Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As it was currently the admissions season for major military academies, the forums were buzzing with activity, with students from various military schools engaged in heated arguments.

Under a post titled "Genuine question: Which military academy should new students apply to this year? Seeking advice from seniors and big shots,"

a group of military academy students were passionately promoting their respective schools from every possible angle.

"Listen to your senior, come to our First Army Academy. We collaborate with the military every year, priority for practical exercises and simulations, and guaranteed job placement after graduation—you won’t be disappointed!"

"Don’t listen to that nonsense from the First Army guy above. Their academy is in the middle of nowhere, a godforsaken place. Anyone who goes there will regret it. Listen to me, come to our Federal Military Academy. We offer generous 20-square-meter dorm rooms right in the heart of the federal capital—couldn’t be more comfortable!"

"Federal Military Academy? Don’t make me laugh. It’s famously known as a retirement home, ranking last in the annual Big Four military academy exercises every year. Take my advice, real men come to Alliance University. Our annual intramural Exercise Tournament will make you sweat blood and tears to reinvent yourself, and you’ll feel right at home in a mecha—it’s a brutal kind of awesome!"

"Haha, Alliance University is full of lonely singles who only know how to pilot mechas. Don't buy their BS. When it comes to teaching quality, our Central University is just as outstanding. Plus, the top performer in last year’s Exercise Tournament was from our Central University!"

...

Gradually, the discussions shifted from promoting their own schools to openly disparaging others. Driven by a strange sense of pride, this soon turned into forming cliques and rallying their own academy’s students to unite against others, quickly escalating into a full-blown free-for-all.

Everyone was bristling with fighting spirit, and the situation showed signs of intensifying.

Jiang Se glanced at it briefly before looking away, already forming a rough idea of the different military academies’ styles.

But none of that was important right now. Her most urgent task was to figure out how to pass the entrance exam.

The original novel had been vague about this, offering no clear explanation, and Jiang Se reasonably suspected the author hadn’t put much thought into designing it.

She wanted to apply for the Mecha Department. After some research, she found that aside from the initial psychic energy test, the Alliance University Mecha Department entrance exam mainly tested three subjects: Liberal Arts, Mecha Theory, and Simulated Combat.

Liberal Arts, as the name suggested, covered general knowledge. Jiang Se skimmed through it and felt that any sane person with decent common sense could easily score at least 60 points, so she promptly moved on to Mecha Theory.

Mecha Theory, as the name implied, focused on the structure and analysis of mechas. Unlike the Liberal Arts textbook, which was free, the Mecha Theory materials cost 10 star credits to download from the Star Network.

Jiang Se winced at the cost but comforted herself, thinking, "Perhaps this is the weight of knowledge."

She read through the Mecha Theory materials quickly, scanning ten lines at a glance while mentally digesting the content.

It took Jiang Se two days to finish the Mecha Theory compendium, and she spent the remaining half-day scouring the limited past exam questions available online.

She now had a rough idea of the difficulty level of the Mecha Theory exam.

The only thing that disappointed her was Simulated Combat. Possibly due to confidentiality agreements, there was virtually no information about it online. The only snippets she could find were complaints about its difficulty, offering no useful insights other than emphasizing how brutally difficult the exam was.

"It seems... I’ll just have to leave it to fate," Jiang Se thought to herself.

Back on the maglev train, she watched as passengers boarded and disembarked at each stop. As the train approached the stations near Alliance University, it filled with students around Jiang Se’s age. With the entrance exam approaching, everyone was cramming at the last minute.

Occasional murmurs of complaint could be heard:

"Dammit, what are the installation rules for mechanical arms again? How did I forget already?"

"I feel like I’m going to fail Mecha Theory again this year. Amitabha, may the Father of Mecha bless me."

Perhaps realizing that science couldn’t save him, a thick-browed, bright-eyed guy began resorting to metaphysical methods for self-salvation.

In front of him was a black photo frame containing a picture of a white-haired, white-bearded old man whose kindly face rivaled Santa Claus. He faced the picture, hands clasped together, murmuring devoutly.

His pious atmosphere seemed to infect those around him. A group of people nearby, operating on the principle of "better safe than sorry," also clasped their hands together and devoutly prayed to the Father of Mecha to help them avoid failing. The scene was quite bizarre.

Jiang Se thought, "Father of Mecha, you’ve really got your work cut out for you!"

With a "beep," the maglev train arrived at the station, and a swarm of examinees rushed out.

After disembarking, from a distance, she could see an eye-searingly colorful flag fluttering in the wind, bearing the words "Alliance University."

Under the flag, a clear-eyed, handsome young man was holding a large banner in one hand and a loudspeaker in the other, energetically shouting, "Students here for Alliance University’s entrance exam, please gather here! The school has arranged dedicated transportation!"

"Also, the locals are humble and honest, but everyone should be careful not to get scammed!"

Then, the senior launched into an impassioned anti-scam guide through the loudspeaker, warning about schemes like people posing as seniors offering to carry your luggage only to run off with it, or those claiming to have past exam questions guaranteed to help you pass the entrance exam, only to swindle you out of tens of thousands of star credits. The variety of scams was endless.

Perhaps due to the senior’s enthusiastic efforts, they actually managed to catch a scammer claiming to be a former senior. He was promptly pinned to the ground by a group of tall, sturdy students and arrested on the spot, causing quite a stir and prompting many to take photos and upload them to the Star Network.

On the dedicated transport, a light screen displayed exam precautions, accompanied by the senior’s earnest one-on-one explanations for any questions, ensuring every examinee felt right at home.

One examinee raised their hand and asked, "Senior, what exactly is Simulated Combat? Why is there no information about it anywhere on the Star Network?"

The clear-eyed, handsome senior who had been holding the banner earlier smiled and replied, "First, I commend this student for asking questions when in doubt. But unfortunately..."

He raised his index finger to his lips in a shushing gesture. "Regarding Simulated Combat, the school requires us to keep it confidential, so your dear senior is unable to help you."

"But what I can tell you is that the content of Simulated Combat changes every year, and the difficulty varies dramatically."

"So, good luck, my dear future juniors!"

"And welcome to Alliance University!"

As he finished speaking, Jiang Se looked out the window. The main gate of Alliance University was a long black arch, resembling a bridge connecting north and south. The words "Alliance University" were written in bold, powerful black ancient script, and the school emblem—a black eagle—hovered above, as if ready to soar into the sky at any moment.