Ever since the disclosure of the secret last time, their squad had descended into utter discord. Although Bai Yue still appeared to follow Luo'er's orders, Luo'er himself no longer had the courage to lead and command them. Just when the atmosphere between the team members returned to one of harmony, it turned icy cold again in the blink of an eye, leaving Luo'er at a loss.
Over a week passed, and the academy's expanded virtual machine room received an increase in virtual machines. According to Zhuyan Yu, the academy planned to use the virtual machines for real-world combat simulations, replacing regular drills. Not only could the virtual machines simulate the real world environment, but they could also replicate the magic environment of the Otherworld. This provided the students, who had been studying magic since they were young, with an additional method of combat.
The expanded virtual machine room allowed for several classes of students to be incorporated into the virtual space for simultaneous training of several hundred people.
The simulation for today was combat casualty training, to give students a first-hand experience of death. The feeling of being hit by a bullet—pain and weakness—could be simulated; a hit to the arm could simulate its being broken, fully imitating the physical laws of the real world.
In the blink of an eye, everyone appeared on the battlefield, dressed in old military uniforms and standing in the trenches. Wherever their gaze touched, everything was filled with onslaught scars left by artillery. Black smoke was suffused in the sky, with the dull booming sounds of distant cannons echoing intermittently.
Their faces muddied, they held bolt-action rifles from the World War One. Standing in the muddy trenches, they looked out towards the battlefield enveloped in a white fog. Apart from them, tens of thousands of NPCs also fought by their side. The entire simulation space was driven by the country's newest military-grade quantum computer, creating such a spectacular scene.
There was a light rain in the air, the surrounding area was full of fog, and they could even smell the damp, stale air. The trench in front of them was higher than most of them, and they could only just peer over it by standing on wooden step.
Luo'er glanced around and saw that Bai Yue from Class Three—supposed to be elsewhere—had somehow made her way into his trench. She was hugging a long Enfield Rifle, staring at him wide-eyed. She was draped in a thick, rough cloth cape that covered her helmet and the upper half of her body, making her look quite ridiculous. Despite the many whispers around them, no one seemed able to laugh within the stifling atmosphere.
"Listen closely," Wang Xu, the military instructor, began. He had abruptly appeared within the virtual environment, standing in the trench addressing everyone. His voice wasn't loud, yet everyone could hear him clearly. "Today we're simulating a real battlefield environment. You will die, you will get injured, and you'll get a first-hand experience of death and pain. Your physical bodies in the real world won't get hurt, but that certainly doesn't mean that you all would be able to handle this feeling."
"When the whistle blows, you will charge together with fifty thousand AI soldiers and storm the enemy trenches. Listen, the moment that whistle blows, you may only move forwards; there's no retreating, no turning back, and absolutely no deserting. Anyone who violates these rules will be shot without hesitation by the supervisory team. Understood?" He finished speaking and hopped out of the trench.
Luo'er stood on a wooden ladder and glanced back where a few water-cooled heavy machine guns had been set up, probably the so-called supervisory team. He jumped down into the muddy trench and checked the weapon in his hands—an Enfield Rifle. Judging by the long magazine and the front grip that were level with the muzzle, it was likely a No.1 Mark Rifle widely used by the British army during World War One.
Pushing the rifle back onto his shoulder, Luo'er turned to find Tangmo and Hu Daoke in the nearby trench. Tangmo, sensing his gaze, glanced at Luo'er only to quickly look away again, filling Luo'er with guilt.
"Follow me during the charge, don't run off!" Luo'er turned back to Bai Yue and cautioned her. Judging by the armor and weapons, Luo'er had an approximate guess of the battlefield's time period and a baseline understanding of what was about to take place.
Without saying a word, Bai Yue nodded adamantly. The somewhat relaxed Luo'er turned back around only to hear Wang Xu's voice echoing in his ear, "Attention all, our artillery cover has begun. Prepare to charge!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the dense and low thuds of cannon fire began to echo from behind them. Large caliber shells whizzed across the sky towards the enemy lines, inducing the thunderous sound of explosions.
After thirty minutes of artillery bombardment, as the sound began to dissipate, they heard a sharp and urgent whistle coming from behind them. It signaled the start of their charge.
Many students didn't quite understand what was about to happen, so plenty of them were lost in thought, whispering among themselves. Luo'er climbed up a wooden ladder and onto the trench. The terrain in front of him was flat but severely damaged, with various large shell craters and chunks of earth and wood, thrown about by the explosions. A thin fog filled the air, reducing visibility to under 200 meters. While it limited the enemy's sight, it contributed to a sense of fear.
The first ranks of NPC soldiers, without a word, climbed up the trench, and driven by the whistle, pressed on towards the enemy with their rifles. By the time Luo'er and Bai Yue climbed up to follow, the leading troops had already advanced over a hundred meters.
"Follow me!" Without wasting any more words, Luo'er picked up his rifle from his shoulder and began to advance, crouched.
When everyone had covered about a hundred meters, complete silence still prevailed on the opposing side, with just the occasional sound of distant artillery fire. One of the students started laughing upon seeing Luo'er and Bai Yue's behavior, "Idiots, the enemy has already been entirely crushed under the artillery fire, no need to be so..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a loud and intense gunfire echoed from afar, it was the growl of the Maxim machine gun. The trainee didn't have time to finish his words before a stray bullet shattered his skull, his face obliterated by the impact of the bullet.
Luo'er didn't have time to witness his gruesome fate. As soon as the gunfire started, he forcefully pushed Baiyue and the two of them rolled into a shallow mud pit. A line of bullets followed, with mud splattering everywhere. They could hear the terrifying buzzing sound of bullets whizzing overhead.
The enemy camp started a fierce and rapid assault, the bullets rained down on soldiers charging forward, falling uniformly like cut grass. They could hear a trainee's scream from nearby as a bullet completely shattered his thigh. He was wailing and clutching his thigh, blood gushing profusely from his lower body.
"In the Battle of the Somme, 60,000 British soldiers died in one day." Luo'er adjusted his skewed helmet, wiped his muddy face with his hand, and said to Baiyue, "We'll charge forward once the barrage decreases, understand?"
Baiyue nodded but didn't speak. Her lips were a bit pale, whether from fear or the chill of the weather, he couldn't tell. She stared at Luo'er wide-eyed and clung to her rifle, unconsciously clutching at Luo'er's clothes.
Luo'er risked a peek and saw the horrifying scene: soldiers fell in rows under the dense hail of bullets, among them their fellow trainees. Some died instantly, others howled in agony, their blood staining the dark earth with a vivd red layer.
Suddenly, he spotted the tall figure of Hu Daoke and Tangmo following behind him. The two had advanced to a position over fifty meters away, a crucial area targeted by enemy machine gunners.
"Move! Move!" Without waiting for the decrease in the barrage, Luo'er waved his hand and began to move forward, clutching his rifle. Facing the formidable firepower, he saw countless charging soldiers fall to the ground, their blood gushing out. The incessant sounds of gunfire, tortured screams, and the sight of comrades falling under the enemy barrage made a powerful impact on these first-time trainees.
Despite the heavy barrage, Luo'er and Baiyue pushed forward. As they were about to reach the enemy position, they were spotted and bullets began to rain down on them. Luo'er instantly grabbed Baiyue's arm and pulled her into a large bomb crater for cover. The bullets hit the mud like heavy fists, sending dirt flying everywhere. Baiyue instinctively took cover in Luo'er's arms, and Luo'er subconsciously held her head tightly.
Luo'er dared to take a quick look and saw Baiyue not far away. Using the distraction provided by the intense gunfire, they climbed out of the crater and began to charge. However, as soon as the burly Hu Daoke climbed out of the crater, his thigh was immediately shattered by a machine-gun bullet, which exploded in a cloud of blood. Hu Daoke screamed and rolled back into the bomb crater, followed by the terrified shrieks of Tangmo.
"Stay here, I'm going to help!" Luo'er pushed Baiyue away and told her.
Baiyue stared at him with wide eyes. Although she didn't speak, Luo'er could see the worry on her face and her hand clutching tightly at his clothes.
"Don't worry, I'll be alright!" Luo'er wiped the mud off her face and reassured her.
Despite his reluctance, he resolutely pushed Baiyue away. When the enemy's focus shifted slightly, he charged out of the bomb crater, clutching his rifle.
The crater where Luo'er was located was less than ten meters from the one where Hu Daoke and Tangmo were, but those ten meters seemed endless. The enemy machine gunner spotted Luo'er, and a shower of bullets came tearing after him.
"Bang!"
A gunshot sounded from behind him, and the roaring machine gun was abruptly silenced. It was Baiyue's doing. But the machine gun soon fired again. By this point, however, Luo'er had already made a mad dash and tumbled into the crater where Hu Daoke was located.
In addition to Tangmo and Hu Daoke, there was a body torn apart by the explosion in the crater. Hu Daoke was as pale as a ghost, a large hole in his thigh from which blood was freely flowing. His body was shaking uncontrollably, and Tangmo was left staring blankly at the scene, forgetting all about the field trauma treatment they had learned in military training.
Without a second thought, Luo'er roughly shoved Tangmo aside and pressed his hands hard against Hu Daoke's bleeding wound. Blood splattered onto his face, giving him a fierce appearance.