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Ch37 - Fallen sockpuppet
Shao Ci could feel very clearly that Pei Shijian’s attacks were no longer as sluggish as before, but swift and fierce. Each blow was aimed at his vitals.
If he was still operating manually, Shao Ci would definitely have lost already. But with his spiritual energy connected to his mecha, his sense of his surroundings was incomparably clear, and he could see everything on the field. No matter how cunning Pei Shijian’s attacks were, he could dodge them all.
Of course, in order to avoid exposing his true strength, when Shao Ci dodged, he purposely faked panic, making it look like he was able to dodge thanks to luck. He was successful at looking like a useless potato.
“But this is no good…” Shao Ci racked his brains. “There’s not much time less. I have to finish things in three minutes, but I can’t just win against Pei Shijian… If that happens, it’ll draw people’s attention.”
And Edwin, watching the scene from the private room, was nearly standing up.
To an outsider watching the two people fighting, it looked like Shao Ci was dodging blindly, as though he didn’t have the slightest ability to resist, and even like he was in a sorry state. But Edwin could sense the peculiarity clearly.
Based on his understanding of Pei Shijian, Pei Shijian was already using all of his strength. This was no longer a level that normal people could compare with. After all, Pei Shijian was someone at the top in the virtual world.
But if that Shao Ci was really useless, then he wouldn’t get lucky enough to dodge so many times. Moreover, Edwin saw each and every one of the details in the movements Shao Ci made when he was dodging.
He was very familiar with the particulars of those movements. They were just like the movements he saw countless of times in videos. They were the same as Prince Latiao’s movements in the arena. They were the movements that Edwin had been searching for in the arena all morning.
Edwin couldn’t believe his eyes. “How? It couldn’t be…” A completely implausible theory began to take shape in his mind. “…No. No, it’s too early to come to a conclusion.” Edwin stood up. “I have to go see it personally.”
Edwin rushed out the door without hesitation, running to the region Pei Shijian and Shao Ci were fighting in.
He was fairly close to the arena, and he was in a position high above. It was easy to see everything in the arena.
Edwin looked straight at the mecha that seemed like it was being piloted with an unpracticed hand, his emerald green eyes filled with struggle.
“Come on, let me see… Are you truly that person?”
On the other hand, Pei Shijian was getting more and more annoyed. Now, the opponent that he should have been able to handle with ease was actually able to avoid his blows again and again and wearing his little bit of patience down to nothing.
Pei Shijian liked toying with the weak, but if these weaklings began acting out of his control, he would fall into hysteria.
“It looks like I’ve only got one choice.” Pei Shijian’s gaze turned cold. He aimed at Shao Ci’s weak point and thrust forward.
As long as he hit that spot, Shao Ci’s mecha would immediately get out of control. Even the mecha’s safety mechanisms would be affected. Even if he suffered injuries, it wouldn’t be unusual. Every year, students would get hurt because of that spot.
But Shao Ci maneuvered his mecha into a twist just enough to dodge that blow.
“It’s just as I thought… What should I do then?” Things played out just as Pei Shijian had anticipated. His attack from just now had been to test the waters. When Shao Ci dodged, Pei Shijian controlled the other arm of his mecha to pull out its weapon, aiming a blow at the place Shao Ci had dodged towards.
“Can you still dodge this?”
Pei Shijian had never shown this trump card. In fact, he could fight with weapons in both hands, and he could bring out the highest level of power from each of them.
In the original novel, Pei Shijian didn’t reveal himself until later. At first, he hadn’t wanted to reveal his hand in the combat lessons, but faced with a situation no longer in his control, he finally made up his mind.
But what Pei Shijian didn’t know was that his opponent knew his each and every move even more clearly then he himself did.
Pei Shijian’s mecha was completely blocking off Shao Ci’s escape route with one weapon in each hand. There was nowhere Shao Ci could run. If he dodged, he would be skewered by one of the weapons.
Pei Shijian was sure that as long as Shao Ci’s mecha was skewered, then he could seize the chance to batter his opponent’s mecha into scrap metal.
Shao Ci’s mecha stayed stiffly in place, as though he was at a loss because he had nowhere to run.
The crowd cried out in shock. “He’s incredible, he can actually fight at such a level!”
“I know Pei Shijian’s pretty good with mechas, but I didn’t expect that he was actually so skilled.”
Pei Shijian didn’t hear any of their amazed gasps. He was thinking only of Shao Ci’s mecha broken into pieces. He couldn’t control his glee, maneuvering his mecha to attack. “It’s time. Where will you run now? There’s already nowhere to run, hmm?”
Then, as if Shao Ci was too nervous and couldn’t control his mecha, his mecha slid backwards drunkenly, just in time to avoid Pei Shijian’s blow.
“How…” Pei Shijian was stunned.
But it wasn’t done yet. Before Pei Shijian’s disbelieving eyes, Shao Ci’s mecha just happened to crash towards him, even sending his weapons crashing straight towards Pei Shijian’s cockpit, causing it to sway. The connection between Pei Shijian’s spiritual energy and the mecha snapped.
The cockpit was the most critical region of the mecha. As long as his opponent touched his mecha, the victory was practically set in stone.
The combat lessons didn’t require their students to really go into close combat, so when Shao Ci’s mecha crashed into Pei Shijian’s cockpit, an earsplitting bell rang into the air. It meant the victor had been decided.
All the surrounding students were stunned. “Fuck, you can even win like this?”
“Isn’t this guy’s luck crazy? I expected him to get taught a lesson. I didn’t expect…”
“Poor Pei Shijian. He was sure to win, but he lost because of something like this.”
The fragments of the conversations around Pei Shijian drifted into his ears.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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He knew his spiritual energy was stronger than most people’s. As long as he wanted to, he could even use his spiritual energy to make anyone under A-grade go crazy.
When he was in a low-level school, he would have anyone who got on his bad side take spiritual damage in the battlefield. They couldn’t even stay in school. They would be forced to stay in the sanatorium for life, not knowing what had happened to their own spiritual energy.
Pei Shijian was planning to use the same tactic to counter Shao Ci. After all, spiritual problems were difficult to detect. Even the best military institute in the empire had no way to find out what was wrong.
But in the next moment, Pei Shijian felt an indescribable dread from his spiritual energy. Other than his luck, the reason Pei Shijian could climb so high was because of his occasional, strong intuition that allowed him to evade danger at a critical moment several times.
It was his first time sensing this fear. Pei Shijian unconsciously stopped diffusing spiritual energy.
Just as Pei Shijian stopped, Shao Ci maneuvered his mecha into a standing position, retreating from the training field rapidly, unwilling to stay near Pei Shijian for even a second longer.
Pei Shijian looked over coldly, hammering his mecha with both fists. “Shao Ci… I’ll remember you.”
It was his first time moving against Shao Ci, but he hadn’t succeeded. He wouldn’t let himself face defeat a third time.
–
Everyone watching the fight to the death was thoroughly shocked. In their ten-odd years of life, it was their first time seeing someone win from sheer dumb luck. None of them realized anything strange.
But Edwin stood at the side, his hands balled tightly into fists, staring fixedly at the replays on the screen. His eyes were filled with disbelief.
When he hurried over, he had examined Shao Ci’s every move closely. The more he looked, the more he felt that Shao Ci’s movements were exactly like Prince Latiao’s.
“Still, he could be imitating Prince Latiao…” Edwin thought, “If he’s really imitating, it’s not impossible to copy the details.”
But when Shao Ci dodged Pei Shijian’s attack and crashed into him, a sliver of spiritual energy unconsciously dissipated into the air.
Because Shao Ci was focused on Pei Shijian, he couldn’t keep hold on his spiritual energy. He reasoned that there was nobody above who had their spiritual energy saturating the air, but he didn’t expect that his energy would run into Edwin upstairs.
When he felt the strong, familiar spiritual energy, Edwin’s handsome but always cold face flushed red. His limbs went weak. He clutched onto the wall to keep his balance.
“That’s right… Everything can be faked except for this spiritual energy… This strong spiritual energy…” Edwin mumbled. “It must be him. Ah… I managed to find out now…”
Edwin thought of when he had rushed to the mecha training field and ran into Shao Ci. Back then, he thought he was just a useless beta hiding there to slack off, and hadn’t bothered to spare him a single glance.
But things seemed different now. Shao Ci must have rushed to leave as soon as the action ended, and ran into him. Edwin clenched his fists. He should have noticed something was off back then, but because of his innate prejudice he hadn’t even though about it.
No wonder he hadn’t been able to find Prince Latiao in the school by looking for an alpha. It was because the person he looked up to the most was actually a beta.
Edwin’s opinion didn’t change because Prince Latiao was an alpha. Instead, his admiration deepened.
His idol was really worth his title. He could even attain such a level as a beta.
Shao Ci’s victory absolutely wasn’t just luck. Edwin thought back to the scene from just now. It was clear that it was a result that had been carefully planned and crafted for the outsider. He had the skill to defeat Pei Shijian as he wished, but he went for a roundabout way to achieve his goal.
Now that he thought about it, Shao Ci’s uselessness in the past was an act he had put up. In fact, to cover up his true power, Shao Ci had always kept himself hidden. Even if others insulted him, he didn’t care.
That’s right. Edwin thought of what Prince Latiao had said to him in the virtual net. Shao Ci doesn’t care about this at all. He thinks wholeheartedly of mechas and becoming stronger.
Edwin sat back at his seat, disappointed. The things that had happened to Shao Ci flashed through his mind one by one. Now, the things that he had practically forgotten were as clear as day.
Before, every time they met, he would always pretend not to see him. He had even thought that looking at Shao Ci was an offense to his eyes… But the other person hadn’t said anything when they met in the virtual net. He had even been so friendly.
But even if Shao Ci didn’t care, Edwin couldn’t forgive himself for looking down on him in the past. He wished he could turn back time and give himself a slap across the face.
Back when people accused Shao Ci of being a pervert peeping on the men’s bathrooms, Edwin had known very clearly that he was an innocent, but he had thought that such a person was getting his just desserts, so he didn’t come out to say anything. It had even forced Shao Ci to leave the school.
After that, Shao Ci only came back with the help of Ji Zhaoyun’s power. Otherwise… wait.
Edwin was suddenly shocked. He thought back to when Ji Zhaoyun had confessed to Prince Latiao in broad daylight on the virtual net yesterday.
He had thought it was weird. Ji Zhaoyun and Prince Latiao didn’t have many chances to meet, so why would Ji Zhaoyun start wooing him so quickly? It was as though they already knew each other for a long time.
Now he understood. So they had already gotten acquainted with each other then… In the end, it was all his, the cold bystander’s, fault.
When he thought about how he had caused Shao Ci to get to know Ji Zhaoyun, Edwin felt incredibly bitter. He didn’t come back to his senses for a long time.
–
The second Shao Ci entered the mecha prep station, he disconnected his spiritual energy from the mecha, wiping off the sweat on his forehead. His entire body was soaked with sweat.
After all, he wasn’t just using his spiritual energy to control the mecha. He also had to face Pei Shijian, who had a protagonist halo, and pretend to be weak, then gain victory by chance…
Still, Shao Ci hadn’t expected to win so easily. It seemed that Pei Shijian took him too lightly and was too relaxed.
Another factor was that it was only a combat lesson, and it couldn’t influence the real story. Otherwise, even if the world consciousness had to give Shao Ci a heart attack and give him a lunch box, it wouldn’t let Pei Shijian lose. It wasn’t so easy to face the original protagonist.
“Even Pei Shijian won’t realize anything is wrong. He’ll just think I won by chance.” Shao Ci was ready to admire his own resourcefulness.
Shao Ci didn’t know what would happen when he met Pei Shijian in the future either… Anyway, things had already gotten to this state.
After being sprawled out in the cockpit for a while, Shao Ci finally clambered up, feeling absolutely exhausted. He felt like he was walking on air, completely unlike he was on real ground, but like he was walking on clouds.
“As I thought, I should work on doing some more exercise.” Shao Ci began panting after a few steps, supporting himself on the wall. He couldn’t help beginning to complain, “This omega body’s just too garbage. I’m so tired after just a bit of spiritual energy. I won’t be able to find a job once I graduate, will I?”
As soon as he walked out of the mecha prep station, everyone’s attention focused on Shao Ci. Their gazes were filled with awe. After all, it was rare to see someone as lucky as Shao Ci. It made them want to come and touch Shao Ci and let some of his luck rub off on them, but they weren’t close enough for that.
If someone put this online, Shao Ci would most certainly become one of those “repost for luck” posts that had been reposted several hundred thousand times.
Then the main entrance opened. Edwin stood in the doorway. He looked as though he was in a rush. His blonde hair was a mess, but it made him look more approachable and not as though he was a thousand miles away.
After seeing Edwin, everyone’s expressions changed.
Someone had spread the word about how Edwin had requested surveillance footage yesterday. Most people in the school were aware that someone who could get the footage couldn’t have an ordinary background. A few people discovered Edwin’s true background through their own means.
Thus, overnight, Edwin’s true identity had had spread through the entire school, and he didn’t have any intention to cover it up either.
Only someone who didn’t pay attention to the school sites like Shao Ci wouldn’t know.
Now, everyone wanted to get close to Edwin. They hated themselves for not noticing someone so amazing in their school and envied Pei Shijian’s luck.
But Edwin was so hard to approach that nobody was daring enough to talk to him. In the past, there were people who wanted to get close to him because of his looks, but he didn’t even spare them a glance.
When Edwin saw Shao Ci, his expression changed. He walked over quickly.
Shao Ci unconsciously stopped in his footsteps, looking at him alertly. “…!” What did Edwin want to do?! Did he come get revenge because he was upset with the method Shao Ci used to win over Pei Shijian?!
When the crowd thought about Edwin and Pei Shijian’s relationship, they thought of the same thing as Shao Ci and thought Edwin came to settle the score with him… Fuck, this must be the best chance for them to get on Edwin’s good side.
Because Shao Ci usually stuck to Ji Zhaoyun, nobody had the guts to say anything. Now that Ji Zhaoyun was gone, each of them began to rack their brains to jeer at Shao Ci and curry favor with Edwin.
“Is this the guy who just beat Pei Shijian? Why does he look like a weak chicken? He doesn’t look like he can beat Pei Shijian at all. I think there’s something fishy about him.”
“Heh, look, that guy just won by luck. How else would a pervert who got expelled then came back with no shame win against Pei Shijian? Everyone knows how amazing Pei Shijian is.”
To curry favor with Edwin, these people began praising Pei Shijian shamelessly.
“Poor Pei Shijian, I bet this will even affect his grades for the year… This kind of trash shouldn’t have been at our school in the first place. If he can’t stand it, that’s whatever, but he even affected someone else. He’s absolutely shameless.”
“Exactly. Someone as amazing as Pei Shijian actually lost to a beta. If this gets around, even his reputation will get affected.”
“And he’s so tired after just getting on a mecha. If he really goes and participates in some mecha competition, won’t he just be vomiting blood? If you’re as weak as an omega, don’t come to study at our military institute. If I was him, I would have left school ages ago.”
……
…
Shao Ci didn’t know how to react. “…” Hey, do you guys have to act like this just to suck up! These jeers are so awkward, okay, and that last one accidentally came a bit too close to home…
But Edwin’s expression turned uglier and uglier. Everyone thought they had gotten the main point and got even more excited, beginning to let out curse after curse.
Although their personalities looked bad, as long as they could get the favor of the crown prince’s younger cousin, the heir of the richest tycoon in the empire, so what if they had bad personalities? Wouldn’t their futures be limitless?! Everyone had the same thing in mind.
Shao Ci was pretty sure that Edwin wouldn’t hit him in front of so many people, so he kept walking forward, pretending it had nothing to do with him.
He didn’t expect that because he had been standing for so long, Shao Ci’s legs suddenly went numb. He lost control and fell forward.
When he saw that Shao Ci was about to fall, Edwin flew over, grabbing ahold of Shao Ci. He asked anxiously, “Are you alright? Do you feel any discomfort?”
Shao Ci was given a huge shock. “??!” So polite?!
The surrounding crowd: “…???!!” The fuck?!
The people who were talking cheerfully shut up immediately.
Hey, why were things going different from what was agreed on! Where was the “picking a fight for my good friend” that they were promised? Why were things suddenly going like this? How were they supposed to bear it!
“I-I’m fine…” Shao Ci couldn’t figure out if Edwin had recognized him. He could only ask, “Do you need me for something?”
“I truly apologize. I came too late, I couldn’t bring you away before those people started talking.” Edwin’s eyes were filled with guilt. He got on one knee in front of Shao Ci, putting himself in a most humble position.
Edwin’s behavior shocked Shao Ci. He began to panic. “T-t-th… Wait, don’t be like this…”
How did Edwin have the mental strength to kneel down in front of so many people!
The crowd was also so shocked they nearly peed their pants. Was this still the always-cold Edwin who looked like everyone owed him money?! And the person he was facing was just a beta with no strength, was someone impersonating him?! Or did they have a collective hallucination? Or did Shao Ci actually have a deeply hidden history?!
Because it was too shocking, everybody was beginning to doubt their eyes.
But Edwin didn’t care about them at all. His emerald-like eyes drilled into Shao Ci, his voice trembling slightly. “I apologize for the things I did in the past. I hope you would be wiling to forgive me… I understand that my actions cannot be brushed over in a few sentences. I can accept any punishment you give me, but I ask that you do not leave me.”
Shao Ci: “…!” Fuck, such grand lines, Edwin must know his identity, right? Although he had no idea where he got this information… In any case, the most important thing right now was to keep it from anyone else.
The crowd: “???” What kind of development was this! Did something happen that they didn’t know about? They obviously came to school every day, but it seemed like they had missed out on some shocking news.
The people who had been mocking Shao Ci earlier wished they could rip their own mouths off. They wanted to run away, but they were afraid of being to obvious and being noticed by Edwin. They could only stay in the crowd, suffering.
What exactly was up with this Shao Ci guy? He was just a beta, and he was even expelled from the school. A normal person couldn’t make a comeback, but he actually befriended two amazing people in one go. How the heck did he do it?!
Their stares were about to poke through Shao Ci. He hurriedly grabbed Edwin’s hand. “Okay, I forgive you. You should stand up quickly… There’s some stuff that isn’t good to say here, let’s find somewhere more private.”
When Shao Ci grabbed Edwin’s hand, his face turned red. He immediately stood up, nodding. “Alright, I’ll leave all the decisions to you.”
Then he turned his head, giving the crowd a cold stare. He said coldly, “I won’t pretend I didn’t hear what you said earlier. By the end of the day, you’d better make a public apology on the school’s website, or you can prepare to face the Heimann family’s fury.”
Edwin’s words showed he had no intention of keeping his background a secret any longer. The crowd was stunned. Bringing out the Heimann name so directly meant that Edwin had decided to stand against those people.
The people who had cursed at Shao Ci before had no choice but to start thinking about how they would apologize to Shao Ci online no matter how bitter they felt. Although it was humiliating, compared to the consequences of facing the Heimann family’s suppression, humiliation was just humiliation.
They hadn’t forgotten when a celebrity from a noble family mocked the head of the Heimann family. In the end, they were blocked and suppressed, and their entire family was pressured into bankruptcy. The emperor even took away their title of nobility.
Immediately, Edwin pulled Shao Ci’s hand, rushing to a lounge nearby. When he noticed how hard Shao Ci was panting, he questioned in concern, “What’s wrong? You seem to be in poor condition.”
“It’s nothing, I’m fine.” Shao Ci waved a hand, looking at him seriously. “You figured out my identity?”
Edwin blurted, “I truly apologize, I didn’t do it intentionally. I just happened to notice.”
“As I thought, you found out…” Shao Ci could feel the terrifying power of a fanboy acutely. He even found out something kept so secret. “I’m begging you, please never say anything about this, especially to Pei Shijian. Please?”
Edwin was shocked. He nearly got back on his knees. He gritted his teeth. “Of course I will do as you say, but there’s no need to use ‘please’ with me…”
Although Pei Shijian was his friend, he was nothing compared to Shao Ci. If Edwin had to choose between the two, he would abandon Pei Shijian without hesitation.
In the original novel, Edwin could betray his own cousin for Pei Shijian. He could betray anyone for Shao Ci.
“Alright.” Shao Ci let out a breath of relief. He continued, “You saw it too. Although I’m really strong online, I’m just a normal student in real life. If you can’t accept it, just pretend like nothing happened at all.”
“You’re truly too kind. You’re still so kind to someone like me.” Edwin was ready to cry. His voice hoarse, he said, “Even if you are different in reality, I already decided that I would follow after you for a lifetime. I absolutely won’t change because of such a reason.”
Fuck, Edwin’s basically already been possessed by the devil.
Shao Ci: “…As long as you’re happy.” If Edwin wanted to stick to him for no reward, he couldn’t do anything about it.
“Then, when we’re in school in the future, you don’t have to talk to me like this. You can just say my name normally.” Shao Ci felt this was a very serious matter. “Okay?”
“Of course, it’s no problem,” Edwin said. “Then in the future, I’ll address you… address you as Sh-Shao Ci…” His face was turning completely red, like he was sinking deeply into bliss.
Shao Ci felt embarrassed by Edwin’s reaction. “…” Isn’t it just a name? There’s absolutely no need to be so excited!!
“Oh, right, it’s getting late. I’ll leave first,” Shao Ci said. If Ji Zhaoyun couldn’t find him and ran over it would be annoying.
Edwin suddenly remembered, and probed, “Right, your relationship with Ji Zhaoyun…”
But before Shao Ci could leave, the door burst open.
Ji Zhaoyun’s silhouette appeared in the doorway. His impatient voice rang out. “You’re just a servant, don’t always make trouble for me. When you’re done fighting, just go and sit back down properly. Now you even had me come find you personally.”
Shao Ci: “!” Hey, coming as soon as he finished talking makes it just seem like it was on purpose, okay?
T/N: I’m so sorry this is so late… this is actually last week’s chapter >.> I’ll try to get the normal up by Wednesday but it will be up before next update for sure!