Chapter 50 0052: I Wait for You, Proudly Facing the Wind

Squad Leader Zhao Kuo of Longjiang College Team 3 was furious—he was genuinely incensed at Chu Yun’s attitude.

Fixing his gaze on Chu Yun, he said, “Do you realize that, as squad leaders meeting for the first time, I’m supposed to challenge you? I’ve trounced Zhang Yang so badly before that he’s actually afraid of me now. I know perfectly well he called you here just to fill the role of squad leader. I’m angry, yes, but I won’t stoop to arguing with a greenhorn. However, if you stay sitting there and try to shake my hand like that, I might just reconsider.”

Only now did Chu Yun realize that remaining seated while shaking hands was indeed inappropriate. Rising to his feet, he replied offhandedly, “I thought we were all familiar enough to take it easy. By the way, how do you usually conduct your matches?”

Zhao Kuo was speechless. He turned directly to Zhang Yang and said, “Your squad leader doesn’t even know how these matches work. Why don’t you explain it to him?”

With that, he left the room.

Zhang Yang, approaching, felt his new squad leader was utterly embarrassing. He explained impatiently, “It’s a sparring match, but there are game rules. The rule is survival: both sides are divided into two camps on the same map. Each person has one ‘hit point’ per day. You can roam the map as you wish. If you intercept someone from the other side and make them surrender, they lose a point and you gain one. Each person can only lose one point per day. Once you’re down a point, you have to wait 24 hours before rejoining. If you know you can’t beat your opponent, you can hide anywhere on the map to avoid being found. If you last the 24 hours, you keep your points. This continues for seven days. If you can’t hold out, you can quit and be eliminated.”

Chu Yun nodded. “Understood.”

It was like a food chain: the strong hunt, while the weak may hide to avoid being eaten. Each person has only one life per day. If you lose your point, you’re out for the rest of the day, rejoining only after 24 hours.

In other words, the weak might get beaten every day, and with bad luck, could suffer seven defeats in seven days. If you can’t hold out, you can quit—though that would be a disgrace.

This game kept everyone on edge 24 hours a day, honing reaction, observation, and counter-surveillance skills, and even developing the ability to run at top speed while fleeing.

“I’ve decided,” Chu Yun said. “Let’s be realistic: we’re the mice, they’re the cats. If we can hide, we hide; if we can run, we run. Not only must we survive the full seven days, but we also need to keep as many of our points as possible.”

Zhao Kuo, now at a distance, noticed Zhang Yang gravely explaining the rules to Chu Yun and chuckled. “Don’t scare him. We’re not here for you today. The game starts just after midnight, so you have seven or eight hours to plan your tactics. And let me give you a friendly warning—don’t make a spectacle of yourselves this time. If you get caught, you won’t last two days.”

As Zhao Kuo finished, the representatives from Longjiang College all grinned with deceptive innocence.

They looked at Chu Yun and the others as if they were prey, their sly grins exuding the confidence of top predators ruling the food chain.

Teacher Zhang from Longjiang turned to his colleague. “Old Yu, why don’t we just start the training right after midnight? No sense wasting time.”

“No problem,” answered Teacher Yu. “We’ll begin tonight then.”

With a smile, Teacher Zhang led his students away, leaving Teacher Yu to gather his own group and discuss their survival strategy for the night ahead.

As the former squad leader, Zhang Yang spoke up: “One word—hide!”

Zhao Hu nodded. “Last time we didn’t know their strength and got ambushed. We barely lasted three days. Now that we know the gap, we can set our tactics. The key is not to get wiped out each day. Everyone spreads out and hides, surviving on your own skills to keep your points. They’re proud—they won’t let us slip away, not even one of us! If even one of us manages to survive each day, that’s a victory.”

Wang Biao added, “Exactly. They always see themselves as cats and us as mice—ten of them, ten of us. If even one of us lasts the 24 hours, that means one cat goes hungry. For them, that’s a failure. They treat every training match like a final. I know them well.”

Chu Yun listened to their analysis in silence.

“Squad leader, what do you think?” Zhang Yang challenged, intent on making things difficult for the new guy who had taken his position. He figured Chu Yun was just a slacker and wanted to see if he could say anything worthwhile.

“You really want my opinion?” Chu Yun replied.

“Go on,” the others encouraged. “Say whatever you think.”

“Right, it’s all about participation. Share your thoughts—everyone has their own ways and skills at hiding. Maybe we can improve our odds.”

“Alright.” Chu Yun pursed his lips. “I’ll just say a few words. Listen up.”

“It’s fine, go ahead,” everyone replied with gracious smiles.

Chu Yun glanced at the group. “From what I’ve heard about your tactics, can it be summed up as just hunkering down and taking it like cowards?”

The group’s expressions darkened at his pointed remark.

“Sorry,” Chu Yun coughed, “maybe that wasn’t the best word choice. Let me put it another way—you’re a bunch of losers! Kings among losers! You’ve managed to dress up your cowardice with such elegance, it’s almost impressive!”

The air grew heavy with tension.

Zhang Yang and Zhao Hu’s eyelids twitched.

Hou Manman’s lips curled up—she loved how Chu Yun always broke convention: silent until he spoke, and then his words were scathing.

“What’s with this whole ‘we’re mice, they’re cats’ business?” Chu Yun slapped the table. “Who’s born a weakling? If you already think you’ve lost before you start, why bother playing? Do you want their pity? Let me tell you, even if we can’t beat them, we should still show some swagger. Why be cowards? You can lose matches, but you can’t lose your dignity! Just look at the irradiated rats outside—one bite and they can kill several cats at once!”

Clap, clap.

Zhang Yang started applauding.

“Well said,” Zhang Yang looked at Chu Yun. “I can’t wait to see you show off. You’d better not chicken out! After midnight, when the night is dark and the wind is high, I’ll be watching for your grand entrance!”

Off to the side, Wang Biao muttered, “You’ve only seen the mutated rats. Clearly, you haven’t seen the mutated cats—they’ll eat people whole.”