Chubby Harry and Mu Fan were sitting in the hovercar on autopilot mode, and Harry was explaining some basic knowledge about the PO System to Mu Fan.

“We’re heading towards the training camp right now, and they will teach you some basic techniques and offer you basic training. The degree of freedom in this world is quite high, meaning that those experienced players who opened new accounts don’t have to go, but I would suggest you go and train as a newbie there.”

Mu Fan was listening carefully to Harry, and then he questioned, “What kind of basic techniques do they train you on?”

“Mainly on mech operation and individual combat, but it’s not a big deal as the difference is clear between those who know how to fight and those who don’t. They only provide a combat simulation here and don’t help you make any actual improvements to your techniques. The training camp is designed to facilitate your transition into this virtual world and increase your familiarity.”

“Oh, okay.” Mu Fan nodded and didn’t ask more questions.

As they were speaking, the hovercar brought them to their destination.

“You can go in, and I’ll be heading to the combat zone. I’ve already jotted down the coordinates for this training camp. Once you’re done, you can just call me,” Chubby Harry said while rubbing his hands together. The rookie camp was boring for experienced players like him. After all, its name was ‘training camp’. What was he going to do here if he stayed? Punch dummies all day?

“Okay, I’ll contact you when I’m out. Also, thanks.” Mu Fan nodded and looked at Chubby Harry with gratitude.

“No problem. Since we’re friends already, don’t be too formal. I’m still waiting for you to come out and carry me in battles when you’re done training! I’m leaving now!” Chubby Harry waved his hand casually and charged towards the other portal in excitement.

Whoosh! He was gone.

Mu Fan looked down at his smart wristband, and the display showed that the location of ‘Lemon Balloon’ wasn’t in the same zone as him anymore. He could also see the rank of Silver 1-star after his name.

Mu Fan shook his head as he entered the pale blue portal.

His body passed through a thin and cold membrane, and an empty corridor appeared before him.

He followed the blue directional lights on the floor and stopped in front of a rotating metal door. Then, he pressed on the faintly lit button beside it.

“Hello Rookie ‘Lord Egg,’ this is Base Training Camp 341.”

Mu Fan’s face twitched subconsciously as he wondered if it would be too late to change his nickname now.

“Please choose your training program: 1. Individual Combat Training; 2. Mech Operation Training.”

The moment that Mu Fan heard the voices, two options popped up on the digital screen in front of him, and he reached out his hand to make a decision.

“Individual combat option,” Mu Fan answered without a doubt.

Both types of training were important and had to be familiarized with, but Mu Fan’s plan was to start with individual combat and then move onto mech operation. Mu Fan’s plan was clear; if he wanted to get familiar with this world, then it would be best for him to start from the very basics. It was just like outdoor survival, where everything should be done with caution since carelessness could mean death.

The moment that Mu Fan clicked on that option, the lights in the corridor dimmed down, and it was as if he went back to the time when he first entered the PO Battle Network with darkness and tranquility all around him.

Soon enough, a pinch of light shined through in the front. The light was coming from behind the rotating metal door.

Crack! While gear-grinding noises sounded, the corridor where Mu Fan was standing started to disappear.

Mu Fan stomped on the floor, feeling the unique texture of this compound material. Then, a light shined upon him and lit up an area within ten meters around him. The area outside was still dark.

This feels so real! Mu Fan was surprised as it felt like he was back in the nights when he hunted for beasts in the jungle.

Wait! Something’s not right! What’s with this oppressive atmosphere?! Why is my heart beating so fast?!

Whoosh~

“Who is it?!!!” Mu Fan turned his head all of a sudden. At this moment, he wasn’t that quiet low-key boy anymore. His back was slightly arched, and his fists were clenched together while bone-cracking noises sounded.

A shadow quickly flashed by in the darkness to Mu Fan’s right. If his senses weren’t sharp enough, he wouldn’t have noticed that.

He could feel his heart beating fast as his fists clenched tighter and his body arched lower like a wolf about to attack its prey.

What’s going on? It felt so real. The abnormal heartbeat that I would usually feel when I encounter danger in the wilderness can be reflected here in the PO World? But Chubby Harry didn’t say that this world would be this real.

Whoosh! Another shadow flashed by. Mu Fan turned his head sharply. Even though he had night vision, he couldn’t see the end of the darkness and what the shadow was. However, he could feel that the shadow was purposely hiding in his blind spots.

Just when Mu Fan thought that it was gone again, his pupils constricted in an instant as he lowered his body and ducked with his neck slightly tilted. It was a sneak-attack at an extremely high speed as he only heard the air-piercing sound beside his ear after the attack passed him.

Metal weapon! Dangerous!

The piercing sound appeared again, and Mu Fan knew that it was too late to dodge when he heard it. He flexed and hardened his arm muscles before raising his arms to protect himself.

Hiss… Ouch. Mu Fan felt like his bones were about to break as a metal bar struck his body.

Is this really a virtual world? The training level that Harry mentioned for newbies is this hard?

Whoosh! A strange sound popped up beside Mu Fan’s ear before he could think more about it.

It’s on the left now, Mu Fan thought as he quickly turned around with alertness.

So dirty and vicious! Mu Fan saw a short metal staff coming at him with his peripheral vision, and he instant exerted force and bent down with both hands on the ground. Then, he pushed with his legs and jumped towards the attacker while throwing his fists.

However, Mu Fan seemed to have forgotten that he was on the PO Battle Network, and he hadn’t gotten used to the fact that his power had decreased in the virtual world compared to reality. So, he watched as the short metal staff changed direction smoothly in mid-air and enlarged in his vision endlessly as it approached him.

Pang! Mu Fan could feel his skull cracking and his consciousness scattering after being struck by the metal staff forcefully. His brain’s involuntary response of fear toward death shattered all of his senses, and he felt powerless as he lost control of his body and felt an endless desire to live.

At that moment, the huge impact on his consciousness had overcome the pain of his skull cracking open and brain matter flying out. Is this death? Did I die, just like that?

Eh? Why is my consciousness still around? Isn’t that me lying on the ground there? Suddenly, a small whirlwind wrapped up Mu Fan’s ‘corpse’ before breaking it apart into light dots. Then, the light dots reassembled as Mu Fan felt another force pulling him out of the darkness and into the light.

Was that death? Mu Fan looked down at his intact body and touched his head to make sure that he was fine, and he felt extremely afraid, now thinking back.

Good thing that this is only in the virtual world.

“How did death feel like?”

Mu Fan felt a chill running down his body, making his body hair stand on end when he heard a voice coming from behind him. However, he purposely restrained himself from turning around, stopping his subconscious behavior.

“Tsk tsk, you have this reaction when this is only your first time,” the faint voice praised Mu Fan in a slightly mocking tone.

Mu Fan only turned around after he was sure that his body didn’t feel any danger.

A figure appeared in the darkness, and it was an even darker shade of black than the night.

He approached Mu Fan slowly step by step, and his control over his leg muscles had reached the point that Mu Fan couldn’t hear any sound from his footsteps.

The figure who was covered in black stopped when he was at the edge of the darkness, millimeters away from the light. Even though he was closer now, Mu Fan had a harder time seeing how this person looked like. When this figure looked up, Mu Fan could only see the pair of green eyes hidden under the hood of his cloak.

“Little guy, welcome to the rookie training camp. I’m the instructor here, so relax, Newbie.” He introduced himself with that indifferent tone again as if he was drinking a cup of water.

Phew, Mu Fan almost forgot that he was in the virtual world again.

“Hello, Instructor,” Mu Fan greeted this figure with respect; he was always respectful toward instructors and teachers.

“Uhm.”

This PO Battle Network is so real that even the NPC has a tone matching their personality!

“Is this the Rookie Training Camp?” Mu Fan felt like something was strange and off.

“Yes.”

“And you’re my combat instructor?”

“Yes.”

“How should I address you?”

“Gladiator,” the figure answered as he waved his hand casually in boredom.

“Instructor Gladiator?”

“Uhm.”

“What training are we going to do next?” Mu Fan put aside his questions and decided that training was more important.

“We’ll do it again. Remember to come here tomorrow too after you log on.”

Mu Fan didn’t even get to reply when the figure swung his left arm towards Mu Fan, creating a series of afterimages. Then, the familiar short staff swinging noises sounded, followed by the sound of bones-breaking.

“So… dirty.” Mu Fan used his arms to block again, but he could barely speak due to the excruciating pain from his oddly twisted arm and collapsed rib cage.

“Today’s training is over,” said the instructor as he swung his arms again. “Come again tomorrow.”

Then, that familiar feeling hit Mu Fan again along with the powerless feeling of him being unable to dodge. Mu Fan felt the pain of his bones breaking under heavy impact once more.

The figure watched Mu Fan disappear into the light as if he had just easily killed a fly.

The combat instructor grinned under his cloak as his green eyes disappeared into the dark along with his faint murmur.

“Ha, Gladiator… Interesting…”