“Hmm?”
“I was just about to praise the production team for a change of heart, but they’re pulling this again—openly and subtly hinting that my Xiao Xi is going to be in trouble, huh?”
“My ‘knife radar’ is beeping nonstop. Feels like this first season is headed for a tragedy.”
“Look at this unbearable composition… I bet a spicy stick that the ending will force Xiao Xi and Lin Zhen apart.”
“That can’t be true, right? Before, the production team didn’t even dare to show the OP for fear of spoilers. Now they give us the OP but keep dropping crazy hints. Maybe it’s just a smokescreen.”
“Six hundred sixty-six.”
After three episodes aired, the audience had gradually figured out the nature of this damn production team.
Just like some game designer who randomly picks on Knife Girl, the screenwriter here enjoys tormenting Xiao Xi for no reason.
So this highly suggestive framing instantly sparked heated discussions in the “Starry Sky” forums.
Many video creators quickly seized on the hot topic, preparing to gorge themselves on Xiao Xi’s blood buns.
They planned to make harsh critique videos slamming the production team’s malice or analysis videos dissecting Yun Ruo Xi’s fate.
Of course, all of this had to wait until after episode four aired. For now, the most important thing was watching the show!
As the song ended and the outro played, the title of the first season of Starry Sky finally appeared on the screen.
【Starry Sky Season 1 · Glimmer】
【Theme Song: “Tiny Hope”】
【Episode 4: Annual Assessment】
The text faded in the dark, but before the image appeared, a sharp voice rang out.
“Run! Everybody, run!”
“The first month requires you to finish in one hour; the second month, you must finish within fifty minutes!”
“Same as before—the first one to finish gets a 100-point reward!”
On the wide training ground, a dark-skinned burly instructor roared loudly.
Before him, the trainees of the third squad were running desperately.
At the bottom of the screen, character info and time appeared.
【Third Squad Instructor · Heishan】
【Training: Second Month… Ten months remain until the annual assessment】
The audience still had some impression of the annual assessment, which was said to eliminate all trainees ranking in the last five thousand afterward.
For these teenage boys and girls in the series, it was undoubtedly a life-or-death test.
The camera panned down, locking onto Lin Zhen.
He ran swiftly, his movements clean and agile, skillfully overcoming various obstacles and steadily maintaining a spot in the front pack.
Except for Iron Anvil at the back and Ziqiu leading at the front, the other two main characters were closely behind him.
Heishan’s gaze swept from the lead runner Ziqiu all the way to the back, noting that even the slowest, Iron Anvil, was managing to run within fifty minutes. He couldn’t help but nod slightly.
But immediately, a sinister smile crossed his face.
Finishing within fifty minutes? That’s not the real difficulty!
He tapped twice on his wristwatch, and strange antenna-like devices suddenly rose on both sides of the training field.
Buzz buzz buzz!
The white light atop the spherical devices flared, and the trainees suddenly felt their bodies grow heavy, their legs weighted like lead, and their breathing became chaotic as they ran.
“Can’t handle 1.2 times gravity? Then damn it, keep running!”
Heishan flashed forward, grabbing Iron Anvil by the ear and bellowing at him.
“The annual assessment is a life-or-death battle! If you want to get eliminated and sent for modification, then keep dawdling like this!”
After speaking, he released his grip and kicked Iron Anvil hard in the rear, sending him staggering several steps before barely regaining his footing.
Annual assessment… Lin Zhen’s eyes sharpened, and his speed increased a few notches.
Veins bulged on his neck and forehead as he surpassed several trainees despite the 1.2 gravity, though he still couldn’t catch up to the few leading figures at the front of the third squad.
***
Physical training ended, and the scene shifted to virtual space where Lin Zhen began studying intently.
The pacing of episode four was quite brisk, using rapid-cut training clips to fast-forward the timeline to about ten days before the annual assessment, nearly ten months later.
In these ten minutes, the screen showed nothing but Lin Zhen and the main group learning, growing, and laughing together.
Yun Ruo Xi’s appearances were pitifully few.
What drew more attention was that in the subsequent monthly assessments, she seemed to suddenly lose spirit.
She never again ranked second in the combat assessment like the first time, nor did she nearly enter the top six again.
Her previously brilliant performance had become nothing but a flash in the pan.
On the rare occasions she did appear, it was either walking in the corridor with 9993, accidentally glanced at by Lin Zhen, or merely flashing by as background.
“Wait, where’s my Xiao Xi? Ten minutes have passed, and not a single clear shot of her?”
“Don’t hate on it. Wasn’t she in the upper left corner three minutes ago?”
“You mean that background shot you need to zoom in to see?”
“Different squads, no training footage is fine, but why can’t she even be found in the monthly assessments?”
“Some people just stop spamming, okay? Just watch the show normally, no need to stare at your fave the whole time.”
“LOL, watching a show and still pulling fan circle drama?”
Though the barrage of comments sparked some backlash, Yun Ruo Xi’s almost complete vanishing act piqued many viewers’ curiosity.
After all, the OP had just given her so many shots, yet she disappeared entirely in the main episodes. The contrast was striking.
【Ten Days Before Annual Assessment】
【Virtual Space】
Amidst the barrage of comments, the screen focused back on Lin Zhen.
Ten months had passed.
Under extremely intense training and with sufficient nutrition, Lin Zhen’s height shot up.
At only twelve years old, he was already one meter seventy, with a muscular and well-proportioned body.
He skillfully clicked into [Practical Simulation], waiting for the system to match him with other trainees as opponents.
By the third month, the [Combat Assassination Course] had begun requiring trainees to replace daily training with [Practical Simulation].
It was now nighttime, just after dinner, the peak time for virtual battles within the camp.
In a split second, Lin Zhen was matched and appeared on a spacious arena.
His eyes scanned the opponent habitually, but suddenly froze.
“Why is it you?”
Standing opposite was a blue-haired girl, equally caught off guard.
She instinctively took half a step back, her pale toes curling slightly.
“786… no, 432?” she softly confirmed.
“Mm.” Lin Zhen’s gaze dropped to the void as he confirmed through the system Yun Ruo Xi’s number.
219.
A very high number, yet still lower than he had expected.
She, who could rival 0001 in combat, shouldn’t be at this level.
Was it because she hadn’t made the top ten in any of the ten monthly assessments?
After a moment’s hesitation, he finally asked, “219, what happened to you these past ten months…?”
Not only the audience was curious; even Lin Zhen himself had long harbored doubts.
But with training so grueling and time squeezed to the limit, and no way to find out Yun Ruo Xi’s new number, he had been unable to contact her.
Until today, he finally had the chance to ask in person.