Death of God

Qing City Affiliated High School.

Its full name was Sunny City University Affiliated High School.

As the affiliated high school of a top university in the Outer Ring, Qing Fu Middle School was likewise one of the leading key high schools in the Outer Ring. The students who got in could all be called outstanding.

"...Afterward, the administrative divisions of Zhu Xia were redrawn..."

As the geography teacher spoke from the podium, he wrote on the teaching board.

Unlike Xue Jing's previous life, although the nations on this planet called Earth Star could generally be matched to their counterparts, many things were vastly different.

The greatest difference was an event that had swept across the world at the end of the nineteenth century, now known as the "Death of God."

Because of that event, the AD calendar, which took Jesus's birth as year one, had officially come to an end. It was replaced by the "New Era" calendar, which took the year after God's death as year one. History before the Death of God was called the "Old Era" or the "Old Age."

It was now the 267th year of the New Era.

Xue Jing nimbly spun a pen in his hand. He appeared to be watching the podium attentively, but his mind had drifted off and he was barely listening.

He opened the Skill Panel. There was not a single skill related to studying on it.

As a student in the Elite Class of a key high school, his grades were quite outstanding. Judging from the activation requirements of his other skills, there was no way he failed to meet even the most basic requirement for activating Lv1 in academics.

Yet there was nothing on the panel. Chinese, mathematics, physics, politics, history... not one of them.

Maybe... these subjects can only be considered "knowledge," not "skills"?

Xue Jing guessed.

The skills recognized by the Skill Panel probably referred to abilities involving specific actions. Subjects like Chinese and mathematics were merely knowledge stored in the brain, not skills.

If that's really the case, then attending class is kind of a waste of time...

The ballpoint pen spun rapidly between Xue Jing's fingers. Just as he was considering whether to fake an illness, skip class, go home, and grind skills, he suddenly saw that "Charm Technique" on the panel was gaining experience again.

Someone has developed a favorable impression of you. Charm Technique EXP +1

Someone has developed a favorable impression of you. Charm Technique EXP +1

Without changing his expression, he suddenly turned to look around and met the gaze of a bespectacled female classmate who had been secretly watching him. Her expression stiffened in embarrassment. She hurriedly looked away, pushed up her glasses as if to hide it, and a blush appeared on her cheeks.

Xue Jing felt somewhat helpless.

He had only activated the skill "Charm Technique" within the last two days.

As the name implied, it was a skill that increased his own charm and attracted others.

Its effects made his mannerisms more appealing and gave him better control over his expressions. As its level increased, his body would even change—his figure would become more balanced and attractive, while his appearance would receive subtle adjustments.

But this skill... he had no need for it.

In this life, he could be described with only six words.

Innate Soft Rice Holy Body.

He simply had no need for something like Charm Technique. Just standing there, he was practically humanoid aphrodisiac.

Yet the skill he needed least was also the easiest for him to level.

One of the conditions for gaining experience was for someone to develop emotions such as "liking" or "fondness" toward him. The stronger the emotion, the more experience he gained.

And if he actively did things that made people like him, he gained even more experience. For example, when he accepted a younger female student's towel during the physical test at noon, he had directly gained 45 points.

That was why he had reached Lv2 in two days without deliberately grinding Charm Technique.

A casual stroll around the streets could earn him quite a bit of experience, so of course it leveled quickly.

It'd be great if the other skills were this easy too...

Xue Jing spun his pen as he thought idly.

At five in the afternoon, the dismissal bell rang.

Xue Jing packed up his things and was about to call Li Ge to leave with him when he saw a middle-aged man standing at the classroom door. The man was somewhat tall, and so was his hairline. He beckoned Xue Jing over.

It was their homeroom teacher and Chinese teacher, Du Shiwei.

Seeing this, Xue Jing gestured for Li Ge to go on ahead. Then he slung his backpack over one shoulder, walked up to Du Shiwei, and asked in confusion, "Teacher Du, were you looking for me?"

"Mm." Du Shiwei nodded and looked Xue Jing over, a trace of satisfaction showing in his eyes.

This student had excellent grades, though every Elite Class student was excellent. More importantly, his looks were truly outstanding.

Whenever there was an event that required a few students to serve as the face of the school, bringing him along gave them plenty of prestige.

Who would have thought that his athletic ability was so exceptional as well?

"Xue Jing, it's like this. I heard from Teacher Chen that your long-distance running results in this physical test were quite good. The School Sports Meet is being held next month, so would you be interested in competing and winning some honor for our Elite Class?"

Du Shiwei patted Xue Jing on the shoulder with a smile.

Xue Jing instinctively wanted to refuse. He had no intention of competing, but then something seemed to occur to him. After thinking for a while, he nodded. "Since you've put it that way, Teacher, I'll participate."

Du Shiwei beamed. "Good, good, good. Then I'll register you. Do you want to run the 800-meter event or the 1,500-meter event?"

Xue Jing asked, "Teacher, what running events are there?"

"For pure running, there's the 50-meter dash, the 100-meter dash... the 400-meter dash, the 800-meter run, the 1,500-meter run... and a relay race." Du Shiwei counted them off on his fingers.

Xue Jing thought for a moment and said, "Can I enter every event?"

Du Shiwei froze. "You're planning to dominate every event? Ambitious."

"Mm... it's possible, but several of these events are on the same day. As for your stamina... can you handle it?"

Du Shiwei looked concerned.

Xue Jing nodded. "Don't worry, Teacher. I probably can."

Even if he couldn't now... he definitely would by next month.

Xue Jing glanced at the two skills on the panel: "Running" and "Fitness."

"Alright, then I believe in you." Du Shiwei patted him on the shoulder again.

"Then that's settled. I'll go register you now. If you really take first place in all of them, I'll be able to bask in your glory too."

With that, Du Shiwei turned and left with light steps.

After he left, Li Ge, who had been waiting not far away, walked over and asked, "What did Old Du want with you?"

Xue Jing adjusted his backpack and headed out of the teaching building with him. "The School Sports Meet is next month. He wants me to join the long-distance running events."

"You agreed?" Li Ge asked.

Xue Jing nodded.

"Something's off. Very off—like, nine out of ten off." Li Ge fell into deep thought.

He and Xue Jing had been classmates and close friends for years, so he knew Xue Jing extremely well.

Because Xue Jing naturally drew attention and never lacked it, he had basically no interest in these attention-grabbing activities. He had been like this throughout all three years of high school and had never taken part in any event he could avoid.

Yet this time, he was actually entering the School Sports Meet. Li Ge could practically picture Xue Jing crossing the finish line in first place while hearts appeared in the younger girls' eyes.

He did not doubt whether Xue Jing could take first place. Based on the result Xue Jing had run at noon, no one in the school could compete with him at present.

"Not just long-distance running. I'll enter every event related to running," Xue Jing added.

Li Ge stopped walking. "Outrageous! Old Xue, do you really intend to monopolize every younger girl's heart by yourself? I see you have chosen the path to death!"

Xue Jing smacked him on the head and laughed. "Cut it out. You already have a girlfriend, and you're worrying about how the younger girls get divided up?"

"You can't put it like that. I was the former student council president, after all. I need to maintain an overall awareness and consider my fellow students at all times..."

The two walked toward the school gate, chatting and laughing along the way.

"Aren't you planning to apply to Star City University? How's your preparation going?"

Xue Jing asked on the way.

Li Ge shook his head and sighed. "The hope is slim. For someone from the Outer Ring to get into an Inner Ring University is absurdly difficult. I tried some past papers, and I was still far from the admission line. Do these Inner Ring universities really intend to recruit students from the Outer Ring? It feels like they're just carrots dangling in front of a donkey's eyes—visible but impossible to eat."

Star City University, whose full name was Star City University, was Star City's municipal institution of higher learning.

There were nine major "City Circles" within Zhu Xia. The cities in each City Circle were divided into the "Inner Ring," "Outer Ring," and "Fringe."

Both Star City and Sunny City belonged to the Fifth City Circle, but Sunny City was an Outer Ring City, while Star City was an Inner Ring City.

Inner Ring cities were all extremely developed. Even a city like Sunny City, which was doing fairly well in the Outer Ring, could only be considered a rural backwater compared to an Inner Ring city.

If someone from the Outer Ring could get into Star City University, it would literally be like a fish leaping over the dragon gate.

Xue Jing patted Li Ge on the shoulder. "Keep at it."

"What about you? What are your plans?" Li Ge asked in return.

"There's only one semester left until graduation. Are you going straight to Qing Da, or are you going to take a shot like me?"

Xue Jing shook his head. "I haven't decided yet."

His overall grades were a little worse than Li Ge's. If even Li Ge held little hope of getting into an Inner Ring University, there was even less reason for him to hope.

Even if he got in, his status as an Outer Ring resident meant he would have to pay the school an exorbitant tuition fee. The fee was outrageous. It was called tuition, but in truth, it was a "household registration transfer fee" for Outer Ring residents to become Inner Ring residents, often enough to bankrupt a moderately wealthy family.

Of course, even so, countless people flocked to it, because it was a genuine leap in social class.

"Maybe... I'll train in martial arts."

Li Ge frowned, clearly disapproving. "Martial arts? You want to become a Martial Artist? That path isn't easy. The competition is too fierce, and it's dangerous too. You don't even have the basics. Are you going there to get beaten up?"

"Not necessarily."

"Maybe I'm a peerless genius, one in ten thousand."

Xue Jing stared at the Skill Panel and spoke softly.

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