Chapter 7, The Orientation

It took awhile for the noise to quiet down.

"Hello to all the trainees of the East Youths Sports Camp, 3045. I am your tennis coach Zhu Ning. First, I'd like to congratulate you for being chosen among so many candidates and coming here to be the best. Meanwhile, I need to tell you that your examination has just begun. In this profession, the only secret to let you survive is to become stronger by building your ability and character. It's all about willpower.

So, everybody here will be given a rigorous test. Only the top 15 of you who can stand here until the end will be qualifiers of the ultimate youth national team. I believe that everyone must have an exception for this journey.

But I must tell you seriously, it may be much harder than what you think. And you have the right to remove the camp pass, put your hands up and give up. So, you don't need to stay here and endure the difficulties in the coming five months. If anyone wants to leave or give up, please raise your hand up." Coach Zhu Ning said as he waited for trainees to respond. After two minutes, there was still no one raising their hands.

Everyone looked at each other but no one raised their hand. After coming this far, no one will just give up without trying. Even cowards won't do it.

Besides, how could someone quit on their own accord when they're this close to their dream? They wouldn't give it up, not while they still haven't achieved anything yet.

Zhu Ning nodded with a smile .

"It's good to see that everyone is ready to fight. Although some of you might not make the National youth team, given how far you go, there will still be an opportunity for. I am Ye Liushui, your basketball coach. Let me tell you about the living conditions. As you have seen after entering the camp, from the security, staff, coaches, and down to you trainees, we are all male." Ye Liushui said with a grin.

Some of the trainees who hadn't paid attention to this little detail couldn't help nodding their heads. Some of them even had the urge to slap him upside his head. That kind of attitude was going against everything that they had imagined. No women means they have to do everything by themselves!

Ye Liushui continues to drop the boom: "That is to say, do not expect cooked food to be given to you…"

"What?" Some people started shouting.

"What are we going to starve to death?"

"If no food is provided, what are we going to eat?"

"This must be a joke!"

The trainees immediately started murmuring again. Some of them looked quite disappointed. Some others were shocked.

"No, you heard me wrong… I wasn't implying that you'll be eating canned stuff…. But, since you're here already, you can't complain that we are not feeding you properly. Instead, you're allowed to use what you find around the camp and whatever you want to eat."

Ye Liushui clears his throat to get everyone's attention: "We have three kitchens filled with fresh ingredients, fruits, drinks and packaged food. Those who want to eat cooked food, will have to do it themselves."

Most of the trainees nodded their heads in approval. No matter what Era it is, teenagers' food cannot be messed with.

"Let's talk about the surveillance on camp. Greetings to you all, I am Yin Shun, your soccer coach. If you haven't noticed, I'll be happy to bring this to your attention. The program Youthful Age of Youths is a live broadcast reality show. There are over fifty surveillance cameras on this camp. Places including: outside, halls, buildings, kitchens, dorms and bathrooms."

Yin Shun paused dramatically.

"You guys should know that there is a high chance of getting caught. This is the reason why you should watch out in advance whenever you enter a place."

"What? No privacy? You gotta be kidding!"

"Sir, you can't joke with things like that."

"If even the bathroom doesn't have privacy, then we could as well shower outside."

"Why would you have cameras in the shower?"

"No way! This won't do."

Hearing that there was no privacy on camp, no one could stay still. A lot of trainees were already standing up. Most of them felt uncomfortable while others felt excited to try it out. The other coaches give Yin Shun a side glance as if to tell him to stop fooling around.

Yin Shun sighed in defeat. Then he continued. " Couch, It saddens me that kids these days cannot take jokes. Surveillance is on the mentioned location excluding the bathrooms. Right now, as we speak, people on goalgo.com are watching us. The netizens would be your support to monitor your progress and cheer you on."

The program is live broadcast which means their families and friends could be watching them at any time. This gives them mixed feelings of excitement, fear and determination. Some trainees felt relieved while others felt anxious.

"I am your baseball coach, Gu Ruoyun. Let's talk about your training and requirements. There will be frequent challenges and exams. The challenges would determine your place and level. Meanwhile, after every exam, some people would have to leave."

"There are two types of training, regular training and required training. Regular training is your normal daily training and you won't need the supervision of a coach. Before every required training, the monitor will make an announcement so be sure to listen carefully when you hear the monitor."

"I would like to welcome all trainees who have taken the first step towards their dreams to the Youthful age of Youths, year 3045. I am Xue Peng, your volleyball coach. There are multiple opportunities in life, and although some are easy to come by, they're more difficult to keep."

"I believe everyone is here for the same reason. You all want to be the final fifteen who passes the qualifier. The only thing that determines your stay is the effort and hard you put in. At this moment, everyone is at the bottom of the pyramid. Those who will climb up and those who fall at the bottom will be decided after every competition."

"On the left of the screen, is the Camp uniform: Red swap pants with white stripes. This will identify you as trainees from the East Camp. The uniforms have name tags on them. Once you take yours, you're free to go to your dorm. Don't forget to grab a blanket and your luggage at the material claim area. Once again, welcome to the Youthful Age of Youths East Camp. We are delighted to have you."

All the trainees stood up and bow towards the stage answering in unison: "Thanks you for having us."

The stage screen closed after the coaches said their goodbye. Once the left screen opened, everyone went forward to get their camp uniform. At the material claim area, The blankets and their luggage were neatly packed at the side of the hall.

Chen Guangjun found his luggage quickly since his suitcase was a little eye-catching. It was a big blue suitcase with red lining. Just as he was picking his blanket to leave, a cold hand touched his cheek which gave him a fright.

"There you are." Zhang Yuanfen laughed at Chen Guangjun's reaction.

"You scared me. I couldn't find you, so I decided to pack my belongings first."

"What a coincidence, I was also looking for you. What dorm was assigned to you?"

"The W building, room 109."

"109?" Zhang Yuanfen checked his camp pass to confirm and laughed. "Wait so we can go together . I am also assigned to the same room."

"Really? That's good."

After Zhang Yuanfen found his suitcase, the two of them went off together.