After school, Chen Shouyi secretly opened the Status Panel.
"Will: 11"
He stared in disbelief, his eyes widening slightly. He had checked that morning, and his Will had only been 10.5. But in just one afternoon, it had leaped to 11—the first of all his attributes to reach that mark.
Chen Shouyi recalled how, during martial arts class, he seemed to have overcome the deep-rooted timidity and inferiority buried in his nature, boldly stepped up to the front, and thought back to how easily he'd chatted with his classmates after class, how quick his mind had been...
Thinking about it now, even he found it hard to believe. It felt as if he'd become a different person.
So this was what Will meant!
He thought about it for a long time.
He really had changed.
Noticing that he'd fallen back into his habitual hunched posture, he suddenly lifted his head and looked straight ahead.
Sun Xin, walking beside him, hadn't noticed Chen Shouyi's subtle change. He scratched his scalp vigorously, sending dandruff fluttering everywhere, then wiped his greasy hand on his pants and asked the two of them, "What are you planning to do this weekend?"
"Sleep and play video games. What else?" Zhao Yifeng said.
"I haven't decided yet. Maybe I'll sign up for a cram class," Chen Shouyi said after thinking it over.
Dongning Fifth Middle School wasn't big on martial arts. Martial arts class was mainly there to help students exercise, and the curriculum was pitifully sparse. They spent a whole year just learning the Forward Lunge Stab, the basic sword technique. Apart from that, there was some short-distance running and strength training—nowhere near enough to meet individual needs.
Besides, Chen Shouyi's Forward Lunge Stab was already on the right track. The only thing he lacked was muscle reaction speed, which would take thousands, even tens of thousands, of repetitions to hone.
He needed to make his muscles' exertion process mesh completely with his body, so the Forward Lunge Stab would become instinctive. But that couldn't be achieved in a short time.
He felt it was time to learn another basic sword technique.
"You two are so boring!" Sun Xin rolled his eyes.
For some reason, Zhao Yifeng was unusually quiet today. He'd barely said a word the entire way. But Chen Shouyi wasn't particularly perceptive, and hadn't noticed anything strange.
He and the other two were headed in different directions, so they parted ways after picking up their bikes.
"Dad, Mom, I'm home!"
After putting his bike away in the garage behind the house, he entered the restaurant, but no one answered. His parents were watching television in the dining area, along with several shop owners from nearby.
"What happened?" His heart gave a sudden lurch.
He hurriedly looked up at the TV. A news report was playing, and the pretty host wore a grave, solemn expression.
"According to information gathered by our reporter, this Fierce Bird from another world came from large wormhole No. 13541, located 15,000 meters above the ground. It broke through the military's barrage and, wounded, flew hundreds of kilometers before being shot down by fighter jets that arrived on the scene. It finally crashed in Zhongming Street, Ningzhou City..."
Chen Shouyi's heart jolted. Ningzhou was the prefecture-level city Dongning belonged to, only a few dozen kilometers away.
He looked at the video. The camera was shaking violently. A fearsome-looking Fierce Bird struggled on a bustling street as crowds scattered in terror all around it, screams rising one after another.
It was an enormous Giant Bird, its body taking up two entire lanes. No bird on Earth could grow that big. Even the largest land animal, the African elephant, was nothing beside it.
It was gravely wounded, its flesh mangled in many places and blood pouring from its wounds. Yet the terrible injuries seemed only to stir its ferocity. It kept swooping at the fleeing people, leaving corpses strewn across the street.
Ever since Earth had merged with another world twenty years ago, reports of ferocious beasts and barbarians breaking through military defenses had become common around the globe.
The other world's gravity was three times that of Earth's. Even an ordinary creature became terrifying once it reached Earth, and every appearance sent people into a panic.
In fact, these creatures weren't even the most dangerous threat. The viruses and bacteria from the other world were.
In the first few years after the worlds merged, more than a dozen Class A Acute Infectious Diseases broke out around the globe. Billions of people died unnatural deaths as a result, and some small countries were wiped out entirely.
Fortunately, in recent years, medical technology had advanced rapidly, and people's bodies had gradually developed antibodies. Such large-scale deaths had slowly disappeared, and outbreaks had become rare.
A few minutes later, perhaps because it was too bloody, the broadcast was quickly cut off. The crowd in the restaurant gradually dispersed, talking among themselves.
"You're back." Mother Chen, looking a little pale, seemed only then to notice Chen Shouyi.
"Yeah!"
"Don't think too much about it. Are you hungry? What do you want to eat? I'll make it for you." Chen Dawei pretended nothing was wrong, turned off the TV, and asked with a forced smile.
Chen Shouyi opened his mouth. He wanted to ask about it, but it was clear his parents didn't want him bringing it up.
"Just rice with greens and ribs!"
He paused after saying that, then added, "I want to sign up for a cram class this Saturday."
Faced with her son's rare show of initiative, Mother Chen was delighted, despite still being unsettled by the terrifying news report. "If it'll help with the college entrance exams, your dad and I will support you. We work so hard every day to earn money for one reason: so you kids can have an easier life and a respectable job in the future."
"But I want to sign up for a Martial Arts Cram Class!"
Mother Chen froze for a moment. She'd been beaming just a second ago, but her face changed at once.
"What? You're already in your final year of high school, and you still want to practice martial arts?
"It's fine to set aside some time each day to exercise, but you can't make it your main pursuit.
"This depends on talent. If you had your sister's kind of talent, your mom wouldn't hesitate for a second—I'd let you study it right away. Our family may not be rich, but we're not short of that little bit of money. It's your time you can't afford to waste."
Chen Dawei said nothing beside her. He clearly didn't support wasting time on this either. If his son worked hard in college, there might still be hope for him, but he had no hope at all in martial arts.
Chen Shouyi fell silent. In the past, under his mother's strict rule, he'd always been submissive and would have quietly obeyed, however reluctant he felt. But today, a powerful urge seemed to be driving him to prove something.
"Mom, I've never slacked off on my studies. I've been studying seriously these past few days. I just want to make some time to study martial arts on the side, so I'll have a backup plan.
"Especially lately, I feel like I've made a lot of progress, and my body's grown stronger too. In martial arts class today, the teacher even praised me. I think I have a real chance.
"Dad, Mom, I've always listened to you. When you told me to go east, I never went west. I know you want what's best for me, but today I hope you'll consider what I want."
Mother Chen's mouth fell slightly open. She exchanged a look with Chen Dawei, and both saw the surprise in each other's eyes.
Was this really their taciturn son, the one who couldn't get a word out of him even with three strikes?
"Then tell me first, why did your Martial Arts Teacher praise you?" Mother Chen's stance softened a little, though she was still doubtful. She knew her son best. What had he ever done well, from childhood to now?
"Because my Forward Lunge Stab is the best in the class," Chen Shouyi said, somewhat proudly.
To prove it, he picked up a chopstick from the dining table and used it as a sword.
It was rare for him to show off in front of his parents, so he couldn't help getting carried away. Without thinking, he thrust at the wall.
His toes pushed off the ground, his whole body powered the move, and then he stabbed. It was one fluid motion, swift as lightning, and textbook-perfect.
Thwip!
The next instant, the wooden chopstick pierced the surface of the ceramic tiles, half of it embedded in the wall.
"Uh!" Chen Shouyi gaped, never expecting his Forward Lunge Stab to be so powerful. He'd thought the chopstick would snap outright. After all, the wall was covered with ceramic tiles, hard as rock. As far as he'd always understood, how could a wooden chopstick possibly pierce through them?
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