Gymnasium, early morning.
“Checking dragon language materials in the middle of the night, you’re an unusual student.” Someone was jogging beside Guderian, a smooth head topping his shoulders.
“Manstein, didn’t I tell you last night that Mingfei is just too worried about his grades?” Guderian explained.
Manstein, the Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee, stroked his shiny head. “Before returning to the dorm last night, I glanced at the library’s visitor records and discovered you had a studious new student.”
“You must have seen the post Fingel put on the forum. Mingfei’s experiences have made him an insecure child. Being abruptly rated S-class, he’s afraid this treatment will suddenly end, so being cautious is not wrong,” Guderian whispered.
“Mingfei, he must be a very good child.”
Manstein was silent. “I understand.”
On a morning with white doves fluttering, the sunlight cut through the dimness of night, illuminating its unique glory.
Lu Mingfei, yawning, was pulled up by Fingel and rushed to the gymnasium.
“To be honest, I haven’t gotten up this early in a long time either, but Noma sent a notification telling me to take you to the gymnasium for testing before 8 AM,” Fingel stretched lazily:
“Luckily, the bread and milk I bought earlier haven’t expired yet, otherwise I wouldn’t have had time for breakfast.”
Lu Mingfei wiped his face, following behind Fingel listlessly.
He had almost pulled an all-nighter, memorizing the answers Fingel gave him for three hours. He was so sleepy he couldn’t hold on, so he fell asleep on his scratch paper.
He had completely forgotten about the physical fitness test.
“Senior, what does the physical fitness test entail?”
“It varies from person to person. With your middle school experience from the past six years, it’s probably just the thousand-meter run, fifty-meter dash, high jump, long jump, that whole set,” Fingel looked back at Lu Mingfei:
“Chu Zihang had a foundation in Kendo, so his physical fitness test involved actual combat sparring.”
“Caesar is from the Gattuso family, so data was directly submitted for him, precise down to how many grams of force his punches exerted, and so on.”
“I heard there are many prominent families in China. If you were from one of those families, you wouldn’t need to participate in the physical fitness test; you’d just go with the group taking the 3E Exam in the morning.”
Fingel spoke with authority; eight years of mixing around certainly weren't for nothing.
“What about your year, Senior?” Lu Mingfei asked, keeping pace with Fingel.
“Me? I did the same as Chu Zihang. The academy had people spar, but I surrendered within three rounds,” Fingel said,
“I don’t have any practical combat ability.”
“So, the ‘varies from person to person’ for physical fitness tests can sometimes be wrong?” Lu Mingfei was shocked, unable to help but imagine himself being knocked down by a single punch.
“It’s… fine, I guess. No one has complained much in recent years,” Fingel hesitated before saying:
“Most people are quite satisfied with their scores after the physical fitness test. Occasionally, a few have objections, but they discover the data doesn't match their family's test results, and it turns out they were just lazy during the summer, causing their strength to decline.”
While chatting, the two had already arrived at the entrance of the gymnasium.
From a distance, they saw Professor Guderian and Professor Manstein standing together, looking in their direction.
“The gymnasium is just ahead. I have other matters to attend to, I’m in charge of the academy newspaper, so I’ll be going now.”
Fingel had caused such a stir on the forum last night, so seeing Professor Manstein, who was in charge of discipline, naturally made him feel guilty.
“Oh, okay, got it.” Lu Mingfei agreed, walking alone towards the gymnasium.
Behind the two professors stood a man with a buzz cut. Seeing Lu Mingfei approach, he quickly waved to him.
“Baji Quan instructor, Lin Fan, greetings.” As Lu Mingfei approached, the man with the buzz cut extended his hand.
Lu Mingfei was about to bow and say “Hello, teacher,” but the handshake stopped him.
“Our school even teaches Baji Quan?”
“Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Iaido, Tai Chi, and other world-renowned close-combat techniques are all taught,” Professor Guderian said. “Where’s Fingel? Wasn’t he supposed to bring you?”
“Senior said he still had to take care of the academy newspaper, so he left first,” Lu Mingfei stated truthfully.
“I don’t usually see him this diligent,” Guderian said. “Well, never mind him, let’s start.”
The group of four entered the gymnasium.
Having gleaned some information from Fingel, Lu Mingfei felt a little more at ease, looking at the large spears and Zhanmadao on the weapon rack without his legs turning to jelly.
He probably wouldn’t have to do combat sparring.
“Why am I assigned a physical test?” Lu Mingfei mumbled. His sports performance had always been unremarkable, clearly not a student with physical strengths.
“It’s considering the shot you fired yesterday using the modified weapon from the Equipment Department. Originally, you weren’t scheduled for a physical fitness test,” Professor Guderian explained.
“Students who aren’t good at physical activities generally can’t handle that shot; they wouldn’t just recoil a few steps like you did.”
The outer perimeter of the gymnasium was covered with an indoor plastic track, while the interior was divided by wooden boards into several areas like basketball courts and badminton courts.
“The system evaluation shows Mr. Lu Mingfei is S-class, so I will conduct the one-on-one test. Can we start with the hundred-meter dash?” Lin Fan said meticulously.
Lu Mingfei’s face instantly flushed. He had originally hoped to just muddle through, never expecting a one-on-one test, which suddenly increased the pressure.
“Alright.”
Lu Mingfei agreed and began to warm up.
“14 seconds 21.”
The test result was abysmal, a completely bottom-tier performance in the world of hybrids.
Lu Mingfei looked awkwardly at his mentor, Guderian, who indicated it was fine; he had been mentally prepared.
Then came the thousand-meter run, 4 minutes 24 seconds 32.
Long jump, 2.1 meters.
Sit-ups, 30 in 1 minute.
…
The last one was shooting.
The four walked into the gymnasium’s basement.
The shooting range was empty; no unauthorized personnel were allowed inside except for the students participating in the physical fitness test.
After the previous tests, Lin Fan and Manstein had almost no hope for Lu Mingfei’s shooting performance.
Only Guderian still looked at Lu Mingfei with anticipation.
Facts proved that Lu Mingfei was a weakling among normal people, not at all a student with physical strengths. In fact, he would need specialized physical enhancement training later in his academy life.
Lu Mingfei stood in front of the platform, having put on his protective gear. Lin Fan stood behind Lu Mingfei, in case the child was knocked over by the recoil.
“Are you ready?” Lin Fan asked.
“I’m ready,” Lu Mingfei said.
He gripped the Desert Eagle in his hand, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and looked straight at the target in front of him.
“Then you can fire.”
“Okay.”
Lu Mingfei opened his eyes and fired five shots consecutively.
His body was as steady as a mountain, his gaze firm, and his right arm slightly bent.
Lin Fan narrowed his eyes, quickly saw Lu Mingfei’s score, and exclaimed in astonishment: “All… all bullseyes, ten rings!”
Manstein was stunned: “Are you sure you didn’t see wrong?”
A student whose physical ability could be described as weak, yet could fire five consecutive shots, all hitting the bullseye with extremely stable balance, was truly strange.
Guderian clapped for Lu Mingfei excitedly.
Lu Mingfei shook his arm, his voice a little weak, and smiled, “During high school military training, I shot at targets even further away than this, and I also hit all of them.”
He hesitated before saying, “But that was high school military training, not as strict as now. Do I need to test other firearms?”