Tomorrow was a workday, so Shen Yue went to bed at 11 PM.
Shen Nian had just closed his book after studying for several hours, his neck and back aching slightly.
Alas, an adventurer's journey is always fraught with obstacles—what’s a little studying in comparison?
Lying in bed, Shen Nian opened his system tasks.
Two tasks were currently visible: one main quest and one side quest.
Side quests, being trigger-based, weren’t too bad. The main quest, however, was a pain—it followed a linear progression, requiring completion of one before unlocking the next.
Though there was no time limit, it was still annoying. Worse, the rewards for main quests so far paled in comparison to side quests.
Maybe he should just skip the main quest!
Just kidding. Who would turn down money?
He just wanted more side quests. Forget passive skills—even life skills would do.
Take today’s fishing trip. The ability to catch several big fish in under an hour might seem unremarkable, but it was downright OP.
Even if he accomplished nothing else in life, mastering fishing alone would ensure he’d never go hungry—his safety net was absurdly high.
As for other life skills like Cooking Mastery, Farming Mastery, or Animal Husbandry Mastery... Shen Nian was too much of a coward to even fantasize.
Fishing Mastery was proof enough. The system hadn’t given him any actual fishing knowledge, yet he could reel in fish effortlessly.
"Don’t look at me—the fish practically begged to be caught."
Swap that with Cooking Mastery...
"I dunno, the beef just jumped into the pot and breakdanced itself into a dish."
Or Animal Husbandry Mastery...
"Isn’t raising shrimp just tossing in the fry? Water quality, oxygen, feed—what are those?"
Why should others spend a decade mastering a skill when he could do it in two days?
To be fair, Shen Nian had put in effort and sweat—it’s just that the sweat was on someone else’s brow.
The next day, Monday.
Shen Nian woke up a minute before his alarm.
Have you seen Harvard’s library at 4 AM?
Well, Shen Nian hadn’t—just as Harvard’s library had never seen him.
If Harvard’s library missed out on Shen Nian, that was its loss. Such was his life philosophy.
Blaming yourself for everything breeds insecurity and anxiety, so it’s crucial to shift the blame onto others.
He went to school with Xia Yanchun. The graded weekly test papers from yesterday had been returned.
Out of 600 points, Shen Nian scored 548: 90 in Chinese, 100 in Math, 74 in English, and 284 in Science.
At first glance, it looked impressive, but weekly tests were informal, with easy questions set by teachers—hardly a meaningful benchmark.
Still, his English score was worth noting. Regardless of difficulty, Shen Nian had previously scored 40-50 points purely on luck, hitting rock bottom with 21 once. A certified English failure.
But this time, armed with memorized vocabulary, he’d climbed to 74.
A small step for the score, a giant leap for Shen Nian—transitioning from pure luck to pure skill, zero to one.
Enough chatter. Point is, Shen Nian was thrilled and decided to mooch a chicken leg off Chen Dong at lunch.
The system panel popped up.
[Side Quest: Youthful Ambition! (Completed) Reward: 1000 gold, Passive Skill: Unyielding Spirit (Continuous bodily recovery, heightened combat focus)]
[Main Quest: Courage is Humanity’s Anthem! (Completed) Reward: 1000 gold]
[New Main Quest Unlocked: When the Pupils Still.
First hunt against a mid-tier monster. Reward: 1000 gold, Title: Flickering Trial (Slight EXP gain boost)]
As Shen Nian expected, both quests completed simultaneously, with the next main quest unlocking only after the previous one.
He mulled it over. The new main quest required hunting a mid-tier monster... If the weekly test was an entry-level monster, then mid-tier likely meant the monthly exam.
And the monthly exam wasn’t until the end of the month...
The 1000 gold reward was meh, but the title was the real prize.
"Slight EXP gain boost"—sounded abstract.
In games, you grind monsters for EXP. In real life, grinding problems doesn’t spit out experience points.
The system lacked a stats panel too—no visible levels, base values, or caps. Just vague attribute boosts.
Then there was the new passive skill.
Continuous bodily recovery... Is it what I think it is?
Interesting.
Shen Nian had a bold idea—bolder than a one-take film shot—but he kept it to himself because it was too bold.
Morning reading began, forcing Shen Nian to shelve his quest thoughts.
Freshman military training had ended, so today all students gathered for the flag-raising ceremony, followed by a long-winded speech from the administration.
Shen Nian never listened. The principal’s speeches paled in comparison to... ULTRA HEROES!!!
Dyna, Tiga, Gaia~♩, Taiga, Tregear~♫, [forgot the middle], [forgot the end]—now THAT’S real music!♪
The morning featured back-to-back English classes. Yan Yuzhu strode in with her long legs to review the weekly test, pausing halfway to praise Shen Nian.
"Shen Nian’s improvement is remarkable. Those who’ve given up on English should ask him for study tips."
The compliment flustered him.
Heh.
"Shen Nian, come to the office after class."
"Oh." No more heh.
After class, Shen Nian followed Yan Yuzhu to the office.
The office was divided by subject. Hers housed mostly young female teachers for Chinese and English, the air tinged with a fresh, floral scent.
Shen Nian—the picture of obedience—stood dutifully beside her. "What did you need, Teacher?"
"Remember the study plan we discussed? Take this material and memorize the vocabulary and grammar. I’ll test you tonight. Do well, and there’s a reward."
Yan Yuzhu was gentle and patient—what teacher wouldn’t adore a ‘prodigal son’ student?
"Any hints about the reward?"
"Just some snacks, probably." She smiled. ‘The future is worth pursuing; it’s not too late to correct your course.’ I believe in you.
"Absolutely, Teacher. You know I’ve always loved English."
"Pfft—" Yan Yuzhu covered her mouth, shoulders shaking with laughter. Why had no one told her Shen Nian was this hilarious?
Her laughter breathed life into the otherwise dull office, drawing curious glances toward Shen Nian.
Which class’s prodigy is this, charming our pretty teacher so effortlessly?
"I’ll head back now, Teacher."
"Mm, keep up the good work."
"Roger! I’ll be Teacher Yan’s most devout follower!" Shen Nian stood at attention, eyes blazing like a Gundam pilot’s.
"Sure, sure. Oh, and if you don’t complete the task, there’s punishment too."
"Professor Yan, it seems my loyalty to you isn't quite loyal enough."
"......"
My recent condition hasn't been great—I've been slacking on updates for a few days. Let me adjust my schedule and get back to double updates. Sorry about that, orz.
Yanxi reminds you: Due to Tomato's request for 3 million+ daily visits putting too much pressure on the servers, we now recommend switching to other big players' sources:
n Our Village Many years later, Xiushui Village had transformed from a remote, impoverished hamlet into the renowned and flourishing Xiushui City of the Shifang Continent. All of this, solely because it was the birthplace of the Shifang Continent's number one sect—the Lingxian Sect. This is the story of a group of village youths, family, and friends, building a sect and growing together. Lin Xiao: As the sect master, my days are filled with countless tasks. Cultivating really gets in the way of building the sect. System: Received. Understood. Arranging it immediately. [Ding—Congratulations, Host, on successfully activating the Auto-Cultivation Function] Lin Xiao: Oh no, we're out of spirit stones. System: Received. Understood. Arranging it immediately. [Ding—Sect Mission issued. Mission Reward: Spirit Stones xN] No one loves their host more profoundly than this System!
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
