I Want to Get Into the Undergraduate Program!

Chapter 3: I Want to Take the Undergraduate Program!

The information flashed and vanished.

The pale-golden characters dissolved into specks of starlight, reverting to a magnificent flame.

It paid no further attention to Meng Chao.

Meng Chao fiddled with it for a while but couldn't pull up a system manual or beginner tutorial or anything.

Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring.

"Class dismissed!"

Yan Dongxing swept a blank expression over Meng Chao, frowned slightly, said nothing, gathered his combat blade and monster specimens, and turned to leave the classroom.

Only then did the classmates remember that Meng Chao was still standing as punishment.

When they looked back, all their jaws dropped, unable to believe their eyes.

Meng Chao had actually stuck it out?

Standing in the right stance was a huge help for tempering spirit, energy, and essence.

At this moment, Meng Chao was like a rusty sword being polished anew, once again radiating a sharp, exposed aura.

It was as if he'd brought back the look he had before his sophomore-year injury.

Facing the classmates' astonished stares and whispered murmurs, Meng Chao wore a calm expression.

But the corners of his eyes and mouth twitched slightly.

For some reason, he was suddenly starving—so hungry it felt like his stomach was burning through, unable to move a single step, with darkness flickering before his eyes.

"Damn, did the Fire Seed use up energy to fix my body and awaken my skills, and I have to replenish it myself?"

Just as he was about to faint, a big white bear came charging toward him.

"Meng Chao, you actually practiced the Hibernating Dragon Stance this strong behind my back!"

The big white bear was a massive fatty, two hundred-plus pounds with a tiger's back and a bear's waist.

But his aggrieved expression and plaintive voice gave everyone goosebumps.

Meng Chao shuddered. That voice, unforgettable even if turned to ash—who else could it be but his high school best buddy, "Chu Feixiong"?

"Quick, Fei Xiong, I forgot my money today. Treat me to a snack at the shop, and tomorrow and the day after, I'll treat you twice."

"No way, borrow one and pay back two? And my appetite's three times yours. Meng Chao, since when are you this generous? There's gotta be a trap."

"What trap could there be? Would I cheat you? We're brothers from different parents!"

"True, hehe. The whole class heard, so you wouldn't dare welch. Let's go, to the shop—my treat today!"

Five minutes later.

At the shop in a corner of the campus.

The big white bear was crying like a two-hundred-plus-pound kid.

"Meng Chao, please be human for once. Even a beast couldn't wolf down two weeks of my living expenses in one go! I, I'll fight you!"

He lunged at Meng Chao fiercely.

"Cut it out."

Meng Chao peeled open the last chocolate bar, casually swung his arm, and activated the Wild Bull Technique.

The two-hundred-plus-pound big white bear went flying.

The two stared at each other in dumbfounded confusion.

"Just now..." Chu Feixiong was dizzy.

"It was a hallucination."

Meng Chao kept a straight face, swallowed the chocolate, and eyed the shelves with lingering desire. "The instant noodles look pretty fresh today too. Got all the flavor and color."

"Get lost, I'm broke. Let's go, class is starting!" The big white bear fled in panic.

Meng Chao was about to chase after him when he saw a gray-haired janitor by the trash can accidentally spill a big bag of garbage everywhere.

"Auntie, let me help." Meng Chao casually bent down to pick up the trash.

The corner of his eye twitched, and information popped up:

You performed a helpful act, promoting social harmony and upholding Longcheng's righteousness. Contribution Points +0.001

You protected the environment, advancing Longcheng's sustainable development. Contribution Points +0.001

To avoid redundant information, Contribution Point increases below 1 will no longer be displayed. However, every contribution you make can strengthen Longcheng and promote the spread and elevation of the Civilization Fire. Please continue your efforts.

The information flashed and vanished, but Meng Chao stood frozen for a long time.

In the teaching building, on the stairwell.

Meng Chao leaned against the railing, tilted his head at a forty-five-degree angle, and put on a contemplative look.

He watched with deep, brooding eyes as the girls in short summer skirts chatted and laughed their way up the stairs.

Their calves were plump and round, bouncing slightly beneath knee-high white cotton socks.

"You wanna die?"

Chu Feixiong tugged at him from behind. "If you're gonna stare, at least act casual—sneak a few glances from the corner of your eye. Don't just gawk like a pervert."

"Fei Xiong, you don't get it."

A layer of world-weariness settled over Meng Chao's brow. He sighed. "It's only now that I realize how beautiful this ordinary life I took for granted really is. Worth fighting tooth and nail to protect."

"Meng Chao, I really admire you. You manage to be shameless in such a refreshing way every single time."

Chu Feixiong yanked him aside. "Quit staring. If you want to look, I can lend you the study materials I just downloaded. Let's talk about what happened earlier instead. Did you really kill Devil Yan in your dream, and destroy Dragon City too? What about me—did I become a general and fight to the very end?"

This Big White Bear had dreamed since childhood of becoming a majestic general, commanding Dragon City's Iron Torrent and sweeping across the entire Otherworld.

Of course, that was every teenager's dream in Dragon City.

"What do you mean, 'I destroyed it'? I only saw a few fragmented images in the dream. As for you..."

Meng Chao stared at his buddy's big face, searching deep in his mind.

His past-life memories were like butterflies fluttering in a storm—patchy, elusive.

The feeling of a hangover crept back in. He couldn't grasp any clear details.

Just as he was about to give up, a bolt of lightning suddenly lit up his mind.

With a fierce headache, he saw it!

Meng Chao saw, deep within the thunderous clouds, monsters unlike any he'd ever seen—colossal, like slowly shifting hills—bearing down on Dragon City.

He saw countless soldiers and citizens surging forward like a tide, then crashing against a giant rock, breaking, retreating, shattering.

He also saw himself holding chrysanthemums in a vast square, sobbing rising and falling all around him.

Before him were two giant screens: one listed the names of fallen soldiers, the other the names of civilian victims. Tiny characters packed the screens, thousands upon thousands.

Meng Chao saw himself searching for Chu Feixiong's name. A photo popped up—Big White Bear in standard soldier's uniform, grinning brightly in a black-and-white memorial portrait.

"Good brother, don't worry. I've already cut and pasted all your study materials into my computer. I've also cleared your browsing and download history. Just... rest in peace!"

He heard himself say, voice choked with tears. "My parents are gone too. When you see them, tell them I'll take good care of my little sister, so they can rest easy..."

Meng Chao jolted awake from the nightmare again.

Clutching his chest, he slowly sat down on the steps, drenched in cold sweat.

Even the girls running past him, laughing and shoving, couldn't draw his gaze.

Chu Feixiong was startled. "What's wrong? You're jumping at shadows."

Meng Chao opened his mouth, then closed it.

What could he say?

That in the nightmare, his best friend didn't get into the Military Academy, didn't become a general—just a frontline grunt?

That the Monster War was about to escalate, with bigger, more numerous, and more ferocious monsters pouring out endlessly?

That Dragon City would suffer devastating losses in this battle—including Chu Feixiong, countless soldiers and citizens, and countless strong warriors falling—that they hadn't even left the Novice Village before being doomed to destruction?

And even Old Dad and Old Mom...

Meng Chao dared not think further.

Fear turned to anger, anger to defiance. He clenched his fists, his expression twisted.

"You're not scared by a nightmare, are you?"

Chu Feixiong slapped him hard on the shoulder, grinning. "Relax, nightmares are the opposite of reality. Even if Dragon City really faces a crisis, with us brothers working together, what's there to fear? I'm a man who's gonna be a general!"

"...Right!"

Meng Chao snapped back to himself and punched the air. "This isn't the future—just a damn nightmare. If I want to change everything, it starts with the National College Entrance Examination. This time, you'll get into the Military Academy, and I'll definitely get into an Undergraduate Program."

He'd heard that back in the Earth era, the number of undergraduate students increased year by year due to university expansion.

But after Dragon City's transmigration, they faced resource shortages and all kinds of crises.

At a time of life and death, every citizen had to do their duty. Teenagers had to compress their education time and step into work and combat roles as soon as possible.

The ideal for an Ordinary Citizen was to get into a two-year Associate Degree program for vocational training and find a good job later.

As for the Undergraduate Program, it only trained Transcendents.

Now and in the future, Transcendents were the backbone of Dragon City's struggle for dominance in the Otherworld.

They were also highly respected and held a lofty status among citizens.

Whether in politics or the military, whether as big Bosses or dazzling Superstars, nine out of ten were Transcendents.

To shatter the images he saw in that nightmare, Meng Chao had to become a Transcendent!

"You really want to take the Undergraduate Program exam? No joke?" Chu Feixiong turned serious.

He knew Meng Chao had been badly injured last year.

He also knew that his good brother had his reasons for letting loose.

But now, Big White Bear saw in Meng Chao's eyes a flame that had been extinguished for an entire year, reigniting.

"No joke, it has to be an Undergraduate Program."

Meng Chao paused, then couldn't help but laugh again. "I've been a real idiot this past year, right?"

"Yeah, a big one."

Chu Feixiong held out his fist to Meng Chao. "But if you, this big idiot, have really made up your mind to give it your all in these last fifty days, your buddy's got your back."

Meng Chao took a deep breath and extended his fist, bumping it hard against Chu Feixiong's.

"Off to the Military Academy, become a general!"

"Get into the Undergraduate Program, become a superhuman!"

The two brothers strode back into the classroom.

Next period was Language class.

The students cheered and rejoiced.

"Awesome, finally got Language class!"

"Hurry up, I want to recite the 'Mulan Ballad,' I want to memorize 'Moonlight over the Lotus Pond,' I want to analyze the background and deeper meaning of 'Diary of a Madman,' can't wait!"

"Where's the Language teacher? Where's our dear Language teacher?"

The students waited eagerly.

Unfortunately, instead of the Language teacher, they were met with the cold face of class monitor Zuo Haoran.

"Teacher Huang is sick today."

Zuo Haoran stood at the podium and said, "This period is changed to self-study. Everyone, line up quickly and follow me to the Cultivation Room."

"No way?"

"Not this again!"

"I want Teacher Huang, give us back Language class!"

The expected bad news sparked a chorus of groans.

Longcheng was an isolated force in the Otherworld, implementing an iron-blooded education.

From kindergarten to university, combat-heavy physical education, cultivation classes, and martial arts courses took up the majority.

Math classes calculating ballistic trajectories and sword paths, biology classes studying monster structures, and physics and chemistry classes mixing crystals and Otherworld minerals all carried significant weight.

With limited time, Language class, which couldn't directly boost combat power, was repeatedly cut back.

By now, high school students only had two Language classes per week.

In the final sprint of senior year, these two Language classes had to make way for the main subjects even more.

So, the Language teacher could only fall sick and take leave every few days, giving up class time to the PE teacher or letting the students self-study.

Scarcity made it precious. These days, high schoolers were suffocated by the heavy burden of cultivation, and they loved Language class more than anything.

They heard that back on Earth, their peers had ten or twenty Language classes a week, memorized hundreds of ancient poems, did several sets of Language test papers every day, and wrote two to three thousand words of essays, while PE class was practically optional.

What a happy life that was!