Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Jiang Se closed her eyes, put on the holographic helmet, and entered the holographic simulation capsule.

The bioelectric current from the holographic helmet brushed against her scalp with a rustling sound, its touch icy cold, like a handful of fresh snow.

When she opened her eyes again, Jiang Se found herself in a vast and empty room.

Everything in sight was silver-white, with multicolored metallic laser glints flashing across the silver-white surfaces.

Where was this?

Jiang Se was stunned for a moment. Was the simulated battle supposed to take place in this space?

The next second, a string of silvery-white text appeared in the air, accompanied by a cold, mechanical voice:

"Verification passed. Candidate: Jiang Se."

"Applied Department: Mecha Department."

"Simulated combat is about to begin…"

"Randomly selecting testing arena…"

The originally cold and empty silver-white space began to undergo drastic changes with the mechanical voice—with each random selection of a testing arena, the silver-white space was molded by an invisible hand, transforming it into the environment of the randomly chosen field.

The air, sunlight, and even the varying humidity with each breath were faithfully simulated. When the random selection landed on a desert field, Jiang Se could even feel the grittiness in the air with each breath—as if tiny grains of sand were truly suspended in the atmosphere.

Jiang Se: Wow, this holographic simulated combat is as exciting as ever!

The random selection of the testing arena lasted about a minute, and the speed at which the fields switched gradually slowed down. Finally, the scene settled on a green testing arena.

The mechanical voice announced:

"Examination field generation complete: Rainforest-Grassland Hybrid Arena."

The moment these words fell, Jiang Se couldn’t help but feel a wave of confusion.

Wait, did she hear that correctly? This examination field mixed rainforest and grassland together—how could tropical rainforest and temperate grassland be lumped into the same category?

Jiang Se didn’t understand but was thoroughly impressed, feeling that this field generation was indeed pretty wild, completely disregarding basic laws of geography.

As the field generation completed, the scenery before Jiang Se underwent dramatic changes. The space in front of her seemed split into two parts: one half was light green, a vast and open grassland with rolling mountains, while the other half was dark green, a dense and gloomy rainforest that blocked out the sky, dark and humid, with occasional glimpses of colorful pythons flashing eerie and fleeting.

"Candidates will soon be deployed into the examination field…"

"Wishing you glory in battle…"

As the cold mechanical voice faded, the space beneath Jiang Se’s feet instantly split open. An intense sense of weightlessness made her gasp, and the fierce northern wind that followed tossed her hitherto neat hair into utter disarray.

Jiang Se: ???

Hold up, does "deploy" just mean they literally drop you?

The silver-white space she had been in was extremely high, and her falling speed was incredibly fast. Just as she could vaguely make out the specific contours of the grassland below, a parachute appeared on her back and slowly bloomed open.

The familiar cold mechanical voice echoed in Jiang Se’s mind again:

"Simulated combat rules: Candidates hunt one another. Each candidate is worth one point. Rankings based on points will determine who passes the exam."

"Candidates are allowed to form teams. Team size cannot exceed four members."

"The hunt is about to begin. Please prepare."

The parachute’s descent gradually slowed. Jiang Se looked up and saw countless parachutes floating slowly in the sky, each carrying a candidate beneath it.

At this moment, they were all opponents in this hunt, poised against each other.

Unlike the previous written examination, which had been gentle and refined, the simulated combat revealed its ruthless nature from the very beginning.

Jiang Se took a deep breath and thought: It seems my luck isn’t too bad—at least I didn’t land in the rainforest to have a bare-handed showdown with a giant crocodile.

As she descended, a small silver-white box appeared at her waist.

On the surface of the box was a small gear emblem.

The thought that her luck was holding had just crossed her mind when she noticed a goat grazing peacefully and serenely on the ground where she was about to land.

Of course, that is, if you ignored the two curved and exceptionally sharp horns on the goat’s head.

The goat clearly noticed this uninvited guest descending into its territory, and its originally peaceful and calm expression was replaced by a vicious one.

Jiang Se: Great, her curse of a mouth had struck again. Now she had to have a death match with a grassland goat!

Who said this holographic simulated combat was boring? This holographic simulated combat was way too interesting!

*

Alliance University, Central Teaching Building, in a silver-white empty room.

Huge holographic screens covered almost the entire wall, displaying live footage of the candidates in the examination field.

Seated in a row of seats facing the screens were a lineup of people. If any Alliance University students were present, they would recognize that nearly all the prominent leaders from the Command Department, Individual Combat Department, and Mecha Department were gathered here.

These high-level administrators, who were seldom seen outside of opening and graduation ceremonies, had gathered here to watch the competition of these young students with keen interest.

After all, beyond serving as an entrance exam, the simulated combat had another important purpose: selecting talent.

The teams Alliance University sent to the annual military academy Exercise Tournament were mostly formed during this simulated combat, establishing the core lineup of the team members.

The holographic screen directly facing the seats happened to randomly land on Jiang Se at that moment.

On the screen, Jiang Se appeared tall and slender, with a pale complexion and a frail, delicate demeanor. Hanging beneath the parachute, she looked down at the ferociously hostile Sharp-Horned Goat below. The goat had tightened its hind legs, its eyes firmly fixed on the spot where Jiang Se was about to land, ready to charge at her with its sharp horns the moment she touched down. Jiang Se wore a look of complete and utter despair.

A deputy director from the Individual Combat Department, seeing the situation on the screen, exclaimed, "This student is so unlucky! She’s run into a B-class mutant, a Sharp-Horned Goat, right as she lands!"

A teacher from the Individual Combat Department, noticing the toolbox with the small gear emblem at Jiang Se’s waist—the mark of Mecha Department students—sighed and said, "And she’s from the Mecha Department! If she were from the Individual Combat Department, she might still stand a chance!"

His words were quite blunt. After all, the idea of a Mecha Department student engaging in hand-to-hand combat with a mutant beast sounded far-fetched. However, the blatant disdain in his tone made the Mecha Department teachers nearby frown.

A Mecha Department teacher couldn’t help but retort, "Mecha Department students can definitely hold their own! The toolbox at her waist contains various parts. If she assembles a weapon on the spot and uses it properly, she could very well take on the Sharp-Horned Goat!"