Although Kakashi agreed to let Gu Qi continue researching the recovery potion, it wouldn't be happening just yet.
So Gu Qi still had to stay in the hospital for another six months, until the doctor approved his discharge.
In exchange, Kakashi allowed Gu Qi to go out for one day each week.
Of course, Pakkun and the others had to stay by his side and keep an eye on him, just in case Gu Qi did anything astonishing.
Time flew by, and the days passed in a blink.
On September 10, Year 52 of Konoha, after spending half a year in the hospital, Gu Qi was finally given permission to leave.
"Great! I'm finally out!"
Back home, Gu Qi's first order of business was to take a shower and wash away his bad luck.
For the entire six months, unable to train, Gu Qi had passed the time by studying the textbooks provided by the system.
Over those six months, he successfully completed the Elementary Mathematics, Elementary Physics, and Elementary Chemistry courses.
In response, the system, which had been silent for so long, finally popped up again.
[Task 1 reward: Railgun Technology Data.] [Task 2 reward: Nonexistent Laboratory.] [Task 3 reward: Air Cannon Technology Data.] [Ding! New tasks issued!] [Task 1: Complete Intermediate Mathematics.] [Task 2: Complete Intermediate Physics.] [Task 3: Complete Intermediate Chemistry.] [Task 4: Complete Basic Biology.] [Task 5: Complete research on the railgun.] [Task 6: Complete research on the air cannon.] [Task rewards: Complete Tasks 1, 3, and 5 to obtain scientific technology data. Complete Tasks 2, 4, and 6 to obtain unscientific items.] [Complete Tasks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 to unlock the next phase of tasks.] [Ding! Unscientific Classroom unlocked!]
As before, after he completed a series of tasks, the system issued the requirements for unlocking the next phase.
This time, the system had also added a new feature: the Unscientific Classroom.
The Unscientific Classroom was a teaching program that allowed the user's consciousness to enter the system and study.
Its appearance solved one of Gu Qi's problems.
When he had studied the elementary textbooks, Gu Qi had already found them a bit difficult.
Now, he'd only taken one look at the intermediate textbooks before falling asleep.
The pages were covered in symbols, and to Gu Qi, they might as well have been written in the heavens. No amount of effort could overcome that feeling of helplessness.
But now that he had the classroom, the system would provide a virtual instructor to guide him. In other words, it would give Gu Qi lessons.
But there was no such thing as a free lunch, and the classroom came with a price.
As the old saying went: "Create happiness with your heart; if you've got no money, you can go screw yourself."
The price of using the classroom was simple: 5,000 Ryo per hour.
Fair to young and old alike. The price was fixed, and complaints wouldn't help.
When Gu Qi saw the price, his first reaction was to offer the system's mother his warmest regards.
The system responded by kindly raising the lesson fee to 10,000 Ryo per hour.
Gu Qi immediately dropped to his knees and offered the system his most heartfelt blessings and regards.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
Every time he opened the system and saw the price of the Unscientific Classroom, Gu Qi was reminded of a fundamental truth: a loose tongue came at a cost.
But the Earth kept turning, and life went on. With no way around it, Gu Qi could only accept his fate in silence.
"System, recharge 100,000 Ryo."
After his shower, Gu Qi immediately took out 100,000 Ryo and recharged his account.
[Recharge in progress... Recharge complete.]
"Open the classroom. One hour of math."
[Ding! This is the user's first time using the Unscientific Classroom. The system will offer the highest discount. Original price: 10,000 Ryo/hour. Discounted price: 20,000 Ryo/hour.]
"..." Gu Qi had a few choice words for the system, but wasn't sure if he should say them.
Although the system had swindled him out of 10,000 Ryo, Gu Qi could only grit his teeth and accept it.
Lying on the bed, Gu Qi focused his mind on the system.
A powerful force sucked his soul into it.
When Gu Qi came to, he found himself in a classroom that looked just like the ones he remembered.
"Students, stop looking around. Class is about to begin, so pay attention."
Before Gu Qi could take a good look around, a person suddenly appeared at the lectern and spoke to him.
When Gu Qi saw who it was, he couldn't help blurting out, "Holy crap, Elder Hua!"
"Student, this isn't the time for questions. Pay attention. Class is about to begin, so open your textbook to page one."
Elder Hua reminded him again, then began the lesson.
Only then did Gu Qi snap out of it and hurriedly open the Intermediate Mathematics textbook in front of him.
For the entire hour, Gu Qi found his mind exceptionally clear.
Aside from being a little distracted at first, he was soon utterly absorbed in the lesson, without a single lapse in concentration.
Gu Qi realized that this must be the unscientific part of the Unscientific Classroom.
"This classroom is incredible. Too bad the lessons are slow and the price is steep." When Gu Qi opened his eyes, he couldn't help sighing.
That hour-long trial lesson had shown Gu Qi just how powerful the system was—and how good it was at making money.
Although the lesson's contents seemed to have been etched into his mind, Gu Qi realized he hadn't learned all that much in an hour.
If the later lessons moved at the same pace, Gu Qi estimated that he'd need at least 1,000 hours to finish Intermediate Mathematics.
That meant he'd need to prepare at least ten million Ryo.
At the thought of that astronomical sum, Gu Qi once again regretted running his mouth back then.
"I've tested the classroom. Next, I should take a look at that Nonexistent Laboratory." Gu Qi muttered to himself on the bed.
Unlike the Unscientific Classroom, which was a system program, the Nonexistent Laboratory was an external item.
Just as its name suggested, the Nonexistent Laboratory couldn't be found anywhere in this world.
To enter it, he had to go through a doorway.
After reading the instruction manual, Gu Qi learned that, just like the Furnace That Can Make Anything, the laboratory's entrance was a miniature door.
All he had to do was feed it chakra to make it grow.
The more chakra he put in, the bigger the door became.
With so many people around at the hospital, Gu Qi hadn't had a chance to try it out.
Now that he was free, he decided to give it a go.
After claiming his reward from the system, a miniature door, about the size of his palm, appeared in front of him.
He fed the door one-fifth of his chakra, and it immediately grew to the size of an ordinary doorway.
When Gu Qi opened it, he found himself in a separate space.
The space was about 1,000 square meters, 20 meters wide and 50 meters long, with a ceiling ten meters high.
Although there was no sun, the space didn't feel dark at all. On the contrary, it was brilliantly lit.
And even though it was separated from the real world, the space still had air.
The walls and floor were smooth and hard, and when he touched them, they felt faintly cool.
Gu Qi was very satisfied with the space.
With it, he could carry out certain less-than-public activities without anyone finding out.
Back in the real world, Gu Qi went straight to the basement and put away the Furnace That Can Make Anything, which he'd never used before.
Then he opened the door again and moved the furnace and all the Secret Brew in the basement into the laboratory.
He picked a corner, used chakra to set up the furnace, then surveyed the laboratory. He decided to buy some equipment and supplies to bring a little life to the empty space.
Fortunately, when the system unlocked the laboratory, it had also unlocked a wide variety of laboratory equipment in the System Mall.
The new equipment solved some of Gu Qi's problems. At least, no one with ulterior motives would be able to find out he was setting up a laboratory.
Of course, the equipment was outrageously expensive, costing two or three times the market price across the board.
Faced with the system's shameless greed, Gu Qi could only swallow his frustration.
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