Upon leaving the office, Luo'er let out a long sigh. Even though all the news from Wang Xu was positive, he could not bring himself to be happy in any way. The mere task of integrating the entire team and fostering unity seemed monumentally daunting to him.
With these complex thoughts buzzing in his head, Luo'er began walking towards the dormitory. As he approached the building, he noticed something strange, a black sedan car had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Two men clad in black with sunglasses stood rigidly on either side of it, their hands folded behind their backs. Realizing what was about to happen, he gritted his teeth and walked forward.
Upon seeing Luo'er, one of the men turned around to open the car door. A dignified old man stepped out of the car, his benevolent gaze falling on Luo'er. He was none other than Luo Qishan, the principal of Haiya Academy, and Luo'er's grandfather.
The moment he caught sight of Luo Qishan, Luo'er's facial expression darkened dramatically. He wanted to avoid the man, but unfortunately, he was standing right in his path home. He had no choice but to put on a stern face and proceed.
As Luo Qishan watched Luo'er approaching him, his initially calm gaze began to fill with distress. After a long pause, he muttered hesitantly, "I heard you got injured during the training a few days ago..."
"It's just a minor injury, Principal, you needn't trouble yourself over me," Luo'er responded tersely, his demeanor reflecting the distance he felt for this stranger.
You..." Luo'er's curt reply stumped Luo Qishan. He spent a while gathering his thoughts before he finally managed to say, "You must be careful. For selection... don't push yourself too hard."
Throughout the conversation, their eyes never once met. Both their expressions were turned away, avoiding any direct contact. Anyone passing by would find it hard to discern any relation between the two of them.
"It's my matter. You need not worry about me. I know my limits!" Mention of the selection strengthened Luo'er's resolve instantly.
"You want to go to Otherworld that badly? Can't you just stay here?" Luo Qishan pleaded, a bitter expression on his face.
"That is where I belong," Luo'er said firmly, brushing right past him towards the staircase.
"Isn't this your home? I am your grandfather. I am right here beside you!" Luo Qishan couldn't help but raise his voice, his frustration seeping through.
"Grandfather?" Luo'er turned around, a cold, mocking smile spreading across his face, "You're not worthy!"
Without another word, he turned to leave, leaving behind a hurt and dejected Luo Qishan. The confrontation had visibly aged him. Watching Luo'er climb up the stairs, he stood in silence for a while before departing with a heavy heart.
The unpleasant encounter with Luo Qishan did not deter Luo'er from his plans. On Saturday morning, as per schedule, the team of five gathered at the Virtual Machine Room. With the help of Zhuyan Yu, they collectively entered the virtual environment.
When they woke up again, they found themselves in the academy square in the virtual environment. In a while, with Zhuyan Yu's assistance, they would be transported to the pre-set battlefield for training.
"Listen up, everyone!" Luo'er snapped his fingers, and a tactical vest appeared out of nowhere on his body. "I've requested Teacher Zhu to help me build a few battlefields. We will be training there in order to build our team's cooperation."
"Why bother coming to this place? We could have just applied for the live fire training field," Hu Daoke was not fond of the magical environment, unable to use his magic.
"In this environment, every member of our team can maximize their advantages. We're implementing a new training strategy, assigning specific roles to each member so that we are equipped to undertake special operations in Otherworld." Luo'er's words piqued everyone's interest.
"So," Luo'er snapped his fingers lightly again, and different apparels appeared on each member. Cheng Ziang and Hu Daoke were dressed in tactical vests, while Baiyue was in a tight suit coupled with a thin reconnaissance vest which didn't even qualify as a bullet-proof jacket. She had apparently requested the virtual machine operator to remove her beast ears or such.
However, Tangmo's outfit was a bit strange. It wasn't a modern military uniform but a magical attire right out of a fantasy – an adventure costume with a huge mage's hat. Luo'er had picked out the mage attire at random from the internet.
"Why is my outfit different from everyone else's?" Tangmo asked, a happy but confused expression on her face.
"For now, we'll use clothing to distinguish everyone's roles," Luo'er paused before continuing, "Sister Moumou, from now on, you'll be the mage of the team, using magic for offensive and defensive purposes. Is that clear?"
With that, he summoned a magic wand from the menu and threw it to Tangmo. She twirled the wand around before pouting and said, "I want to change it into a mage dress!"
"Uh..." Luo'er was at a loss for words. Unable to come up with a reason to refuse, he had to fetch a mage dress set from the resource library. The moment she received the dress, Tangmo hopped away gleefully.
"Baiyue, I thought it through - you're suitable for the sniper's position." As he spoke, he pulled out a sniper rifle from the weapon library and handed it to her.
Baiyue looked at the gun, an American made M70 hunting rifle with wooden grip. It had an optical sight mounted on the Picatinny rail, and a bipod attached to the body. Though there wasn't a noticeable change in her expression, it was evident that she liked the gun and made no objection to Luo'er's assignment.
"As for Hu Daoke..." Luo'er hesitated," You'll be the machine gunner, providing support and firepower for the team. How's that?"
"Piece of cake!" Hu Daoke agreed readily, without causing a fuss.
"Then you pick your weapon." Luo'er opened up the machine gun category in the weapons library.
Hu Daoke breezily approached Luo'er, taking a look, and from the weapon repository, he took out one handheld M134 Minigun.
"Uh." Luo'er looked at him, seemingly like he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Hu Daoke turned his head towards him, giving a large mouthed grin, saying, "Test it out."
"Alright, later you can choose for yourself." Luo'er said while scratching his head.
Luo'er has decided not to make any comments. He concentrated his gaze on Cheng Ziang, who had been cool and distant, appearing as if someone owed him money.
"As for Cheng Ziang, I can't think of a role for you at the moment. You could act as a rifleman, how about that?" Luo'er asked in a tone that was seeking consensus.
"I don't care!" Cheng Ziang crossed his arms and said coldly.
"Then you choose your own weapon." Luo'er said as he pushed the weapon repository options to him.
Cheng Ziang didn't fuss much. He casually selected an AR-series rifle from the weapons repository.
As a rifleman, Luo'er also selected his weapon, his choice fell on a century-old AK47. He was very fond of this weapon with a historical background.
"Everyone, listen up," Luo'er waved his hand, beckoning everyone over. "Everyone's roles have been basically established, of course, depending on the battlefield conditions, you can also freely choose the weapons you are proficient with. No need to obsess over the weapons and equipment I chose for you. If everyone's ready, then let's move to the first battlefield."
With that said, Luo'er turned around, speaking to the sky, "Teach Zhu, thanks for the trouble!"
All of a sudden, Zhu Yan Yu's figure appeared in the sky out of thin air, and her soft voice could be heard, "Your plan is quite interesting. So, let's get ready to proceed to the first battlefield."
That day Luo'er had asked her for a favor. He wanted her to help set up the battlefield in the virtual environment to carry out the simulated training. Intrigued by Luo'er's request, Zhu Yan Yu had agreed.
In the blink of an eye, the surroundings of the five people changed into an open plain, and they found themselves in the trenches in the middle of the plains.
"This is the most basic defensive position, in a while, enemies will randomly attack your positions from different directions. Prepare yourselves and let's start."
Zhu Yan Yu made a gesture in mid-air, and soon, they saw enemy infantry squads appearing in the distance.
"At one o'clock, enemy infantry spotted, prepare for combat!" Luo'er yelled and jumped out of the trench holding his gun, running towards the front-line position.
"What should I do, Luo'er?" Tangmo stood in place, waving his magic wand and asking with a hint of despair.
"Try to see if you can use magic to attack them!" While checking his weapon, Luo'er said, lying on the trench.
"Oh,"
Tangmo nodded, raised his magic wand, muttered the spells, and then an ice cone appeared in front of him and shot towards the distant enemies. Regrettably, the ice cone did not hit the enemies as expected. The enemy had adopted the Three-Three System formation, leaving a considerable gap between the infantry.
"I can't hit them!" Tangmo complained slightly.
"Hide for now, attack them again when they get closer." Luo'er said as he cocked his gun and aimed at the distant enemies.
"Oh!". Tangmo nodded, hopped into the trench and hid next to Luo'er.
Baiyue on the side quietly watched the two of them. She put the M70 hunting gun she was holding on her back and opened the weapons bar. She took out a M107 large-caliber sniper rifle, set it up on the trench, and after slightly aiming, immediately pulled the trigger.
"Bang Bang Bang!"
The series of thunderous noises made Luo'er and Tangmo feel tingly. Seeing enemy bodies fall in the distance one by one, they didn't know what to say and could only cover their ears to reduce the noise.
"200 meters!"
Luo'er yelled. When the enemy entered the rifle's range, he pulled the trigger. At the same time, Cheng Ziang, who was on the other side, fired his weapon in silence.