Chapter 224 - Obstacle Race
translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
The glow of sunset burned up half the sky, and the lawn was crowded with people.
When the White Moonlight team got out of the car, the stage manager immediately did a head count, “1, 2, 4, all together!”
On the open air stage, the program producer picked up the microphone.
The previous 50 into 20 elimination match had swept away most of the trainees, but there were still many who had stayed at the base to attend the party.
Lin Ke waved and laughed foolishly as he clung to Wu Jin, “Brother Wu, I’m ranked 26th, and I’ll have to leave tomorrow… Hey, what kind of expression is that? It’s not like you won’t see me again! I’ll definitely come for the final compet.i.tion and hold up a support card from off-stage! Isn’t that good?”
“Getting into the top 30 is really great. My mailbox has been filled up with offers over the past two days. But, Brother Wu, I thought about it, and I won’t be continuing on as a trainee in the future. It’s fun to play in compet.i.tions, but I’ve always been with someone and playing in the compet.i.tions by myself is too lonely.”
“Next week, I’ll be taking up my new post as a specialist field survival instructor. The job responsibilities include, but aren’t limited to, helping the bosses make fires, hunting for the bosses, setting up nets so the bosses can take photos, helping them fix up their photos with editing software… Hey, the salary might not be as good as that of a professional player, but it’s still a lot better than that of a trainee! Brother Wu, stay in the survival show industry and compete well! You’re effectively my old boss…”
By the bonfire.
The trainees sat together in a circle, and Ying Xiangxiang sang a love song from her new alb.u.m. Nearby, Qin Jinbao and Red were currently discussing ‘learning a musical instrument in order to enrich a trainee’s resume’. It had to be simple, easy to pick up, and it would be best if it was a plucked percussion instrument that could be carried into the compet.i.tion to show off with. Lightweight and difficult to break…
At the end, the two of them finally came to a satisfactory conclusion. Qin Jinbao went to learn the bamboo clappers, and if he couldn’t pick it up, he’d switch to the drums. Red would learn the triangle.
The barbeque stand was nearby.
The hardworking Jingyi team helped the stage manager make skewers, and a newly arrived logistics intern went to pick up the post-compet.i.tion questionnaire from Wei Yan, but he was scared into trembling and shivering by the S-level trainee.
Ming Yao laughed loudly, “What are you scared of? Call him over to make bamboo skewers! Wei Yan is just like that, he’ll sit there by himself if n.o.body tries to talk to him.”
Two minutes later, Wei Yan stood in front of the grill making skewers like he was executing a carefully designed AI procedure. When he was halfway through a skewer, his shoulder suddenly felt a burst of cold.
Wei Yan and the little Pterosaur who’d landed on his shoulder exchanged glances.
Wei Yan placed a small piece of meat on the tip of the bamboo stick. After confirming there would be no health risks through the terminal, Wei Yan offered it up to the little Pterosaur.
On the stage, the program producer finally called for everyone to be quiet.
The White Moonlight team who’d arrived late hurriedly handed in their post-compet.i.tion questionnaires. Wu Jin quickly caught hold of the little Pterosaur, peeling off the red food label on its wings and sticking it onto a whole sheep that was going to be roasted.
Ming Yao latched onto Wu Jin and proudly showed off his new skewer making skills:
“One skewer with mushrooms, sprinkled with basil, topped off with fish b.a.l.l.s and shrimp. It’s called ‘Mushroom Basil Sunset’. Aren’t I witty…”
Wu Jin quickly pulled out a frozen fast-food handheld wrap, folded it twice, and skewered it with a bamboo stick, “Roasted handheld wrap!”
Ming Yao exclaimed loudly, “What is that! Elegance and vulgarity cannot be mixed together!”
At the other end of the grill, Wen Lin was keenly aware that Contestant Wei Shi was absent again, with Red sneakily punching in twice for both of them.
Wen Lin thought out loud, “The leader said that we should ask the Floating City Team about their plans. It would be best if we could arrange a training match… how about asking Little Witch to inquire privately?”
Zoe refused righteously, “No way. They’ve already gotten their marriage license, and the closer their relationship is, the more they’ll end up mixing up private and public matters. I’ll go and ask about this. Our White Moonlight is Little Witch’s backing, don’t let others think that Little Witch is a little n.o.body!”
Wen Lin nodded cheerfully.
On the stage, the program producer held up the loudspeaker and began to announce the schedule and rules, “The eighth elimination match and this year’s Crosson Show final compet.i.tion will be in the form of ranked, direct fights. All compet.i.tions will be 1v1, and there will be 6 games in total. I will first announce the player rankings, calculated according to the first seven elimination matches.”
Wu Jin bowed his head to read the rules released by the program group on his terminal.
Players would be ranked in order from 1 to 20, and the first round divided them up into 10 pairs. 2nd place would fight against 1st place, 3rd place against 4th place, and so on. After victory was determined within each pair, the winners would challenge the player above them, and the losers would challenge the player beneath––
Players would adjust their ranking positions amongst the players in the ranks around them based on their strength. At the end, the rankings would stabilize.
This compet.i.tion system was very fair.
As for the initial ranking positions––
PD: “First place, White Moonlight Battle Team, Wu Jin!”
The crowd burst out in enthusiastic applause. Caesar and Red stopped just short of standing on the grill and whistling, and Ming Yao shook Wu Jin vigorously, “Little Witch, treat us, treat us!” Zoe shot him a thumbs up from the distance.
The Crosson program producer waved Wu Jin up onto the stage, “First place in the second and seventh elimination matches, and team first place in the third and sixth elimination matches. You deserve this position.”
From nearby, Ming Yao waved a crab stick like a glow stick, and Wu Jin grinned widely.
Wei Yan nodded to Wu Jin, then raised his arms like a precision clapping robotk2013;k2013;
The program producer: “Second place, R-Code Battle Team, Wei Yan!”
Wu Jin saw a blank expression appear on Wei Yan’s face, but it was soon drowned out in the audience’s applause and whistles. Wu Jin thought about it, Wei Yan had probably thought that the big boss would be in second place, but in reality, based on Brother Wei’s casual att.i.tude where he’d been given either a C or a D grade in the first few rounds, he wouldn’t have been able to qualify at all if he was short on even a single first place!
On the lawn, Wu Jin s.n.a.t.c.hed up Ming Yao’s crab stick, waving it like a glow stick and cheering happily. Ming Yao pulled out two more crab sticks with a swish, not only cheering for Wei Yan, but dancing energetically as well…
The program producer: “Third place, Jingyi Battle Team, Zuo Botang!”
They all watched as Ming Yao practically bounced up from around the bonfire, stopping just short of carrying his captain around the field three times. Wu Jin was dumbfounded as he watched. The following rankings announced on the stage went by very quickly; Wei Shi was 4th place, Thin Fire was 5th place, Zoe was 6th…
The match sequence quickly took shape in Wu Jin’s mind.
He would be fighting against Wei Yan in the first game. If he won, then he’d fight the big boss. If he lost, then he would be fighting against either Zoe or Thin Fire. At this time, Zuo Botang would have fallen to fight against the 5th and 6th place in the rankings, and could kill his way back to the top at any time.
There were a total of six games. If he lost them all, he would drop to 13th place and out of the debut positions. And as long as he won any one of the games, he could make his debut––
Wu Jin breathed out lightly.
There was no suspense regarding his debut.
Then, in the final, eighth elimination match, he only had one goal. Make his debut with a high ranking.
The rules of the game had been announced.
The finals were fair yet brutal. The player in the 20th place would need to win all six games to gain a debut position, while Wen Lin, who was ranked 14th, needed to win four of the six games. When the program producer announced the end of the meeting, the four members of the White Moonlight team quickly gathered together to give Wen Lin advice, and the air was filled with the scent of burnt charcoal barbecue…
Ying Xiangxiang went up onto the stage and smiled as she knocked on the table, “Trainees, you have a week to prepare for the next round of the compet.i.tion. But now.”
“Party time!”
Dozens of AI managers swarmed into the venue, s.n.a.t.c.hing away the bamboo skewers that the players had painstakingly strung together.
All the trainees: “……”
Caesar was the first to react, jumping up to grab at the meat! Then, he was lifted up by the AI manager’s powerful mechanical arm and gently placed back on the ground.
In the night air, a virtual screen slowly rose up.
“”
“All contestants are requested to gather at the mountain behind the base immediately.”
“Ingredients are limited.”
“To be given to the top five contestants.”
The lawn fell into a brief moment of silence.
Then, Thin Fire was the first to jump out! It was unknown who yelled loudly, “Charge––” Dozens of contestants jumped up from the ground and ran towards the back mountain.
Ming Yao reacted very quickly. He’d just taken a few steps forward when he turned back and stared in shock. Wu Jin was searching through the barbecue area for weapons! The contestants who were already running up ahead also came to their senses, s.n.a.t.c.hing up stools, chairs, bamboo skewer sticks, and so on like a swarm of locusts traveling through. They didn’t think that Wu Jin would then take advantage of the opportunity to head straight to the mountain, opening up his terminal before going up and using it to take a panorama image of the obstacle course in night vision mode––
From behind him, Zuo Botang sighed emotionally, “This thinking style is really worthy of being the first place in the elimination matches.”
Raphael, who’d already been tricked into numbness by Wu Jin’s operations, “……”
In the back mountain, as players entered the arena, countless cameras swarmed over!
The green flag marked as ‘No.1’ was clearly visible in the night. Wu Jin climbed up the mountain and became the first to pull out a flag!
Two beeps could be heard.
The guard-point robot handed a box to Wu Jin. The design of the box was complex, and the pattern consisted of ferns, low palm trees, and dinosaurs hidden in the greenery.
The fourth elimination match, the Red Queen Hypothesis, Cretaceous Period Revival.
Wu Jin quickly reached into the box and drew out a card, and very soon, a Diplodocus card was held up between two of his fingers.
“Diplodocus. Privilege: Resistance to attacks from large carnivorous dinosaurs.”
The guard-point robot nodded repeatedly, then began to inflate a dinosaur balloon.
Wu Jin hadn’t yet reacted when he saw that the balloon kept getting bigger and bigger, stopping at around 4 meters long. There was a groove just wide enough to fit a person inside in the middle––two robots gave him no chance to speak as they pulled the Diplodocus balloon onto Wu Jin!
Wu Jin: “……”
From beside the No.1 flag point, Qin Jinbao was left dumbfounded, “What is that? A Wu Jin balloon?!”
Wu Jin was forced to wear the balloon, struggling as he moved forward. Unexpectedly, the contestants behind him all came over one after another, some playing with the dinosaur tail, and others hugging the dinosaur balloon.
Wu Jin resisted angrily, “Ahhh, don’t hold me ahhhh––” Wen Lin, who was pa.s.sing by, casually reached out a hand and patted Little Witch’s head to comfort him. He felt that the patting felt good and patted him two more times.
In the distance, Qin Jinbao had already pulled out flag No.2.
At No.1, Wu Jin was still moving slowly with the balloon and was slowly about to fall into last place. Wu Jin started to grow anxious and whistled!
The little Pterosaur circled down from the sky.
At Wu Jin’s command, it squawked and started pecking at the Diplodocus balloon!
“Holy s.h.i.t! There’s someone here who’s set up a summoner system!” Red, who was pa.s.sing by, was startled, then ran forward, laughing loudly as he went.
Flag point No.2, Cellular Automata, Lepidoptera Labyrinth. Qin Jinbao, who’d pulled out the flag, was now carrying b.u.t.terfly wings with a span of three meters and almost got blown over by the wind. In the distance, Wei Yan, who’d pulled out the flag at point No.3, was sprayed with the Sun King Louis’s perfume, becoming a sweet and cloying moving target.
Red immediately made a decision, “Little Witch, let’s cooperate!”
Wu Jin: “Okay!”
Halfway up the mountain, Wu Jin and Mao Qiukui formed an alliance, struggling to climb up in the dark. At flag point No.4, Caesar, who fell into Thin Fire’s scheme and pulled out the flag, was forced to solo KTV a theme song from an ancient idol talent variety show. If his singing couldn’t reach a score of 80 points, he wouldn’t be released.
Zoe, who dropped by for a visit outside of the temporary KTV’s gla.s.s walls, lamented, “Caesar will have to go on a hunger strike in there tonight. Hm? Little Witch is catching up?”
Zoe decided to block Wu Jin, “Ah Lin, run quickly! If you let Little Witch rush up, everyone will only be able to eat handheld wraps tonight!!”
Wen Lin resolutely accepted his command!
The night breeze blew through the mountain behind the Crosson Base, the wind sweeping through the mountainside, carrying Thin Fire’s wild laughter. Jingyi’s double c-position sent Raphael to pick up the flag at flag point No.5, and No.6 was picked up by Red before being forcibly given over to Thin Fire, who was enjoying himself immensely. Thin Fire was immediately stuffed into an amus.e.m.e.nt park facility from the sixth elimination match––small jumping frogs, which went up and down endlessly.
The final, bitter battle broke out at flag point No.7.
Wei Yan and Qin Jinbao caught up from the rear and exchanged fire with Jingyi! Wu Jin and Red suppressed Zoe and Wen Lin, pressing them fiercely into the ground, while Wu Jin forcibly disarmed Zoe!
Then.
He moved in close.
Wu Jin spoke seriously, “Captain, may handheld wraps live forever.”
The gate outside flag point No.8 finally opened up!
The contestants swarmed through the gate, and the camera lights turned on, aiming quickly––
The top of the mountain exuded a warm scent of barbecue, the smell of all the ingredients mixed together.
At this time, the top 5 had already been determined, but there were still flag points 8, 9, and 10 waiting to be crossed off.
Flag point No.8.
The robot handed each player a metal box painted with pink hearts.
Wu Jin opened it and was suddenly caught by surprise. The youth’s gaze was warm in the cold wind.
There was a projector inside the box.
The video that played in the virtual projection was a fan support video.
A little girl in a pink fluffy hat stomped out footprints that wrote ‘Go, Little Witch’ in the snow of the Southern Cross Star. Teenagers in high school uniforms cheered excitedly for Wu Jin. Young working women showed off their collection of over ten light support signs to the camera, and the ‘Little Witch jumping game’ that had already been fully cleared for weeks.
Countless bits and pieces flashed by in front of the camera, finally coming together to form a picture of a colorful heart.
––“We’ll be your shotgun, your knight’s sword. We hope you’ll kill all the demons under the skies, and continue to live your dreams as a youth.”
Charge, Little Witch!
The projection closed.
Wu Jin turned around, his eyes a little hot as he gave the camera a deep bow.
Flag point No.9.
The Crosson Show logo was etched onto the metal box, and Crosson instructors were in the video projection.
Blood Pigeon appeared in the center of the screen, first pointing out Wu Jin’s advantages and disadvantages in the seventh elimination match before saying seriously, “The Crosson Show is your starting point. Look ahead, towards the Star League final compet.i.tion. That’s where you should go.”
The retired veteran contestant in the projection stretched out his fist towards Wu Jin.
Wu Jin reached out.
His fist met solemnly with Blood Pigeon’s through the projection.
Flag point No.10.
A warm and welcoming house was drawn on the metal box.
It was a box that represented ‘home’ and ‘family’.
Next to Wu Jin, there was Ming Yao, who’d made it all the way to No.10. His eyes had grown red when he saw the fan support video, and when his parents appeared in the projection and said, “Our son has worked hard”, Ming Yao abruptly turned his head away.
Zuo Botang gently handed him a tissue.
Over at Red’s side, Mao Dongqing appeared in the projection.
Wu Jin remembered that in his post-game questionnaire, his family contact information had been blank.
Wu Jin hesitated, then opened up the last box at the top of the mountain.
The projection was bright and dazzling. Lin Jue, the captain of the White Moonlight Battle Team, appeared on the screen with a rarely seen smile. Behind Lin Jue stood vice-captain Chen Xiran, a smiling Secretary Qu, and the leader who was hugging Brother Rabbit.
Wu Jin was stunned, and his expression changed to one of pleased surprise.
His heart was warm in his chest, but the projection video wasn’t over––
The camera switched to show a lawn full of flamingos.
Arjun was beaming as he beckoned to Wu Jin. Behind him was Researcher Song, who’d finally taken off his white lab coat and was wearing a plaid shirt and jeans. Two young guards who often played basketball with Wu Jin, and Zhou Nan, the psychologist, were also there.
The cameraman adjusted the lens, exposing a gun callused hand, and the camera turned steadily towards Zhou Nan.
Zhou Nan’s voice was bright and clear, “Little Witch, we’re waiting for you at home.”
The wind that blew through the mountain behind Crosson was warm and gentle.
The cameras that had captured the expressions on the contestants’ faces stopped recording and moved away.
Red came over and leaned in close to Wu Jin, saying mysteriously, “Your Captain Lin sent your empty questionnaire column to Brother Wei…”
Wu Jin bowed his head, his lips curving up.
He’d recognized the hand in the video. Wei Shi had been the one holding the camera.
Juurensha: AWWWWW SO SWEET
apricot: that’s so cute T_T
xiin: NO, i definitely wasn’t sniffling while translating the second half of this chapter… one more chapter to go before the main story ends~ there’s still a bunch of extras, though, so we won’t be saying goodbye to Little Witch and Wei Shi just yet!