章節 2: Chapter 2: The Death of God
Qingcheng Affiliated Middle School.
It's officially Qingcheng University Affiliated Middle School.
As a top-tier high school affiliated with an Outer Ring university, Qingcheng Affiliated Middle School stood among the top ranks, with its students generally living up to the label of 'excellent.'
"...thereafter, the administrative divisions of Zhuxia were re-planned..."
The geography teacher spoke while writing on the teaching board.
Unlike in Xue Jing's previous life, even though the countries on this planet called Earth Star roughly corresponded to those he knew, many things were wildly different.
The biggest difference was an event at the end of the nineteenth century that affected the entire globe, now called 'The Death of God.'
Due to that event, the Anno Domini era, which started with Jesus's birth, formally ended. The following year after God's death started the 'New Calendar,' and history before The Death of God was referred to as the 'Old Calendar' or 'Old Era.'
Now, it was the year 267 of the New Calendar.
Xue Jing twirled a pen in his hand, appearing focused on the lecture but in reality his mind was elsewhere, barely paying attention to the class.
He opened his Skill Panel, which showed no skills related to studying whatsoever.
As a student in the Elite Class of a key high school, his academic performance was quite outstanding. Judging by the activation conditions for other skills, it was impossible for him not to meet the basic Lv1 activation requirement in academics.
However, on the panel, Chinese, Math, Physics, Politics, History... none were present.
'Perhaps... these subjects are merely "knowledge" and not "skills"?'
Xue Jing speculated.
The skills recognized by the Skill Panel should involve specific action-oriented capabilities, whereas subjects like Chinese and Math are just knowledge stored in the brain, not skills.
'If that's the case, attending class really feels like a waste of time...'
The ballpoint pen in Xue Jing's hand spun quickly as he contemplated feigning illness to skip class and go home to grind skills. Suddenly, he noticed 'Charm Art' gaining experience on his panel again.
[Someone has developed a liking for you, Charm Art experience +1]
[Someone has developed a liking for you, Charm Art experience +1]
He looked around quietly and locked eyes with a female classmate wearing glasses who was secretly peeking at him. The girl's face reddened as she quickly looked away, pushing her glasses in a feigned casual manner.
Xue Jing felt somewhat helpless.
Charm Art was a skill he had activated only in the past two days.
As the name implies, it was a skill that enhanced his own charisma and attracted others.
The effect was that it made his actions and expressions more charming. His expression management improved, and as the level increased, even his body underwent changes—his physique became more symmetrical and attractive, and his facial features slightly altered.
However, this was a skill he didn't need.
In this life, he could only be described in six words.
Innate Freeloader Holy Body.
He had no need for something like Charm Art; just standing there made him a human aphrodisiac.
Yet this skill, which he needed the least, was also the one he could level up the easiest.
Part of the reason was that one of its conditions for gaining experience was for people to have emotions like 'liking or affection' towards him—the stronger the emotions, the more the experience gained.
Also, actively performing actions that made others feel favorable towards him granted even more experience, such as the time he accepted a towel from a junior during physical tests at noon, which earned him a whopping 45 points.
This was why he hadn't specifically tried to grind 'Charm Art,' yet still managed to level up to Lv2 within two days.
Just casually walking down the street earned him plenty of experience, so naturally, he leveled up quickly.
'If only other skills were this easy...'
Xue Jing spun his pen, thinking listlessly.
...
At five in the afternoon, the class dismissal bell rang.
Xue Jing packed his things, about to call Li Ge to leave together, but at the classroom door stood a slightly taller middle-aged man with a receding hairline, waving at him.
It was their class advisor and Chinese teacher, Du Shiwei.
Seeing this, Xue Jing gestured to Li Ge, indicating that he should go ahead, then he slung his backpack over one shoulder and approached Du Shiwei, asking curiously,
"Mr. Du, were you looking for me?"
"Yes." Du Shiwei nodded, sizing Xue Jing up with a satisfied gleam in his eyes.
This student was not only academically excellent—which was expected of Elite Class students—but he also had exceptional physical appearance.
When there was a need for students to visually represent the school during events, he was the perfect choice to boost their prestige.
It was a pleasant surprise that his athletic abilities were also impressive.
"Xue Jing, here's the thing. I heard from Teacher Chen that your long-running performance in the physical tests was quite good. The school sports meet is next month, would you be interested in participating and earning some glory for our Elite Class?"
Du Shiwei patted Xue Jing's shoulder and smiled.
Xue Jing instinctively thought to refuse—he had no interest in competing—but something suddenly came to mind. He pondered for a moment, then nodded his head.
"The teacher has already said so, I'll participate."
Du Shiwei beamed with delight, "Good, good, good, I'll sign you up then. Do you want to participate in the 800-meter or the 1500-meter event?"
Xue Jing asked, "Teacher, how many running events are there in total?"
"For pure running, there's the 50-meter dash, the 100-meter dash... the 400-meter dash, the 800-meter dash, the 1500-meter dash... and there's also a relay race." Du Shiwei counted them off on his fingers one by one.
Xue Jing thought for a moment and said, "Can I participate in all the events?"
Du Shiwei was stunned, "You want to dominate all the events, eh? Ambitious."
"Well... it's possible, but several of these events are on the same day. Can you endure it, physically speaking?"
Du Shiwei looked worried.
Xue Jing nodded, "Don't worry, teacher, I probably can."
Even if I can't now... next month I definitely can.
Xue Jing glanced at the "Running" and "Fitness" skills on his Skill Panel.
"Okay then, I believe in you," Du Shiwei said, patting his shoulder again.
"Let's leave it at that for now. I'm going to sign you up. If you really do take first in everything, the teacher can also gain some prestige because of you."
Having said that, Du Shiwei turned and left with a spring in his step.
After he left, Li Ge, who had been standing not far away, came over and asked, "What did Old Du want?"
Xue Jing hoisted his backpack and walked with him towards the outside of the teaching building, replying, "The school sports meet next month, he wants me to participate in the long-distance running events."
"You agreed?" Li Ge asked.
Xue Jing nodded.
"Something's not right, very much so or even extremely so," Li Ge fell into thought.
He and Xue Jing were longtime classmates and close friends, deeply understanding each other.
Because Xue Jing himself was a person who easily attracted attention, he essentially lacked interest in such attention-grabbing activities, and had been this way throughout high school, never participating in any activity he could avoid.
This time he actually wanted to participate in the sports meet. Li Ge could almost see an illusion of Xue Jing crossing the finish line first, with the younger female students' eyes brimming with hearts.
He didn't doubt whether Xue Jing could come first, given the performance Xue Jing had shown at noon, currently no one in the school could compete with him.
"Not just the long-distance running, but all running-related events, I will participate in them," Xue Jing added.
Li Ge stopped in his tracks, "Audacious! Old Thief Xue, are you really planning to monopolize all the younger females' affections by yourself? It looks like you're on a path to certain doom!"
Xue Jing slapped him on the head, laughing, "Cut it out, you have a girlfriend already. Why worry about distributing younger females?"
"That's not to say, after all, I was the former student council president. I need to always consider the big picture for my fellow students..."
The two headed towards the school gate, bantering all the way.
"Aren't you planning to apply to Star University, how is your preparation going?" Xue Jing asked as they walked.
Li Ge shook his head, sighing, "It seems bleak. For someone from the Outer Ring to get into an Inner Ring University, the difficulty is incredibly high. I tried some past papers, and I'm far from the admission score. Do these Inner Ring universities even intend to recruit students from the Outer Ring? It feels like a carrot dangled in front of a donkey, visible but unreachable."
Star University, formally known as Star City University, is a municipal higher education institution in Star City.
Within Zhuxia, there are nine major 'urban circles,' each with 'Inner Ring,' 'Outer Ring,' and 'Edge' distinctions among its cities.
Qingcheng and Star City both belong to the 'Fifth Urban Circle,' with Qingcheng being an Outer Ring City and Star City an Inner Ring City.
Inner Ring cities are extremely developed, and even a well-developed Outer Ring city like Qingcheng can only be considered a 'rural area' in comparison.
If he managed to get into Star City University from an Outer Ring background, it would truly be a case of Fish Leaping Through the Dragon Gate.
Xue Jing patted Li Ge's shoulder, "Keep it up."
"What about you, what are your plans?" Li Ge asked in return.
"There's one more semester before graduation. Are you going to advance directly to Qingcheng University? Or are you going to try like me?"
Xue Jing shook his head, "I haven't decided yet."
His overall grades were slightly worse than Li Ge's, and if even Li Ge wasn't hopeful about getting into an Inner Ring University, he had even fewer reasons to hope.
Even if he were accepted, his status as someone from the Outer Ring would require him to pay a hefty tuition fee to the school, a fee so exorbitant that it was essentially a 'migration fee' for Outer Ring people to become Inner Ring residents, often enough to bankrupt a modestly wealthy family.
Of course, despite this, countless people still eagerly pursued this opportunity, seeing it as a real chance for social climbing.
"Maybe... I'll go into martial arts," he said.
Li Ge frowned, disapproving, "Martial arts? You want to become a Martial Artist? That path is not easy to walk, too competitive and dangerous, and you don't even have the basics. Are you planning to feed the competition?"
"Not necessarily."
"Maybe I'm one in a million, a peerless genius," Xue Jing said, his eyes on the Skill Panel, speaking softly.
...
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