Vashi waved at the people beside him, then turned back to Ke Yunyao. “Yunyao, is it okay if I call you Yunyao?”
Ke Yunyao nodded expressionlessly.
Vashi held back a laugh. No, he still needed to give his “little sister’s” disguise a bit more respect.
He straightened his expression and formally introduced them one by one. “Ahem. Yunyao, let me introduce them. These are all Combat Department students. This is SS-rank Yan Zhou, S-rank Yang Qi and Yan Chixi, and A-rank Markaro and Wang Yelin.”
“Hello.” Ke Yunyao’s face looked cold, but the moment she spoke, her voice immediately softened that impression.
“Hello, hello!”
“Hi!”
The group responded warmly.
Truth was, when they first saw the roster, they had all been stunned.
They had heard about a civilian genius in the Mecha Department on the day of enrollment. They had even hoped to be randomly matched with someone like that—but the probability of random team assignment was extremely low.
So they could only pray silently for a decent mecha engineer.
Who would’ve thought that on the second day, they would get such a massive surprise—they had actually been assigned to the second-place entrant of the Mecha Department’s entrance exam.
Second place. And more importantly, the most mysterious one.
First place was rumored to be a genius from a branch family of the top-tier mecha aristocracy, the Li family, in another star system. Someone like that was obviously out of reach. He had also attracted a lot of attention upon enrollment and carried the arrogance typical of noble heirs—hard to approach.
As for third place, the civilian genius from a remote star system—logically, that should’ve been the most accessible—but she was even more high-profile than the first two, constantly drawing attention, leaving them no chance to get close.
That left Ke Yunyao, the second place. Quiet, almost invisible. Only her enrollment was known; nothing else.
Now that they finally saw her in person—at first glance she seemed like a cold, aloof girl. But on second glance… not really.
She just looked cold. In reality, she responded politely whenever someone spoke to her. That contrast was oddly endearing.
“Yunyao, what month were you born in?” Yan Chixi asked casually.
Everyone else also looked over, waiting for her answer.
Ke Yunyao froze slightly. It felt like she had walked straight into a pack of overly enthusiastic people. She wasn’t sure how to respond.
Not answering would seem rude.
She bit her lip slightly. “December.”
“Aha! So you’re the youngest!” Yan Chixi said immediately. She had originally planned to be the older sister regardless of age, but now it worked out perfectly—no hesitation needed.
Ke Yunyao stiffened at the word “younger sister.”
“I’m not—”
“Alright, alright, not a sister, not a sister,” Yan Chixi replied perfunctorily, clearly not listening.
Soon after, more students from other departments arrived.
“Hey, did I get the right place?” someone called out.
Vashi looked over. “You’re from the Botany Department—Duan Yang?”
“That’s me!”
“Welcome.”
Duan Yang had just arrived when Jiang Tian from the Beast Research Department also showed up.
“Jiang Tian!”
“Hello, hello! I’m commander Vashi O’Kali.”
“I know.”
Vashi choked slightly.
Compared to Ke Yunyao, Jiang Tian was arguably even harder to deal with.
He introduced everyone again. “This is Ke Yunyao from the Mecha Department, Duan Yang from Botany, and these are Combat Department members Yan Zhou, Yang Qi, Yan Chixi, Markaro, and Wang Yelin.”
“Hello.” Jiang Tian said, then stopped talking.
“Hello.” Everyone responded in unison.
Silence fell.
Duan Yang blinked and tried to break the awkwardness. “Are we still missing someone?”
Vashi nodded. “There’s still one Medic Department student—Meng Lingling.”
“Time’s almost up. Why isn’t she here yet?”
Yan Zhou and the others exchanged looks. They didn’t know either.
Ke Yunyao looked up blankly. She had no idea either.
Jiang Tian remained indifferent. He didn’t care at all.
“Vashi, since you’re the commander and de facto captain, message her and ask where she is,” someone suggested.
“Alright.”
Vashi tapped his optical computer.
Soon, a message came back:
[Stop rushing. I’m almost there.]
Everyone silently observed the chat.
All of them lowered their arms in unison.
Good. That one sentence already made it clear—the last teammate wouldn’t be easy to deal with.
The Combat Department’s five members looked especially despairing. They had just been excited about Ke Yunyao… and now their luck seemed to have crashed again.
Random assignment really was random.
Half a minute before departure, Meng Lingling finally arrived late.
Her first words were an accusation: “Why did you pick such a remote location? I couldn’t even find it.”
Vashi: “……”
He felt wronged. The navigation was literally on the optical computer.
Before anything else could be discussed, the lead instructor called them to assemble.
Vashi exhaled. “Let’s go.”
Meng Lingling looked displeased, but she still followed. She didn’t have the courage to defy the instructor.
The three girls were naturally placed in the center of the formation. The others tacitly surrounded them.
Yan Chixi didn’t like the arrangement, but she didn’t mind staying near Ke Yunyao. In fact, she deliberately kept Meng Lingling separated from Ke Yunyao, judging that Meng Lingling looked hard to deal with and possibly aggressive, while Ke Yunyao looked more like someone who would be pushed around and needed protection.
Ke Yunyao, for her part, didn’t care. It was all the same to her.
Vashi led the group forward to draw their randomized drop coordinates.
This exam was held on Kalli Star, in a primitive forest on the far side of the planet. The area had been cleared by instructors, leaving only one SSS-rank star beast and mostly SS-rank and below.
The exam was team-based and scored by points:
SSS-rank: 1000 pointsSS-rank: 500 pointsS-rank: 100 pointsA-rank: 10 pointsB-rank: 1 pointC-rank and below: no points
Duration: three days.
On the final day, rankings of the top 10 teams and their coordinates would be broadcast.
If a team’s scoring wristband was stolen, the entire team’s points would be halved.
So the core of this exam was simple:
Earn high points—and survive while holding them.
Dictionary Military Roles: