Returning to his room after the test that morning, Andrew had one of the best sleep experiences of his 2 lives that morning.
Tired from all the exertion and fueled by his joy, Andrew slept like a baby.
2 and half hours later, he finally woke up.
Waking up, of course, Andrew reflected on his performance against mech pilot Zigar. It was something that remained stuck in his brain.
He could not forget it even if he wanted.
After days of simulating it with his ultimate simulation system, he finally was able to replicate all that he learned in the simulated world in reality.
The taste of victory was one that Andrew already grew addicted to.
'That taste, I want to experience it again'. He grinned.
'I want to keep on experiencing it'.
And this prompted his next actions.
Laying down comfortably on his bed again, Andrew did it.
~__________~
[Ultimate Simulation System!]
[Current System Level: 1]
[Current Daily Simulation Tickets: 1]
[Simulation time frame: 30 minutes]
[Requirement to upgrade system level: Locked!]
…
[You have made use of your daily simulation ticket!]
[Current Daily Simulation Tickets: 0]
[Time to reset: 13 hours; 56 minutes; 24 seconds]
~_______~
Seeing this, Andrew could not help but think if it was better leaving his daily simulation tickets and accumulating them so he could use them all at once.
Somewhere in his mind, he felt that it was better but right now, he was too impatient to archive his daily simulation tickets.
Even more so after his first feel of a Rifleman mech.
That feeling that he experienced while piloting a Rifleman mech for the first time, Andrew had so many questions relating to what he felt.
He wanted to try it out again to answer his questions.
Andrew didn't wait.
Afterall, to aid his growth, every second spent training was important.
~__________~
[You have made use of your daily simulation ticket!]
[Current Daily Simulation Tickets: 0]
[Simulation time frame: 30 minutes]
[Simulation parameters:]
*Location- junkyard
*Scenario- combat simulation
*Enemy- Rifleman mech
*Perk- teacher enabled
[Commencing simulation…, please wait…]
[Simulation complete!]
~________~
Bzzz!
Immediately, Andrew saw himself disappear from reality only to appear inside the simulated world of his system.
Instead of the previous plain grassland, the location this time was a large junkyard filled with numerous obstacles, making it a prime location for a gunfight between Rifleman mechs.
At this moment, Andrew was already inside the cockpit of a Rifleman mech similar to his Poseidon's Gaze V-I, and the enemy was also a Rifleman mech.
At the same time that he and the enemy appeared, the familiar face, the stern-faced middle-aged teacher also appeared.
"Wrong!" He screamed immediately.
"You're on a battlefield yet you're paying attention to me?"
"What if this was a real battlefield? You'd be dead".
"Eyes on your target!" He roared.
"Yes, sir!" Andrew yelled loudly, instinctively becoming focused.
And then, it started, a gunfight…
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Having simulated only scenarios with a swordsman mech for the past 2 weeks, suddenly deviating to a Rifleman mech threw Andrew off his comfort zone.
Of course, he lost the first time within less than a minute.
"Wrong!"
"You're a Rifleman mech for Christ's sake! A ranged mech, not a close-combat mech!"
"Don't rush in like a moron, that's just wrong".
"Calculate, plan, take it as if you're playing a game of chess".
"Anticipate your opponent's moves, create contingency plans to counter them, and attack without hesitation when the window of opportunity opens".
"Strike while the iron is hot!"
"Yes, sir!" Andrew was pumped despite the verbal abuse.
In the end, after 30 minutes of intense training, despite trying his best, the best he could stretch the battle for was 8 minutes.
The enemy was simply better at using the terrain to his advantage.
And finally, the simulation came to an end.
Standing up from his bed in satisfaction, Andrew decided that he would use every simulation session to train his twin affinities with a Rifleman mech and a Swordsman mech.
Apart from that though, there was a nagging disappointment at the back of his mind by the fact that he didn't get to experience that special feeling again.
'That feeling as if my muscles were doing the job instinctively, is that only possible in reality inside a real mech?'
His brows furrowed. 'But real mechs are too expensive for such experiments'.
Andrew was disappointed but he did not let it weigh him down.
Taking his toolbox, he finally left his room back to the hangar bay to continue his work as assistant mech technician to the mech technicians.
Andrew spent most of the rest of the day doing this.
…
The next day, he took the test again and for the second time defeated mech pilot Zigar. Again, against mech pilot Amanda, his knight mech fell.
Despite the feeling of defeat, he was not discouraged.
Returning to his room, Andrew took another trip into the world of his system where he continued his training. Once he was back, he picked up his sword training again in preparation for another showdown.
And after all that, he retreated back to being a mech technician.
…
On the 2nd day after defeating mech pilot Zigar on the test the first time, Andrew took on the test again and this time, he finally broke his record.
After an intense and exciting mech battle after defeating mech pilot Zigar for the 3rd time already, he finally prevailed over mech pilot Amanda by a narrow margin as both of their mechs literally became wrecks.
Of course, Andrew lost swiftly against the 3rd opponent. This didn't matter though, what mattered was that he was improving fast.
Training hard like this, on the 4th day after defeating mech pilot Zigar the first time, returning to his room after another test, Andrew finally decided to leave his comfort zone again as he tried something new.
***
[You have made use of your daily simulation ticket!]
[Current Daily Simulation Tickets: 0]
[Simulation time frame: 30 minutes]
[Simulation parameters:]
*Location- junkyard
*Scenario- combat simulation
*Enemy- multiple enemy mechs…,
***