After ten minutes of training, David Thompson noticed there was no reaction. Normally, by this time he would be drenched in sweat... but today, he hadn’t even broken a sweat. Could the gravity machine be broken?

David Thompson checked the numbers—everything was running normally. What was going on?

He gradually increased the gravity to 2.5 times, but his body still didn’t feel any pressure. Three times... still no reaction. Was it really broken?

David Thompson took out the manual and followed the instructions to run a diagnostic... still no problem!

This was crazy. Could getting hit by a meteor have made him hallucinate?

Chapter Five: Thomas’s Spinning Slash (Part One)

Four times!

Boom... a heavy pressure suddenly came from all directions. This time, David Thompson felt a bit of pressure, but it was only about as much as 1.5 times the normal gravity used to feel. It seemed the machine really was broken. Oh well, he’d just make do.

Ordinary humans would feel uncomfortable at 1.5 times gravity, but Ivantans didn’t feel much. However, with training, humans could also withstand more than twice the gravity. At first, Ivantans had a slight advantage, but past three times, it was almost the same. It was said that only the elite of both armies could withstand more than four times gravity.

David Thompson had never thought he could reach that level—nineteen times out of twenty, the machine must be broken.

A civilian gravity machine could only go up to four times. Even inside it, David Thompson still felt comfortable. After about half an hour, he finally started to feel something. He turned off the gravity machine and took a shower, sweeping away all the frustration from being hit by the meteor.

Mark sent a SkyMessage—he wouldn’t be coming back tonight. As for Mark’s lifestyle, David Thompson could only reserve judgment, and besides, he didn’t have that kind of playboy energy.

He rushed into the game room and started the Cosmic War game.

Everyone had a different attitude toward the game. David Thompson was definitely an oddball, because he always used BS001, the newbie equipment you get when you first enter the game. It was easy to get eliminated with it; some people even spent a little currency to upgrade right away. This set of equipment was basically useless, awkward to use, and you’d get beaten up easily. But David Thompson was a weirdo—he liked using it. Even though it was outdated, David Thompson didn’t play for fun, but to prepare for joining the military in the future!

Although he acted indifferent on the surface, David Thompson knew very well how obsessed he was with mobile suits. Another important reason was that the girl he liked also hoped her boyfriend would be a brave warrior.

David Thompson’s ID was Blade Warrior, and he was somewhat well-known in this server. Simple reason: his score was almost always in the bottom ten. Imagine someone using the worst model, not staying in the newbie zone, but wandering around challenging people everywhere—if that’s not asking for a beating, what is? His negative score was already unsightly, but David Thompson didn’t care at all. He wasn’t bothered by it. If he could master BS001, then all the other models would be even easier.

The key was that, in piloting BS001, David Thompson had learned a lot about the essence of mobile suits. This model was old, but it exposed some of the problems with mobile suits—problems that also existed in advanced models, just with smaller flaws.

As soon as David Thompson logged in, a flood of messages hit him, but they were basically all things like “Bro, let me have some fun.” Whenever someone got beaten, they’d usually regain their confidence by playing against David Thompson. He didn’t mind; he just used his opponents to hone his skills. The reason people liked to challenge David Thompson was because he always gave it his all and still lost. That kind of thrill never got old, so those who liked David Thompson gave him the nickname “Hundred-Defeat Rookie.”

Don’t think just anyone can get a nickname. In this game, only well-known players had nicknames. For example, the top ten masters of Cosmic War all had their own nicknames, given by everyone and officially recognized. David Thompson was definitely an oddball among them, but he just laughed it off.

But Mark thought David Thompson was strong—super strong. Although Mark didn’t play this kind of game, you couldn’t insult his intelligence. On the contrary, Mark had a knack for reading people. On the surface, he didn’t care about David Thompson’s training, but he knew that for someone of David Thompson’s age, not even an Ivantan, to reach this level—if word got out, it would be big news. He’d watched David Thompson’s battles in the game a few times. Although he always lost, that was because BS001 was just too lousy. But under David Thompson’s control, he almost always lost by a hair. Jokes aside, Mark believed in his heart that David Thompson would make something of himself one day. Otherwise... why would he buy such an expensive gravity machine for such a ridiculous reason? He just didn’t want David Thompson to feel pressured.

David Thompson couldn’t wait to get into the cockpit. That feeling was just amazing. As soon as he finished syncing, there was already a line of challengers—over a hundred people waiting.

Cosmic War also assigned military ranks based on points. David Thompson was forever a private; he’d probably never get promoted in this lifetime. He was just too deep in debt. Up to now, he hadn’t won a single match. Despite his ultra-low score, he couldn’t be bothered to fight just anyone. He immediately checked the records of the hundred-plus challengers and picked the ones most suitable for him—the stronger, the better, but the really strong ones wouldn’t bother fighting a nobody like him.