Crease: Chapter 3 (Examination Techniques)
“Apart from that fella, who else could have known the entirety of the DAA like the back of his hand?”
The phone pings with BluSky's unique notification alert, and Gideon taps on his screen to take a peek.
You received a new comment on your post: [Featured] The Heartthrob's Secret Manual: Hurry, Sign Up For Coach Chen's Deepspace Tunnel Emergency Combat Assessment Now!
WHAM—Gideon slams his phone onto the table, with the screen facedown. Though he's munching away on the canteen's fried vegetables, Gideon finds it hard to swallow the food. Patrick gives him a look from across the table.
"Someone replied to that post again? If it's really that difficult to deal with, then you should just delete the post. If it's out of sight, you might stop thinking about it."
"How could I do that?" Gideon said, forcing a smile to his lips. "This post is my personal best on BluSky with the most comments! It even set a record. What a waste it'd be if I deleted it!"
Patrick doesn't respond. He taps away on his phone to search for the aforementioned post with an unsurpassed record of having the most comments:
[Featured] The Heartthrob's Secret Manual: Quick, Sign Up For Coach Chen's Deepspace Tunnel Emergency Combat Assessment Now! @MyHeartSoars posted in <Daily Happenings> forum section:
He's wearing a pink shirt underneath his uniform today; it's the one his wife gifted to him for their wedding anniversary. It's a representation of his mood for today: sunny skies all around. This is your only chance to score full marks on the trainee impressions section—apart from those who are already scoring the full 90 marks for the written component of the exam! Believe me!
This post originally came about from a casual conversation in the dorms. For new hires entering the DAA, the mid-year assessment is a nightmarish test that sends chills down their spines. In order to pass the exam, one would need strong technical skills and professional capabilities. On top of that, Coach Chen has extremely strict expectations for a pilot’s personal conduct and habits when flying. His requirements are so austere that even those who had prior flying experiences would find scoring 90 marks and above to be an unattainable pipe dream.
“But,” Gideon said with a loud voice, “there’s gotta be some tips and tricks that we can use, right?” Rolling the DAA exam papers into a makeshift microphone, he pointed it at Caleb and added, “Mister handsome guy who scores full marks.”
Caleb, who was laser-focused on painting the plastic model in front of him, replied without even lifting his head. “Having technical skills is what actually matters.”
Gideon shrugged his shoulders.
An hour later, BluSky’s very first post on exam hacks went live on the [Featured Posts] section of the forum. Though the original poster seemed to be making things up with a ludicrous rumour of the pink shirt, the comment section started becoming packed with valuable intel. Some commenters cut to the chase and shared encrypted study materials on key examinable components, saving recruits from a life and death situation. Other commenters pivoted to offering more subtle hints, like helping to figure out the different quirks that each examiner had. They offered up solutions in a calm and collected way, appeasing any and all who needed it. Every new development and change to the DAA’s examinations were recorded here, and one could find the answer to their question in this thread even if years had gone by.
Someone even mentioned Coach Chen on this post, and most people were expecting him to demand the deletion of this thread. What surprised them instead was the hint of pride that emanated from his response:
“Apart from that fella, who else could have known the entirety of the DAA like the back of his hand?”
Coach Chen's comment was pinned by the admin. Underneath his response, Patrick sees the comment that pinged Gideon’s phone—
“Coach Chen has already retired. When will the Heartthrob update this secret manual? @PaperApple”
03 考核攻略
手机响起天天圈独特的提示音，蒋飞点开屏幕看了一眼——你的帖子 《【精】署草秘籍：抓紧去约陈教的隧道探测应急战斗考核！》 收到了最新评论。
啪——手机屏幕被反扣在桌上，嚼着食堂的炒菜，蒋飞有些食不下咽。张鹏坐在对面，看了他一眼。
“又有人在那篇帖子下回复了？实在不行，把帖子删了吧，看不到也就不会想了。”
“这怎么行。”蒋飞努力咧出个笑，“这可是我在天天圈的最高楼！还创下过纪录，如果没了，多可惜！”
张鹏不作声，打开手机找到那篇在天天圈里创下了无法超越的回复数量纪录的帖子——
【精】署草秘籍：抓紧去约陈教的隧道探测应急战斗考核！
我芯飞扬 发布于分版：天天向上>
他今天在制服外套里穿了粉衬衫，就是那件他老婆送的结婚纪念日礼物。代表他今日心情：晴。
这是排除卷面技术满分90外，能够获得学员印象满分的唯一机会！
信我！
帖子最初只是源自宿舍里的一次闲聊，DAA入职第一年的中期考核是一道令人望而生畏的魔鬼门槛，要想通过考核，无疑需要极其扎实的核心技术与专业能力。而陈教对于飞行员的自身素养和飞行习惯要求又极为严格，即便专业过硬，想要拿到90分以上还是天方夜谭。
不过——蒋飞大咧咧地说：“总还是有点技巧的嘛，是吧？”他将DAA专用科测纸卷成话筒对准夏以昼，“这位满分的帅哥。”
夏以昼正聚精会神地为面前的模型上色，头也没抬：“技术才是硬道理。”
蒋飞耸耸肩，一小时后，天天圈精华区里第一篇考试攻略帖出炉。以主楼疑似胡说八道的粉衬衫传闻打头阵，评论区塞满干货，进能单刀直入甩出重点范围的加密包，救人于水火之中；退能摸清楚不同教官打分时的偏好，不动声色递上最合心意的方案。任何关于DAA考核的新动向，都可以在这里摸索到答案，经年不衰。
甚至有人拿这篇帖子@陈教，本以为陈教会勒令删帖，没想到他回复的字里行间居然还透露着骄傲——
“除了那小子，谁能把DAA摸得这么透！”
陈教的回复被管理员置顶，在他的回复下，张鹏看到了让蒋飞的手机响起的最新评论——
“陈教都退休了，署草什么时候更新秘籍？@纸苹果” Source for CN Transcript: lysk.site/主线/世界深处/折痕
03 Assessment Guide
His phone chimes with Daily Circle's distinctive notification sound. Gideon taps the screen and glances at it. Your post "[Featured] DAA Heartthrob's Hacks: Hurry, Sign Up for Charwood's Deepspace Tunnel Emergency Combat Assessment! " has received a new comment.
Thud! Gideon slams the phone face down on the table. Swallowing the dining hall's stir-fry is difficult. Patrick, who's sitting across from him, gives him a look.
"Someone replied to it again? If it gets too bad, delete the post. Out of sight, out of mind."
"That won't do." Gideon forces himself to smile. "This is my best in Daily Circle! It even set a record. If it's gone, it'd be a waste!"
Patrick says nothing and unlocks his phone to find that post with the unbeatable record for reply count.
[Featured] DAA Heartthrob's Hacks: Hurry, Sign Up for Charwood's Deepspace Tunnel Emergency Combat Assessment!
MyHeartSoars posted in subsection: Daily Progress >
Today he's wearing a pink shirt under his uniform jacket. It's the one his wife gave him as an anniversary gift. It represents his mood today: sunny. This is the only chance to get full marks for trainee impressions aside from achieving a perfect score of 90 on the written exam!
Trust me!
The post originated from a casual dorm chat.
The midyear assessment for first-year DAA recruits is a nightmarish hurdle that strikes fear into everyone's hearts. Passing the evaluation undoubtedly requires extremely solid technical skills and professional competency. And Charwood has incredibly strict requirements for pilots' personal conduct and flying habits. Even with expertise, scoring above 90 is still wishful thinking.
But Gideon made a casual remark. "There has to be some kind of trick to it, right?" He rolled up the DAA test papers into a makeshift microphone and pointed it at Caleb. "Say something, pretty boy with a perfect score."
Caleb was concentrating on painting his model and didn't even look up. "Technical skills are what really matter."
Gideon shrugged. An hour later, the first exam strategy post appeared in Daily Circle's Featured section. Starting with the main post's seemingly ridiculous pink shirt rumors, the comments section became packed with valuable intel. For direct advice, it cut to the chase and shared encrypted study packages, which rescued people from desperate situations. As for the more subtle hints, it figured out different instructors' grading preferences and discreetly offered the most appealing solutions. Any new developments about the DAA assessments could be uncovered here, and it remained relevant year after year.
Someone even tagged Charwood in the post.
Everyone thought he'd asked for it to be deleted, but unexpectedly, his reply revealed a hint of pride between the lines.
"No one understands DAA more thoroughly than he does!"
Charwood's reply was pinned by the administrator, and under his response, Patrick sees the latest comment that made Gideon's phone buzz.
"Charwood retired. When will the DAA heartthrob update his guide?
@PaperApple"
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