Chapter 21: Level Up, New Ability

After eating and cleaning up, he lay down on his bed.

Wang Donglai did not take the friendliness shown by Huang Cheng and the others to heart.

With a single thought, he opened the system panel.

【Host: Wang Donglai】

【Attributes: Constitution 8, Intelligence 7】

【Level: Level 1 (476/2000)】

【Reading Category: High School Compulsory】

【Skills: None】

【Abilities: Sense of Direction】

Chinese: lv4 (1900/2000)

Geography: lv4 (435/2000)

Politics: lv4 (389/1000)

History: lv4 (521/1000)

English: lv3 (980/1000)

Mathematics: lv3 (1997/2000)

Chemistry: lv1 (164/1000)

Physics: lv1 (184/1000)

Biology: lv1 (124/1000)

【Main Quest: Get into university. Task rewards will be determined by Gaokao results.】

Looking at the data on the system panel, Wang Donglai's heart was filled with a sense of satisfaction.

It was like an old farmer working hard, seeing the seeds sprout and grow, and finally harvesting a pile of grain.

Tomorrow, Wang Donglai would be able to level up his Chinese, Mathematics, and English.

And every increase in a subject's level would increase the completion progress of his main quest, making the rewards even higher.

With these thoughts in mind, Wang Donglai slowly drifted into sleep.

...

The next day.

When Wang Donglai arrived at the classroom, Chen Mengni was already there.

On Wang Donglai's seat, a portion of breakfast had also been placed.

"I didn't know what you liked, so I just bought something random. Try it first; if you don't like it, I won't buy it next time," Chen Mengni said with a smile upon seeing him enter.

"We are classmates, helping each other learn. You don't need to do this," Wang Donglai said. He hadn't expected Chen Mengni to actually bring him breakfast. He held up his hand to show the breakfast he had bought himself. "I also bought a portion. I can't finish all of this, so you should have some too."

As he spoke, Wang Donglai sat down in his seat.

Chen Mengni was stunned; she hadn't expected him to have bought breakfast as well. After a moment of hesitation, she slowly nodded.

The two quietly shared the breakfast, eating while reading their books.

Less than two minutes later, Guo Xing arrived at the classroom.

"Here, you tutor me, and I'll treat you to milk. They say this milk is good for the brain."

"Mengni, yours too."

Guo Xing enthusiastically produced three bottles of milk, keeping one for himself and giving one each to Wang Donglai and Chen Mengni.

"There's no need to be so polite. We are classmates; it's only right that we help each other study," Wang Donglai said. He didn't overthink it, but he knew he shouldn't just casually accept things bought by girls.

"Nothing is just 'only right.' You help me review and answer my questions, and I feel grateful, so I treat you to milk. This is my way of expressing thanks; you should accept it."

"Am I right, Mengni?" Guo Xing turned back to ask Chen Mengni after speaking.

"Yes, that's exactly how it is," Chen Mengni nodded repeatedly, agreeing with Guo Xing.

"Alright," Wang Donglai nodded. Without saying much more, he lowered his head to continue reading.

Once immersed in studying, time always passed quickly.

"Host is reading 'Chinese · 2', gained 1 point of experience."

"Ding-dong! Congratulations to the host, the 【Chinese】 subject level has increased to lv5."

Wang Donglai, who was in the middle of reciting a classic masterpiece, suddenly heard the system notification in his mind.

Upon perceiving the information, a smile immediately spread across his face.

【Congratulations to the host. By studying the Gaokao compulsory subject 'Chinese', you have obtained the ability: Speed Reading.】

【Speed Reading: Your reading speed will increase without decreasing comprehension.】

A massive surprise!

Wang Donglai had never expected that reaching level 5 in Chinese would grant him another ability.

Furthermore, after reading the description of this new ability, he felt enveloped by an immense sense of joy.

This new ability was simply too important for him.

It could even be called a god-tier skill.

Originally, he could only read a book three times a day, but with Speed Reading, he might be able to read it four times, gaining an extra third of the experience points.

It took a full minute for Wang Donglai to calm down from his excitement.

As he regained his composure, curiosity took over—why had a new ability suddenly appeared?

Clearly, when other subjects had leveled up previously, nothing had happened—except for Geography, which had granted him the "Sense of Direction" ability because it was the first time it had leveled up. Other subjects had yielded no rewards.

After reviewing the system prompt in detail, Wang Donglai had a general understanding.

Gaining attributes, abilities, or skills through reading was inherently random. Because the knowledge and potential contained within different books varied, the rewards would naturally differ.

The reason he obtained 【Speed Reading】 upon leveling up 【Chinese】 was because of his recent intense study. He had been reading quickly and efficiently, and since the content of Chinese textbooks is meticulously refined, containing the essence of culture from ancient to modern times, both conditions combined to birth this ability.

Once he understood this, Wang Donglai immediately thought of the other two subjects.

Mathematics and English were only a few experience points away from leveling up.

Acting on his thought, Wang Donglai began his attempt.

English was the simplest. He pulled out his English book and began to read.

Instantly, Wang Donglai sensed a change.

While his reading speed was normally standard, as he looked at the book, the English words seemed to rush directly into his eyes.

The English subject was only 20 experience points away. At his previous speed, it would have taken him two hours to gain that much.

One hour later.

"Ding-dong! Congratulations to the host, the 【English】 subject has reached lv4."

Hearing the voice in his head, Wang Donglai stopped.

"Sigh, as expected, not every level-up grants an ability or skill."

He sighed inwardly, though he was mentally prepared for this outcome.

Although leveling up English didn't grant an ability, Wang Donglai was still quite excited.

He had already witnessed the effect of his newly acquired ability.

His efficiency had directly doubled.

This meant his leveling speed had doubled.

With this thought, Wang Donglai pulled out his Mathematics book and began reading.

He intended to take advantage of the momentum and level up Mathematics as well.

Originally, Mathematics was only 3 experience points away.

However, even with the Speed Reading ability, it took him an entire class period to level up Mathematics.

"Ding-dong! Congratulations to the host, the 【Mathematics】 subject has reached lv4."

【Congratulations to the host. By reading the Gaokao compulsory 'Mathematics' book, you have obtained the ability: Mental Calculation.】

【Mental Calculation: Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division will never trouble you again. No matter how complex the numbers, they will not defeat you.】

Surprise!

Wang Donglai subconsciously looked up, wondering if today was some auspicious day.

But after seeing the fluorescent lights and the electric fan hanging above him, he realized he was in a classroom.

"Could today be my lucky day? I obtained two abilities in a row, and both are extremely practical."

Thinking this, Wang Donglai instinctively grabbed a piece of paper and randomly wrote down a string of numbers.

"3145 × 948 = 2,981,460."

"4687 × 1546 = 7,246,102."

"9 × 7 - 117 = 22032" (Note: The original text has a calculation error here, but I will translate as is).

Wang Donglai's hand moved randomly, performing multiplications of various numbers—four-digit, three-digit, squares, cubes, and so on.

But every time he finished writing, the answer would immediately surface in his mind.

He didn't doubt the correctness of these answers at all; they felt as natural as breathing.

To verify, he pulled out his phone and opened the calculator.

A moment later, he put the phone down.

Wang Donglai's eyes were incredibly bright.

Obtaining both 【Speed Reading】 and 【Mental Calculation】 in succession made him understand the immense power of the system even more deeply.

At the same time, he felt a profound anticipation for the skills he would obtain after reaching level six.

However, when Wang Donglai refreshed the system panel once more...

The Wang Donglai, who had been ecstatic from receiving two powerful abilities, couldn't help but gasp.

The reason was simple.

The experience required to reach the next level for the upgraded Chinese, Mathematics, and English subjects had increased drastically.

Chinese: lv5 (0/5000)

Mathematics: lv4 (0/5000)

English: lv4 (0/2000)

To level up again, Wang Donglai could not relax; he still needed to read frantically to grind for experience.

After a moment, Wang Donglai cleared his mind of distractions and threw himself back into his reading.

This book is definitely a power fantasy; the explosion is coming soon...

(End of Chapter)