After this relentless barrage, Chi Yu’s face darkened like the bottom of a pot.
Turning his head, he saw Yun Xingze and Luo Wenchuan serving each other food, which only worsened his mood. Clenching his fists, he thought bitterly: He was only trying to protect Yun Xingze. Why couldn’t Yun Xingze appreciate that?!
Richard only felt satisfied after scolding them for quite a while.
After the reprimands, Richard skipped over Yun Xingze and began analyzing Luo Wenchuan’s performance.
“As for Luo Wenchuan’s match, I have nothing much to say,” Richard told the group. “But this time, both he and Cheng Jun surprised me. Five minutes into the match, they both entered a state of ‘Man-Machine Unity.'”
The term “Man-Machine Unity” referred to the perfect fusion of human neurons with a mech.
It was said that once this state was achieved, the mech would feel like armor worn on the body, allowing effortless and seamless control.
Yun Xingze had heard Richard mention this term before, but only knew that the standard for “Man-Machine Unity” was extremely high, with very few people able to achieve it.
He hadn’t realized that during the match, both Luo Wenchuan and Cheng Jun had already reached the level of “Man-Machine Unity.”
After analyzing everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, Richard slightly dampened the team’s high spirits, leaving them all to ponder how to handle the upcoming match against St. Clythus in a week.
However, Richard never once mentioned Yun Xingze throughout the entire session.
Back at the hotel, Yun Xingze heard a knock on his door. When he opened it and saw who it was, he couldn’t help but smile: “I knew it’d be you, Coach Richard.”
Richard had a rugged appearance, having been a formidable Alpha in his youth. Now, he was holding a pink paper bag, looking somewhat awkward as he cleared his throat and said, “I misjudged you before and had some biases. I wanted to apologize.”
Yun Xingze had always thought Richard was a stubborn old man who wouldn’t budge no matter what, so he was surprised to hear these words.
The next moment, Richard handed the bag to Yun Xingze: “I noticed you liked the durian mango earlier, so I packed some for you. The hotel told me this was the only bag they had left.”
Yun Xingze accepted the pink bag with a cheerful “thank you,” then asked, “So, why didn’t you analyze my performance?”
“Because…” Richard took a deep breath, his profound gaze suddenly revealing a hint of confusion. “I can’t understand your matches.”
Yun Xingze was momentarily stunned.
He looked at Richard in surprise and repeated his words: “Can’t understand?”
Richard suddenly asked, “Yun Xingze, is winning or losing important to you?”
After a moment’s thought, Yun Xingze nodded. “I still prefer to win.”
“But compared to victory or defeat, you seem to care more about the mechas and the matches themselves.” Richard’s sharp gaze cut straight to the point. “That’s why, even though you could have defeated Hebrew more directly, you chose to let him ‘dig his own grave.’ It seems this approach brings you more enjoyment?”
Yun Xingze hadn’t expected Richard to see right through his thoughts.
In his past life, he never had the chance to pilot a mecha, so of course he wanted to study them and savor every match.
He knew Hebrew’s combat style inside out. If winning were the only goal, he could have adopted a far more straightforward approach.
“You’re right,” Yun Xingze admitted frankly. “I love mechas and enjoy the matches. But that doesn’t mean I’ll lose.”
“Your combat philosophy is completely different from Luo Wenchuan’s,” Richard analyzed calmly. “Every move he makes is for victory, while you’re exploring the untapped potential of mechas themselves I’ve never seen a competitor like you before.”
Yun Xingze was well aware of this. It was the fundamental difference between him and Luo Wenchuan.
“So, you still don’t trust me?” Yun Xingze raised an eyebrow.
After a brief silence, Richard slowly replied, “When I assigned you to team matches earlier, it wasn’t because I underestimated your abilities. It’s just that there are too many unknowns about you. And if we’re talking purely about strength, isn’t competitiveness also part of one’s capabilities?”
Yun Xingze fell silent.
Having only recently arrived in this world, his sole obsession was piloting mechas. He felt no sense of belonging to the empire or the military academy, let alone any competitive drive.
After a pause, Yun Xingze looked at Richard, a faint smile curling his lips as he said calmly, “As long as I win, isn’t that enough?”
Richard was momentarily taken aback by his words, then chuckled and teased, “True. Your explorations might be risky, but they never fail to impress. In that regard, you’re far more reliable than Zhuo Feiyue.”
Yun Xingze asked, “Does Instructor Zhuo know you say things like that about him?”
The two shared a laugh as their eyes met.
“For the match against St. Clythus, I’ll assign you to the singles competition,” Richard said, his expression turning serious again after their laughter subsided. “Team matches do limit your potential.”
Yun Xingze nodded happily. “Thank you, Coach.”
“However,” Richard continued, his tone grave, “St. Clythus’ team members are all fiercely competitive. They might prove difficult opponents for you. And…”
Yun Xingze asked earnestly, “And what?”
Richard hesitated before adding, “Entering the ‘man-machine unity’ state requires competitiveness as a prerequisite. For the upcoming matches, I still hope you can develop more of that drive.”
Yun Xingze was momentarily stunned by his words.
“In my opinion, you’re the second person in the school team after Luo Wenchuan who has the potential to achieve the ‘Man-Machine Unity’ state,” Richard said seriously. “I look forward to seeing that moment.”
After Richard left, Yun Xingze closed his eyes briefly, replaying his words in his mind.
Victory.
Competitive spirit.
Man-Machine Unity.
These words plunged Yun Xingze into deep thought.
Since coming to this world, there had only been one match where he had competed with a burning desire to win.
That was his match against Su Zinan.
At the time, he had felt a strong sense of responsibility to avenge Lu Ranxu and to stand up for himself.
After that, he had simply been enjoying the thrill of piloting mechas, as if his competitive drive had faded.
At this realization, Yun Xingze’s eyes widened suddenly.
No, that wasn’t entirely true.
Aside from that match, there had been one other where he had fought with absolute determination to win.
His match against “L” in Mecha Star.
Yun Xingze froze.
Back then, his mind had been consumed with the thought of defeating Luo Wenchuan, his conquest complex at work.
His intense competitive spirit had left his fingers trembling long after the match ended.
Yun Xingze swallowed hard.
Should he seek out “L” again now, to reignite that competitive fire?
Taking a deep breath, he placed the durian mango Richard had given him into the fridge, where Ming Xiao’s fresh flowers were also displayed.
Then, he hurried to the hotel’s built-in gaming pod, logging straight into his Mecha Star account.
Once online, Yun Xingze eagerly searched for “L,” only to find the name grayed out—offline.
A pang of disappointment hit him, along with the realization that he might be losing his mind. Why did he have the illusion that “L” would always be waiting for him?
Meanwhile, message notifications from the game kept popping up incessantly.
The most persistent sender was none other than Hebrew.
The guy had been spamming messages for days, and now that “I’m So Fragile” was online, he sent yet another.
[Shaved Ice on Me]: “Don’t run.”
[Shaved Ice on Me]: “I won’t fight you.”
[Shaved Ice on Me]: “I need to ask you something important.”
Yun Xingze had just faced Hebrew in a match, and by the end, the young silver-haired Alpha’s eyes had reddened, looking on the verge of frustrated tears; proof of his fierce competitive spirit, which Yun Xingze found amusing.
So, he replied with a “?”.
Hebrew hadn’t expected “I’m So Fragile” to respond, but now that he had, he sat up straight and quickly sent a voice message, afraid the other might log off.
When Yun Xingze played it, Hebrew’s slightly hoarse voice came through, urgent: “Do you know Yun Xingze?!”
“Why would I know Yun Xingze?” Yun Xingze replied.
Hebrew was disappointed by the response but quickly pivoted to another question: “Which school are you really from?!”
“I’m from Gikot,” replied a certain member of the Star Ocean team.
Hebrew couldn’t shake the feeling that this guy was lying, but with no proof, he simply sent a PK request, adding: “One more match!”
Yun Xingze declined Hebrew’s request.
If Luo Wenchuan wasn’t online, he figured he might as well log off and try another day.
Just then.
Another PK request popped up.
Yun Xingze was about to reject it when his gaze froze upon seeing the sender.
It was from “L”.
His eyes widened in shock, momentarily forgetting to click accept in his surprise.
Meanwhile, Hebrew sent an indignant message.
[IceShavedForYou]: “You haven’t fought me in so long. I’ve improved and can totally crush you now, okay?”
“[Let Me Treat You to Shaved Ice]”: “Stop pretending, you’re definitely afraid of me!”
Hebrew sent several provocative messages like “I’m so weak,” finally getting a response.
[I’m so weak]: “My mech is in for maintenance, sorry about that. Let’s do it another time.”
Hebrew gritted his teeth.
[Let Me Treat You to Shaved Ice]: “Don’t you dare lie to me!”
Just then, a system notification suddenly popped up on the public screen:
【Player “I’m so weak” has accepted Player “L”‘s PK invitation.】 Hebrew: “…”
Damn it, his brain must be fried. He actually believed that bullshit about “mech maintenance” earlier.
Yun Xingze entered the room, took a deep breath, trying to summon his previous competitive spirit.
Meanwhile, in another hotel room.
Two minutes earlier.
After dinner, Luo Wenchuan had set “I’m so weak” as a special contact. Whenever he logged in, Luo’s smart device would receive a notification.
The moment he got the alert, Luo immediately logged into the game.
Just as he was about to send a PK request to “I’m so weak,” he suddenly changed his mind.
Luo climbed out of his mech cockpit and knocked on Ke Lei’s door.
When the door opened, Luo said, “Do me a favor. Use my account to PK ‘I’m so weak.'”
Ke Lei’s eyes widened slowly. “Why should I PK him? Why don’t you do it yourself?”
“I have something more important to do,” Luo said slowly, his tone leaving no room for refusal. Ke Lei had no choice but to agree.
Once the PK officially started, Yun Xingze noticed that “L” had switched to a Meteor mech. He felt a bit puzzled, but recalling what Ke Lei had told him that Luo could pilot any mech, he didn’t dwell on it.
Yun Xingze switched to a Comet mech and entered the battlefield.
What he didn’t expect was that Luo’s piloting style with the Meteor mech was completely different from his sword mech.
“Why does this move feel so familiar.” Yun Xingze muttered in confusion.
There was another thing that puzzled Yun Xingze.
After Luo switched to the Meteor mech, his initial competitive drive faded away completely within minutes.
That feeling where every cell in his body yearned to fight “L,” that mix of hostility and admiration was gone.
It seemed only the previous “L” could evoke that in him.
The more Yun Xingze fought, the more bewildered he became. Why was this happening?
Just then, there was a knock at his door.
Yun Xingze froze.
Who would come looking for him at this hour?
The next second, the room’s AI system recognized the visitor’s voice and announced, “It’s me, Luo Wenchuan.”
“Oh, hold on.” Yun Xingze absentmindedly replied to the system.
Then, it suddenly hit him; something wasn’t right.
In the game, “L” was still chasing him down.
Yun Xingze was baffled, but realization soon dawned on him. His eyes widened, and he quickly exited the game.
Half a minute later, having composed himself, Yun Xingze opened the door.
He calmly looked at Luo standing outside. “Senior Luo, what brings you here so late?”
Luo raised an eyebrow. “Playing games?”
“Uh, no…” Yun Xingze feigned composure. “I was just…”
As he spoke, he opened his light computer and randomly tapped on it, pulling up a video from a fitness channel.
“Watch this.”
Luo Wenchuan’s gaze shifted to the virtual screen. He calmly responded with an “Oh,” then said noncommittally, “Is that so.”
Yun Xingze picked up a glass of water beside him, taking a sip before replying, “Yeah, I need to work on my stamina lately, and maybe practice some mecha combos.”
“The way you practice mecha combos.” Luo Wenchuan’s eyes moved from the screen to Yun Xingze’s face as he slowly asked, “Is by watching yoga videos?”
“Cough, cough…”
Yun Xingze nearly choked. He hurriedly closed the yoga video, swallowed hard, and said with composure, “Well, no one said mechas can’t do yoga poses, right?”
Luo Wenchuan almost believed Yun Xingze’s earnest expression.
The next second, Ke Lei rushed out from the opposite room, shouting, “What’s going on? Just now, when you knocked on Yun Xingze’s door, that guy called ‘I’m So Weak’ suddenly went offline!”
Both Yun Xingze and Luo Wenchuan fell into silence simultaneously.
