novelraw Chapter 37 : School Team Position
Chapter 37 : School Team Position
Unidentified crystals are energy crystals left behind by energy bodies that are in the advancement stage or abnormal state when they die.
With good luck, one might get an energy crystal higher than the energy body's level, or with values considered perfect. But without enough luck, one would only get an ineffective energy crystal.
Because unidentified crystals are in an extremely special energy storage period, they can only withstand one energy probe.
This means if an analyst wants to analyze an unidentified crystal, they must immediately edit a summoned body and merge it with the core crystal after analysis. Otherwise, the unidentified crystal's energy will dissipate, causing the editing to be invalid and becoming a waste crystal.
Chen Sui's score ranked first, and without even thinking, she chose the first prize—Sui Han Bone.
The remaining rewards were divided among her four teammates.
"Is this reward real, or fake?"
Due to her distrust of the virtual battlefield, Chen Sui curiously asked.
Zhou Chen looked up, confused: "Are there fake rewards in virtual battlefield competitions?"
"Is the commercial department insane?"
Chen Sui said quietly: "Previously in the test version, the first clearance reward was fake..."
"Huh?"
Zhou Chen raised his voice.
"Oh, you mean that customized mecha. Everyone has that."
Now it was Chen Sui's turn to be confused.
"Huh?"
Seeing her shocked face, Zhou Chen kindly explained: "This is a gimmick to attract players, understand? People logging into the event at the same time are all playing single-player arenas, and not the same one. So you can be the first—and only—person to clear your specific energy field during that time period. It's a newcomer benefit."
After saying this, he thought of Chen Sui's exquisitely designed mecha. "Did you customize your virtual battlefield mecha yourself?"
Chen Sui was still digesting the fact that she'd fallen into the virtual battlefield's marketing trap. Hearing this, she nodded stiffly, not noticing Zhou Chen's thoughtful expression.
After the school team meeting, even though she knew the commercial department would send the rewards through Star Ring Express with the Sui Han Bone arriving that evening, Chen Sui still looked dazed, as if she'd experienced an information explosion.
On her way to the academic affairs office to collect her course materials, in a place Chen Sui didn't know about, a post on the StarNet forum's Zhu Jing Fu section was immediately pushed to "hot" status upon release.
Looking at the comments on this hot post, a young man with red-rimmed eyes clenched his fist, breathing heavily. The words "top student" were like poisoned spikes piercing his eyes.
Meanwhile, oblivious to outside matters, Chen Sui looked at her new schedule. Her courses had changed significantly.
The Analyst Department's basic theory was about to end, soon to be followed by three months of practical training. After completing the theory courses, she would leave the first-year curriculum and receive school team teaching arrangements separately.
So in the afternoon, after adjusting her mindset, she attended her last few classes.
Coincidentally, the person who walked in with a ruler this time wasn't the previous teacher, but a face extremely familiar to Chen Sui.
The thin middle-aged man routinely checked attendance, then opened the holographic teaching equipment, cleared his throat, and introduced himself.
"I am Yang Qinhe. For the upcoming first-year analyst course 'Energy Field Basics,' I will explain the energy field analysis practical and theoretical parts to everyone."
"This course involves energy perception, energy monitoring, energy spectrum mapping..."
"I hope everyone will review well and seriously complete the relevant assignments."
Yang Qinhe briefly introduced the course content, his clear and sharp gaze sweeping over the students below. When he spotted the familiar short black hair in the center, he looked closely and confirmed it was indeed that thin face. The ghost-writing student's deafening "kill them all" statement still echoed in Yang Qinhe's ears. As a steadfast supporter of the mainstream analyst school of thought, Yang Qinhe felt extremely troubled at this moment.
He recalled a long-forgotten challenge: how to teach an analyst with aggressive-flow tendencies.
But to Yang Qinhe's surprise, for this lesson on analyst energy field tasks, Chen Sui listened exceptionally attentively. Each time their gazes crossed, Yang Qinhe could see her thoughtful eyes. The few questions he nervously asked received extremely satisfactory answers.
His heart settled considerably.
So perhaps when she said she wanted to kill all the energy bodies, it was just an outburst because she didn't understand analyst courses.
A content Yang Qinhe satisfactorily concluded the lecture and, as usual, left an assignment.
"This assignment is about analyzing the SS-level energy field [Ocean Valley]. I remind everyone: be sure to take a comprehensive view. Class dismissed."
As he finished speaking, the holographic teaching equipment sounded the dismissal prompt. Yang Qinhe snapped his ruler shut and exited stylishly.
Chen Sui stood up, gathering her things from the front row.
After calming down, the joy of receiving the Sui Han Bone welled up, making her eager to return and assemble her mecha materials.
However, just as she passed the very front row, an unfamiliar male voice called her name.
"Student Chen Sui, please wait a moment."
Chen Sui turned to see a young man with bangs covering his eyes standing up. Only his lower face was visible, his jaw tense as if gritting his teeth.
Chen Sui politely stopped. "Hello, can I help you?"
Mu Qianyou tried to display a friendly smile, but the disgust in his eyes was too obvious. His muscles rebelled, making his expression appear somewhat strange.
"Regarding the assignment left by Teacher Yang, may I ask what your thoughts are? In terms of perception and analysis, someone with your high spiritual threshold must have a very different perspective, right?"
After speaking, Mu Qianyou gave a dry laugh. Before Chen Sui could respond, he hastily added: "Oh, of course, if you haven't learned this part yet, that's fine too. After all, you've only transferred departments recently, so it's normal if you don't know. I'm just curious..."
Chen Sui initially listened seriously, but halfway through, as his ulterior motives became evident, she suddenly smiled.
Her usually calm face suddenly donning a mocking smile made her appear quite intimidating.
Mu Qianyou nearly lost his composure, clenching and unclenching his fist privately before suppressing his irritation.
"What are you trying to say? Just say it directly, don't be so passive-aggressive. I don't understand that."
Chen Sui put her hands in her school coat pockets and asked.
Mu Qianyou forced a smile, attempting to explain, but seeing how strained he looked, Chen Sui felt uncomfortable. A strange premonition made her stare at him.
"Drop the act, just say what you want to do."
Mu Qianyou's smile froze, the curve of his mouth stiffening for several seconds before gradually flattening. His eyes behind the long bangs were bloodshot. Chen Sui could even feel a prickling sensation on her back.
His rationality shattered by Chen Sui's calm tone and indifferent gaze, Mu Qianyou no longer pretended to be friendly.
His voice filled with malice: "I just really want to know, what exactly qualifies you to be the analyst top student? What right do you have to occupy the school team analyst position?"
"You're just an interstellar nomad! You don't know anything, you've never learned anything!"
"Sitting in that position, aren't you ashamed?"
He suddenly raised his voice, somewhat venting as he shouted at Chen Sui.
Chen Sui saw a blue vein bulging on his neck and, through his agitated expression, glimpsed his bloodshot eyes through the gaps in his hair.
People who had been about to leave, hearing such commotion, paused their steps, surreptitiously watching the front area.
Mu Qianyou, unleashed by his sudden outburst, opened the floodgates. The malicious speculations and conjectures he'd privately harbored about Chen Sui poured out, completely disregarding the setting and audience.
"How are you worthy? How do you deserve it?"
"A few days in the Analyst Department, not paying attention in class, just relying on high spiritual threshold to directly secure a position others can't even compete for?"
"What qualifies you to be the top student, the school team's analyst? You're just an interstellar nomad, a waste!"
After shouting his last words, he seemed to lose all strength, supporting himself on the desk, breathing heavily.
Chen Sui nodded thoughtfully: "You make a good point, but------"
She tilted her head, "If you question my worthiness, why not ask those who call me the top student, ask the school team why they chose me."
She exposed Mu Qianyou's inner shame, "You know their answers would differ from what you imagine, right?"
Mu Qianyou's face instantly paled.
Chen Sui immediately lost interest, looking at him dispassionately: "So, you stopped me to tell me all this. What exactly do you want? To express your dissatisfaction with me?"
"If that's all," Chen Sui's tone was indifferent.
"Then you'll have many more reasons to be dissatisfied in the future."
Mu Qianyou suddenly looked up. "Do you dare to compete with me?"
He said through gritted teeth: "Let's compare this assignment. If you lose, you quit the school team yourself. You don't deserve to be the school team analyst!"
Mu Qianyou stared at her intently, hoping to find a trace of fear on her face to justify his excitement and discontent.
But Chen Sui nodded with little interest, then suddenly said something that made Mu Qianyou lose all color again.
"Then if I win, in that forum post where you slandered me, apologize properly."
"Since we're classmates, I won't ask you to kneel and say sorry in person."
"You..." Mu Qianyou choked, instinctively wanting to ask how she knew he'd posted that inflammatory thread, but realizing that saying so would be tantamount to admission, he forcibly held back.
Chen Sui gave him a cold glance.
Competing with such a person would only waste her time.
Mu Qianyou's chest heaved violently, still in a state of shock and uncertainty. After Chen Sui left, the Analyst Department crowd that had stayed to watch the drama glanced at him, seemingly exposing his base thoughts to the light, making his face even paler.
Chen Sui wasn't affected by him at all. She walked back to her dormitory with lively steps, opening her light brain to check virtual battlefield mecha data while taking out her spatial button to count materials.
Items needing polishing were placed on one side, those for direct assembly on another.
When Gu Qinxue pushed open the door, she saw Chen Sui leisurely categorizing and planning, her thin face full of satisfaction.
"I heard someone in your department challenged you?"
Just entering, she asked, thinking of the forum post.
Chen Sui looked over in surprise: "How do you know? You're so well-informed?"
Gu Qinxue sat beside her, "Ha, it's already a hundred-story tower on the forum. You're quite controversial. Any post with your name can hardly avoid becoming hot."
Gu Qinxue teased.
Chen Sui slowly processed half-finished parts with her mental power, her movements meticulous. Watching this, Gu Qinxue asked puzzled: "Aren't you doing the assignment?"
Chen Sui blinked, "I'll do it later. This assignment is relatively simple."
Now it was Gu Qinxue's turn to raise an eyebrow. "So confident? I was wondering what kind of guts that challenger has. The last person who picked a fight in class is now a medical pod SVIP user. How dare he?"
Hearing her sarcastic reference to Hemo'er, Chen Sui laughed along, gathering the polished parts.
Seeing her casual demeanor, Gu Qinxue's tone became somewhat annoyed, her beautiful eyebrows slightly furrowing: "Is he sick? The school team finally found a suitable analyst, and this guy is trying to drive away the analyst so childishly. If I were in your classroom, I would have slapped him right then."
Chen Sui patted her shoulder: "Small problem," she put away the parts, "I will win."
Gu Qinxue watched her stand up, speaking as plainly as if it were an established fact. She asked something she had always wondered about.
"How do you manage to be so confident? Haven't you ever doubted yourself?"
Her tone was very light as she spoke.
Flashes of the family head's stern reprimands, her mother's deathbed entreaties, the kneeling posture passed through her mind.
As if awakening with an incomplete spiritual body had ruined her entire future.
When Chen Sui turned back, seeing her lost in thought, she pressed firmly on the hand she had placed on Gu Qinxue's shoulder.
Gu Qinxue's eyes refocused. She instinctively opened her mouth to speak but was stopped by Chen Sui's voice.
"No."
She answered Gu Qinxue's question.
"I have always firmly believed that anything blocking my way will become the road beneath my feet. I will step over them, trample them, and accomplish what I need to do."
Her calm, gentle tone carried no arrogance whatsoever.
This was the attitude expected of the First Vanguard of the wasteland, and Chen Sui's principle for handling matters.
Gu Qinxue was taken aback, then heard her pat herself, saying, "Stop doubting. We're so awesome, what do others matter?"
Gu Qinxue burst into laughter. She watched Chen Sui walk back to her room, waving a hand before entering. "No more classes now, going to do the assignment!"
"Okay."
She nodded lightly.
Thinking of Gu Lingke's face, those suppressed, mocked, and the ugly smiles of beneficiaries, she couldn't help but clench her fist.
Chen Sui wasn't just familiar with analyst assignments; she was a master. Although after joining the school team she had changed her status to "not accepting orders," people still persistently sent messages requesting her services.
While logging onto the StarNet to check [Ocean Valley] energy field data, Chen Sui saw a notification in her backend, suddenly displaying a message.
[From group chat: Hello, can you do this assignment?]
[From group chat: [Ocean Valley Energy Field Diagram]]
She instinctively opened it. The other party was an anonymous group account, revealing no information.
[grassgrassgrass: ...]
[grassgrassgrass: I'm not taking orders anymore, classmate]
The other side sent a question mark. Just as Chen Sui was about to exit, a series of righteous condemnations came through.
The gist was why she accepted orders before but not for him, whether she had something against him, accusing Chen Sui of lacking professional ethics, and so on.
Chen Sui was bewildered.
Brother, what professional ethics could I have as a ghost writer?
And aren't you being paranoid?
She shook her head, about to reply, when suddenly she felt something familiar in the other's words.
Chen Sui narrowed her eyes, her tone probing:
[grassgrassgrass: To what extent do you need this type done? Doesn't this analyst assignment of yours involve some competition? Won't my taking the order affect that?]
[From group chat] The continuous bombardment of messages stopped. After a minute, he sent a message.
[From group chat: I need the best version. If it's done well, I can pay extra, even double]
[From group chat: What competition? What does that have to do with me? I'm short on credits. Classmate, please help. If I can't get high scores for this assignment, my regular grades will fail]
Reading his intermittent messages, Chen Sui had a general idea. Her eyes flashed, a mocking smile at the corner of her lips.
[grassgrassgrass: For you analysts' assignments, I need extra payment. It takes up my free time. Can you accept that?]
On the other side of the private chat window, Mu Qianyou's face lit up with delight.
This forum ghost writer was recommended by a second-year analyst, supposedly not from the Analyst Department but very talented in energy field analysis, with every assignment receiving high grades from teachers.
The second-year analyst was participating in practical training, submitting via light brain. Unable to find suitable external help, Mu Qianyou came here to try his luck.
Once the assignment was submitted, the other party wouldn't see his content. Who would know he was one of the competition participants? He could win high scores against Chen Sui, and no one would care about his little tricks.
Mu Qianyou convinced himself, throwing as much mud as possible at Chen Sui to alleviate his inner tension and panic.
[From group chat: That's fine. I can pay extra for high scores. It would be best if it's done tonight]
He wanted some time to revise it, making it the best possible.
Chen Sui leaned back in her chair, looking at this message, her eyes somewhat cold.
Proposing a competition, then fearing defeat, resorting to such underhanded methods.
Really something.
She thought sarcastically.
Chen Sui quickly searched for various materials.
Having done many ghost-writing assignments, she knew what clients wanted most.
They preferred explanatory assignments, convenient for their elaboration, finding missing points from the ghost writing to supplement their own completed work.
This time she wouldn't do that.
She would create the most perfect paper, leaving Mu Qianyou no room for improvement.