Dreaming About Studying

Daxia Country, Southern Province, Peiyang City. It was August.

Pearl Residential District, Building 5, Room 601.

In the study, cool air flowed slowly from the air conditioner vent, bringing a refreshing chill to the room.

The steady clatter of typing filled the room as lines of code appeared one after another on the screen.

At the computer, Ning Yifan's fingers flew across the keyboard. He didn't need to think; he'd already done all of this tens of thousands of times. Nothing fancy—just practice makes perfect!

Ning Yifan struck the space bar with his thumb and let out a long breath. He checked the time on his computer. He'd been working for barely half an hour, and the small website app a client had commissioned was already finished.

For Ning Yifan, that was neither especially fast nor slow. But anyone in the know would have been astounded. Developing an app from scratch in just over half an hour—what kind of godlike speed was that?

With the app development finished, Ning Yifan ran it through testing software and focused on the areas prone to bugs. After spending a few minutes confirming everything worked, he opened the freelancing platform and sent the finished product to the buyer. That wrapped up a simple app development job worth three thousand yuan.

Sitting in front of the computer, Ning Yifan stretched and checked the time. "It's already eleven. Time to sleep—no, time to study."

He shut down the computer and stood up. Through the window, he watched cars speed down the road. The busy streets were brightly lit, and people hurrying home from work filled the night. He felt especially satisfied with his life these days.

Having a system was great!

As for how he'd gotten the system, Ning Yifan wasn't entirely sure himself.

He still remembered camping along a cycling route in Sichuan and Tibet three months ago. He'd just finished making dinner and was eating hot pot and singing when his vision suddenly blurred—and then everything vanished!

In that fleeting moment before it happened, he'd caught a glimpse of a magnificent, snow-white winged horse. It had charged toward him, shattering space around it as it galloped through the void. In an instant, the fragments of space had crushed his body to powder.

His memories after that were hazy. Ning Yifan only vaguely recalled meeting someone who'd apologized sincerely and said something about a high-speed interdimensional joyride and choosing some sort of compensation.

When his memories became clear again, he was a man with a system, still on the cycling route in Sichuan and Tibet, with the hot pot broth bubbling away just as before.

The scene of mountains collapsing and rivers overturning had left no trace. It had all seemed like a dream.

But it hadn't been an illusion.

In the bathroom, Ning Yifan looked at his reflection. His face was about eighty percent similar to how he used to look, but much, much more handsome. He was extremely satisfied—handsomer than Wu Yanzu!

He took off his T-shirt. His physique was nearly perfect: eight-pack abs, serratus muscles and obliques, a V-shaped torso, and clearly defined pectorals, deltoids, trapezius, and biceps. His muscles weren't exaggeratedly bulky, but had beautiful, well-defined lines. He was exactly the kind of guy who looked slim in clothes and muscular without them—the physique Ning Yifan had always dreamed of!

And he wasn't just good-looking. His physical abilities were outstanding in every way. Ning Yifan had tested himself before and could easily run a hundred meters in under ten seconds. His jumping ability, flexibility, and everything else were top-notch. He had a healthy appetite and was in excellent shape.

He was satisfied with every aspect of his body. And besides being strong and handsome, he also had a cheat ability. Becoming a CEO, marrying a rich beauty, and reaching the peak of life were all within his grasp!

After washing up, Ning Yifan lay down in bed at eleven thirty sharp and closed his eyes. He murmured, "Enter the system!"

His vision blurred. The darkness behind his closed eyelids changed completely.

He stood on a platform made of some unknown metal, stretching so far that he couldn't see its edge.

Looking up, he saw a brilliant star-filled sky. Colorful, dreamlike nebulae dotted the heavens: spiral galaxies like deep blue eyes of God, planetary nebulae like bubbles in every color of the rainbow, and countless others, all different.

One star shone warmly amid the surrounding stars, illuminating the entire sky.

From time to time, planets of different colors and sizes drifted overhead: a crystal-like, icy-blue world; a crimson desert planet; a yellow-brown planet encircled by rings; even a giant planet so enormous that it blocked the sky, its craters and mountain ranges clearly visible. There were also living worlds covered in green vegetation, with high mountains and flowing rivers.

The starry sky above was breathtakingly beautiful!

The boundless grandeur of the universe contrasted sharply with the smallness of the individual, stirring endless emotions within him.

Even though Ning Yifan had seen this scenery hundreds of times over the past three months, he couldn't help being deeply captivated. He took his time admiring it. The stars and constellations were different every time he entered!

He remained entranced for several minutes before finally coming back to himself.

The stars in the sky were extraordinarily beautiful, as if they contained the truths of the universe, but they were only scenery. What he was really looking forward to was the endless knowledge on the ground.

The seamless, unknown metal floor was divided into two distinct halves, centered on where Ning Yifan stood.

The floor to his left was mostly empty. On that vast, seemingly endless expanse of metal stood just one small tree, made up of more than thirty bright, thumb-sized stars.

To his right stretched an endless sea of dim stars. Faint lines of light connected them. Some clusters of a dozen or twenty stars formed little trees; others—hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands—made up towering ancient trees.

These stars on the metal floor were called the Technology Tree.

Turning right, Ning Yifan easily made his way through the sea of Technology Trees, weaving among them in all sizes. Before long, he reached a small tree. Compared to the dim trees around it, this one was much brighter. Only the final star at its top remained unlit.

"Tonight should just about do it," he muttered. Then Ning Yifan reached out and gently grasped the star. "System, enter study mode. Study for seven hours."

"Notice: the remaining study material is expected to take three hours!" a pleasant voice sounded in Ning Yifan's ear.

After thinking it over, Ning Yifan said, "Then change it to three hours of studying, and use the remaining four hours for deep sleep."

"Ding! Settings complete. Black Tech System study mode activated!"

As the system spoke, Ning Yifan closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the world before him had changed completely once more. He was in a spacious, brightly lit laboratory the size of a soccer field, its entire expanse packed with equipment, some familiar and some he couldn't name.

Inside the laboratory, a figure in a white lab coat whose face was impossible to make out spoke to Ning Yifan. "Today is our final lesson. We'll study the last step in manufacturing projectors. In the lessons so far, we've covered various ways to make all the components from scratch: light bulbs, drive panels, lenses, circuit boards, optical paths, and more.

"Now we'll complete the final step in making a projector: assembling the components into a working machine."

"This lesson will last ten years in the dream. Let's begin."

As the figure spoke, they waved a hand, and countless parts appeared in the air.

"To assemble a projector, we first need a casing to hold all the components. There have been records of three billion seven hundred fifty-six million different designs for the casing of this ancient display device. Most of them differ only slightly in appearance, with little difference in actual function.

"Today we'll study six hundred and fifty-three different ways to assemble a projector, using different casings and components. From the earliest projectors, which used natural light and shadows to display images, to laser projectors and the nanophotonic projectors of later eras, learning these six hundred and fifty-three assembly methods will teach you every way to make a projector..."

As the figure explained and demonstrated, Ning Yifan followed along, tirelessly building projector after projector.

Time passed without him noticing. It took a year for the figure to guide Ning Yifan through every projector design.

Then they did it a second time, a third time, a fourth...and a full ten times!

Ten years spent earnestly studying a single subject without eating or drinking had etched all the knowledge deeply into Ning Yifan's mind...

Inside the system space, the final star on the Technology Tree lit up. In an instant, the tree shifted to the empty space on the opposite side. Its light flashed, revealing its name beside that of the neighboring tree.

Beginner Computer Software Programming.

Beginner Projector Manufacturing.

At the same time, dim stars on some of the Technology Trees in the vast sea overhead began to shine. Though they represented different technological products, much of the knowledge was shared. The system could monitor Ning Yifan's progress and prevent him from repeating unnecessary lessons.

In the room, Ning Yifan continued to sleep, his breathing growing deeper as he entered deep sleep.

Dreaming was an innate human ability. In dreams, people often had little sense of time, and sometimes even lost their self-awareness.

Taking advantage of this, the system controlled the study dream so that ten years passed in what felt like an instant to Ning Yifan. The entire dream remained relaxed and pleasant, filled with happiness and joy.

While studying, Ning Yifan had no self-awareness. He didn't get tired, hungry, or annoyed, and he didn't wonder who he was or where he was.

Dream study worked very well, but it wasn't flawless. To ensure he got enough restful sleep, each lesson was taught only once. Even though Ning Yifan could nearly memorize anything at a glance while awake, he still couldn't retain every bit of knowledge.

After all, people often forgot what happened in a dream as soon as they woke up. Repeating the lessons several times was necessary to ensure every bit of knowledge was firmly etched into Ning Yifan's mind!