Chapter Sixty-Five: The Mysterious Room Numbered X-6

"Count all the way to twelve!"

Damn! Sharpening the knives? Counting to twelve? Is this gorgeous coach planning a total wipeout? Seeing Geng Haoshi and the rest of the team staring in utter confusion, Li Shishi covered her mouth and burst out laughing. “Hahaha, I’m just messing with you… You didn’t actually believe me, did you? Hahaha.”

9527 sweated: The entire school team is this gullible… I really worry for your future.

“Never mind, I’ll stop thinking about it. Anyway, you’ll find out soon enough.”

Because he had classes in the morning, Geng Haoshi went to the classroom right after breakfast.

He pretty much slept through both morning lectures.

According to Coach Yu Manman’s earlier rules, unless you had class or some special circumstance, you had to be in the Chen Zhi Sports Center for training at all other times. So, as soon as his classes ended, Geng Haoshi returned to the gym.

As soon as he entered, he saw Zhu Di, Sun Peng, He Zhikun, Wang Meng, and Chen Yu sprawled on the basketball court floor, gasping for breath.

This morning, only these few didn’t have class, so they stayed behind to train.

Geng Haoshi walked over to Zhu Di. “Zhu Di, what happened to you guys?”

“Huff… Xiao Er… just wait… you’ll be… just… like… us…” Zhu Di managed between breaths, then closed his eyes, continuing to pant.

“Tsk tsk tsk! Look at you all, just a pile of mush!” Yu Manman sashayed out from the room labeled ‘Boss,’ her high-heeled boots clicking on the floor.

The Boss room, like the twelve X-labeled rooms, was fully sealed off. The kitchen, canteen, dorms, and equipment room inside the Chen Zhi Sports Center all had windows, but the Boss room and the X-labeled rooms had none.

“Xiao Er, you’ve arrived just in time. I was looking for someone to test the machine.”

Test the chicken? What the hell? Geng Haoshi was puzzled. Did the beautiful coach cook up some new black-market chicken recipe? Did Zhu Di and the others get food poisoning after eating it?

Seeing Geng Haoshi’s blank stare, Yu Manman flashed a seductive smile, curling her finger to beckon him over.

What now, the gorgeous coach is flirting with me—should I go? Wouldn’t it be unmanly not to?...

Geng Haoshi stood there lost in his thoughts... but Yu Manman had no patience left. She shouted, “Xiao Er, get over here right now or I’ll have you castrated!”

Startled by her outburst, Geng Haoshi could only shuffle over nervously. “Hehe, beautiful coach, what are you doing? Can you stop scaring me like that? I’m one of the nation’s precious flowers, after all…”

Before he could finish, Yu Manman grabbed him and dragged him to the door marked “X-6.”

She pulled out a card from her short leather shorts and swiped it through a slim slot on the “X-6” door.

A beep—the door opened.

“Wow! So high-tech!” Geng Haoshi marveled, thinking, the school really spared no expense!

Once the door was fully open, Yu Manman gave Geng Haoshi a hard kick right on the backside. “Off you go!”... and he was sent stumbling inside.

Click—the door closed behind him just as he caught his balance.

“Hey! Why isn’t the light on in here?” Geng Haoshi pounded on the door. “Damn! What is this door made of? It won’t budge!”

“Xiao Er, stand inside the red circle.”

“Coach, where are you?” Geng Haoshi couldn’t tell which direction her voice was coming from.

“When I tell you to stand somewhere, just do it! Stop wasting time!”

Geng Haoshi listened carefully and realized—the sound didn’t come from any one direction, but from everywhere at once. “Whoa! Surround sound!”

“Xiao Er! How many times do I have to say it? Go stand in position!”

Into the wolf’s den again… Geng Haoshi muttered, reluctantly stepping into the glowing red ring on the floor.

The moment both his feet touched the red circle, the entire room lit up—and the sight before him made Geng Haoshi jump!

The room was the size of a standard basketball half-court, with a hoop at the far end, directly facing the red circle. None of this was particularly surprising. What startled Geng Haoshi were the three human-shaped machines standing in the paint.

“Are these three robots?!” he shouted, guessing Yu Manman must be monitoring him from the Boss room.

“That’s right. These are the latest AI sports robots developed by Feizhi Group.” (Feizhi Group is a Fortune 500 company, its CEO is Chen Zhi, and the Chen Zhi Sports Center at Tiancheng Polytechnic is his donation.)

Geng Haoshi’s jaw dropped. “Amazing, sis! They really exist!”

“Xiao Er, now pick up the basketball next to you and step into the yellow zone.”

The half-court area was marked by yellow lines, with the three-point arc, free throw line, and so on all painted yellow.

“Go in? Am I supposed to play against these three sports robots?”

Each one was over 6’1”, with long arms, long legs, and a burly build.

So this is what the coach meant by “testing the machine”—I’m the guinea pig here, testing the robots!

Geng Haoshi hesitated, swallowing nervously. “They look cold and unfriendly. Coach, I prefer talking to humans, you know…”

“Stop whining!” Yu Manman’s shout echoed from all sides, making Geng Haoshi cover his ears. Damn, the sound system is intense!

“Xiao Er! If you keep complaining, I’ll have all three beat you up—and maybe castrate you too!”

Damn it! Coach, how badly do you want to castrate me?

The door was locked tight. Unless he faced off with these robots, the coach would never let him out.

Taking a deep breath, Geng Haoshi picked up the ball at his feet and stepped into the yellow zone.

The instant he entered, all three robots’ eyes lit up red!

Seeing the glowing red eyes, Geng Haoshi grew even more timid. “Coach, aren’t these supposed to be sports robots? Why do they all look like they have pinkeye?”

“I can’t even look them in the eyes; I’m afraid I’ll catch it.”

“So, Coach, maybe I should wait till their eyes are better, and then I’ll spar with them.”

No reply from Yu Manman. Twenty-two seconds passed in utter silence…