Pleased to Start Over

Interstellar Military Cadets 5.5

Pleasing Start-Over Chapter 57: Arc 5 Part 5

Author: 橘子

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Dick exited the canteen with a couple to-go boxes for lunch. He saw a lot of students running in the same direction. As they passed, they were talking. Dick gleamed from the bits and pieces that he heard that the Lion Corps posted their selected candidates. Dick thought about the Lion Corps' list. Everyone had been talking and thinking about it these past few days. Dick knew that the chance of him being selected was a big fat zero, but he was still curious and followed the group.

Everyone stood below the college's display. This specific screen released important information regarding the school. Dick reached the screen and looked up. The candidates were listed according to their classes. It was as expected. Most of the candidates were from Class A. Class B followed behind, then Class C and Class D. Almost every single class had a candidate chosen from their groups. From those candidates, they were among the top of their class.

Dick was shocked when he saw 'Class F' on the screen. He quickly deduced that Qiao An should have been the one chosen. He looked at the list and saw 'Qiao An'. It wasn't that much of a surprise anymore. However, there was another name below Qiao An's and that was...

Dick's jaw dropped, and he almost dropped his to-go boxes with it. The name 'Dick' was listed right below Qiao An's name. He looked at the screen several times and at different angles to make sure that it was his name. The name was right, so he thought about the cadets in Class F. There wasn't anyone who had the same name as him either. Finally, Dick realized that he was also selected as a candidate. However, Dick wasn't very excited. Instead, he was horrified. He turned back and ran all the way back to his dorm.

"Qiao- Qiao An..." Dick gasped.

"What's wrong? Why are you so flustered?" Qiao Chen looked up from the mechanical shield and asked. Once he saw that Dick was physically fine, he turned his attention back to repairing the shield.

"The l-list. It's out. The list is out."

"Really? Who are the candidates?" Qiao Chen asked nonchalantly.

Dick put the to-go boxes on the dining table and calmed himself down. Once he finally caught his breath, he sat down across Qiao Chen, and said, "You and I have been selected."

"Really?" Qiao Chen paused for a moment, surprised, when he heard that Dick was a candidate. However he looked up and noticed that Dick didn't seem to be happy or excited. He asked with some doubt, "Don't you want to be selected?"

Dick shook his head 'no'. His head was lowered, and his mood just as low.

"Why? Isn't your fiancé also a Lion Corps soldier?" Qiao Chen asked.

Dick looked up in surprise and asked, "How did you know?"

Qiao Chen smiled, but didn't reply.

"It's because he's there that I don't want to be selected as a candidate. He always bullies, even when we were young. And..." Dick slumped over. He hugged his shins with his face on his knees and mumbled, "I don't want him to see me and think that I'm useless. If he saw how I normally perform, then he'd just laugh at me."

Qiao Chen carefully installed the last piece of the shield in place. Then he re-installed the cover onto Dick's mechanical shield. Once everything was done, he handed it back to Dick and said, "I promise he won't laugh at you if you have this."

Dick accepted the mechanical shield, but his mood was still low. He thought that Qiao Chen was only comforting him. He couldn't be any more clear about how awful his ability capabilities were. If he really did take part in the training competition, then he'd be compared with the other candidates. He knew that he'd be at the bottom of the barrel- a laughingstock.