Chapter 1 Speed

The next morning, Mingmei's optical brain, still lying in bed half-asleep, was already beeping incessantly. She opened it to find an announcement from the official game account she followed.

To this, Mingmei could only say her uncle's speed was a bit outrageous.

[1. New game level difficulty selection setting added. All games are divided into four modes: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Super Hard. Players with higher spiritual strength levels can choose more difficult games.]

[2. Upon entering the game, players' physical fitness levels are uniformly set to A-grade. Selective memory sealing is applied, meaning the system will automatically seal players' corresponding memories of the "Ancient Blue Star Survival Guide" series to give players a fresh experience every day!]

[3. Regarding the game merchant NPC design, bento box merchants are rare NPCs in escape games, only appearing in a small number of games. Please discover them yourselves! ps: Information about merchant NPCs is also part of the sealed memory, so good luck!]

[4. Team entry into the game is prohibited! Of course, you can still form teams after entering the game. It all depends on your luck!]

[The game will open promptly at 12:00 noon tomorrow. See you there!]

After reading these four announcements, Mingmei couldn't help but twitch her lips. She could guarantee the comment section would be very interesting today.

The highest-rated comment read: [I only see four big words in this announcement: "The game is dangerous!" Saying the scariest things with the flirtiest wavy lines! In short: You dog developers, you're not human!]

Regarding these comments, Mingmei knew from seeing her uncle with dark circles under his eyes eating breakfast that morning, that these comments were the result of their all-nighters.

Yan Hui was one of the game designers and planners, so she understood the all-nighters, but what about Ruan Xun?

Meeting Mingmei's questioning gaze, Ruan Xun directly confessed, "I helped him test the game all night yesterday. I experienced and cleared a few games. It was okay. The escape difficulty has a limit."

All night, several games, cleared, okay...

This damned Versailles tone. Mingmei took a sip of milk and didn't respond.

A salted fish doesn't understand the大佬 (dàlǎo - big shot).

It clearly took five or six hours, or even more, to go through the plot and find the details of a game from beginning to end. What was going on with her uncle?

She couldn't delve into this matter. Taking advantage of breakfast, she also told Yan Hui about the comments online.

Evidently, Yan Hui had developed the ability to not be bothered by a little extra debt or an extra louse after all these years. After making escape games for so long, he probably had been criticized to the point of having thick skin and bones. He didn't feel anything when he heard Mingmei talking about the comments calling him inhuman.

"Oh right, Meimei, you've been lying in the recovery pod for over sixty years. After waking up, you found a job. Now that I think about it, you haven't actually attended a formal school or experienced campus life, have you?"

While eating, Ruan Xun opened his mouth and brought up the topic that all the children in the world hated to hear the most—school.

"The interstellar school age is before 30, Uncle. I'm at least an 80-year-old youth now. I'm a mature youth and can support myself," Mingmei said with a tight face, full of reluctance.

Although she still looked very young, the same as when she first transmigrated, still 18 years old, the fact was she was already eighty.

The lifespan of interstellar people was generally long, and they could live for hundreds of years. Not to mention Mingmei, who had transmigrated from the cultivation world, had eaten natural treasures since she was a child. Plus, her family was related to the most mysterious and influential main brain in the interstellar, so they themselves didn't know how long they would live.

Therefore, you want Mingmei to go to school in this long life?

Mingmei: School? Da meiyo (Japanese for "no way")~

"No, you still need an education."

On this point, the two uncles didn't give Mingmei any reason to refuse.

"Then what about my job?" Mingmei reluctantly mentioned the job she had just started yesterday.

And she had a great start, selling eight bento boxes in one game!

However, these two obviously knew that Mingmei would ask this. Yan Hui said, "You only need to participate in one game a day for your job, and..."

"And?"

Hearing Yan Hui say that there was more to come, Mingmei immediately thought of two words—"run away!"

"And if you go to school, it's good to meet more classmates and make more friends, isn't it?"

"No need," Mingmei frowned. "It'll definitely be difficult to study in interstellar schools since I haven't learned anything before."

She didn't want to work hard.

Wouldn't it be better to live an easier life?

"We don't want you to work hard. Enter the special recruitment class. You just need to earn enough credits each year, and you'll get a diploma when the time comes~"

Seeing Mingmei's lack of enthusiasm for school, Yan Hui once again used threats and temptations, "Do you know about the special recruitment class? The Imperial Central Military Academy only recruits about ten people each year, treats special talents preferentially, good accommodation, good food, and allowances~"

"Allowances?"

Seeing Mingmei's eyes light up immediately when she heard about the allowances, where was the completely rejecting look from before?

Seeing this, Yan Hui and Ruan Xun couldn't help but sigh: Sure enough, the love of money is inherited!

"Yes, that allowance is higher than your current salary~"

Mingmei: "Wow~"

Then... maybe going to school isn't so bad.

"But... what special skills do I have?"

Now, she no longer had any intention of refusing. Instead, she directly asked what special skills she had to get in. The two uncles showed their signature smiles again and replied, "You do~"

…

Mingmei didn't expect her uncles' speed.

She agreed in the morning, was taken away at noon, entered the school and checked into the dormitory in the evening, and by the next morning, she was already sitting in the special recruitment class.

So, this was premeditated, right?

Otherwise, when did the age on her interstellar ID card become 20 years old?

Could this be done temporarily?!

And now, Mingmei was puzzled, looking at the special recruits in the class who didn't seem to be very strong.

Was this a special recruitment class or a privileged class?

Taking another look at Lu Xiaoyao sitting next to her, Mingmei was even more unsure about the positioning of her class.

Wasn't it said that everyone in the military academy was two meters tall, strong as an ox, and imposing when they stood there? But the person next to her, although taller than Mingmei, seemed to be a refined and courteous person?

"Wow, you're so pretty, sister! I feel like I've seen you somewhere!"

Before Mingmei could sit there and survey the class with her eyes, Lu Xiaoyao came up to her first, grabbed Mingmei's hand, her eyes shining, almost like when they first met in the game!

Sister, do you really have social butterfly syndrome?

Mingmei really wanted to remind her that they had just met in the game the day before, and she had approached her in the same way, as if she had social butterfly syndrome.

In the holographic games of the interstellar era, the appearance of player characters was adjusted up or down by a maximum of 20% based on the player's real appearance. As a real-life NPC in the game, Mingmei's overall data was also based on herself, and then she was reduced by 20%.

But Mingmei didn't think Lu Xiaoyao wouldn't recognize her that way.

The real Mingmei was even more beautiful than in the game! Therefore, Lu Xiaoyao really didn't recognize her.

"I know, you're a streamer," Mingmei said, seeing that she had really forgotten. She didn't have any intention of revealing her identity, so she didn't answer that they had met before. Instead, she shifted the topic to Lu Xiaoyao, "How did you get into the special recruitment class?"

"Hmm, because of my high spiritual strength, I was specially recruited," Lu Xiaoyao said, her chubby cheeks puffed up, and then lowered her voice to whisper to Mingmei, "Actually... they really offered too much, and they even allowed me to continue streaming."

Mingmei: …

Oh, another one blinded by money.

"Basically, everyone in our class was specially recruited because of their super high spiritual strength, right? Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to pass the combat skills assessment in the normal military academy selection."

Seeing that Mingmei didn't speak, Lu Xiaoyao said to herself about the positioning of their class, "After graduation, we'll probably be assigned to mecha design, manufacturing, maintenance, and care. If we work hard and practice combat skills, maybe we can even fight in mecha! Wouldn't it be cool if I could stream mecha battles?"

Seeing Lu Xiaoyao's longing look, Mingmei silently turned her head away. She didn't want to say that she was just here to get a diploma.

Just as Mingmei turned her head to look elsewhere because she didn't want to say anything more, her attention was drawn to a boy sitting in the corner.

The other party had ink-black hair like Mingmei, and the slightly curly and shiny hair was tied back with a white ribbon, draped over his shoulders, making his temperament much gentler.

The other party was currently looking down and reading a rare paper book from the interstellar era, exuding a lazy and charming aura, giving off a sense of leisure from the inside out, as if he wasn't in the classroom at all, but drinking afternoon tea in some luxurious courtyard.

Although Mingmei couldn't see his face because of this, she could tell from the other party's profile and the temperament he exuded that he must be very handsome.

So... why did this person keep his head down and not look up?