Chapter 665: Chapter 684: An Appalling Battle Record, but No One Laughed
By all accounts, there should have been no suspense in Jiang Qiuqiu’s match.
However—
Both pilots entered their Mechas simultaneously. Once the match started, number 87 charged at Jiang Qiuqiu. She dodged to the side. Normally, she would have swiftly sidestepped and followed up with a spinning kick to instantly score three points by hitting the red light on his back.
However, after she dodged, number 87 had already turned around, but Jiang Qiuqiu still hadn’t managed to free her leg for the next move.
The first to sense something was wrong was her opponent.
Although number 87 ranked in the lower half of Class A1, he was still one of the top students in the entire department.
So he quickly launched a second round of attacks, wanting to see if the opening Jiang Qiuqiu had revealed was a feint or real.
The second strike was charged and faster than the first. Jiang Qiuqiu had to split her focus, using her spiritual power to resist the pressure in the cockpit while piloting the Mecha. As a result, her reactions were much slower than before.
This was the second exchange; she couldn’t just dodge again.
She had to meet him head-on. Otherwise, the exchange would be a stalemate, and she would have wasted her opponent’s 0.1 academic credits for nothing.
Facing the attack required courage, but courage alone couldn’t bring victory.
First, her forearm was hit—a yellow light, one point for her opponent. A gap had opened up in the score. Jiang Qiuqiu made a split-second decision and landed a backhand strike on number 87’s chest—another yellow light, one point for her.
After the second exchange, both sides seemed to be on even footing.
But in the third and fourth exchanges, as the countdown timer ticked away, an increasingly frenzied number 87 taught Jiang Qiuqiu a lesson.
In the end, number 87 scored 11 points, while Jiang Qiuqiu only scored 4.
Number 87 had won.
This was the first time in the Class A1 arena that someone other than Huo Jia and the perennial second-place, A+ Level Ling, had defeated Jiang Qiuqiu.
No one could believe it.
But this disbelief was only the beginning.
Because there was still a second match, a third, a fourth—
At first, Jiang Qiuqiu could still score points in her matches, avoiding a complete shutout. But after the tenth match, she started to tremble.
Even walking and executing moves became unsteady, making it even more impossible to score.
Anyone could defeat her. Getting matched with her was practically a guaranteed win. A simple, forceful push was likely enough to topple her, and with just a few basic moves, her opponents could score on her at will.
It seemed the change in Mecha had a massive impact on her.
She just kept losing points.
But for some reason, those who defeated Qiuqiu felt no joy in their victory.
...
This was the last match of the day.
Jiang Qiuqiu was still standing.
Though she was incredibly unsteady, and though defeat seemed inevitable,
she was still trying her best to compete.
Huo Jia watched it all, his hands slowly clenching into fists.
’Thank goodness I wasn’t matched with Qiuqiu today. Otherwise, seeing her Mecha teetering on the brink of collapse, I wouldn’t have been able to bring myself to fight. I wouldn’t have been able to face the match with the right mindset.’
After class ended, Jiang Qiuqiu had lost a total of 4.3 academic credits.
Today, she was like a bank, and anyone could "withdraw" points from her.
After climbing out of the Mecha, she looked as if she had just been pulled from water, drenched in sweat—a clear sign of complete exhaustion.
Seeing her unsteady steps, the person next to her reached out to support her, but Qiuqiu shook her head. "I can manage."
"Thank you, though."
Teacher Mao began to summarize the day’s matches.
Jiang Qiuqiu, with 43 losses, had the worst record of the day. Anyone could have dominated her in a fight, but not a single person looked at her with contempt.
How to put it... If Qiuqiu won every single match, everyone would just see her as incredibly talented, almost untouchable. But now, Student Jiang could lose, too. She also had to face the difficulties that came from not having the right aptitude.
It made her more real, and it also made everyone realize how difficult it truly was.
Making progress was truly, truly difficult.
-
She’d had enough training for one day. Jiang Qiuqiu decided not to do any extra practice and let Meng Chun and Liu Tingting head to the training rooms by themselves.
She was drenched in sweat, and it wouldn’t be very presentable to ride the Hovercar, so she decided to walk back.
The hot wind blew against her face. ’Next time I come to class, I should bring a bag,’ she thought. ’It looks like there are showers nearby, so I can change before heading back.’
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