brother Wen Lin, I made you wait!”
Wen Lin smiled, “Little Witch, you look quite happy.”
Wu Jin quickly shifted to hold the knight’s sword properly, and looked at the prop that Wen Lin had chosen to take with him.
Wen Lin explained, “It’s a blade. Louis XVI designed the machete himself––for beheading felons on the guillotine. If Louis hadn’t been beheaded, it would’ve been the party leader of the Jacobins who would have been sent to the guillotine.”
Wu Jin suddenly came to a realization.
If he’d chosen the same role Wen Lin had taken, he would certainly have made the same choice that Wen Lin had.
“Alright, let’s go.” Wen Lin stood up and watched as Wu Jin checked out the blade until he was satisfied. After Wu Jin took back his paws, he added, “Oh, right, the program producer just notified us that the team activity was cancelled. Everyone should prepare to go up on .”
Wu Jin: “Go-go what?”
Wen Lin explained, “It’s an open variety show. Entertainment company interns, online celebrities, celebrities, and models are all welcome. It’s being recorded next week.”
“There’s no need to prepare for this. n.o.body in the survival show circle pays attention to these things. The program producer just wants us to cross circles and pick up some fans and pick up some ‘Crosson fresh meat’ hot searches.”
Wu Jin understood.
Wu Jin followed behind Wen Lin.
Wu Jin suddenly thought of something, “Brother Wen Lin, where are we going?”
Wen Lin smiled and said, “The shooting range.”
“Just now, Contestant Wei and Brother Zoe stormed inside with guns in their hands.”
Juurensha: Wen Lin just peacefully smiling and sipping tea as Zoe runs in to defend their precious cabbage stolen by Wei Shi!
xiin: heeheeeeee this is gonna be fun~