This Setup Is Broken - This Setup Is Broken Chapter 15: Young Master

“That’s enough. Two more rounds, then let’s get ready for dinner.”

A deep, indifferent voice sounds nearby, very familiar. Bai Shi pauses for half a second before realizing that Chi Haitian has taken off his glasses and logged out of the network. 

Bai Shi replies softly, flexes his slightly sore fingers. He sees a new player enter his match, and starts the battle.

Both the simulation pod and the low-tier, second level mech of the Domination League’s system are less smooth to operate than his personal mech. But having already adapted to the simulation pod’s controls, he makes only a small complaint before fully focusing on the fight. Soon, he completes both rounds.

He doesn’t continue or log out of the room right away. Curious, he opens the leaderboard to check out the notable figures of the competition, nearly blinded by the impressive point totals. 

He remembers that the League has been running for years, so these players have likely been active for quite a while, so he calms down.

Just as he’s about to close the leaderboard, he notices a sidebar listing categories like “gender”,  “region”, and “age”. Realizing that rankings can be filtered, he has an idea.

Domination League registrations require an ID card number, which makes age easily identifiable, though players can choose to keep it hidden. Following Chi Haitian’s advice, Bai Shi selected “yes” when asked, so his profile displays as “under 18”.

Ages change over time, automatically moving players to the appropriate categories. So the “under 18” category mainly includes newcomers, with no one reaching the astronomical scores seen in the main rankings.

With that in mind, Bai Shi quickly finds and selects the “under 18” option.

In the Bell Galaxy, there are thousands of planets. Many young players compete in the adult group, some displaying their age and others choosing to hide it, but all appear on this list. 

Bai Shi looks over the rankings and finds himself fairly high up. He’d be even more pleased if he could change his name. He briefly scans the players above him and suddenly notices one in particular.

ID: Blue Wings, Current Score: 112, Wins: 112, Losses: 0

In other words, this player also has a winning streak.

Bai Shi opens Blue Wing’s profile, seeing that it’s just as sparse as his own, except for gender and age. With no other info available, he closes the page.

As he’s about to log off for dinner, a notification chime suddenly sounds. A new message box appears on the screen. Bai Shi opens it and pauses.

[Blue Wings]: Want to play a match?

According to League rules, only players with the same score can compete against each other, so players in the mid-to-lower levels can’t encounter opponents with different scores in the main arena. 

To address this, the League has set up practice rooms around the main arena, where players can invite each other to practice without affecting their scores.

Blue Wings wants to challenge him in a practice room. Bai Shi figures this person was probably also browsing the leaderboard and noticed his record, prompting the invitation.

In real life, he’d chalk this up to coincidence. But here in a novel-like setting, it feels like fate. He decides immediately.

[Supreme Dunce]: I’m in!

Blue Wings responds quickly, sending a room number and password in less than a minute. Bai Shi swiftly enters.

Announcements in the Domination League appear across regions, and Bai Shi’s region is set to his planet’s Bell Galaxy. While the daily announcements of winning streaks are nothing new, Bai Shi’s rapid achievement of ten, fifty, and one hundred consecutive wins in a single afternoon has drawn attention.

Curious viewers click on his ID, first seeing his modest score and noticing he’s still in the lower ranks. They’re about to close the page when a glance at the age annotation catches their eye, causing them to pause and look over his profile.

A newcomer to the League, under 18, and a hundred consecutive wins… These keywords together spark a bit of interest.

“Could he be a student from a military academy? Looks pretty skilled.”

“Could be. There was another under-18 player with a winning streak yesterday, maybe they’re from the same academy? It’s not winter break yet, is it? Don’t they have classes?”

“Who knows…”

With such low scores, most people simply chat briefly before moving on to the League’s top competitors. Only a few remain curious, including a newly established club.

A group of managers at the club gathers to discuss and ultimately decides to report this to their capable young master. They connect their communicator, watching a large, semi-transparent screen as a person’s holographic image appears.

His features are refined, with an expression that seems gentle. But a closer look reveals a piercing chill in his eyes, cold enough to freeze anyone in place. Though only fifteen, his gaze carries the aura of a leader, commanding respect.

This young master is the youngest son of General Song. Exceptionally talented, he has attracted the attention from both the Royal Military Academy and the military. 

The academy even tried to admit him as a special case, but the young master declined, saying he didn’t want to miss out on high school. After much persuasion, the academy gave up and planned to recruit him in the future.

Yet after they left, he never returned to his school. Instead, he requested a team and funding from his family and promptly started his own business.

Young Master Song runs a profitable operation, blending black-market dealings with legitimate businesses and developing a growing armed force. Which lead General Song to worry his son might be planning a revolt. Concerned, the general even hired a psychologist to counsel him.

Young Master Song has since calmed down a bit, focusing more on business, which has thrived. News of his projects drives the academy and military officials to repeatedly plead with General Song, insisting that such talent must not go to waste in commerce.

General Song, stressed enough to start losing hair, eventually talks to his son, who assures him he’ll eventually join the military. Only then does the general relax. With his father’s approval, Young Master Song expands his business, including ventures like this club.

Young Master Song looks at them and asks: “What’s going on?”

The managers quickly summarize the situation: “Both of them are under 18. Blue Wings entered the Domination League yesterday and seems to have just logged in today. The other one has been playing all afternoon and has already achieved a hundred consecutive wins.”

Young Master Song casually hums in response, not seeming to care too much. “Let me know when they reach 500 consecutive wins. If it takes over three months, just forget about it.”

The managers wipe sweat from their brows. Winning streaks are interrupted as soon as a player loses a single match, and then the count resets. The higher the score, the stronger the opponents, making it increasingly difficult to maintain a winning streak.

They believe that if these two are nurtured within the club, they might become outstanding. Can they really just ignore them? Tentatively, they ask: “But they’re both under 18… Is that possible?”

Young Master Song replies calmly: “If it were me, I could do it.”

The managers wipe their brows again. “Who does he think he is, that everyone can be as extraordinary as him?!”

This young master is wealthy, powerful, and talented. With a face that is perfectly handsome from every angle. He’s simply too cool, making one want to drag him out and burn him like a character from a novel or an idol drama.

Perhaps feeling a bit lonely, he has recently started to pay attention to some talented youths. But his standards are so high that no one has impressed him yet. If these two fail to meet his expectations, he likely won’t bother with them.

However, they all agree that the young master’s intentions are hard to guess. Does he want to find equally skilled friends to play with? Or does he not want to see others as outstanding as himself, so he plans to eliminate them early? It’s really difficult to say.

Young Master Song looks at them and asks: “Any more questions?”

The managers shake their heads in unison, assuring him they will keep an eye on those two. They respectfully watch as the Young Master disconnects the communication.

Meanwhile, the two players being monitored are engrossed in their battle, both piloting low-tier, second level mechs, relying entirely on their skills. 

Bai Shi exchanges several rounds with his opponent, realizing this player is quite strong, making him even more focused and serious.

As their firepower gradually depletes, they switch to close combat. Blue Wing’s fighting skills are decent, but Bai Shi’s practical experience from battling monsters gives him an edge. With his mind highly concentrated, Blue Wing’s movements begin to slow in Bai Shi’s eyes. Soon, he seizes an opportunity and delivers a decisive blow.

“Ha ha ha, that feels great!” Blue Wings laughs. 

“You’re not bad. Want to be friends?”

Bai Shi enjoys the match as well, nodding in agreement and adding Blue Wings as a friend.

“I see you’re not yet 18. Are you a military academy student?” Blue Wings asks.

“No, what about you?”

“I’m not either.” Blue Wings replies with a smile. 

“Your skills are impressive, you must have been practicing for a while. Do you want to join a club for the League?”

Bai Shi is momentarily taken aback. Just like in football and basketball, there are leagues for mech combat as well. 

When the Domination League reached its fifth year, businesses recognized the potential for profit. So they established numerous clubs that recruit players to participate in large-scale mech league competitions.

He has heard of some well-known teams, like one from the Royal Military Academy, which includes outstanding students from the mech department with exceptional abilities. 

There’s also a club reportedly run by veterans, whose teams only accept retired mech pilots, making them quite formidable.

Previously, he only listened to these discussions casually. Now that he’s entered the Domination League and hears Blue Wings mention the league, he vaguely recalls something but can’t quite grasp it. 

Bai Shi simply responds: “I haven’t thought it through. Maybe.”

“Hmm, I have high hopes for you. Even if you don’t join the league, you’ll definitely become famous one day.” Blue Wings says.

Bai Shi subconsciously replies: “I’ll do my best.” Then he thinks about standing at the top of the network with this ID in the future and suddenly goes silent.

He feels a wave of despair. Noticing Bai Shi’s silence, Blue Wings asks: “What are your plans for later?”

Bai Shi snaps back to reality, remembering he needs to eat. He bids farewell to Blue Wings and logs off.

Feeling a bit uneasy, he sits in his chair and reflects on the league for a moment. After two minutes, he finally recalls a fragment of a conversation. Someone in the group chat mentioned wanting to write about the protagonist forming a team to battle against the Royal Academy. 

But it was just an idea, not a decision, and he doesn’t know what happened afterward. What did they say about needing money to form a team? How could they make the protagonist get some cash?

He recalls someone jokingly suggesting: “Let him sell a kidney.”

Bai Shi: “……”

“Hell no! I’d never sell a kidney!”

He takes a deep breath, realizing he shouldn’t overthink it. Since that group didn’t say they’d write anything, even if they did, he wouldn’t cooperate. 

This world tends to make adjustments for unreasonable things, so he might not have to sell a kidney after all. But what else could he sell?

Bai Shi falls silent. “Dammit, selling anything seems like a terrible idea!”