Chapter 29: 029 goes out to camp
"How many breakthroughs has he actually made?"
"It feels like he should have completed today's training objectives already, right?"
"Where is the limit of 95B27?"
When all his synthetic peers were worn out and had fallen, there was still one figure moving towards the distant horizon as if tireless.
Incline... rings...
The obstacles that stopped Bai E in the morning's fitness training failed to halt his progress this time.
The effort from the player, combined with his natural talents, gave him more stamina than he had in the morning.
Task feedback notifications popped up on the panel from time to time, but the frequency was much lower compared to the night and early morning.
It seemed the weapon mastery experience players could gain from repetitive simple actions was getting lower and lower, just as it had with his previous shooting training.
However, he never neglected physical training. Not only were the initial physical attributes of synthetic soldiers easily improved through exercise, but it seemed that the players were also the same.
Just from the task of chopping wood alone, Bai E had gained 0.6 in physical growth through the task's feedback.
One night plus one morning, it felt... even more efficient than the training of synthetic soldiers like them.
Is it the privilege of the players?
Damned privileged dogs!
Bai E struggled to expend his energy while thoughts ran wild in his mind.
With "self-restraint" now in place, the fatigue brought on by physical training only affected his body; his spirit was free to choose whether or not to be influenced by "fatigue."
This undoubtedly greatly reduced the pain he experienced while pushing his limits.
When his body reached its limit again, the news of a breakthrough naturally followed.
[You have surpassed your own limits during strenuous exercise, physical fitness +0.1, reflex +0.1.]
Not every new soldier had a breakthrough every time they pushed their limits.
But amid the continuous addition of new strength midway through, Bai E's exploration of limits was longer and more thorough, resulting in superior training effects on his body, making self-breakthroughs only natural.
[You have achieved a self-breakthrough, "Side Task - Physical Training" progress 0.2/0.3.]
["Lucky Strike" energy charge +3.]
The fanboys sent up their respectful gaze.
"Huff~"
"It's time to eat, it's time to eat!"
Seeing that Bai E had finally touched down, Wood clapped his hands, calling the warriors who had rested for quite a while to head to the mess hall for a meal.
What's familiar becomes easy.
He was no longer surprised by such achievements from Bai E.
He even wondered if there had been a mistake in recording his talents and specialties.
With the current technological means of humanity, the detectable states of a warrior's body are only the basic three-dimensional attributes—physical fitness, insight, reflex.
Everything else had to be felt by the warriors themselves, and mistakes were common.
But none of that mattered.
As fearless warriors, killing the enemy for the survival of humanity was their largest and only mission.
Where the ability to kill came from... no one cared.
Oh... maybe the people at the Science Academy cared, but no one cared whether they did or didn't.
After all, they were just synthetic beings.
...
The military mess hall.
The sounds of swallowing mash echoed one after another, as the intense physical training had drained every bit of energy from the warriors. Although the body's backup action mechanism would convert some energy for movement during rest, their bodies had never craved nutritional intake as they did at this moment.
Feeling the fullness of a hearty meal, Bai E also couldn't help but feel joy.
It was at this moment that the task completion pending inspection notification stealthily lit up on his panel.
Bai E casually let his gaze drift away from the pale blue panel that had suddenly lit up in front of him due to the player's submission of the quest and gently stood up.
"Not eating anymore? Dinner is a long way off..."
The muscular warrior who had chosen the name Stone for himself asked, looking puzzled at Bai E's figure.
Bai E wiped his mouth expressionlessly, "Excessive eating will affect one's ability to move..."
With that, he turned and stepped out.
There was one hour of rest at noon, during which most warriors could take the opportunity to rest their weary bodies and minds.
He had originally planned to enjoy a good nap after lunch, but it looked like there was no time for that now.
He had been a player too and understood the eagerness of players to receive their rewards after completing a task.
Disappointing players was clearly not something a qualified NPC should do.
...
"You're saying you spent 100 Black Water Coins for this piece of information?"
"Of course! Could I not see the bullets were way above the market price? The game is fair; if it screws me over on one side, it'll definitely compensate on another."
Full of confidence, Kuang Xin believed his more than ten years of gaming experience wouldn't lead him astray.
Dai Lian nodded, offering no contradiction.
"Maybe that's the case."
Considering that players are not ones to easily accept losses, many games often hide compensating opportunities behind seemingly unfair choices.
Although the information he had gathered so far in "Galaxy Online" suggested that the behaviors of the characters in the game seemed closer to those of real people, perhaps the game's underlying mechanics had taken this into consideration as well.
It was hard to imagine how the game creators managed this, but until more information was collected, past gaming experience was always worth referencing.
"Hey~ someone's coming over, is it him?"
The usually quiet Gong Yan suddenly pointed at a black dot appearing in the distance and asked.
Kuang Xin squinted, striving to see into the distance, but found everything blurred and unclear.
The power-leveling brother nodded, "Wearing military uniform, it should be him."
"You can see that far?"
"I mainly invested in insight..."
"Oh~"
Bai E had already slowed his pace from afar, trying his best to steady his breathing.
In order not to attract attention, he had chosen a verification location as far away as possible from human settlements and army barracks, even avoiding any place where humans might appear.
So, naturally, he was nearing nature... and quite a distance from the barracks.
To minimize the players' waiting time, he had run all the way from the camp.
It was only as he approached that he slowed down.
He didn't know what image he projected in the eyes of the players. Having never even seen a mirror until now, he didn't even know what his current appearance looked like.
But he knew that if he wanted to interact with these players, who had 99 pounds of rebelliousness in a 100-pound body, he needed to establish an authoritative image from the start that would prevent anyone from daring to act rashly.
Otherwise, it would be quite troublesome to have groups of five players constantly coming up and causing trouble.
With steady and powerful steps, Bai E arrived in front of the three waiting players.
His gaze swept over the twenty pieces of wood stacked only two layers high and then locked onto Kuang Xin among the three, his face showing a look of satisfaction.
"Very well done. Not everyone is qualified to work for us; you've proven your ability."