Chapter 9: The Puppet God

On the EMP Virtual Mode forum of the Skynet, a post quietly climbed to the top, sparking an extremely heated discussion.

The poster is "Kepler Pirate King," and the title is "Puppet God Special Thread—Does the Virtual Mode Puppet God have the ability to challenge the Real Mode?"

The forum already has tens of thousands of discussions. The ID "Puppet" is quite famous in the virtual war zone. With thousands of battles and a very high score, although he has set it to hidden, he has played for a long time and encountered many people. Everyone is sharing their experiences of fighting Puppet. This person is truly terrifying; he is proficient in many Mecha and there is no record of him ever being defeated. Moreover, many experts in Virtual Mode have lost to him, and to this day, no one has claimed to have defeated him.

So the question arises: is he a purely recreational player?

If it were for recreation, there would be no need to hide himself at all. If he wins, it's just to show off; otherwise, what other value is there?

But no one has ever chatted with Puppet, and no one has a spot on Puppet's friends list.

"I predicted from the start that Puppet God would definitely switch to Real Mode; he no longer has any opponents in Virtual Mode!"

"Give it a rest. He hasn't even participated in the Virtual Mode tournaments, so how can you say he has no opponents? Playing casually and competing in tournaments are two completely different things!"

"He has the skill level, though. Maybe it's a dimensionality-reduction strike from some military academy, which is why he's embarrassed to go public."

"Same as above. Actually, I really look down on this kind of person. If you have the ability, play in your own zone. What's the point of running to the Virtual Mode to bully noobs!"

"Just common trash, nothing worth discussing. Don't we in the Virtual Mode have any pride!"

………………

In the dormitory, "Kepler Pirate King" sat with his legs crossed, watching a bunch of people spamming the thread, a smug smile on the corners of his mouth. "Newbies, you lack my insight."

Zhuang Zhou, a first-year freshman in the Mecha Department's Journalism Department at Tianjing. He wanted to get into the Mecha Department, but his scores weren't high enough, so he had to settle for second best; this way, he could get close to these mecha combat gods.

Virtual Mode and Real Mode are two completely different worlds. Those gods who dominate in Virtual Mode always want to go to Real Mode to prove themselves after they get full of themselves, but "reality" is often cruel. Almost all of them get beaten to a pulp. This is already the status quo in Virtual Mode, and it's not just in the USE; it's the same in other federations.

Zhuang Zhou usually switches between "Real Mode" and Virtual Mode. If he gets too tired playing in Real Mode, he goes to Virtual Mode to relax. His level in the preparatory class isn't top-tier, but his win rate in Virtual Mode is quite high, especially when bullying self-righteous experts; it instantly makes him feel refreshed.

Until he met Puppet.

Yes, that was a complete nightmare. He was using a NUP Light Super Mecha at the time, with top-notch performance, and his opponent was using an Armor Dragon. However, he was torn apart. That battle gave him psychological trauma.

Zhuang Zhou was a bit unwilling to let it go and wanted to get his revenge, but he found that this person didn't respond to anyone at all. Zhuang Zhou is also a stubborn one; he kept silently observing this ID and found that this person actually didn't forbid spectators. He ended up watching one battle after another, following them like he was possessed. As long as Puppet's ID lit up in his battle records, he would rush over immediately.

However, all he saw were victories. Actually, this doesn't mean much; any decent military academy student can pull off flashy maneuvers. To use a common saying, don't use your hobby to challenge someone else's profession.

But Zhuang Zhou discovered something a bit different: the color difference of the Mecha!

His Golden Gene manifestation is particularly useless; simply put, it can be described as a "woman's intuition," the kind that works sometimes and doesn't others. He vaguely felt that something was wrong, so he watched and compared repeatedly, and finally, he found the problem.

The two major modes of EMP have subtle color differences. Virtual Mode is mainly for entertainment, so the Mecha color tones are more conspicuous and bright. In all of Puppet's matches, his Mecha color tones are different from his opponents'. It's very subtle, more like the color tones of Real Mode.

At first, Zhuang Zhou even mocked himself. This was obviously impossible and illogical. Is there a masochist in this world?

But after following him for over half a year, he found that it really wasn't an illusion. The opponent truly had a color difference. In other words, there is such a person who is using Real Mode to play in Virtual Mode?

He tried it once and then felt like vomiting. Although he isn't at the level of the Mecha Department, he is at least considered an expert in Virtual Mode. Once he switched, it felt like the end of the world.

Using Real Mode to play in Virtual Mode—what kind of madman is this?

What's the motive?

When things are abnormal, there must be something strange. At that moment, Zhuang Zhou's blood was almost boiling. This Puppet definitely has a secret.

So he believes that one day Puppet will return to Real Mode. What will that be like?

Zhuang Zhou watches every day, sometimes even checking when he goes to the bathroom at night, for fear of missing something. Until yesterday, he waited for it.

Yes, a Real Mode battle!

The first opponent was an ID called "Eternal Starlight." Although the profile was closed, as a veteran EMP enthusiast, he recognized at a glance that this was the training account of Feynman, the Vanguard of the Tianxing Mecha team of the NUP. He thought it would be a fierce battle, but he couldn't believe his eyes.

The great expert Feynman, who shone so brightly at the Mecha Tournament, was actually hung up and beaten by Puppet. Is this hell, have I met God?

The defeat at the Mecha Tournament left all the USE supporters holding their breath, hoping to find a way to get their revenge. After the tournament ended, the online rate of EMP's Virtual Mode increased by 300%.

What excites Zhuang Zhou is that Puppet is highly likely to be from the USE, because among his Mecha, the USE's medium Mecha are the most numerous. This should be a subconscious preference; the motive for people from other federations to choose this way is very low.

Zhuang Zhou has developed a strong interest in this person. If such a person had participated in the last tournament, would there have been a different result?

Feeling that the heat of the post on the forum was about right, Zhuang Zhou opened the Skynet, called up the operation interface, and released the second post.

Puppet Real Mode: Highlights of seven wins and zero losses.

A plain and simple title, paired with a clip he stayed up all night editing. Perfect.

He sat in his chair with his hands behind his neck, leaning back, legs crossed. He didn't pull any stunts. Sometimes, planting some foreshadowing and letting them discover it themselves is more interesting. If no one discovers it, he will use a secondary account to provide a commentary.

For now, let the bullets fly for a while.

Not long after, the guys in the dormitory all returned. Coming from all over the country to be admitted to Tianjing Mecha, everyone was actually very excited. Zhuang Zhou closed the Skynet; people who do big things still need to maintain a bit of mystery. He believes Puppet God is the same.

"The resources at Tianjing are really too good. Guess who I saw today?"

"Who?" Zhuang Zhou is still good at playing the straight man.

"The Pupil God, the First Sister, and Senior Sister Sheng Man. Three goddesses in one frame, different flavors, same standard. It was amazing."

As soon as beauties were mentioned, especially the popular ones, a group of first-years instantly got hyped. Zhuang Zhou didn't have much interest, though. Although most people who get into the Journalism Department have a gossipy nature, he doesn't lower himself to the level of a bunch of brats. He has pursuits; his intuition tells him that he has already discovered a big whale.

A certain humble worker finished delivering food, finished flattering the boss, received his daily wages, and returned to school happily.

It was still early. The nature of bleem made him reach 3000 points. It definitely wasn't for this; I'm afraid there will be a big task later. More than half the way to knowing the truth has passed, and he isn't afraid to speed it up.

After eating something to replenish his energy, Li Hao arrived at the EMP Building. With the official start of school, the entire EMP Building was even more lively. Of course, outside of holidays, the EMP Building can only be used by the Mecha Department and the Starship Department. Others who want to play might have to go outside to find a place, but the EMPs outside are generally only Virtual Mode.

Li Hao waited for ten minutes and got a training room. The EMP mechanism is that you get more points for winning at the beginning, and consecutive wins add points, but it gets harder the further you go. 3000 points is not very easy. If there's nothing else, Li Hao still tries to maintain enough matches. He has roughly estimated that it shouldn't be much of a problem.

Logged into the system.

Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-ding-ding-ding-ding~~~~~~~~~~

In an instant, overwhelming notification sounds. Li Hao frowned. What the hell? He opened them up; it was either friend requests or battle invitations. Li Hao cleared them all into the trash bin after a while, then turned off battle invitations and friend requests.

He just wanted to climb the ranks quietly and hoped for some decent opponents today.

"Player Puppet, you have entered the matching mode. Please wait patiently..."

System prompt. Li Hao closed his eyes to rest.

At this time, far away at Tianxing Mecha on the Moon, in the Mecha Theory class, Feynman looked like a boiled red crayfish. A young genius, admitted to Tianxing, became a member of the team, and then achieved good results with the team. It is definitely not an exaggeration to say he was riding high.

It's not that he hasn't encountered powerful opponents, but he has absolutely never experienced the kind of "insult" he faced yesterday. He was full of anger, and if he couldn't get his revenge, he felt like he would die of anger.

Alzi had actually tried to persuade him, but it was completely useless. This is also Feynman's straightforward temper.

Feynman sprinted wildly while simultaneously operating his account to log into Skynet and enter matchmaking; although the odds were extremely low, since they had crossed paths yesterday, there was a certain probability, and all that remained was to pray: God, if You can hear me, please give me a chance!

Tianjing Martial Arts.

Zhuang Zhou, who was still busy bragging with his roommates, instinctively checked his Skynet—it was his habit—and then discovered that the icon had lit up, so he immediately put on his holographic glasses, "Brothers, I have something to attend to, you all enjoy yourselves."

Li Hao was also a bit speechless; what was the situation, was there no one, why was it so slow?

Given the popularity of EMP, finding an opponent was very easy, but the system had detected that Li Hao's situation was a bit strange, yet it complied with the EMP mechanism, so it took a little time.

Li Hao's opponent was confirmed: Eternal Starlight.

In an instant, a beastly roar erupted from Tianxing Martial Arts; damn it, God had actually heard his prayer, if I don't beat you to death, you son of a bitch, I'll take your surname.