Chapter 15 Chapter 15
It’s sunny on Saturday.
The preliminary round of the Yuanqixing Drilling Competition was extremely lively.
The audience lined up in an orderly manner to enter the venue, including the contestants’ family members, friends, and classmates and colleagues who formed groups to support them…
This is not a professional competition. The contestants are basically amateur hole-drilling enthusiasts who have their own studies and jobs. The organizers are naturally well aware of this, and the time of each competition will be set on a rest day.
The venue is located in an abandoned base outside the main urban area. The base is full of various strange caves, which are inconvenient for living. The land was bought at a low price by Yuanqixing Group several years ago. After development, it is used to hold hole drilling competitions. During the peak tourist season, it will also be open to tourists as a tourist attraction.
Everyone came in a hovercraft. As soon as they got off the vehicle, countless pairs of strange-shaped hands began to excitedly take pictures.
Suddenly, a huge starship stopped in the distance.
Starships are not a means of transportation that ordinary people can own, and eating melons is human nature.
Everyone immediately put down what they were doing, looked up at the starship, and whispered to each other who was coming...
But the distance was too far, and they only saw a tall figure walking out of the hatch. Just at this moment, a new round of hovercraft stopped, and a group of tall passengers enthusiastically got off the car, completely blocking the figure in the distance.
By the time the group dispersed, the starship had disappeared.
As for the people who got off the starship, no one knew where they went...
In the bustling crowd, Yumi sat in the shopping cart, but glanced back from time to time.
Ansius put on the humanoid leather suit early in the morning. Yumi didn't know about this. When she got up and came out, she was suddenly shocked to see a handsome man with golden pupils in the room.
It was a deep and handsome face, with a sharp jawline and straight brows. When the cold eyes looked at him, there seemed to be a hint of nervousness.
Yumi took her job very seriously and had searched for photos of the Imperial Crown Prince long before. Objectively speaking, the leather suit was no different from the real person. But the sense of oppression brought by the real person was completely different from the photo. Yumi almost couldn't immediately identify the man with a fierce aura in front of him with a monster.
He was silent for a long while before he asked, "Your Highness Anxius?"
The tension on the other person's face finally disappeared, and he nodded with a slight twitch of his thin lips.
Carl was actually not very supportive of the idea of the Crown Prince accompanying Yumi to participate in the preliminary round of the hole-drilling competition. When the Crown Prince first proposed this, he even wanted to say something treasonous, "I think I can accompany Yumi instead of the Crown Prince. Anyway, I am definitely more suitable than Your Highness who might cause a commotion."
But looking at that gloomy face, he could only force a smile and said, "No one is more suitable than you. I will arrange it for you right away."
In order to avoid being recognized, Anxius was fully armed at this time - wearing sunglasses and a mask.
Carl and his guards quietly sneaked into the audience and protected in the dark.
There are so many of them, and if they follow His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, they will attract too much attention.
Yumi originally wanted to walk by himself, but Ansius was afraid that he would be hit by passers-by, so he put him directly in the shopping cart provided at the entrance of the stadium.
Yumi glanced at Ansius while looking around cautiously.
He was affected by the solemnity that Carl had shown before, and was always afraid that someone would discover Anxius's identity.
Ansius had broad shoulders and long legs, and he quickly reached the entrance of the arena.
The announcement at the entrance repeatedly called out: "Contestants please swipe your card to enter the backstage and prepare..."
Ansius took Yumi out of the shopping cart, took off the small backpack hanging on his elbow, and handed it to him.
Yumi put on her sports bag and touched her horns to make sure there was no problem. Then she waved to Anxius with confidence: "Then I'll go backstage first. You wait for me in the audience."
Ansius did not nod, but stretched out his hand and imitated him, touching his horn, then touching his sports backpack, as if he was checking for him, and then nodded.
Yumi swiped her card and went in, following the staff.
He was wearing a brown sportswear today, which Ansius found in the cloakroom of his castle. After Yumi tried it on, she liked it very much. The fabric was very comfortable and elastic, and the style was also very beautiful. It was perfect for the competition.
The staff took him to the lounge connected to the locker room, where there were many dressing tables.
The staff member looked at Yumi's solemn expression and gritted her teeth to prevent herself from showing the almost unbearable kindness. She reminded him, "Hello, there is still half an hour before the game starts. If you need to put on makeup, you can do it here. Over there is the dressing room and bathroom... If you have any other needs, just come and find me over there."
"Okay, thank you." Yumi sat down, opened his backpack, took out a book called "Drilling Holes to Find the Door" and started reading it.
The preliminary round will start in half an hour. The audience outside are taking the opportunity to buy souvenirs and experience the entertainment equipment, while the contestants backstage are either warming up or carefully watching the videos of the past few competitions to gain experience.
After all, only after today's preliminary round will they have the chance to enter the finals and win the 100,000 star coins.
But soon, someone noticed the little guy in the corner...
"Wow, this year is really interesting. They even put lifelike dolls backstage to motivate everyone?" I don't know who said this, but everyone immediately looked in the direction of Yumi.
The backstage was too noisy, so Yumi was wearing earplugs and concentrating on reading a professional book that was several times bigger than her head.
"What kind of lifelike puppet? It's a real person, right? I saw the staff bring him in with my own eyes!"
"He also went to the bathroom once. Why would a lifelike doll go to the bathroom?"
"Okay, stop making fun of him! That kid's name is Yumi, and he's a contestant like us. I was just putting on makeup opposite him, and he even said hello to me... He was so well behaved!"
"He also greeted me, and we chatted for a while. He came from the wasteland outside the main city, so it's normal for him to be different in size from us... If you want to talk too much, keep your voice down, or he might get upset if he hears you."
As soon as these words were spoken, the contestants who were originally surprised all showed expressions of understanding.
The main urban area of Sna Star is very different from the environment of the outside world. Such a gap will naturally breed different Sna Star people.
According to official records from the main city, the minimum height of an adult Sna star is 1.96 meters and the maximum is 6 meters, and the average height of the general public is 3-4 meters.
There are very few Sna people who are less than 2 meters tall. People like Yumi, who are only about 1.7 meters tall, do not look like people from the main urban area.
However, the world outside the main city is too vast, and there is no authoritative data record. Therefore, many Sna people will privately refer to the Sna people outside the main city as wild Sna people. After all, there are all kinds of Sna people who are lower, higher, and even more bizarre.
Everyone was quietly observing the petite and exquisite contestant over there. Just as they were absorbed in watching, they heard a disdainful voice: "He's just a stupid Yesuna star. He didn't study past competition videos and study his skills before the game, but wasted his time with a tattered book. Is this kind of opponent worth paying attention to?"
Yumi had no idea that she was classified as a savage and was watching intently when she heard a quarrel not far away.
He took off his earplugs and looked up, and found that a man with a crew cut and an alligator tail was arguing with a group of people. The topic of the argument seemed to be what they should watch before the game...
It sounds like a very professional question!
Yumi put down the book in his hand and listened to their conversation, but before he could hear the conclusion, the man with the crocodile tail strode towards him.
This man was much shorter than most Sna people, and even shorter than Lin En, who was just over two meters tall. His height was probably between 1.9 and 2 meters.
The reduced height difference made Yumi instinctively let down her guard towards him and smiled, "Hello."
The man's expression was somewhat nasty. He glanced down at him and said, "Shorty, listen to my advice. If you don't want to be the last one, don't read this crappy book of yours!"
Yumi was stunned.
"Mei Kai, don't be like this," a blond man hurried over to hold him back, "No one knows you, why are you so crazy?"
The man named Mei Kai pushed the man away and said nonchalantly, "Isn't this for his own good? What's the point of reading some nonsense books instead of studying the rules of the game before the game?"
After a brief moment of confusion, Yumi finally came to his senses. He closed the book in his hand and slowly looked at Mei Kai.
Mei Kai crossed his arms and looked at the poor little guy with a sneer.
However, Yumi's face did not show the embarrassment and fear he expected. Instead, she looked directly at him and asked, "Does my presence make you uncomfortable?"
Mei Kai's smile froze. After a moment, he shouted in anger: "What did you say?! Why should I be upset about a short guy? I'm not even laughing enough..."
"Shorty? Who are you calling a shorty?" Slow footsteps were heard from behind, and a woman with a fox tail swaying came over with her hands on her hips. "As far as I know, this kid's hometown is outside the main urban area. He's not tall here, but his body proportions are obviously very good. Maybe he would be considered tall in other people's hometowns!" He covered his mouth and laughed, "I think you, who are less than two meters tall, are the shorty! Now you're so arrogant just because you finally see someone shorter than you? How funny!"
"That's right!" The others also echoed in a low voice.
Mei Kai was furious. He wanted to retort, but looking at the three-meter-tall woman in front of him, his ridicule of Yumi not long ago was obviously a self-inflicted blow.
Amid the sneers of the crowd, Mei Kai went to the locker room with a gloomy face.
The blond man seemed to be friends with Mei Kai. He kept apologizing to everyone and walked up to Yumi and bowed: "I'm really sorry, Mei Kai encountered some problems today. He was not so rude before..."
Yumi ignored him and lowered her head to read her book.
The blond man continued in a low voice: "I'm really sorry. I know this is all his fault, but I know his nature. He's not a bad person... He, he met the people who bullied him in the past at the venue today, and he was mentally stimulated. Then he saw that you were so popular... It was the first time he met someone shorter than himself, but he treated you completely differently... He couldn't control his emotions for a moment, and he offended you. This was not his intention."
"I didn't hurt him." Yumi said.
"Yes! Of course I know! He is going crazy! Please don't be influenced by him..."
"I don't care, I just look down on him." Yumi said word by word.
“…”
After the blond man left, Yumi continued reading.
However, the sudden situation still affected his emotions, causing many long-lost images to break free from the shackles of time and re-emerge.
Yumi was very thin when he was a child. In the first few years after his parents passed away, he was so thin that he could almost be blown away by the wind. Later, when he entered junior high school, his body began to grow stronger. He became particularly good at eating and became less thin.
However, among her peers, her fair skin, overly pretty face and quiet personality always make her get teased by some boys.
Yumi had a childhood friend at that time. Before their parents passed away, the two would often eat, do homework, and play games at each other's homes. Even after their parents passed away, their relationship did not change.
But for some reason, from one day on, his childhood friend started to keep his distance from him and started hanging out with a group of big guys who were two grades higher than them.
Those big guys were annoying, they used to mock Fa Xiao for being fat and call him nicknames, Yumi even fought back against them together with Fa Xiao, Yumi had no idea why they became friends.
Until one day, those big guys suddenly turned their target of bullying to him.
"You look like a bean sprout! Are you really not an elementary school student?"
"You speak in a whisper, and you're not manly at all!"
"Hey, you're not a girl in disguise, are you?"
"Sissy..."
Yumi retreated and moved away from the voices. When a big guy reached out to grab his arm, he shouted, "Go away!"
Those people were stunned and actually became excited.
What they said became more and more outrageous, and their eyes became more and more disgusting.
The childhood friend who was following behind him seemed afraid to look at him and kept his head down playing with his phone. Only when he heard the group of people were about to take off his clothes did he look over.
"We won't beat you. How about this, you take off your clothes and we'll see if you are a boy or not..."
"Don't want to? Then we can come too!"
"Since you don't have parents, no one will say anything to you if you take off all your clothes, right?"
Through several figures, his childhood friend saw the face, like a lamb to be slaughtered, staring at him quietly, but the next moment, his wavering heart shrank back to its original state amid the laughter of the group of people.
The childhood friend clenched his fists and turned away.
But only two seconds later, he turned around again with a cry of fear and looked over in disbelief.
He saw Yumi, who was always weak and skinny, took out a fruit knife and waved it wildly: "Come on, I won't take off your clothes, I will take off your skin!"
It was the first time that my childhood friend saw Yumi explode.
The big guys were caught off guard and all panicked:
"Are you crazy?"
"Stop, stop, stop waving it! Something bad will happen! Take it easy!"
"Hiss—he's serious! My arm is bleeding...quickly, stop him!"
They had no idea that a teenager who could barely speak loudly would suddenly wave a knife and say, "You're right, I don't have parents, I have nothing, so no matter what I do, my life won't change much." His voice was still not loud, but it was chilling, "So, I'm willing to risk everything!"
Everyone knows that those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes.
That group of people didn't dare to make a big fuss, and they didn't have the determination to give up everything.
To them, it's just a "game" that doesn't matter.
They cursed "little lunatic" and ran faster than anyone else.
After that, Yumi applied for transfer with the recording he had secretly made. He didn't know whether those big guys received the punishment they deserved, but he never saw them again, including his childhood friend.
Later, when I was in high school, I followed my uncle to visit relatives during the Chinese New Year and unexpectedly visited the home of a childhood friend.
His childhood friend was clearly at home, but he didn't dare to come out to see him. He also seemed to have forgotten about him and didn't ask a single question.
When he was leaving, his childhood friend's brother ran out and pulled him aside to talk.
He said: "My brother was led astray by that group of people, and there was nothing he could do... But that group of people also got their comeuppance. After graduating from high school, two of them committed crimes and have been sentenced."
“…”
"The father of one of those troublemakers was my dad's boss. My dad was on the rise at the time, so we really didn't dare to offend him... and you weren't really bullied in the end... Now, it can be considered that evil has been paid for evil. My brother had no choice. Otherwise, both of you would have been bullied. This way, at least you can protect yourself..."
Yumi wanted to throw up, but he held it back: "No, you're wrong."
"……What?"
Yumi's voice was still low, but it was like a torrential rain: "You shouldn't apologize and ask for forgiveness on his behalf. I don't care what a stranger does. I just despise him. I haven't lost anything, but he has even lost himself. I despise him."
…
There are still a few minutes until the game starts.
Yumi packed her sports backpack and started warming up.
The woman with the fox tail was named Asan. She came over to chat with him with great interest. After a while, she asked in surprise: "How do you know so many caves inside? I only remember the maps of a few of them..."
Yumira stretched her body and smiled, "During the registration period, I studied the previous competition videos and the various hole-xue videos of the base several times."
The other party was amazed.
At this time, the host outside began to warm up the audience, and the staff came over with a list and asked them to come out in order.
Yumi took a few deep breaths, tied a headband with the number "5" printed on it, and followed the other contestants out nervously.
After walking out of the contestant channel, they arrived at the bright outdoor steps. Yumi looked at the crowded audience seats below. He didn't know where Ansius and Carl were, so he looked at the cameras flying in the air.
At this time, every time the host reads a name, a close-up of the contestant's upper body will appear on the big screen.
Yumi didn’t know how the cameras were arranged, he only knew that he was too small, and in order to avoid a stage accident because the camera couldn’t capture his upper body, he subconsciously jumped up when the host shouted, “Contestant number five is Yumi from the Black Miasma Wasteland!”
…The whole place was silent.
On the freeze-frame of the big screen, a little man floating in the air appeared.
The little man has goat horns on his head and a sports headband with the number "5" printed on it on his forehead. The long and thin tail of the headband is wrapped around his goat horns, and his very iconic little face shows a nervous and forced smile.
A second later, the audience erupted in unprecedented screams.
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