"???"
"The suggestions can be refreshed?"
Hearing the System's words, Zhang Beixing was stunned. This was an unexpected delight, he thought. He had just been wondering how to acquire more Ability Points. Now, it seemed his source of Ability Points was secure.
After that, he turned his attention to the Ability Points.
Zhang Beixing felt a twinge of emotion as he watched his Ability Points increase from 0 to 0.5.
He calculated that to meet the System's five-kilometer requirement, he had run at least seven kilometers—a full two kilometers more than required. In his previous life, that much exertion would have nearly equaled his total exercise for an entire month!
"But still, it's worth it to exchange for Ability Points. Come on, little treasure, let me see if you work the way I think you do."
Rubbing his hands with anticipation, Zhang Beixing found an unnoticed spot on the bleachers, sat down, and opened his Personal Panel.
On his Personal Panel, he discovered an additional plus sign next to each of his Power, Constitution, and Spirit attributes.
Zhang Beixing reached out and tapped the plus sign beside Power.
Instantly, a tingling sensation suffused his entire body.
His Ability Points decreased from 0.5 to 0.4, and his Power rose from an initial 63 to 63.1!
"..."
Looking at the change on the Attribute Panel, Zhang Beixing felt complicated. On one hand, he was thrilled; he'd guessed correctly that Ability Points were indeed for increasing attributes. On the other hand, it was a bit hard to stomach: Ability Points and attribute points were a one-to-one exchange. Spending 0.1 Ability Points only yielded a 0.1 increase in an attribute!
"Oh well, an equal exchange is fine. There's nothing wrong with it."
"It's all exercise anyway. Others train for ages and see no results, but if I follow the System's recorded suggestions, I see the effects immediately upon completion."
"Besides, the improvement from running five kilometers normally might not even be as much as what the System gives me."
"Let's just go with it!"
Having adjusted his mindset, Zhang Beixing accepted this. Looking at the remaining 0.4 Ability Points, he thought for a moment and then allocated them all to Constitution.
After all, no matter how high the values for Power and Spirit, without sufficient physical stamina as support, they would be nothing but an empty shell.
It was just as his PE teacher often said: anyone can sprint fast, but sustaining that sprint over a long time? That's what's truly impressive!
...
As an intense tingling sensation suffused his body, Zhang Beixing leaned back against the bleachers, a look of utter contentment on his face, his eyes glazed.
This feeling was just too comfortable! It felt as if he'd just been pampered by a 36D beauty with a complete Thai essential oil spa. Every pore in his body seemed to sigh in release. Comfortable, relaxed, blissful...
"Lao Zhang, what are you doing?"
Just as Zhang Beixing was lost in that euphoric sensation, unable to pull himself away, a pure and lovely face appeared before his eyes.
Zhang Beixing was startled and immediately snapped out of it.
He realized Lin Siqi had appeared before him at some point.
His expression turned rigid. He awkwardly twitched the corner of his mouth, saying, "No... not doing anything. Just sitting here resting after exercising. Sister Qi, are you... closing up shop early today?"
He forcefully changed the subject, his heart pounding. After all, he'd just been making *that* kind of face in public. That sort of thing could easily give people the wrong idea.
He felt like he might have just suffered a social death.
Lin Siqi's eyes crinkled at the corners, a smile playing on her lips. "Yes, I haven't been feeling well these past few days, so I can't stay out too late. If you're going to rest, I suggest you head back to the dormitory. Though summer is approaching, it hasn't truly warmed up yet. The evenings are still quite chilly."
"Ah, alright then, I'll head back first. See you tomorrow, Sister Qi!"
Zhang Beixing seized the opening, promptly getting up from the bleachers and making to leave for the dorms.
Lin Siqi smiled and nodded, replying, "See you tomorrow."
Then, as she passed by Zhang Beixing, she whispered, "Take care of yourself."
Her words made Zhang Beixing stumble, nearly sending him sprawling.
He pretended not to have heard and fled as if escaping a disaster.
It was only after returning to his dorm and taking a hot shower that he managed to calm down.
Today's incident solidified his resolve: he would absolutely never enhance his attributes significantly in public again! The degree of social death was practically the same as taking a dump in public!
"But then again, enhancing attributes really feels freaking awesome!"
"Just 0.4 points did this to me; what would happen if I enhanced by a whole number?"
"Is there a limit to how much my attributes can be enhanced? Can they grow indefinitely? If so... wouldn't I become a mini-Superman?"
Climbing into bed, Zhang Beixing stared at the ceiling, his mind drifting off into wild fantasies, his thoughts soaring further and further away.
Before long, accompanied by the gentle sound of snoring, Zhang Beixing had drifted into dreamland.
In his dream, Zhang Beixing found himself being interviewed on international television.
During the interview, he suddenly received 999+ Ability Points.
Then he enhanced everything all at once.
As a result, under the gaze of the global audience, he became so ecstatic he was incoherent, completely losing all sense of direction.
The grotesqueness of his facial contortions was such that even an Ahegao face would seem tame by comparison.
From then on, he gained the nickname "GC Immortal."
Doujinshi artists even based characters on him.
A global social death!
The hellish scene was so terrifying that Zhang Beixing leaped up from his bed in fright.
BANG!
With a dull thud, his head struck the ceiling, and the abruptly awakened Zhang Beixing fell right back down.
It just goes to show how resilient youth is; he was out like a light again!
...
"Lao Zhang, what's with this early morning performance art? Practicing your Iron Head technique?"
Ten minutes later, after some frantic efforts to rouse Zhang Beixing, his dark-skinned, chubby roommate struggled to suppress his laughter as he spoke.
Hearing this, Zhang Beixing rolled his eyes in annoyance. He then went to the mirror and carefully applied an ice pack to the bump on his head to reduce the swelling.
Although the noise he'd made had been loud, the injury wasn't particularly serious.
After all, if it had been serious, he wouldn't be sitting there dabbing at his head; he'd be on his way to meet his ancestors.
However, that one bump also made him realize that everything before had just been a dream.
He hadn't become a doujinshi master.
And he certainly hadn't suffered a global social death!
"Speaking of which, what were you dreaming about just now? You were so agitated, even sleep-talking about some 'master' this and 'not something' that."
When Zhang Beixing ignored him, the chubby roommate prodded further, "You were so worked up, even talking in your sleep. Something about a master, and you not being something or other."
Zhang Beixing wanted to curse, but the words changed as they left his mouth: "Nothing much, just a nightmare. I dreamed I was Kun Kun, and all my fans were like Master Ma, about to perform his Lightning Five-Link Whip on me!"
"Speaking of which, aren't you guys going to sleep? You've been gaming all night. Don't you have classes today?"
He looked at his chubby roommate and the others.
When he'd woken up, these three clowns were still at it, tanking their ranks in the game.
They'd dropped all the way to Rookie tier but were still stubbornly playing. A classic case of "all passion, no skill."
"Class? What damn class? Today's Saturday! You... okay, you really did hit your head hard. Never mind!"
"Lao Zhang, wanna join for a couple of rounds? If you play, we'll immediately kick Jituo, that f***ing anchor! Damn him, with his 'power' setup in one hand and 'machine' in the other, he shreds armor on sight but then gets himself killed the moment he fires! A complete f***ing liability!"
"Huh? Lao Dong, what are you saying? Like you're not a liability yourself? Always camping in a corner with that damn drone of yours. People walk right up to your face, and you're still fiddling with it! I swear to God..."
"..."
For a moment, the dorm room was filled with heated arguments and gaming jargon.
Seeing them like this, Zhang Beixing had no intention of intervening. After rooming and eating together for three years, they knew each other's antics inside out.
No matter how much they flamed each other now, if one of them later offered to get food, another would immediately start calling him "Godfather."
He waved his hand. "I'll pass. That knock to the head left me pretty dazed; I'm not in the right state for gaming. I'm going to wash my face and go for a run, get some exercise, and clear my head."
Hearing this, the three of them nodded in understanding.
Then, after chorusing, "Godfather, please bring us back some food!", they put on their headsets and dove back into their game.
「 」
Stepping out of the dormitory building, Zhang Beixing took a deep breath of the fresh, cool air, and his head already felt less painful.
After stretching a little, he quickly noticed something:
He was full of energy and in excellent condition!
This was very odd. With his previous Constitution, even a mere three-kilometer run would leave his legs feeling sore the next day.
Never mind that yesterday, after running three kilometers, he had acquired the System and then run an additional seven.
"Even though I allocated those 0.4 Ability Points to Constitution..."
"But the effect shouldn't be this pronounced!"
"Unless..."