MMB Chapter 564 - 583: Cover Blown in the Mecha Soldier Department
Chapter 564 - 583: Cover Blown in the Mecha Soldier Department
[Dude, I just saw Rice and Gao Ming, our third-year seniors from the Mecha Single Soldier System, eating together at the same table in the cafeteria! Ummm! Am I out of the loop or something? How did those two make up? Aren’t they known as archenemies?]
[No way. You must be seeing things. Gao Ming and Rice, eating together?]
Those two had been at each other’s throats from their freshman to junior year. It started with vying for the title of "Top Cadet" in military training, then "Outstanding Soldier" of the department, then first place in the Mecha tournament. Now that they were juniors, they were competing for the number one spot in the comprehensive rankings, top pick for the legion preliminaries...
It wasn’t that they had any deep-seated grudge, but their lives were just one competition after another.
Their skills were on par, and as the saying goes, two kings can’t share a mountain. They hardly ever interacted. After three years as classmates, they were nothing more than nodding acquaintances.
[It’s true! I saw them! They were talking and laughing, and they looked really happy.]
[???]
[Is the poster above still living on Ancient Earth? Rice and Gao Ming not speaking to each other is last year’s news. They started hanging out toward the end of last semester, eating together every day. They even share food.]
[And it’s not just Gao Ming and Rice. It’s a whole group of them... a bunch of juniors, people from A5, from B11, all over the place. I guess they’ve formed a whole squad. They eat together every single day.]
[???]
It was practically the strangest thing this century.
The sight of those two eating together no longer even fazed their peers. They were all used to it by now.
[So, is Senior Rice in a relationship? Is he chasing someone? Did he and Senior Gao Ming fall for the same person?]
[...Are you kidding me? What kind of joke is that?]
[Taking sneaky pictures is wrong, so I won’t show her face. #Image#] The original poster did have some scruples. [I’m in Cafeteria 13. The person I scribbled out is a girl, and the two on the right are the seniors. You all should recognize their faces.]
In the relatively clear photo,
a group of long-limbed, hot-blooded youths stood together in the distinctive uniforms of the Federation University’s Mecha Department. They all wore gentle expressions—though, of course, no one recognized the people in the background.
What everyone noticed most were Rice and Gao Ming standing in the front. Never mind Rice—while he didn’t smile much usually, he was the calm and collected type, so seeing him smile like this was one thing. But Gao Ming—
—who was usually cocky as hell and acted like he was better than everyone, was standing in front of a girl, smiling like a harmless little flower.
[?]
[Is the person who got scribbled out a peerless beauty or something?]
[Peerless beauty +1]
[...Don’t tell me that’s a legion NCO here to recruit? Why else would those two be smiling like... that??]
As the topic grew hotter and the speculation wilder, someone on good terms with Rice jumped in to explain. It was Rice’s goddess, and also Gao Ming’s goddess. It wasn’t a case of two men fighting over one woman, nor had the two men turned into simps. They were simply meeting their goddess together.
This was originally a well-intentioned explanation, but it pushed the thread to a new level of popularity.
Because there are always people with a unique perspective who know how to seize on the details that will go viral.
[SHOCKING! You Won’t Believe the Story Behind Archenemies and Third-Year Seniors Rice and Gao Ming Making Peace!]
[I have firsthand info from Senior Rice’s ’bestie’: Apparently, it’s because they both became fans of the same goddess.]
[Keywords: Fans, Goddess, Same One, Made Peace]
[I ask you, just how much charisma does this goddess have to make Rice and Gao Ming eat at the same table without getting red in the face, smiling brightly on either side of her? Oh yeah, and here’s the picture again. #Image# (P.S. The picture is from the OP of thread 1122**1 next door. No doubt about it, those two friendly, charming guys are Rice and Gao Ming. The one who’s censored is the streamer.)]
[Given the known facts, everyone take a guess: what kind of streamer is this, what kind of skills must she have, and who is she!]
[Wow, amazing.]
[I saw the other thread too, someone else dropped some new info. Said she seems to be a freshman in our Mecha Department?]
[A goddess among our freshmen? Normally, someone like that would be in the entertainment industry, right?]
[An insider in the other thread said she seems to be a streamer.]
[A streamer!?]
[Yep, it’s confirmed. Several people who know have all confirmed it. She’s a streamer.]
[Whoa... look at her hair. She’s gorgeous even with her face blurred out. That figure, those legs... is she a beauty streamer? I never thought Seniors Rice and Gao Ming, who seem so proper, would be into that sort of thing in private, hehehe.]
[Wipe that dirty smile off your face, poster above. Latest news: she’s not a beauty streamer. Apparently, she’s a food streamer, the kind that cooks. The new student is supposedly a chef.]
[...?]
[A chef? How random.]
As more and more people grew curious, the thread’s popularity exploded. Jiang Qiuqiu was already a hot topic on the Star Network and within Federation University circles, so once the discussions in the Mecha Department picked up, it was inevitable that insiders would join the conversation.
Soon, Jiang Qiuqiu’s identity as a streamer was exposed.
[She’s a streamer of *that* caliber?]
[I just checked the Federation streaming app. My god, a streamer with tens of billions of followers... Don’t call her a goddess, she’s a powerhouse! The absolute top of the game! And she’s come to study at our university?]
[She’s only 19?! Holy crap, when I was 19, I was stuck in the countryside waiting to see if I passed my exams. At 19, she’s a billionaire and then decides to go to university???]
[Is that all you guys care about? I’m just wondering how delicious this streamer’s food has to be to make Gao Ming and Rice act like... well, like *that*.]
[@Poster above, are you living under a rock? Don’t you remember the New Year’s Eve feast that went viral on the Star Network, the one everyone saw? I think it was made by this streamer. I heard a few of our professors even got into an online Q&A battle to snag some of her dishes.]
[Ah, really? I heard about that, but I thought it was just a publicity stunt...]
A single spark, kindled by Juju, had unintentionally set the world of the Mecha Single Soldier System ablaze once more.
However, at this point, those who hadn’t met her were still just curious, lurking in various threads and enjoying the drama.
Most people weren’t marveling at how delicious Jiang Qiuqiu’s food was, but rather at—
—how incredibly successful her streaming career was.
The number one personality on the Federation’s streaming app in the year 5355.
Her visible income was in the hundreds of billions.
In the eyes of an ordinary student, the image of this freshman, Jiang Qiuqiu, was practically distorted by the sheer amount of money she had.
Even her roommates were starting to feel a sense of unreality.
Jiang Qiuqiu and Liu Tingting returned to their dorm, full and content. Before they even walked in, they were still discussing the bizarre dining arrangement from earlier. The moment they opened the door, two pairs of eyes locked onto Jiang Qiuqiu.
One belonged to Meng Chun, her eyes filled with curiosity.
The other belonged to Michelle, a complex gaze filled with strange emotions.
Qiuqiu quickly realized something was up. "What’s going on? Michelle, Meng Chun, why are you two staring at me?"
"I’m curious." Meng Chun leaned in honestly. "Qiuqiu, Michelle and I were just browsing our department’s forums, and someone said you’re that super-popular streamer from the Star Network, Jiang Juju. Is it true?"
’Even without asking, they already knew the answer in their hearts. With such a similar face and such a similar name, it would be strange if it wasn’t her.’
"Yeah, I am. Did someone mention me on our department’s forums?"
"They did."
Liu Tingting shot Jiang Qiuqiu a worried glance. After spending the last two days with her, she’d realized Qiuqiu was much more low-key than she expected and didn’t like the spotlight. ’And now her information has spread all over the school forums?!’
"I’m fine." ’Since I decided to enroll, I’ve already mentally prepared myself for this kind of thing,’ Qiuqiu thought. ’If they’re going to talk, let them talk.’
’Once things get busier and tougher, everyone won’t have so much free time to discuss gossip. Besides... once they get to know me, once we’ve been around each other long enough, they’ll realize that being a streamer is nothing special. A streamer is just a person, not that different from anyone else. Just an ordinary person who still has to socialize, who gets angry, who doesn’t always pass training simulations perfectly, and who often needs help, too.’
Michelle listened to their conversation, getting the information she wanted. She didn’t say anything more, but her gaze quickly swept over Jiang Qiuqiu’s clothes, her luggage, and the logos on her bags.