LSDWTWHA chapter 45

Chapter 44

After kicking the actively provoking pilot out of the game, Su took advantage of the moment when [No Return] was unprepared and overtook from below their team.

The agile swiftlet provocatively flipped in front of [No Return] and then left without looking back.

The distance between the two sides grew wider and wider. By the end, they couldn’t even see Su’s shadow.

“Such trash, can’t even deal with him.” [Five Spoons of Ink] couldn’t stand someone provoking his master in front of him, and immediately sped up, “I’m going!”

His starship was the [White Tiger], a starship from the same era as the [Vermilion Bird]. Compared to the Vermilion Bird’s short-range, high-intensity flame output, the White Tiger had a more balanced property, showing good performance in both long-range fuel consumption and short-range burst sprinting.

If he opened the throttle fully, he could directly catch up to Su’s starship with his sprinting speed. Su’s starship had been modified to be extremely light; if the [White Tiger] could directly crash into it, even if it didn’t scrap, it would be severely damaged.

“Come back.” [No Return] called to him. After just a brief clash, he realized he had underestimated his opponent. Su was indeed a newcomer, but he was not someone who could be easily dismissed. The escape maneuver he just performed exhibited professional reflexes and control over his starship. It was impossible to win against him with mere tricks.

The speed of improvement was astonishing. The last time he encountered Su, the latter didn’t possess such strength. And this strangely modified starship, he didn’t know where Su had found a modification master. The modifications were bizarre and bold, but they definitely unleashed Su’s advantages more thoroughly.

“But, just let it go like this?” [Five Spoons of Ink] asked unwillingly.

[No Return] had calmed down. As the team’s commander, he naturally couldn’t let a small incident affect his emotions: “If you can’t catch him, don’t send yourself to die for nothing. The preliminary round is not just this match; I have plans for the later stages.”

Having not consumed fuel through the gravitational field in the early stage and having had a favorable wind, Su drove smoothly after surpassing [No Return]’s team.

In the final stretch, he encountered radar signal loss, losing his position and direction indicators went haywire, but it did not affect his performance.

If a person has a poor sense of direction and easily gets lost, they might be termed as ‘lost.’ Su could probably be called ‘road bull’; having glanced over the electronic map once was like having it imprinted in his mind, with each directional reference point clearly remembered.

Even without directions, he could accurately head straight towards key points, almost not wasting any time on detours.

Watching Su almost blindly rushing towards the key point, the barrage audience flooded with a stream of 666 comments.

【Hacker! Someone is hacking!】

【This isn’t hacking; he himself is a hack.】

【Wait, did he memorize the map?】

【How can you memorize it? It’s not a familiar terrain; I see up, down, left, and right all looking the same. Drop me in, and I’d get lost in a second.】

Su not only remembered the map but had even calculated the fuel usage properly. By the time he reached the finish line, the remaining fuel was less than one percent.

In the end, Su smoothly crossed the finish line of the racing match without any surprises.

【Congratulations to player, White Scale Shark Shark, for being the second to reach the finish line, taking four hours and twenty-seven minutes. Speed rating SSS, awarded 10 points, and the right to select the next segment’s lane.】

Next, there were rules regarding the second race, which Su did not pay attention to. His focus was solely on: Second! He actually got second?

Su looked blankly beside him, a pure black starship, almost opaque, appeared silently beside his starship, seeming to have suddenly arrived, or as if it had always been there.

At the same time, Su received a communication message from nearby.

[Reducing Complexity]: You drove pretty well, thanks for leading the way earlier, consider it a favor owed to you.

So it was her who got first.

Su ground his teeth in frustration; losing like this made him momentarily unsure whether her praise was genuine or a deliberate mockery.

[Reducing Complexity]’s starship was called [Chasing Shadows]. This type of starship had a dim sheen, with numerous anti-detection coatings on the surface, the body was lightweight, quick in speed, and operated quietly, suitable for executing reconnaissance and assassination missions.

The other party was adept at stealth; Su hadn’t seen her starship throughout the entire process and didn’t even know how he lost.

At the same time, the barrage exploded with confusion, with a plethora of question marks appearing.

Reducing Complexity took part in the race, and even those with God-view perspective hardly noticed her presence.

【I’m dumbfounded; I didn’t see her at all. Did anyone catch when she overtook to first place?】

【No, I didn’t see her either. I thought she fell behind.】

【Fan here, laughing my ass off, I was following her all the way only to find out she just blinked to the finish line.】

Among the confused players, a conspicuous pink barrage passed by, solving everyone’s doubt.

【I saw it. Reducing Complexity is very clever; she was hidden in the early stage, following the No Return team to save fuel. After Su overtook, she followed him closely. Both lost their positioning together; Su drove ahead, and she didn’t even look at the road but just blindly followed. Before the finish line, she had more fuel left, so she pushed the speed to the limit and easily overtook White Scale Shark. In reality, their speeds were quite close, just a few seconds apart.】

【Damn, why can you see it?】

【Don’t you know? On the Galactic Live Platform, if you bet over one hundred thousand, you can directly see the perspective of the supporting contestant.】

How much? One hundred thousand!

The tone of the barrage changed abruptly, filling the screen with:

【Rich woman, hungry, meal.】

【Rich woman, take a look at me; I don’t want to work hard anymore.】

Xiang Chen stared unhappily at the lively barrage and private messages, took a screenshot, and sent a message to Qi Yan: 【I’m a guy; why are they all calling me a rich woman?】

Qi Yan ruthlessly mocked him: 【Who told you to use a pink barrage? Your avatar is that of a pink cartoon cat.】

Qi Yan: 【But I can’t believe you actually watch this kind of competition and even bet on Reducing Complexity?】

Xiang Chen felt Qi Yan’s tone wasn’t so friendly, recalling she seemed to support White Scale Shark, and immediately explained: 【I didn’t support her; I just noticed she disappeared and bet to open a viewpoint.】

After explaining, he wondered why he was bothering to clarify with her.

In the game, players arrived one after another; [No Return] was the third. Members of his team followed closely behind, ranking fourth to twenty-second. They arrived just over ten minutes after Su but their rating fell directly to two levels, down to S, with only seven points.

Moving on, there were 130 A-rank players with 5 points, 387 B-rank players with 3 points, 209 C-rank players with 2 points. The remaining players who completed the course received 1 point while those eliminated or who did not reach the finish line by the end received no points.

At this time, Su began to pay attention to the explanation for the next round of the game.

The next round would be a chase battle. The venue was a virtual map with a diameter of one hundred star distances and various interference scenarios within.

The gameplay was based on a pursuit station, with a total of seven rules.

1. Players are initially divided into two groups: a hundred players form the chased group, each with twenty points, while the pursuing group is made up of all other players, who start with no points.

2. Players in the no-point group can gain points by killing players with points. When killed, they earn half of the point differences from the opponent. For instance, killing a 20-point player while having 0 points earns 10 points; a 10-point player killing a 20-point player earns 5 points; a 5-point player killing a 10-point player earns 2 points.

Killed players can be revived, but their respective points will be deducted upon revival.

3. During the game, players can only actively attack players with higher points. Attacking players with lower points is considered a foul and results in direct elimination.

4. Players with higher points who are attacked can retaliate without being limited by the third rule. Killing another player earns 1 point.

5. Players without points, when killed, will not revive and will be eliminated directly, while those killing players without points will not earn points.

6. The match lasts six hours, and after the match, players are ranked based on their points. Among players with the same points, rank is calculated by the number of kills.

7. At the end of the match, players’ points are directly added to their total score for the preliminary round.

After reading the rules, Su hesitated for a moment between the two camps. He preferred being a hunter rather than prey and initially considered choosing the chasing group with no points. However, he thought again; factions are not fixed. Even if he starts without points, if he earns points later on, he’ll still be treated as prey being chased. It was essentially the same situation.

Thus he decisively chose the pursuing group with a point advantage.

[Reducing Complexity] also chose this group; she had a natural advantage in stealth, so no one could score from her.

Most of the higher-ranked players chose to join the escape group first for better initial advantages. However, there were exceptions. Some teamed players would designate a few players to enter the pursuing group as a tactical setup to act as disruption and protection.

Since the match lasts longer, the three matches were not scheduled for the same day but spread over three days.

After Su made his selection, he left the competition arena.

Yan Bai sent him a message congratulating him, while [Reverse Tide & Lost Soul] was normally offline during the day.

The high-intensity and prolonged mental force driving had left him somewhat fatigued. He lazily yawned and prepared to log off.

Just then, a message from an unfamiliar contact suddenly appeared in Su’s communication.

[White Scale Shark Shark, I am the manager of Galactic Live; would you like to sign a contract to become a streamer on our platform? Here’s my contact signal; if you’re interested, you can reach out to me. The salary is generous, and if you gain popularity, you can also participate in revenue sharing.]

Become a streamer? Su was slightly intrigued. He already knew that regardless of whether in-game or in reality, resources and food in the human world need to be purchased with money. Though he was currently using Qi Hanyi’s funds, he couldn’t keep relying on her. Once Qi Hanyi recovered, they would part ways. By then, if he still wanted to stay in human society, he’d need to find a way to earn money himself.

Becoming a streamer sounded good; he could play his favorite games and earn money doing so.

But he was a mermaid, and mermaids couldn’t access human networks, so presumably, he couldn’t sign a contract to become a streamer.

Still, it would be more realistic to be a pilot, driving a starship for Qi Hanyi.

Thinking this, Su closed the private message and logged out of the game.

He swam back from the nutrient cabin to the fish tank, where the room was empty and desolate.

In shark form, Su couldn’t leave the fish tank and could only fidget around in the water, splashing everywhere.

The once-familiar life had become increasingly unbearable as of late. This fish tank felt like an unbreakable cage.

Was the fish tank too small? It didn’t seem so; even if this fish tank became as vast as the ocean, it still wouldn’t be enough.

He wanted legs that he could control anytime, anywhere, to leave here and go wherever he pleased.

Su turned towards the floor-to-ceiling window. From there, he could see the street not far away. Flower trees casting shadows, cars racing by, occasional drones carrying delivery parcels, birds hopping on branches, and wild cats leaping onto walls, casting curious glances this way.

He wanted to leave this water tank, leave this house, leave the high walls and large courtyard, and stroll down the street.

He wanted to surf the internet openly, play games, watch live streams, and search for information. He wanted to attend human schools and not just repeatedly watch knowledge chips, and he wanted to travel into that starry sky and pilot a real starship.

Speaking of which, could Qi Hanyi really grant mermaids rights equal to those of humans?

Su first realized that this was not something completely unrelated to him. It would genuinely impact his life.

Su counted the days until his next medicine dose on his fingers. Would the next medication be successful? To have the right to freely switch to human form without worrying about various strange side effects. Could he have such a day?

Su daydreamed, not noticing when Qi Hanyi entered the room.

“You logged off early today.” Qi Hanyi remarked, seemingly unaware of his competition.

Su had no intention of informing him; he wanted to wait until he ultimately finished first to surprise him.

He swam to the edge of the tank, poking his head out: “I’m a bit tired today; I want to rest for a while.”

“Mm.” Qi Hanyi loosened the top two buttons of his shirt, appearing a little more relaxed. He didn’t ask Su why he was tired nor brought up anything related to the competition, seeming genuinely disinterested in the game.

This was the time he returned from the military department; he would change into casual clothes in his room, handle some information on his terminal, and then go to the study to finish up his remaining work.

However, that was before Su moved in; now, his changing place had moved to the bathroom, and aside from sleeping, he seldom stayed in his room. When Su was in human form, the two would at least share dinner, but once Su turned into a shark, their interactions became almost non-existent.

“Young master.” The butler knocked on the door from the outside.

Qi Hanyi looked toward Su’s location; understanding dawned on Su, and he quickly hid inside the nutrient cabin.

“What’s the matter?” Qi Hanyi asked as he opened the door.

“The head of the family said you and the young lady should attend the family banquet the day after tomorrow.”

“He… is unwell.” Qi Hanyi replied, “I’ll go alone.”

“But…” The butler couldn’t help but glance inside, of course, seeing nothing. He hadn’t seen the young lady in over a week; even dinner was delivered by Xiao You, while the young master always said she was unwell but yet refused to let a doctor come and check.

Worried in his heart, the butler knew it wasn’t his place to inquire too much about the family’s matters. Although Qi Hanyi treated him courteously, he would not allow him to overstep.

“But half a month ago, you said the young lady was unwell and postponed it once. The head of the family insisted that the young lady must go with you this time, even if you have to carry her there.”

“I understand.” Qi Hanyi tiredly closed his eyes. The last meeting, although it had somewhat shifted his grandfather’s attitude toward Su, evidently didn’t entirely dispel his suspicions. Or perhaps, he had heard some other rumors?

After the butler departed, Su swam out of the nutrient cabin. He hadn’t gone into the game just now, so he had caught the entire conversation between the two. He took the initiative to say, “I can go; I can take my medicine tomorrow.”

“The day after tomorrow you…” Qi Hanyi paused, “not playing games?”

He had originally intended to mention the competition but quickly caught himself changing his words. However, this question was also strange.

Su looked at Qi Hanyi, puzzled, feeling that the latter had been increasingly lenient with him lately. Now, he was even willing to forgo the family banquet to allow him to play games?

“I’ll play this afternoon; I should be done by tonight.”

“What time?” Qi Hanyi asked.

“About five o’clock.” Su thought for a moment before answering.

“Alright then, we’ll set off the day after tomorrow at six.”