Chapter 302 – “It Doesn’t Hurt, You’re Wasting Your Effort”
“Alright, I’ll be waiting to see your results tomorrow,” the instructor said as he landed on the ground, retracting his two large wings. “Today’s training is over. You can either stay here to continue practicing or head back to rest.”
After speaking, his mecha disappeared into thin air.
The instructor opened his eyes as he lay in a recliner, removed the connecting device from his head, stood up, and pushed open the door to the virtual room.
At that moment, the door across from him also opened from the inside.
The instructor saw Zhou Ming swaggering out of the room.
He paused in his tracks.
“So, you were right across from me. Just so happens I have something to ask you. Are you going to eat? Let’s eat together.”
As he spoke, Zhou Ming acted like a close buddy, trying to sling his arm around the instructor’s shoulder.
The instructor sidestepped, looking around at the other virtual room doors, all of which were closed. Zhou Ming was the only one coming out. His expression turned complicated. “You came out so early?”
Aren’t you going to practice a bit more?
The early bird catches the worm. He had thought Zhou Ming would stay up late like Tu Ran to cram in more training.
Zhou Ming, confused, replied, “Didn’t the training finish? We can’t leave?”
The instructor opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing.
Not everyone was like Tu Ran.
Take Zhou Ming, for example.
Opportunities to enter the front lines were rare. Many ordinary people from the Haenden star system scrambled to get a chance, but there were none. This person from another world had borrowed Tu Ran’s luck to get this opportunity, yet he didn’t appreciate it.
He might as well be working on an assembly line, painting mechas.
The instructor turned and walked toward the exit.
Zhou Ming hurried to walk beside the instructor, matching his pace. “Instructor, is there a department here for sniping or something like that? Everyone has their strengths, and I’m not good at operating mechas, but I have a natural talent for sniping. In our world, I ranked second—nobody dared to be first. I think a department related to sniping would suit me better and make better use of my talents.”
The instructor gave him a sideways glance. “There is.”
Before Zhou Ming could feel any joy, the instructor continued, “But that’s based on the premise that you can operate a mecha. Any department that can go to the battlefield must know how to operate a mecha, even mecha researchers or logistics personnel. If you don’t first learn how to operate a mecha, it doesn’t matter how good you are at sniping.”
Zhou Ming wasn’t willing to give up. “Can’t you set up a department where you can snipe without needing to operate a mecha? Operating mechas wastes both mental energy and resources. You should abandon them and rely on your own hands. Over-relying on mechas will only harm you.”
His speech left the instructor “moved.” The instructor stopped, looked Zhou Ming up and down, left and right, inspecting him as though trying to figure out if he had any common sense left in his brain.
The instructor finally understood why Qi Tongda always called him stupid.
“Without a mecha, can you carry a one-ton sniper rifle on your own? Or lift a bullet weighing ten kilograms?”
Zhou Ming paused, scratching his nose. “That heavy? Can’t we use a smaller one?”
“How small? The same size as the one you used in your world?”
“No… is that not possible?”
The instructor gave him a disdainful look, wanting to just walk away. But as a professional instructor, he suppressed his frustration and patiently continued explaining to Zhou Ming. “The kind of gun you’re talking about has almost zero lethality against alien beasts. Even the skin they shed from scratching an itch would be more dangerous than that.”
Zhou Ming stood frozen, unable to respond.
Seizing the opportunity, the instructor walked off without looking back, eager to avoid any more of Zhou Ming’s nonsensical questions.
…
The next day, it was still mecha control training.
Everyone showed progress, except for Zhou Ming.
The afternoon of the third day.
The instructor called a halt to everyone’s training and ordered them to gather. He stood in the middle, scanning the group of people from another world, and finally announced, “Except for Li Wenchuan and Yao Bei, everyone else is to go to the mecha manufacturing department.”
A collective groan filled the air.
Zhou Ming wasn’t surprised. He had just learned to crawl from the ground and had no talent for piloting mechas. He was definitely being sent to the assembly line.
However, Qi Tongda and the others were also sent to the assembly line, which made him happy.
“Qi Dog, all that practice was in vain. In the end, you’re still going with me, hahaha…” Zhou Ming didn’t hold back, laughing loudly and earning a big eye-roll from Qi Tongda, followed by a flying kick from his mecha.
Zhou Ming, along with the mecha, was kicked several meters away.
He crawled up from the ground, operating the mecha with difficulty, and managed to strike a pose, hands on his hips. “Ha, it doesn’t hurt. You’re wasting your effort.”
Qi Tongda, frustrated, muttered through gritted teeth, “You’re really insane.” He spat out a few words and turned away, not bothering to look at him anymore.
Ignoring Qi Tongda, Zhou Ming went to bother Ding Naiqing.
He walked up to Ding Naiqing’s mecha, crossing his arms, adopting a spectator’s stance as if ready to watch a show.
“Yo, even a Pioneer got dropped? Seems like you’re not so capable after all. No wonder you’ve been stuck as a junior this whole time. Tsk, look at the seniors, they’re just on a different level than us.”
Ding Naiqing didn’t want to respond and pretended not to hear.
Zhou Ming persisted in being annoying. “I remember Tu Ran’s also a junior. She learns so quickly. In my opinion, it’s all thanks to those few inner cores. Without them, she wouldn’t be—”
“Ahhhh—”
A perfect parabolic arc was launched by Ding Naiqing’s fist, soaring over a hundred meters high before rapidly descending.
Boom!
The parabolic arc ended with a massive crater, and from the horizon, you couldn’t even see the mecha. The entire mecha was embedded in the ground.
Young Master Qi first looked up, then looked down, witnessing the entire fall from start to finish. He walked over to Ding Naiqing and gave him a thumbs-up. “Man, that punch was spot on.”
Ding Naiqing’s face was still a little pale as he glared at the motionless deep pit. He angrily returned to his spot, facing the instructor.
The instructor had been silently rubbing his forehead inside the mecha.
This group really was causing trouble.
He had led many classes, taught many newcomers to mecha piloting, but he had never experienced anything quite like this, where everything ended up in chaos.
Their personalities and ways of doing things were completely incompatible with this world.
Fortunately, today was the last day.
The instructor was also irritated by Zhou Ming and decided to ignore him, leaving him struggling in the pit, unable to get out despite all his efforts.
“Li Wenchuan, Yao Bei, you two stay here and continue learning mecha piloting with me. The rest of you can exit your mechas. In fifteen minutes, someone from the mecha manufacturing department will come to pick you up. Just wait outside the virtual room.”
Once the instructor finished speaking, everyone except Yao Bei and Li Wenchuan exited their mechas.
Meanwhile, Zhou Ming, who still didn’t realize the meeting was over, was upside down in the deep pit. Since the mecha was in a head-down position, he, trapped in the cockpit, could only remain in that orientation. His head filled with blood, making his face turn as red as a tomato.
Frantically pressing buttons on the control panel, he tried every method he could think of, but he couldn’t get the mecha’s head out of the ground.
His vision blurred and he started feeling dizzy from the lack of oxygen. Desperate, he activated the instructor’s communication to ask for help. “Instructor, instructor, help me… I can’t take it anymore.”
