"In reality, a week has passed, and in the dream, it's been twenty-one years."
Zhu Zhengwei opened his eyes, a flash of maturity in them, "Thousands of autumns in a single dream, what year is today?"
He looked in the mirror, noticing that recently, his genes deep within his bloodstream had been constantly restructuring, causing his appetite to soar and prompting him to eat voraciously to replenish his body's energy expenditure.
Correspondingly, through the feedback from the dream world to reality, he had become his twenty-year-old self in the dream, overlapping with his twenty-year-old self in reality, completing the feedback and restructuring his past.
He had previously been 173 centimeters tall, tall and slim, and now, after loading the save file, reshaped the past twenty years, his height had surged by five centimeters, and his weight had significantly increased!
His previously skinny physique was now covered in muscle.
But it wasn't the kind of exaggerated bodybuilding muscle; the past twenty-plus years of squats, bench presses, and burpees had perfectly exercised every muscle, bone, and meridian of his body, with explosive strength to boot, quite near perfection.
His charisma had also improved somewhat, combined with the teardrop mole at the corner of his eye, consistently giving off a strange dreamlike, mysterious vibe, as if belonging to a character stepping out from a dreamscape or a second-dimensional canvas.
However, to prevent being noticed for abnormalities, he still regularly concealed the teardrop mole with concealer.
Overall, this initial character refresh was exceptionally perfect!
Even his hemophilia symptoms had significantly alleviated; indeed, a strong body brings numerous benefits.
Yet, the genetic defect disease at the root of his blood still cannot be eradicated by physical strengthening or Qi Cultivation.
"How did you get so mighty after training for just a week?"
Even the two chaps in the dorm were baffled, exclaiming, "Goodness! How much protein powder did you consume? Did you use hormones? So exaggerated!"
Previously, Zhu Zhengwei had given them a heads-up.
He told them he was training physically, leaving early and returning late.
Though he went out during the day to mislead others, in reality, he was researching data online or in libraries, gathering medical and fitness knowledge to provide workout plans for his dreamself, alongside studying various health strategies, achieving fitness results over twenty years.
"Isn't this too exaggerated? Which fitness coach??"
They kept asking, back and forth, "Although it's possible to grow taller at twenty, you've grown two to three centimeters?"
Yet, they only understood it halfway, being carefree by nature, not even knowing Zhu Zhengwei's precise height, allowing him to easily bamboozle them.
After brushing them off, Zhu Zhengwei walked out of the school gates, wandering the streets, feeling a flow of energy coursing through him, unable to suppress the joy within.
"It's indeed synchronized with reality; that energy came along."
"Yet, synchronizing dream age with reality—living longer in the dream would exceed my age in reality."
He sensed that if his dream self surpassed the age of his physical body, living up to thirty or forty years... it wouldn't feedback to him, or the feedback intensity would sharply diminish.
This suggested that future physical training efforts beyond the age of twenty would yield no benefits.
"But could accumulate experience, continuing to research human mysteries instead," Zhu Zhengwei decided to let that part of himself persist, further developing the Qi Eating Skill.
The benefits would be substantial.
This remained mysterious, a foundational path to strengthening the human soul.
Despite this, Zhu Zhengwei also identified a pressing issue recently.
His mining rig operates only at night when he sleeps.
The daytime is almost entirely blank; the dream LAN shuts down since nobody dreams, operating only at night.
"I need to find a batch of miners who sleep during the day, allowing some to mine during daytime," Zhu Zhengwei pondered, "Fill up the gap during the day when no one is mining.... Achieve twenty-four-hour server online, LAN constantly operating, continuously expanding Bamboo Scenic Village's territory."
Quite a few people work night shifts.
Numerous factories operate under such modes, yet infiltrating them, extensively recruiting, poses tremendous challenges.
Moreover, they can't be too far, or the server won't connect.
Currently, his perception range is around a hundred meters, but it should be much larger; with a Wi-Fi bridging feature between hosts, it can create signal relays, one connecting to another, linking back to him.
"But the nearest factory is far too distant; establishing a 'human miner' pathway to guide them here?" Quickly scanning through Baidu Maps, Zhu Zhengwei found it unrealistic, too far away.
Walking aimlessly along the road outside school, passing through an alleyway, a heavily made-up old lady with piercing eyes stood at a doorway.
"Isn't there a group here who sleep during the day and work nights?" Zhu Zhengwei suddenly recalled, pulling out a mask to wear alongside a sunhat, then slowly approaching the alley.
The old lady saw Zhu Zhengwei, who was concealing his appearance, and smiled knowingly, glancing at him, "Young man, care for a foot bath at sister's place?"
Zhu Zhengwei paused, his voice calm, "How many sisters do you have? Properly sleep through the night, can they handle the job?"
Goodness.
The old lady, standing at the alley's threshold, thought silently to herself about the boldness of today's youth, wearing such a serious demeanor while speaking such brazen words!!
Outstanding!
Not a simple youth, a promising future!
Yes, this is the right place to find them; their establishment usually deals with proper sleep, but sometimes does foot baths for extra income.
The old lady smiled brightly, "We've got quite a few sisters, six to choose from, each as beautiful as a flower, waiting for you inside."
Her gaze was professional, appraising him thoroughly.
A student, a high-quality customer.
Extraordinary aura, perhaps not a second-generation wealthy kid?
Admiring Zhu Zhengwei's tall, perfect physique, exuding an aura as if untouched by the mortal world, even without seeing his real appearance, she felt a subtle stir, certain that the girls would be thrilled.
This expression fell into Zhu Zhengwei's sight.
At this moment, he felt an exceptional sensitivity toward souls and emotions.
He remained unconcerned, feeling slightly hesitant, "Sister, could I book all at once, would there be a discount?"
The woman was stunned, visibly shocked.
Soon, understanding dawned; the young lad mistook their earlier question—how many sisters—for something shown on TV?
"With your physique, not just discounts, but I'd even break a leg for you."
"No problem," she said.
Pleased with the response, Zhu Zhengwei glanced at the alluringly made-up lady once more, hesitated momentarily, "Sister, could you be included too?"
"...."
She was utterly astonished but soon blushed like a young girl, "Sure."
A few hours later.
Zhu Zhengwei strode out of the alley, refreshed and invigorated.
Societal civility, spurning vice, proper business practices, let's start with us.
"Perfect, once entered the dream, my tag is marked, from now on, whenever nearby, they can easily be drawn into the dream... It's for the girls' good, to exercise their minds; when they grow old, they can find decent jobs with their brains, providing them with a fallback."
Only, they weren't keen on the persona customization feature from games, so he'd arranged a dream of muscular golden wheels for them.
The following morning.
The old lady arrived at the door with wobbly legs, closed the door and hung up a signboard saying "Entire Shop Closed for Rest" while her pale lips trembled, muttering "huge loss" "never seen anyone so fierce before"...
In the following days, Zhu Zhengwei donned a baseball cap, strolled around aimlessly, "Continue searching, the girls are the ideal miners—sleeping both day and night, perfect LAN zombie servers."
A mysterious urban legend also started today.
It circulated within a small circle, causing dread, limp legs; a great legend on the path is born, an unparalleled muscular man rising to fame.