When Shen Nian got home, Shen Yue was already asleep. As usual, he took a shower and then locked himself in his room to read.
Around 11:30 p.m., his phone rang.
"Hey, Mom, why are you calling so late?"
His mother's voice came through the phone.
"Haven’t seen you in ages. Why don’t you come back to town with Little Chun during the National Day holiday?"
Shen Nian paused. He hadn’t been home since summer break, and counting the second semester of his sophomore year and now September, it had been almost half a year since he last visited. During that time, he hadn’t even made a single video call.
Even though he lived off-campus, to his parents in town, it made little difference—they still rarely saw him.
"Yeah, I’ll come back for a few days during the holiday," he said with a laugh.
"Good, good."
"Miss me that much, huh? Why don’t you just come visit instead?"
"Who misses you? Come back and help with chores."
"..." Shen Nian’s lips twitched as his mom continued nagging.
"I saw in the parents’ group chat that you guys have midterms coming up soon?"
"Yeah."
"How’s studying going?"
"Not bad."
"Do well on the exams. If you don’t, I’ll treat you to a ‘bamboo shoot roast’ when I get back."
"?"
Now that’s a real mom for you.
...
The next day, Tuesday—exam day.
The classroom, now cleared of textbooks, felt oddly spacious. Some students were diligently reviewing, while those who hadn’t bothered bringing books were napping at their desks. A few, too restless to sleep, stared blankly at math problems, their souls already leaving their bodies.
Shen Nian had only slept for four hours, yet he was bursting with energy—terrifyingly so. He could probably wolf down three big bowls of rice in one go.
He’d never taken midterms seriously before, but this time, he was ready. Intermediate-level monsters, your daddy’s here!
At 9 a.m., the exams began. Students flooded the hallways, crowding the narrow staircases. Shen Nian flipped his seat around, grabbed his pen, and stood in the corridor for a moment—some people really didn’t mind squeezing through like sardines.
Chen Dong shared his sentiment. "I’m so damn tired..."
"Did you stay up late?"
"Nah, just tired for no reason."
"Definitely stayed up late."
"You’re such an idiot. Not everything is about staying up late," Chen Dong scoffed. "Sometimes you just feel exhausted even if you slept normally. Meanwhile, you pull all-nighters and still look fresh as hell the next day. Seriously, you deserve to die."
"Why do I deserve to die now?"
"Dunno, just following procedure."
"..."
Once the crowd thinned, Shen Nian and Chen Dong headed to their respective classrooms.
Some students lingered in the hallway, cramming last-minute notes—mostly ancient poetry for the Chinese exam. Shen Nian even spotted someone scribbling cheat sheets on their palm.
He’d already memorized most of the required poems. Aside from English, he didn’t really have any weak subjects. And now, even that biggest weakness was gone. He was the complete dragon.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Li Shiyan leaning against the railing, letting the breeze ruffle her hair. The airhead girl stood straight, her bangs occasionally blowing into her eyes or mouth. She’d puff her cheeks and swat them away in frustration.
Adorable.
Shen Nian sidled up to her, cleared his throat, and called softly.
"Li Shiyan."
Li Shiyan froze. That familiar voice saying her name—she must’ve misheard. If it were Shen Nian, he’d definitely call her "Loli Girl" or "Loli Chick" instead.
Just thinking about it made her mad. Who was the real loli here? She had curves, damn it!
Ugh, maybe she should ask the proctor for extra scratch paper and force-feed Shen Nian some more "red stones" later.
When she didn’t react, Shen Nian tried again.
"Loli Chick?"
"Ah!"
Li Shiyan nearly jumped out of her skin. Since when did Shen Nian spawn next to her?
Shen Nian stroked his chin. Earlier, she’d hated being called that, yet she only responded to "Loli Chick." Tsundere much?
"You… why are you here?"
"We’re in the same exam room. Didn’t you know?"
"Oh… right."
"What’re you standing around for? Let’s go in."
"Okay…"
"Wait." Shen Nian stopped her again.
Li Shiyan stiffened, caught between fleeing and staying. Whatever Shen Nian wanted, it couldn’t be good.
In their first two years, they hadn’t interacted much—just casual classmates who chatted occasionally. But since senior year, their encounters had increased.
Not that they were pleasant. She kind of wanted to die.
"What… what is it?"
If Shen Nian was about to mess with her, she’d drop to her knees and beg him to stop, then hang herself from his desk the next day.
Shen Nian pondered for a moment before grinning. "Are you usually lucky?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Like, do you ever step in dog poop or find money on the street?"
The sudden shift in topic made Li Shiyan relax slightly. She had no clue where this was going, but she thought it over.
"I used to find money a lot as a kid, but not so much now. Never stepped in dog poop, though."
"Tch." Shen Nian frowned. So she wasn’t the Goddess of Fortune after all.
"But I often get Meituan coupons that inflate to 15 bucks off. Does that count?"
"?"
Holy crap. This girl’s definitely hacking.
People who won the lottery bragging about luck? Shen Nian would scoff. But someone who regularly got 15-off coupons? He’d kill for that.
That’s the real deal.
Coupons inflating to 15, cashback deals netting 400 bucks—Li Shiyan was capital’s worst nightmare. A few more like her, and corporations would go bankrupt.
If this wasn’t the Goddess of Fortune, Shen Nian would move into a mansion with two silver-haired maids.
"What’s wrong?" Li Shiyan tilted her head, clueless.
Shen Nian straightened up. "Hey, can you wish me luck for the exam? Like, ‘May you soar to new heights, guess all the right answers, and ace every question’?"
"Huh?"
"Come on, the exam’s about to start."
"..." Li Shiyan bit her lip. "May you soar to new heights, guess all the right answers, ace every question, and score higher with each test."
Shen Nian stayed silent, staring at her intently.
Or rather, at his system’s response.
Nothing. Zip. Nada. Either he’d messed up, or Li Shiyan wasn’t the one.
Damn system. If someone who hacks coupons for 15-off and racks up 400 bucks in cashback isn’t lucky enough, what is?
Do the coupons need to inflate to 18?
Do drinks need to ring up for 1 yuan every time?
Does Alipay need to hand out free purchases daily before you’re satisfied?
System, get out here. We need to talk.
"Anything else…?" Li Shiyan whispered, barely daring to breathe.
"Nah, we’re good." Shen Nian waved her off. A week in, and still no leads on the Goddess of Fortune. Might as well focus on the exam.
"I’ll head in, then."
Shen Nian nodded and followed her into the classroom. The warning bell rang, and the clack of the proctor’s heels echoed down the hall.
Yan Xi reminds you: Due to Tomato's request for over 3 million daily visits causing excessive server pressure, we now recommend switching to other top-tier sources.
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)
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
] [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!"
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
