TSA Chapter 55

After Soul Chaser and his opponent entered the combat pod, the holographic screen automatically activated, allowing the audience to watch the simulated battle in real time.

This match was a mecha battle. Soul Chaser chose a high-attack close-combat mecha, while his opponent selected a long-range speed-type mecha. Based on their choices, Soul Chaser seemed to be at a disadvantage.

Everything follows a principle of balance—attack power, defense, and mobility form a triangular equilibrium in mecha combat. Increasing any one or two of these attributes inevitably results in a significant reduction in the others.

Since Soul Chaser’s mecha had enhanced attack power, its mobility and defense were inevitably lower. Meanwhile, his opponent’s mecha prioritized mobility, retained some attack power, and sacrificed most of its defense. However, because it was equipped with long-range weaponry, it had an apparent advantage over Soul Chaser.

The virtual battlefield map was randomly selected, and this time, they were assigned a ruin-themed map.

Typically, when a close-combat mecha faces a long-range opponent, the best strategy is to attack immediately at the start of the match before the distance between them widens.

Ran Qi and Gu Le assumed Soul Chaser would adopt this approach, but were surprised when he instead used the battlefield environment to hide himself right from the beginning. Like a predator lurking in the shadows, he waited for the perfect moment to strike.

Since it was a one-on-one match, the map wasn’t very large. With careful searching, his opponent could quickly locate Soul Chaser’s hiding spot.

His opponent was cautious, avoiding the ruins and switching to an energy cannon aimed directly at Soul Chaser’s position.

With a thunderous explosion, the ruins concealing Soul Chaser were blasted apart, sending clouds of dust into the air.

Just as Ran Qi and Gu Le began to worry, a black mecha suddenly burst through the smoke like a phantom, appearing right in front of its opponent. With lightning speed, it thrust its laser sword straight at the opponent’s energy core.

But Soul Chaser’s opponent wasn’t easy prey. Moving with incredible speed, they skillfully dodged the attack and simultaneously adjusted their energy cannon, aiming directly at Soul Chaser’s mecha before firing without hesitation.

The energy cannon was a powerful weapon, and its projectiles caused massive explosions upon impact. At such close range, both mechas were bound to take significant damage, possibly resulting in a double knockout.

However, as the explosion’s brilliance faded, the words ‘Lin Han WIN’ suddenly appeared on the holographic screen.

The audience was baffled—at such close range, both mechas should have sustained severe damage, with Soul Chaser suffering even more as the target of the attack. How had he won?

Thankfully, the match replay was shown after the battle, revealing what had happened in slow motion. It turned out that, amid the thick smoke, Soul Chaser had secretly attached a micro-bomb to his opponent’s energy cannon barrel. His laser sword attack had been nothing more than a feint.

At the exact moment his opponent fired, Soul Chaser also detonated the micro-bomb. The dual explosions inflicted severe damage on his opponent’s mecha, rendering it completely inoperable. Meanwhile, Soul Chaser’s mecha, though affected by the blast, only suffered minor damage.

As the realization set in, the entire audience erupted into applause. Judging by his fierce, wolf-like demeanor, everyone had assumed Soul Chaser would favor a head-on, brute-force approach. No one had expected him to use such precise tactics and demonstrate such impressive predictive abilities. He truly deserved his place among the top ten of Imperial Star Military Academy!

“Imperial Star! Imperial Star!”

“Lin Han! Lin Han!”

The cheers and applause came in waves. Ran Qi and Gu Le, swept up in the atmosphere, stood up and clapped enthusiastically.

That battle had been absolutely incredible!

Soul Chaser and his opponent exited the combat pods and shook hands. The defeated contestant left the stage with a lowered head, while Soul Chaser remained, basking in the cheers and admiration of the crowd.

As he looked toward the stands, everyone suddenly saw this usually fierce, wolf-like young man break into a smile—one so bright and goofy that it was almost ridiculous.

He leaped down from the two-meter-high battle platform in one swift motion and strode toward the stands.

“Brother Ran? Coke?” Soul Chaser immediately recognized them and greeted them with a smile. “I’m Soul Chaser, my real name is Lin Han.”

“Yes, yes, that’s us! My real name is Gu Le! Lin Han, you were so cool just now!” Gu Le, now a full-fledged fanboy, bounced excitedly.

“Really?” Soul Chaser’s grin widened.

He was no stranger to applause and praise, having participated in numerous competitions, but somehow, receiving compliments from Gu Le and Ran Qi felt different.

“Yeah, you were amazing!” Ran Qi smiled and extended his hand. “Soul—oh no, Lin Han, I’m Ran Qi.”

“Haha, Soul Chaser or Lin Han, they’re both me. Just call me whatever feels natural!”

“Alright!” Gu Le responded enthusiastically.

“By the way, where are the others?” Ran Qi asked.

“They went to the players’ lounge to rest. The next match is a war armor battle featuring Plume Ink and No Happiness. Boss is in the fifth match, so it’ll be a while before he takes the stage.”

“Let me see!” Gu Le quickly pulled up the match schedule on his optical computer and soon found the two Imperial Star competitors in the next round. Plume Ink’s real name was Lin Mo—so he really was Soul Chaser’s brother. No Happiness’s real name was Wu Huan, which turned out to be a homophone of his in-game name.

One was assigned to Platform 5, and the other to Platform 6. Although their matches would happen simultaneously, the platforms were close enough for them to watch both.

With 15 minutes until the next round, the three of them moved to a spot between the two platforms, ensuring they could see both battles clearly.

Plume Ink looked just like his in-game avatar—his friendly features made him naturally likable. No Happiness was the same, with his baby face and perpetually drowsy expression, even having mismatched buttons on his uniform.

They both seemed harmless at first glance, but once the battles began, they transformed completely.

Plume Ink excelled at long-range attacks with pinpoint accuracy—his opponent didn’t even catch a glimpse of him before getting eliminated. No wonder he played an archer in the game.

No Happiness, on the other hand, was all about speed. Once he donned his war armor, it was as if he had grown wings—his opponent couldn’t even get close before he ended the match with a light blade strike. His movements bore a distinct resemblance to his in-game assassin play style, proving that his experience carried over, making him even stronger.

“Lin Mo! Wu Huan! Over here!” As soon as the match ended, Soul Chaser shot to his feet, shouting at the top of his lungs toward the battle platform.

The two immediately recognized his voice. At first, they looked slightly annoyed, wondering what nonsense he was up to, but as soon as they turned and spotted Ran Qi and Gu Le, smiles broke across their faces. They jumped down from the platform and ran over at full speed.

“Brother Ran!” Plume Ink gave Ran Qi a big hug. “Hahaha, you look so young in real life! I feel like I’m losing out here—you should be the one calling me ‘brother’!”

Ran Qi chuckled and shook his head. It wasn’t like he had forced them to call him ‘brother’ in the game.

Because they spent so much time playing together online, there was no awkwardness despite this being their first real-life meeting.

They warmed up to each other quickly, cheering loudly as they watched the ongoing matches. The atmosphere felt just like watching the World Cup—if only they had soda and popcorn, it would’ve been perfect.

“Brother Ran, what are you planning to cook for us tonight? Should we buy the ingredients now?” The foodies had their priorities straight.

“We can buy them after the matches,” Ran Qi said, amused. “Where are you guys staying?”

“The competition organizers arranged accommodations for the participants. The lodging is nearby,” they replied. After arriving at the venue straight from the spaceport, they hadn’t even checked their rooms yet.

“Alright, you guys can drop off your luggage first. I’ll send you the address of our hotel, and you can come over later.”

“Luggage? We can just have our teacher take it back for us—we’ll go with you now!” Soul Chaser said nonchalantly.

He definitely didn’t want to miss the process of Ran Qi cooking!

“Alright then…”

As they discussed the menu, Ran Qi kept glancing at the time on his optical computer.

Finally, the fifth match was about to begin—Han Xiao was up next.

People packed the seats around Platform 2 to the brim, even crowding into the adjacent stands to crane their necks and watch the match on the holographic screens.

When Han Xiao stepped onto the platform, the arena erupted in deafening cheers. Anyone who didn’t know better might have thought they had wandered into a celebrity concert by mistake…

As the referee introduced both contestants, Han Xiao scanned the crowd. It didn’t take long for him to spot a group of familiar faces—so that’s where everyone had disappeared to after leaving the lounge.

The moment he saw who was at the center of that group, the corners of his lips curled up instinctively. Ran Qi in real life looked quite different from his in-game avatar. His white hair and blue eyes in the game were striking but carried an unreal, almost dreamlike quality. In contrast, his real-life appearance—soft, slightly tousled short hair and a pair of deep, expressive black eyes—felt much more alive. He looked exactly as Han Xiao had imagined him.

When Ran Qi noticed Han Xiao smiling in his direction, his ears inexplicably started to burn.