Little Pink Starfish

Everyone knew that no matter what kind of country it was, no matter what kind of style it had, at least one thing never changed—it was that people loved expressing opinions… like holding meetings, and during meetings, they loved giving speeches or whatever. Especially in opening or closing ceremonies and various events, if there weren’t at least seven or eight people giving speeches at the start, no one would feel like they’d properly “held an event”!
This time was no exception.

Gu Bai was bored to the point of drowsiness. Except for when the protagonist shou appeared, which made him glance a few more times, he completely ignored the rest of the people who took turns speaking.
It wasn’t until about an hour had passed, when all the speeches were finally over and the blood-pumping spirit stirred up in the students was about to be completely drained… that the opening ceremony finally ended.
The mecha tournament had begun!

What followed was the typical academy tournament found in every leveling-up novel, and the rules and formats weren’t innovative at all—
If there was anything slightly different, it was that since this was now an interstellar world, in addition to individual mecha combat strength, there was also a team battle.
And what was a team battle?
Naturally it was just another round of playing simulated war environments on the virtual net!

Gu Bai silently turned his face: at least make the sci-fi count for something…
Okay, that was the only difference.

Fine, the match was starting.
Still as formulaic as ever: each grade and department took turns fighting!

—In this kind of setting where as long as it’s interstellar, mechas must be flaunted, the alpha and beta students were all itching to show off their power, bringing their carefully trained combat skills to show off in front of the judges.
And a mecha’s appearance was also a key element.

Soon, on the central battlefield, several youths appeared!
At first glance, they were still… just teenagers.
But look again, and the kids transformed into big iron giants!

…So you could say cultivation worlds had puppets, mecha worlds had mechas, xuanhuan and wuxia worlds had automata… basically it was just big wooden/iron men!

Gu Bai: Heh. Actually, some cultivation-world stories also used mechas.
Authors these days, their brains really do pierce the heavens—

Back to topic—once the mechas entered, all sorts of laser guns, pulse guns, laser cannons, alloy cannons, and miscellaneous cannons showed up, firing in a dazzling display—
Right, multicolored lasers everywhere. The visuals were enough to make your eyes go blurry.

If you were a military buff you could still follow. For Gu Bai, who only loved 2D and was a pure otaku, if not for the original host Liu Rufeng’s memories in his head, there’s no way he’d understand what was what!

High tech, huh…
Not for non-techie types with bad physics grades!

Mecha versus mecha wasn’t all that exciting either—since this was just first years, and how long had they trained? What skill level could they possibly have?
Round after round: you punch me, I blast you—whoa you dodged! Crap, I didn’t dodge… damn, I lost!
That kind of thing.

Several matches in a row were unimpressive. The iron giants moved clunkily, their synch rates weren’t mature, and the crowd just watched with a “meh” mindset as they got through the first dozen matches.

And then—
The moment to witness a miracle arrived!
…Okay fine, it was time for the protagonist’s aura to shine!

Finally, it was protagonist shou Liang Xiao’s turn.
His opponent was also one of the more skilled students among the first-years.
But how could some random guy be compared to someone with cheat codes activated?

Liang Xiao, as an omega, fully showcased an omega’s superior physical capabilities over alphas. Within one minute of entering the field, he used clean, sharp mecha martial arts to slap the opponent right out!
It was just that cool, fierce, wild, and flashy!

Immediately, the first-year students erupted with louder and louder chants:
“Liang Xiao! Liang Xiao!”
“Beta! Beta!”
“Xiao-ge! Xiao-ge!”
“Encore! Encore!”

Judge A: Who’s that?
Judge B: Super popular.
Judge C: Seems like a beta?
Judge D: Definitely impressive.

Then, all four judges turned to Judge E… who was none other than the expressionless Gu Bai, aka General Liu.
They all asked together: “General, what do you think?”
Gu Bai: “……”
Judging gazes focused.

Gu Bai: “Not bad.”
You all thought I’d say something else?! Of course I’d speak up for the protagonist!
It’s just… my way of showing love for the protagonist by extension… okay?
Ahahaha.

So just like that, Liang Xiao got a high score.

But after that round, in a story where the omega protagonist was fully loaded with hacks, everyone else besides the true gong (ML) didn’t get those shiny cheats.
Naturally, everything that followed went pretty normally.
Like the third-years outshining the second-years, etc… if it wasn’t that way, then what?

Well, it also counted as the protagonist’s signature power move of fighting across levels that you see in leveling-up stories!

Round after round, Gu Bai watched expressionlessly.
Those tin-can iron giants—ones he could pop with a finger once he recovered his full power—really weren’t impressive.
High tech was nice, but what could he do—he still preferred mythological stuff.
So willful.

Eventually, another major player took the stage!
That was currently the top among sixth-years, someone who regularly beat seventh-year seniors—the top mecha ace!
His name was Solal. His identity? The only alpha son of one of the last remaining royal princes, Prince Mora! He also had an omega brother! An omega sister! Simple family makeup, complicated personal backstory!

#Every real gong has a tragic backstory#

Once this real gong showed up, just like in any leveling-up novel, he was super flashy, super dominant, super strong. He quickly wiped the floor with the sixth-years, and even after that, he looked unsatisfied and cast a meaningful glance toward the crowd!
That one glance!
A glance!

—Who he was looking at didn’t even need to be said.
What would happen next didn’t even need to be said.
The achievements they’d attain didn’t even need to be said!

Gu Bai: Just one finger and I could poke…
Okay fine, he wasn’t actually going to poke a main gong for no reason.

Match after match, once each grade’s internal battle was over, they moved to the inter-grade challenge matches. In theory, this was for higher grades to challenge or guide lower grades, but also to find those talented enough to fight across levels.

In this kind of novel, it was of course still for the benefit of the protagonist shou and main gong.
Otherwise, how else would they bond and build chemistry?

So the one issuing the challenge was the protagonist shou, and the one who used absolute strength to suppress him, making the shou feel admiration, and who in turn admired the shou’s talent and decided to mentor him?
That was the true gong.

The two resonated with each other and developed a strong mutual fondness.

Gu Bai kept watching and watching, almost drunk—oops, no, almost asleep.
No helping it. Just thinking about how the protagonist shou was a disguised beta omega, and then thinking about how his own shell was also a disguised beta omega, and then thinking about the physical biology of it all…
Silently squatted.
Such a tragic feeling couldn’t be shaken.
He couldn’t even happily watch the protagonist shou and true gong fall in love anymore, okay!

As for the plot, it kept progressing.
Right after the protagonist and main gong formed their connection, the day ended.

Gu Bai, with his paralyzed face, entered the student scores into the brain chip for calculation as arranged by the academy, then followed the principal’s arrangements and moved into the guest room.
And this guest room? Just so happened to be… right next to the first-year dormitory building.

Wasn’t this setup a little too familiar?
In the original novel, it was like this. The author’s intent was crystal clear!

All of it was to set up for Liu Rufeng to have a fateful encounter with the protagonist shou, to admire him secretly, begin suspecting his identity, and deepen his attention!
Such a deliberately crafted setup!

As for Liu Rufeng in the original novel—was he a supporting male lead? Second male lead? Cannon fodder?…
Might as well say, he was also one of the protagonist shou’s golden fingers.
In short: human-shaped cheat.

Once his purpose as a cheat was fulfilled—whether as emotional catalyst or career booster—he would quietly die off.

What Gu Bai was currently thinking was… should he go “accidentally” bump into the protagonist shou, and move the plot along as planned for tonight?
It was truly a serious question.

While he was thinking and thinking, and thinking some more…

Someone hugged him from behind.

A gentle and ambiguous voice rang in his ear, warm breath brushing over: “Gege, what are you thinking about? Why are you ignoring Yueshan…”

Gu Bai: What the fuck! I forgot about the dead pervert! Don’t start that here in public—
Wait?
Oh right.

Now that he had time to react, Gu Bai realized—he’d unknowingly walked to the guest room assigned to him while thinking!
Wasn’t in public at all ╮(╯▽╰)╭

Gu Bai let out a sigh of relief.
Even though he had no shame left, if he could rescue it sometimes, he didn’t mind picking it up from the floor and gluing it back on.

Then, his earlobe got bitten again.
Gu Bai instantly blushed, his face burning red hot!

Ahhh that wasn’t my fault it’s the shell that’s too sensitive ahhh!
Dead pervert must be excited, what now!

Sure enough, a low, gentle laugh came from behind.
“Gege really is sens… itive.”

Gu Bai: “……”
Told you! It’s the shell!
Don’t think I don’t know you meant “sensitive”!

Immediately, Qiguan Rui’s hand slid around Gu Bai’s waist, slipping into his inner shirt.
Then he let out a sigh:
“Gege…”
“Your heat…”
“Why hasn’t it come yet…”