Chapter Ch101.1 - Sword

translator: xiin

editors: apricot & juurensha

The star ship passed through the suspended meteorite belt, and light streamed in through the window again. Caesar clicked his tongue and slapped the table.

“This shit is like getting beheaded if you draw the king, and getting beheaded by the king if you draw something else. The most pitiful one is the one who draws the palace eunuch––”

Zoe: “…This is Versailles, not the Forbidden City.”

Caesar breathed a sigh of relief, “Oh, oh. Then, if you draw a noble lady––”

Zoe was apathetic. “Then you will obediently wear women’s clothing.”

Caesar’s expression changed, “What if I end up being called to the bedroom by an abnormal emperor…”

Zoe was getting annoyed, “Who would be f*cking blind enough to spend the night with you? Open your eyes and take a look at yourself!”

Caesar’s eyes opened wide, and he turned back to glance at Wu Jin. He compared the two of them and was relieved.

Wu Jin suddenly realized what they were talking about, and his eyes grew round, “!!!”

The women’s group, the Palace of Versailles––these two tips integrated together, and White Moonlight began their strategic planning in an orderly manner. Having had the experience from the first four elimination matches, Zoe was already very familiar with the process.

“Since it’s the Palace of Versailles, the primary fighting method will be cold metal weapons, including swords, spears, shields, and daggers. There might also be a small number of primitive guns.” Zoe glanced at his teammates, “Little Witch and Ah Lin, the main focus of your training for these two weeks is close combat, with and without equipment.”

Wu Jin quickly agreed.

“Caesar will continue his comprehensive training. Alright,” Zoe paused, “Oh, right, there’s also court dancing. After arriving at the Floating training base, gather together in my dormitory at 11PM every night. Any other questions?”

Everyone all shook their heads simultaneously.

Zoe turned off the projection.

Wu Jin finally looked at the Palace of Versailles in the oil painting and the palace figures that had empty faces. At the start of the competition, they would enter the bodies of these characters. The Sun King, Louis XV, Louis XVI, Queen Mary… going to banquets, hunts, and dances in their stead… as well as participating in their power struggles.

Zoe patted him on the shoulder, “Work hard, little guy, go up and fight like a knight!”

Two hours later, the star ship arrived at the Floating City port.

Passengers and goods were processed to one side of the Star Harbor, while the other side led to Floating City––

The canyon dropped sharply, almost violently, and iron ropes held up stone slabs that created a bridge over the abyss. The suspension car that emerged from the Star Harbor drilled into the thin mist, and their vision was blurred. When the lights leapt out again, everyone took in a deep breath.

Floating City.

The entire city was built in the fog, above the deep ravine. The lights that illuminated the sky came from the gun-carrying law enforcement machines, and the moist air was filled with a light, white orchid fragrance. Many of the pedestrians wore masks, and roadside businesses proudly displayed silver mask emblems on their billboards.

Even though he’d been here before, Wu Jin was still shocked by the sight.

His index finger rubbed gently against the mask badge that the big boss had given him. When witnessing the huge power that Floating City carried with his own eyes once again, Wu Jin had a moment where he couldn’t even distinguish between reality and illusion. He even had an elusive idea amidst his confusion––

Only the big boss in the Crosson Show was real and touchable.

Wu Jin suddenly came back to his senses. The metal badge turned warm in his touch, picking up his body temperature.

From behind him, Zoe checked over everyone’s masks and began to share the gossip he’d heard, “The silver mask is the symbol of the new king of Floating City. Before that, the current Floating City king was the three-year champion of the underground survival show, and he later also promoted reforms in the biological industry in Floating City, accommodating the abandoned genetically modified humans from the Federal government and incorporating them into the industrial chain––”

“It kicked up an uproar amongst the public. The modified humans were regarded as a matter for the Federal Army. We didn’t have much coverage about it here, but the Imperial media was boasting about it. Additionally, Azure Cosmos is a place where the strong are respected, and the city lord has absolute authority.”

“In Floating City, their king is a god above all else.”

Zoe suddenly looked at Wu Jin.

Wu Jin subconsciously clutched at the badge, and his brain couldn’t quite process––

Zoe stared at the ‘the trainee is here’ White Moonlight t-shirt that Wu Jin was wearing, then finally let out a long sigh, “Little Witch, we can’t be too flamboyant!”

One minute later, Wu Jin was wrapped up in Zoe’s coat as they finally climbed into a taxi headed for the training base.

Above the city, the afternoon sun continued to journey through the mist.

At this time, a large number of future students were arriving at the Floating base, and most of the taxis headed in the same direction.

Wen Lin looked out the window and mused, “I was thinking that White Moonlight shouldn’t be the only entertainment company sending their trainees to Floating City for training. We might encounter others we know during training.”

Zoe agreed, “Let’s try to avoid trouble.”

When they arrived at the base, they took out their luggage and split up.

Wu Jin’s room was next to Caesar’s, but they were very far away from Zoe and Wen Lin. The light fragrance of flowers drifted over from the desk as soon as he entered the door.

A champagne-colored rose was inserted in a fine porcelain vase.

This was obviously not the standard decoration for a single dormitory room for trainees.

Wu Jin calmly said goodbye to Caesar, closed the bedroom door, and happily tossed his luggage to the side to pounce over––

The pale champagne rose glowed beneath the sunlight, the newly condensed dewdrops sparkling.

Twelve tubes of deep purple high-level recovery agents were placed on the table. There was a scattering of velvety satin petals beneath the tubes.

There was no note.

The breeze blew in, moving through silently.

The Floating base’s schedule was similar to what it had been a few weeks ago.

Wu Jin put on his training gear and was able to recognize Caesar at the opening ceremony due to his small protruding stomach. Caesar, like all the other newcomers to Floating City, was very enthusiastic about the mask culture. He greeted Wu Jin, then plopped down onto the floor beside Wu Jin to flip through relevant books in his terminal.

<Forced Marriage: Domineering campus idol took off my mask>

Caesar: “Hahahaha how did they even choose him to be the campus idol if he’s wearing a mask?! How could you judge that? Is it based on his hair?!”

<100% Sweet Marriage: Marrying the right man with the wrong mask>

Caesar: “Interesting. They saw wrong, so should they find the mask seller for a refund…”

<Lively and Colorful: High quality phoenix mask, the evil king>

Caesar: “Holy shit, this is quite interesting. Little Witch, how do I charge points for this book? Zoe said that you’re following that Floating City King story every day…”

Wu Jin was going crazy, “No-no-no-no––”

On the stage, the drillmaster arrived ten minutes late, then assigned everyone training venues based on what they wished to train in.

“Close combat, melee combat, group C cold steel weapons, training room W13.”

Wu Jin accepted his key and pushed open the door to the training room.

The room was open and spacious. After turning on the lights, the illumination was projected from top to bottom, and a holographic projection triggered automatically, scanning over Wu Jin’s entire body and indicating that he should put on the iron plate armor.

Right-handed weapons were displayed to the side. A spear, a sharp axe, and daggers that glowed with a blue sheen from tempering hung there.

Wu Jin picked up a knight’s sword, and the rest of the weapons disappeared. A scarecrow target wrapped in coarse cloth appeared. He weighed up the sword in his hand twice, holding the hilt between his fingers and the palm of his hand and matching up with the projected demonstration position.

The edge of the sword chopped down.

The target rustled; the scarecrow stand came with a certain level of resistance. The screen flashed, showing a preliminary evaluation score of 2.3/5. The red laser pointer remained on the youth’s left arm, and Wu Jin immediately relaxed his left wrist, concentrating the power of the sword on his elbow.

The second strike, followed by an adjustment in posture, the third… all the way until the 54th time.

The scarecrow target fell apart, and three moving targets quietly appeared.

When an iron tipped arrow flew through the air, Wu Jin was restricted by his heavy armor. He retreated to resist the impact and to launch a counter-attack, destroying the first target before more enemies swarmed out.

A long time later, straw was scattered all over the place, and the score increased to 3.1/5 amidst the youth’s rapid panting. The slightly trembling sword was almost stuck together with the arm that held it.

The red dot that corrected errors in positioning finally flickered off.

From nearby, the card swipe machine beeped.

The youth removed his helmet, his damp curls messy, and his pupils brighter than usual. After several hours of fierce battling, his blood was pumping, and the hand that held the sword as well as his cheeks were both red.

The black trainee card was inserted into the machine.

“Beep. The instructor protection package is now in use.”

The door suddenly opened from the outside.

A slender shadow appeared in the dark corridor. The light floated in, and the military cloak shifted slightly as the man came to a stop.

Wei Shi narrowed his eyes at the armored Wu Jin.

The sword, chainmail and plate armor wrapped up the sweet youth into a sharp war machine. The cold iron and reddened cheeks were combined together, and when the youth raised up his sword, he looked like a knight holding up a cross, his pupils flashing with a cold light as he combined divinity and recklessness.

The man removed his leather gloves and went to the weapon rack, picking out a knight’s sword similar to Wu Jin’s and indicating that he was ready to fight.

Wu Jin grinned.

Wei Shi looked at him. His hands were clasped around the hilt of his sword, his eyes wild and reckless. He was obviously looking at his knight, but it was like the Prince of Troy staring at Helen, the way Lancelot stared at Guinevere.

The indicator lights lit up, and a scoreboard appeared behind them. An hourglass turned upside down, and the two swords were lifted up at the same time––

Wu Jin’s arms shook as iron armor collided. He exerted strength against Wei Shi’s initial strike, his small white teeth clenched tight and cold light gathering in his eyes.

The man deflected Wu Jin’s strength to the side and opened his mouth in the moment when the youth could no longer hold on, “Drop your center of gravity.”

Wu Jin nodded and climbed back up to continue.

The edge of his sword was like a blazing flame as it rose up to entangle with the man’s sword. This time, the strike was more stable than before, and his fingertips even turned pale due to the amount of focus and strength he exerted. He suddenly quivered when facing such a great force.

Wei Shi: “Tighten up, pay attention to your balance.”