Chapter 3: You're really something, you don't even bother with Chen Wenwen!

Lu Mingfei is not someone who can stay calm when facing greater pressure; the greater the pressure, the more he likes to slack off, and he is always ready to spout nonsense.

But now, neither slacking off nor spouting nonsense works; that electric shock, which seems to pierce his soul, is like a big stick constantly hanging over Lu Mingfei's head, driving him to move forward without pause!

"And it's something I brought upon myself!"

Lu Mingfei stuffs bread into his mouth bite by bite, only able to be glad that there are two sweet dates after the threat of the big stick—at least he can gain 【Proficiency】, right?

"Check the Proficiency of each item through the panel... panel?"

Just as Lu Mingfei thinks of this, a semi-transparent interface unfolds before him.

【Lu Mingfei

Running LV0—Proficiency 54/100

Learning LV0 (Expand↓)

Basketball LV0—Proficiency 13/100

Fitness LV0—Proficiency 5/100

Piano LV0—Proficiency 2/100

Tai Chi LV0—Proficiency 1/100】

"Expand?" Lu Mingfei chooses to expand it, glances at it, and decisively closes it.

He feels he still has some sense of shame.

After the Learning column is expanded, what appears before his eyes are the six subjects he takes as a science student: Chinese, Math, English, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology... all still at level zero, and other than English, not a single one has a passing Proficiency!

It is simply too miserable to look at.

"Is it true that as long as I complete the Schedule Plan, these items can all become stronger as the Proficiency increases?" Lu Mingfei mutters to himself, unable to help but have a glimmer of expectation.

"If that's really the case, then since I can't resist, I might as well enjoy it!"

"Enjoy my foot, this is torture, absolute torture!"

Lu Mingfei tries hard to widen his eyes and stare at the Chinese textbook spread out on his desk, unable to help but mutter in his heart.

As for why he says that—

【Warning, during the execution of the 【Morning Self-study】 plan, no extraneous actions are allowed! Electric shock countdown...】

Unlike 【Eat Breakfast】 where he can be distracted and think, eating only requires mechanical movements, but Morning Self-study requires sight, hearing, understanding, and memorization, so at this time, letting his mind wander also becomes an "extraneous action"!

Lu Mingfei must be fully focused, throwing himself completely into learning, to avoid being shocked.

Every time his mind wanders, that line of text appears before his eyes, and what rings in his ears is the countdown itself!

"Good thing there's a three-second countdown every time; it's not like I can't exploit the bug..." Lu Mingfei ponders ways to slack off.

【Warning, if the number of warnings triggered during the execution of the same plan reaches ten, subsequent triggers will cancel the countdown and result in an immediate electric shock!

Current cumulative warning trigger count: 5】

Is there no way for a person to live!

Lu Mingfei feels a chill in his heart and can only discard other thoughts, silently reading the text, "In the Northern Darkness there is a fish, and its name is Kun..."

But it is impossible not to let his mind wander again.

As time passes, more and more people arrive in the classroom.

Although it is nominally Morning Self-study time, there are generally few who are actually studying. Those who arrive at the classroom either lay their heads down to catch up on sleep or chat and gossip... at this age of extreme sleepiness, the two can perfectly coexist without interfering with each other.

However, for Lu Mingfei, who wants to focus to avoid being shocked, this is very difficult.

"Hey, why is the basketball court cordoned off over there?"

"Maintenance, I guess. It happens every year, and it takes a while; it probably won't be finished before our remedial classes end."

Lu Mingfei's heart skips a beat; with the school basketball court under maintenance, where is he supposed to go for Basketball Training?

If there is no way to execute the plan, will he be shocked continuously?

I don't want that to happen!

【Warning... Current cumulative warning trigger count: 6】

Lu Mingfei is startled and hurriedly moves his gaze back to the textbook, "The size of the Kun, I know not how many thousands of li it is..."

"Heard the Literature Club has another activity?"

"Don't know, I'll just ask Chen Wenwen when she arrives..."

Lu Mingfei's breath hitches.

He finally realizes what he "seemed to have forgotten" after filling out the Schedule.

In the Schedule, he didn't fill in the Literature Club activity!

And according to the current situation, unless he reincarnates into a rubber man, it is simply impossible for him to attend!

For a moment, Lu Mingfei feels a sense of "utter despair."

【Warning... Current cumulative warning trigger count: 7】

"I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead!"

He absolutely cannot be shocked inside the classroom!

Lu Mingfei feels he would find it hard to endure that intensity of electric shock.

If he were to suddenly start screaming and convulsing in the classroom for no reason... not to mention becoming famous throughout the entire school, he would probably be sent to the police station or a mental hospital, right?

Lu Mingfei takes a deep breath, completely discarding distracting thoughts, even plugging his ears, and buries his head to silently recite the text, "It rises in its flight, its wings like clouds hanging from the sky..."

All the surrounding noise becomes muffled, and then the whole world goes quiet; those classical Chinese texts that seemed awkward and obscure to Lu Mingfei gradually become smooth as he recites them, making them easier to understand and memorize.

This is the "Flow State," a psychological concept proposed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi; it is a psychological state of high focus, complete immersion in the current activity, accompanied by a strong sense of pleasure and high efficiency.

Before this, when studying, Lu Mingfei had never entered a Flow State. Only when playing StarCraft could he always enter it with ease...

Lu Mingfei does not realize this; he just blindly reads and recites, forgetting everything else, until—

【Warning, the 【Class】 scheduled time has arrived...】

"Hoo!"

Lu Mingfei let out a sigh of relief, looking at the textbook in front of him, feeling dazed for a moment.

Morning Self-study was from seven to eight, one hour in total, and he had actually memorized all the ancient poems and classical Chinese prose from the People's Education Press Compulsory Course Five?

He used to get a headache just looking at these, feeling as if he were reading a heavenly book!

"When did I become so awesome?" Lu Mingfei looked at the blackboard, whispering to himself.

"You really are awesome."

His desk mate poked Lu Mingfei's elbow, gave a thumbs up, his face full of admiration, and lowered his voice, "Chen Wenwen came to find you just now, and you didn't even pay her any mind!"

"Ah?" Lu Mingfei was struck as if by a bolt from the blue, "How is that possible!"

The excessive shock even made him ignore the countdown that had already begun ticking down.

"What do you mean how is it possible? I watched you with my own eyes, head down reading, and even when Chen Wenwen called you, you didn't even lift your head... What's wrong with you?"

Lu Mingfei, who had slumped onto his desk, barely managed to lift one hand and wave it.

Pain, pain, pain!!!

Not heartache, but physical pain.

He couldn't speak at all, pressing hard against the desk, his body twitching, his face buried in his arms turning beet red, veins bulging, biting his teeth shut so he wouldn't cry out.

Before it was "as if," but now, Lu Mingfei was truly struck by a "bolt from the blue"!

After a good while, when the new round of warnings arrived, he finally managed to recover, decisively lifted his head, and looked at the blackboard.

Being able to hold on this time was already a miracle; if it happened again, Lu Mingfei believed that he—

Would definitely not be able to hold it in!

Although the matter of Chen Wenwen was very important, it would have to wait; the top priority was class, first avoiding being shocked!

His desk mate felt that Lu Mingfei's behavior today was very strange, but he didn't continue to ask.

He and Lu Mingfei were desk mates, but their relationship was just average, at most asking Lu Mingfei to buy a drink when he couldn't win at StarCraft, or having Lu Mingfei help him save face.

"I originally thought this guy had a change of heart and it could be big news to spread privately. I didn't expect that looking at the situation, it seems he hasn't... wait, isn't that even more fun?"

His desk mate pondered, chuckled, "I've got something to talk about at lunch!"

Lu Mingfei naturally didn't know his desk mate's thoughts; having experienced that pain again, there was only one thing in his heart right now—study well!

Whether it was because the electric shock threat was too effective, or because after the "first" time, the "second" was much easier, Lu Mingfei quickly immersed himself in the "Flow State" again.

Time passed minute by minute, and Lu Mingfei, who had forgotten himself, was completely unaware. He even forgot the "major event" of "ignoring Chen Wenwen," which in the past would have been like the sky collapsing, and just focused on Learning.

Not until the bell rang for the end of class did Lu Mingfei come back to his senses, remember the matter, turn his head to look toward Chen Wenwen, and while struggling with how to explain it to her—

【Warning, the 【Class Break Self-study】 scheduled time has arrived...】

That flash of white only entered the corner of his eye before it left again as his gaze shifted back.

Fine, no need to struggle.

"If I could go back to yesterday, I would definitely strangle the me who filled out that Schedule Plan... definitely!"

Lu Mingfei randomly pulled a book from the small mountain of books in front of him; as for which subject or which compulsory course it was, it made no difference at all.

Anyway, he had plenty of time for Learning now, and all subjects could be scheduled!

Class Break Self-study, class, Class Break Self-study... an infinite loop.

Lunch break? It didn't exist.

According to the time allocated automatically based on his physical condition and real-time status, it was just enough for Lu Mingfei to run from the classroom to the cafeteria, grab a meal, eat it quickly, and return to the classroom to start the 【Lunch Break Self-study】 in his plan.

During this, if there was even the slightest waste of time or if he did anything else, it would result in an Electric Shock Warning!

By the time it was nearly three in the afternoon, Lu Mingfei was already numb.

He could guarantee that in his eleven-and-a-half-year academic career, he had never had a day where he worked so hard and had such high Learning efficiency.

The things he learned in this one day were probably more than what he had learned in the past two or three weeks, or even a month!

Of course, he was also truly exhausted.

When the bell for the end of the school day rang, Lu Mingfei, who had suddenly exited the "Flow State," felt his head spinning.

"A month... I still have to live like this for a month!"

"Should I just die?"

"Forget it, being shocked to death is too embarrassing."

Thinking of this, Lu Mingfei was almost ready to lie flat and give up, but the two electric shocks that had been deeply engraved in his body's memory made him immediately extinguish such thoughts.

"But then again, is it Basketball next? But the school Basketball court is under maintenance, so can I rest?"

【Warning, the 【Practice Basketball】 time has arrived... Detected that the school Basketball court is under maintenance and cannot be used... The nearest accessible Basketball venue has been selected—Qingning Basketball Hall.

Arrival time has been allocated based on physical condition and real-time status, planning the optimal route for you... Route presented, countdown ten minutes...】

"Not even a loophole to exploit!"

Lu Mingfei let out a long sigh, stuffed the test papers and two exercise books that served as homework into his schoolbag, and stood up ready to run.

"Lu Mingfei?"

The voice that had echoed in his dreams countless times and could never be mistaken made Lu Mingfei's movements freeze.

It was Chen Wenwen.

She was wearing a white down jacket, her fine, soft, straight, beautiful long hair hanging down. From her clear eyes that seemed to be able to speak, Lu Mingfei saw himself frozen in place.

The "you didn't pay her any mind" incident that had been forgotten several times surfaced in his mind again; in the past, Lu Mingfei would definitely have felt this was equivalent to the sky collapsing... in reality, it still was.

But now there were things more important than the sky collapsing, because if the sky collapsed, there were taller people to hold it up, but being shocked was something that fell on Lu Mingfei himself!

Lu Mingfei liked to fantasize a lot.

He had thought many times about the classic plot where, one day, at some moment, he would charge through a mountain of blades and a sea of fire to save the beauty and capture her heart.

But the mountain of blades and sea of fire didn't come now; what came was—

【Warning, electric shock countdown, three...】

It didn't matter if he bragged about never experiencing a mountain of blades and sea of fire, but Lu Mingfei had truly tried this thing, and he really couldn't withstand it!

"The Literature Club activity is the day after tomorrow..." Chen Wenwen began, preparing to hand the preparations over to Lu Mingfei as per usual.

In the past, once the words reached this point, Lu Mingfei would have grinned and gone along with it, saying, "Still the usual, right? Leave it to me, no need to worry!"

But now he had to choose between the beauty and the electric shock; choosing the beauty was still a distant hope, but the electric shock was imminent!

"Sorry, I forgot to turn off the gas at home and have to rush back, and I'll forget to turn it off then too, so I can't make it!"

Lu Mingfei threw out this sentence with the meager brain capacity left after eight hours of intense Learning in "Flow State" mode, then turned and ran with tears in the corners of his eyes.

He knew Qingning Basketball Hall; it was a full two kilometers away, and with ten minutes left, he had to race against time!

Chen Wenwen watched Lu Mingfei's back with some astonishment, blinking as he disappeared from the classroom.

All around, everyone who noticed this scene had only four words on their faces—"unbelievable"!

Lu Mingfei, rejected Chen Wenwen?

And he used such a lousy excuse!

"What's going on?"

Liu Miaomiao, who sat in front of Lu Mingfei, murmured in a low voice.

"Is it the end of the world?"

(End of this chapter)