Reboot: Mechanic

After realizing that the scenario would change once he integrated himself into the recording, Shi Tian subsequently paused the recording and turned back the time of it.

And touching his neck that was slashed by Mary, Shi Tian felt a chill running down his spine.

Even though his neck was unharmed, when the slash happened, he felt excruciating anguish and a sense of impending death. 

Thankfully, it was just a battle simulation and not the real world, but Shi Tian knew that the pain he felt was the same as the person that was killed by Mary had felt as well. 

If it wasn't because of being in the simulation, Shi Tian could tell he would have died in the same manner. 

'Ugh, so memorizing her attack and movement position was pointless if I wanted to attempt to face her myself as well.' Shi Tian smacked his head and lamented.

Though, after some thinking, Shi Tian thought that improvisation shouldn't be that bad. If Mary's movement would alter because of his integration, then it just meant memorizing wouldn't work and that he would physically need to attempt to defend against her.

Such a method might be even more effective- no, it was definitely more effective than memorization. 

"Heh, this is getting interesting." Shi Tian smirked as he stretched his body, getting ready for round 2. 

The first round ended with him being pathetically slain, but that was because he didn't realize an improvisation would occur. 

Who could ever imagine a recording would be able to alter itself? 

Normally, a recording was something of a recorded performance and could be edited, but definitely not the sequence of events that had already happened. 

Meaning, if Mary killed the person in this particular area and motion, then it would have been impossible to edit that out without it feeling disorientated. After all, such edits are easy to spot no matter how proficient the editor was. 

However, Shi Tian actually felt the same anguish and force applied by Mary when he sensed a different part of his neck being cut other than the recorded part.

"Anyway, since this is the case, then I'll just shoot at her before she can reach me." Shi Tian muttered, feeling excited at this battle simulation. 

It was even better than the formation room that Isaac Aaronax had introduced him to. The dummy robot was good to train, but there was definitely a limit on fighting a dummy robot versus an actual live human. 

Without wasting any more time, Shi Tian began the 2nd round, and right when Mary had pulled out the dagger from her belt on the waist. Shi Tian began firing his pistol at her.

The bullets were fast and targeted at Mary's vital point. 

Unfortunately, Shi Tian severely underestimated the improvisation because Mary seemed to have sensed the danger from afar already.

Her movement blurred even faster than before, and despite the playback speed being at 0.10, Shi Tian's eyes still failed to track her movement. 

And before he realized it, blood began gushing out from his neck, prompting Shi Tian to cancel the battle simulation and return it to the start.

'Damn it, so if she sensed danger, then her movement would also increase and counterattack.' Shi Tian cursed silently. He was hoping to have a headstart in attacking, but apparently, that was completely useless against Mary.

His cheating had backfired hard and resulted in him tasting another round of defeat. 

A defeat that was so embarrassing. Luckily, it was just him alone in the battle simulation so his deed went unnoticed. 

Taking a deep breath, Shi Tian smiled sneakily as he glanced at the recording that was just made available. 

"I swear… this technology is just too surreal." He chuckled softly, clicking on the recording that displayed the improvisation that Mary had done. It was a good thing he raised his intelligence to think this far ahead.

Although he didn't know whether it was possible to record the simulation made within the recording itself, he still attempted to try. 

And now his gamble proved fruitful.

With the new recording that showcased Mary's new action upon sensing danger, Shi Tian was able to study it again, increasing his comprehension of Mary's fighting capability.

His reason for studying?

An opponent isn't scary because they are strong, but because the power they displayed is unknown. Hence, by comprehending Mary's action thoroughly, Shi Tian was sure that he could find a counterplay to her swift movement and dagger technique. 

Time slowly passed by, and after using all of her eye power, Shi Tian finally noticed a slight flaw in Mary's movement.

Maybe it was a habit or something she did unconsciously, but every time Mary made her move. Her left thigh would always lower for a brief moment, affecting her slightly. 

Since it was such a brief moment, nobody could detect such a difference. After all, he required a speed of 0.10 to even detect such a flaw from her. 

'Mary's left thigh doesn't seem to be injured in any way, yet, she still reacted as if it was injured during that brief moment. So this could either be a psychological trauma she had experienced or something developed out of habit.' Shi Tian thought to himself. 

Nevertheless, this was a great discovery that could be used to defeat Mary. 

As shameless as this method was, only fools would not capitalize on their opponent's weakness to their advantage. 

Closing this short recording, Shi Tian resumed the original recording, putting himself in position once again.

"Let's begin round 3," Shi Tian held the pistol confidently and began the recording.

As usual, Mary's right hand reached for the dagger that was on her belt, and Shi Tian instantly used this moment to shoot his bullet.

Unlike the previous time when he would target her vital points, Shi Tian specifically targeted the area around her left thigh.

And sure enough, Mary's body flinched a bit upon realizing where the bullets were going. 

Seeing such a reaction, Shi Tian's smile turned colder, "Checkmate!"