Rebirth: The Universe's Hidden Heiress-Chapter 24: Long-range Attacker

On the field, the grey mecha across had Yuka squarely in its sights.

As the pilot was about to press the fire button, Yuka suddenly changed direction, dodging to the right.

But the grey mecha’s pilot smirked, "Just as expected," and fired towards Yuka’s right side.

His smirk vanished the next second.

Yuka had only feigned a rightward dash; her pink mini-mecha, light on its feet, quickly looped back, continuing its charge towards the grey mecha from the upper left.

The explosion rocked just beside Yuka, slightly jostling her, but her mecha was unscathed.

From the sidelines, Roukujou explained, "Ladies and gentlemen, most of you may not know this, but in map races and arena battles, the restrictions on firepower are different. In the compact arena, only short cannons with limited blast radius are allowed; whereas in map races, with larger grounds, cannons with longer range and higher firepower are permitted."

Glancing at the live comments, Roukujou continued, "Let me touch upon the design philosophy of mechas, and no, I’m not blabbering. Listen and you’ll see. Mechas are primarily designed to take down insectoids. Large bombs and sweeping fire often let insectoids slip through, but mechas can infiltrate enemy lines and precisely eliminate them."

Looking at the pink mecha, he added, "But being heavy artillery, mechas aren’t as cost-effective as tanks. Hence, their models are mostly mid or small-sized, and they can’t be fitted with large cannons."

"In underground battles, everything’s simulated but incredibly realistic. The grey mecha’s cannon fire is fast, but see, Pinky is far enough to dodge it easily. And with no cover around, there are no obstacles either, just a feint is enough to trick the opponent and dodge the bullets."

He was getting to the point.

The opponent was fooled. Yuka’s sprint speed increased, and finally, she leapt up, grabbing a protruding rock on the hillside with her mech’s arm, then continued climbing swiftly.

"The stronger the cannon fire, the longer the cooldown," Roukujou said, "If Pinky can reach the top before the grey mecha’s cooldown ends, she can engage in close combat..."

Realizing the dire situation, the grey mecha turned tail. As the pilot retreated, he kept glancing back to see if Yuka had caught up, thinking frantically, ’Who’s this expert in disguise here? That mecha control technique... seriously?’

Yuka had climbed up the hill.

She knew that the cooldown period for the grey mecha’s cannon was almost over. Though she didn’t understand why the opponent was still fleeing frantically, she was done playing the chasing game.

Twisting her body, Yuka detached the left arm of her mecha. Under the control of her psychic power, the left mechanical arm transformed into a sharp, long spear.

Glancing at the still fleeing grey mecha, Yuka gripped the spear with her right hand, raised it high, stepped back with her right leg, and leaned her mecha’s body backward. Then, with a powerful thrust, she hurled the spear forward!

The sound of it cutting through the air reached the grey mecha, which instinctively looked back, only to see a pink blur charging towards it.

A chill ran up the pilot’s neck, and before he could make sense of it, his cockpit erupted in a shattering noise, followed by his ejection from the match.

Pinky stood at the edge of the hill, its left arm missing. The live comments exploded in laughter:

- [Roukujou Saltfish: Pinky’s going for close combat. Pinky: Nope! I choose long-range!]

- [Wow, Pinky’s actually a marksman!!]

- [I’m dying, add another shocked Saltfish meme.]

- [Never knew she would choose that way.]

- [Turns out Pinky really is a long-range fighter, we misjudged her.]

Roukujou wiped his face, trying to hide his pained expression from the audience. "Pinky really is full of surprises every time."

"Here’s a hot tip for everyone," Roukujou continued, "Most of you know that mechas are mostly made of Oniyon. And only Oniyon can damage Oniyon. While we see firepower damaging mechas, there’s a theory..." He paused and went on, "If someone’s psychic power is high enough to control all the Oniyon in a mecha, even if it’s shattered by cannon fire, as long as the Oniyon remains, the mecha stays, and they can reassemble it to keep fighting."

Roukujou shrugged, "Of course, take this theory as a fun fact. If someone actually had such psychic power, it would probably be more than double of an S+ rating."

In his mind, he added, "So in a way, mechas are unbeatable among cold weapons."

The comments reacted:

- [That’s pretty unlikely.]

- [If someone really could do that, I’d livestream myself cooking in a pot.]

- [Admiral Kuba’s psychic power must be high, can he do it?]

Seeing this comment, Roukujou hurriedly replied, "Don’t speculate, folks. Admiral Kuba’s psychic power is high, that’s certain. But as to how high, that’s a military secret."

On the battlefield, Yuka noticed the difference in weapons between map races and arena battles. She asked her instructor, Min, "Can we choose our own weapons for map races too?"

Min replied, "Yes. Before entering a map race, contestants can return to the initial interface and pair up with weapons suitable for the map race."

Yuka: "Don’t you notify the contestants?"

Min: "We don’t answer unless asked."

Yuka: "..."

Min: "Would you like to continue with the competition?"

Yuka: "Return to the initial interface."

Back at the weapon pairing interface, Yuka carefully selected her weapons. Her gaze lingered on the firepower options for a moment before she chose a fast-firing short cannon, mounting it on her left arm. For her right arm, she switched from a long whip to a crescent-shaped boomerang.

She asked Min, "Can I change the map?"

Min: "Yes. Please choose your map."

A screen unfolded, showing various options: barren hills, ocean, dense forest, cityscapes...

"Choose the dense forest map," Yuka said.

Min: "[Matching... Match complete. Welcome to the dense forest map in map mode.]"

The scenery shifted, and Yuka found herself in a dense forest with trees close enough to hinder mecha movement.

Outside the arena, Roukujou explained to the audience, "Each time the competition restarts, the mecha resets, so don’t worry about Pinky’s left arm."

He found Yuka on another screen and stroked his chin, "Huh, Pinky changed her weapons. She replaced her left arm with a short cannon for speed but less killing power. And in her right hand, a boomerang..."

Roukujou was puzzled, "A boomerang in a map with so many obstacles doesn’t seem practical, does it?"

’What is Pinky thinking?’ Roukujou realized that not only was Pinky’s combat style unique, but her thought process was also unconventional, always leaving him guessing.

"The match has started," Roukujou’s expression became serious, "The contestants are very close to each other!"

From the outside, the audience had a bird’s-eye view and could clearly see the positions of both players. However, the contestants inside the map were unaware of each other’s location.

Roukujou watched anxiously. Right in front of the third tree behind Pinky stood a green mecha, her opponent. "The opponent’s green mecha naturally blends into this map," he sighed, "Pinky’s luck doesn’t seem too great."

In the dense forest, Yuka stood on a pile of half-rotten leaves. Nearly a minute into the match, she remained motionless.

Suddenly, a breeze stirred, rustling the leaves. Yuka tilted her head, making out a faint, distinct sound amidst the wind.

Roukujou, watching anxiously from outside, felt his heart leap into his throat. He stared intently as the green mecha, moving silently, approached Yuka from behind. Unable to contain himself, he exclaimed, "Watch out!"

The green mecha, now behind Pinky, raised its arm, wielding a long sword, and swung it down fiercely—only to embed it in a tree trunk. Yuka, as if she had eyes on the back of her head, had ducked just in time. She rose from the ground as the green mecha struggled to free its weapon from the tree.

Yuka struck a punch at its cockpit, sending the green mecha flying into a thick tree trunk behind it, causing a secondary impact. The tree groaned under the impact, forming a deep dent.

Yuka didn’t give the green mecha a chance to recover. She yanked the long sword stuck in the tree and, with a forward slash, sent the green mecha’s head tumbling into a pile of leaves. The green mecha, stunned for a second, then scrambled away in a roll.

Yuka paused, realizing her mistake. In mechas, the cockpit is in the chest, and the head is just for better visibility for the pilot.

The psychic connection between the mecha and its pilot meant the shock of being beheaded was disorienting for the pilot. Before he could escape, Yuka stomped on the mecha’s back, smashing it into the leaf pile once again.

The green mecha’s pilot, feeling a mix of frustration and bitterness, would have cursed if the underground arena hadn’t disabled the communication feature for privacy.

’Who is this person? Stealing my weapon and then beheading my mecha, can’t he just finish me quickly?’ he thought bitterly. Just as this thought crossed his mind, a crisp sound echoed in his cockpit, signaling his ejection from the match.

Yuka, now with the long sword disappearing from her hand, looked at her ranking, which had climbed to over 20,000, and exited the match.

Roukujou, chin in hand, mused, ’So did Pinky choose her weapons just to confuse her opponent?’

If Yuka knew his thoughts, she would probably tell him that she simply didn’t know the layout of the map, so she couldn’t pair her weapons effectively.