High school required morning reading sessions, preceded by an early self-study period where silence was also expected.
Over half the class was asleep, with only sporadic whispers breaking the quiet.
Shen Nian solved two advanced math problems and, noticing there was still some time left, crumpled a small piece of paper and tossed it at Xia Yanchun’s head.
Headshot! (Silver rank achievement!)
Xia Yanchun shot him a glare brimming with complex emotions—30% murderous intent, 30% dismemberment, 30% live burial, and 10% sheer indifference.
"Ack—scared me to death!"
Shen Nian crooked his finger at her, then lightly patted the empty seat by the window before pointing at the English vocabulary book.
Xia Yanchun’s eyes lit up with understanding. She tiptoed over, leaned in, and whispered into his ear, so softly only he could hear:
"Dictation?"
"Yep, starting from here." Shen Nian marked a section with his finger.
"You memorized the earlier ones already?"
"Sure did."
"No way, that’s too fast. I’m testing you on the previous words."
For English in high school, vocabulary was everything. Master the words, and even if your score wasn’t stellar, staying above 90% was a breeze.
"You memorized 600–700 words in three days? Who are you kidding? If you had that skill, why’d you score 40–50 on the last test?"
Skeptical, Xia Yanchun grilled him on 50 randomly selected words from the earlier sections, watching like a hawk as he wrote each one.
To her shock, Shen Nian aced every single one.
She gave him a thumbs-up, half-impressed, half-exasperated. "Damn, you’re good. Keep it up."
"Teacher Xia, don’t I deserve a reward for working so hard?"
The title "Teacher Xia" tickled her ego. She lifted her chin, round and delicate.
"Hmm... How about I let you swipe my meal card at lunch?"
"Nah, I’m flush with cash." Shen Nian waved a hand, the picture of righteousness. What kind of gentleman leeches off a girl’s pocket change?
"Fine, I’ll buy you a drink?" Xia Yanchun offered again.
"That’s still money!"
"Ugh, you’re impossible. Want a kick instead?"
Shen Nian stroked his chin, feigning deep thought, then subtly scooted back and glanced at Xia Yanchun’s feet.
Xia Yanchun: "..."
Oh no! A creep!
Abort mission!
Just then, the morning bell rang. Xia Yanchun seized the chance to flee—though "fleeing" merely meant moving from deskmate to pseudo-deskmate, now separated only by an aisle.
Thankfully, towering stacks of books blocked her view of Shen Nian’s face. Much better.
Something about him felt... different lately.
As the class rep led readings aloud, Shen Nian hummed a tune in the back, only mouthing the words when the rep walked by.
[Side Quest Unlocked: Aspiring Angler!
An adventurer needs diverse survival skills. Mastering fishing ensures sustenance in the wild. Land a big catch!
Reward: 1,000 gold; Survival Skill: Fishing Expertise.]
Here it is!
The obligatory fishing mini-game found in every RPG!
What’s next—gardening, farming, cooking, blacksmithing?
Fishing was alien to Shen Nian. The system expected him to land a big fish, yet he’d have to start from zero.
Time was scarce, the learning curve steep—for a high schooler, this quest was brutal.
Unlike earlier tasks, this one demanded real investment. Even veteran anglers sometimes went home empty-handed. What hope did a rookie have? And what even counted as a "big" fish?
Wish the system gave clearer instructions.
At break, Shen Nian stopped Chen Dong, who was sprinting toward the restroom.
"Know any good fishing spots nearby?"
"Sure!" Chen Dong replied instantly. "The gacha hellscape of Bilibili’s gamer forums."
"Won’t work. My ‘family’ would roast me alive."
"Easy fix. Those livestream sellers keep calling viewers ‘family.’ Just adopt a few from there."
"..."
Is Chen Dong... a genius?
Shen Nian shook his head. "I mean actual fishing. The kind where you reel in trophies."
"Qingxiu Park’s packed with anglers. But my uncle says the big catches are in paid private ponds. Gotta go—bladder’s about to explode."
Chen Dong bolted, narrowly avoiding disaster.
By mid-morning break, Shen Nian had two boxes of watermelon ready. Sweet, juicy—he took a bite. Heavenly.
"Let’s move!" Chen Dong signaled.
"GO!"
The duo marched to their doom—taunting the freshman military training squad by devouring watermelon and Coke in front of them.
No ice cream? No problem. Behold, chilled fruit and soda!
Under the 34°C (93°F) sun, tree-shaded classes were lucky. The rest? Already baking into charcoal.
African exchange students? Since when?
Parked on a bench near a platoon led by a fit female instructor, Shen Nian and Chen Dong relished their snacks.
"Check her out," Chen Dong muttered, nudging Shen Nian.
"Crushing on drill sergeants now?" Shen Nian shrugged.
"Bro, this one’s legit."
"Next you’ll fall for a college rapper."
"My love is multifaceted. My heart belongs to one, but I can still admire beauty. As the saying goes—"
"Are you actually a genius?"
Shen Nian was enlightened. This kid’s onto something.
"Wait—who’s this ‘one’ you’re loyal to? Some AV idol?"
"Classified!"
"Pathetic."
Meanwhile, venomous glares rained upon them.
Shen Nian reveled in it. Nothing beats their ‘I hate you but can’t do squat’ faces.
Hehe.
But every flex has consequences. The duo braced for their imminent roasting on Xiaohongshu and Tieba.
Taking Chen Dong’s advice, Shen Nian planned to lurk in livestreams later, recruiting "family" as sacrificial shields.
Oh, my never-met kinsmen... to the trenches with you!
The heat soon drove them back to the AC-blessed classroom.
At lunch, Shen Nian eyed the cafeteria’s snaking queue and dragged Xia Yanchun off-campus instead.
"You’re paying," he declared.
"You dragged me out and I pay?!" Xia Yanchun’s eyes widened. The audacity!
"You offered your meal card. Same difference, just better food."
"...Fine."
Pricier, but at least the A/C worked.
Shen Nian ordered claypot rice and slid into the seat opposite Xia Yanchun—until he noticed her phone propped sideways. With an awkward pivot, he plopped beside her to freeload her video stream.
Once their food arrived, he switched to scrolling their school’s forum.
Wait, where am I?
Damn, I didn’t see myself on the forum.
Buzz.
Shen Nian’s phone vibrated—it was a message from Chen Dong.
[Chen Dong]: We’re screwed, someone called us out!
[Shen Nian]: Saw it coming. Was it Xiaohongshu or the forum?
[Chen Dong]: The campus confession page.
[Shen Nian]: ?
Yan Xi reminds you: Due to Tomato’s request for 3 million+ daily visits overloading the servers, we now recommend switching to other big-name sources.
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
or! A blessing for those who struggle with love, a guidebook for dating novices. Quickly match with your dream goddess! Complete walkthroughs earn rewards, and perfect walkthroughs unlock limited achievements!】 Shen Yi, an ordinary office worker, accidentally downloads a mini-game called Dating Simulator. The mini-game is simple: randomly search for dating targets, simulate dates, and receive rewards upon successful confession. Rewards include but are not limited to money, attributes, and skills. The higher the evaluation, the better the rewards, with perfect ratings unlocking mysterious achievements. Shen Yi plans to use this mysterious mini-game to continuously pursue targets and improve himself, making his life better and better. ...... However, after several successful walkthroughs, Shen Yi suddenly notices something strange - the targets he previously simulated dating seem to be searching for him in real life?
