Refresh!
Refresh!
Refresh!
Chen Zhao clicked the mouse over and over, staring fixedly at the computer screen. He was concentrating so hard he was nearly cross-eyed.
The midterm exam results were about to be released. They were posted online, and the results page would go live in one minute. Chen Zhao's heart was practically leaping into his throat. Could he finally turn his fortunes around this time? He'd spent the week before the exam cramming with practice tests. Surely his scores would improve at least a little?!
At last, after one more refresh, the results page was no longer blank. A long list of scores appeared:
"Name: Chen Zhao"
"Chinese: 79/150 (Fail)"
"Math: 46/150 (Fail)"
"English: 51/150 (Fail)"
"Science: 91/300 (Fail)"
"Total: 267/750"
Chen Zhao skimmed the scores, and his heart sank. No miracle had happened. Every subject was still consistently awful. He hadn't turned things around in this midterm—he'd just gotten stuck to the pan again!
The next two lines drove the knife in even deeper!
"Class rank: 62/62"
"Grade rank: 1243/1245"
Dead last in his class, and third from last in the whole grade!
A new personal worst!
Chen Zhao closed the results page, grabbed the half-full bottle of cola beside him, and drained it. Then he brushed himself off, walked through the smoke-filled internet café, and headed outside. He made his way home beneath the pitch-black sky, past dim streetlights and a surging stream of traffic.
Chen Zhao was eighteen and a senior at No. 2 High School in his city. He was unremarkable in appearance and came from an ordinary family, just one of countless students—an utterly insignificant nobody. As a child, he'd dreamed of becoming an astronaut, a scientist, a writer, a celebrity—in short, someone successful and admired by all. But now, he'd almost completely given up on those unrealistic dreams. The all-important college entrance exam, the one that would decide his fate, was exactly one hundred days away, and he was ranked at the bottom of his school...
Given how things stood, there was no way Chen Zhao would get into any university after the exam. Even if one accepted him, it would have to be a fake university!
Chen Zhao trudged home, exhausted, and collapsed onto his bed. He fell asleep at once.
Maybe the pressure had been getting to him lately. As he slept, he suddenly heard a voice:
"Host binding successful!"
"System activated!"
"Your IQ balance is insufficient. Please recharge as soon as possible..."
Chen Zhao was still half-asleep and hadn't paid the voice much attention, but it kept repeating without end:
"Your IQ balance is insufficient. Please recharge as soon as possible..."
"Your IQ balance is insufficient. Please recharge as soon as possible..."
"Your IQ balance is insufficient. Please recharge as soon as possible..."
Even the heaviest sleeper couldn't stay asleep with that playing over and over. Chen Zhao threw off the covers and sat up, bleary-eyed, searching for the source.
After looking around for a moment, he lowered his gaze to... his own hand!
What he saw instantly snapped him awake: a ring! A small, dazzling silver ring sat on the little finger of his left hand. He tugged at it, but couldn't get it off even after pulling with all his might!
What the hell? Where had this ring come from? He'd never bought or worn a ring in his life! And no, wearing a soda-can tab on his finger as a kid didn't count!
A voice sounded in his mind again:
"This is the System Ring, a virtual object without a physical form. Only the host can see it. To communicate with the system, simply press your finger against the ring."
Chen Zhao froze, then his eyes lit up. He was wide awake now!
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A system?
One of those all-powerful systems that showed up in novels?
Could systems like that actually exist? And one had landed right in his lap!
Suppressing his excitement, Chen Zhao pressed a finger to the ring and tried to speak to the system in his mind:
"System, you just said... my IQ balance is insufficient? What does that mean?"
"The host's current IQ is 79, below the average level of 80 and far below the mean of 105. A recharge is recommended."
The system had actually answered.
Chen Zhao was a little dazed. He knew a few basic things about IQ.
Supposedly, an IQ of 80 to 90 was considered "average intelligence," 90 to 110 was "above average," 110 to 120 was "superior intelligence," and 120 to 140 was classified as "gifted or near-gifted." Anyone with an IQ above 140 was an absolute genius!
The famous Einstein, for example, had an IQ of 165!
Of course, these IQ ranges weren't particularly precise or strict. The standards varied with the test, a person's age, and even their race. But Chen Zhao was certain that, while an IQ of 79 didn't make him stupid, it wasn't exactly impressive either.
No wonder he'd been having trouble understanding his textbooks lately. Even the simplest example problems were a struggle. His brain just wasn't working right. Chen Zhao felt a little nervous. If the system could really raise his IQ, wouldn't studying become much easier?
Maybe... he'd still have a chance to get into university?
Chen Zhao hurriedly pressed his finger to the ring and asked the system, "System, I want to recharge! How do I do it? Can I use Alipay or WeChat?"
The system's voice sounded in his mind:
"Since the host has just been bound to the system, he may claim a Newbie Gift Pack containing an IQ Recharge Experience Pack. Would you like to open it?"
Chen Zhao was delighted. What a deal!
Of course he'd take a free gift pack! Only a fool would pass up something free!
"Open it!" Chen Zhao said silently.
"Distributing gift pack..."
"Newbie reward one: World Reset!"
Chen Zhao froze. What happened to the IQ Recharge Experience Pack they'd promised? How had it turned into a World Reset?
And what the hell was a World Reset?
Before Chen Zhao could gather his thoughts, the room around him suddenly began to change!
The round alarm clock on his bedside table gave a sudden shudder and turned square! The physics textbook beside his pillow, which had originally had a blue-and-white cover, flashed and became red and white. Even the font of the two characters for "physics" changed, from neat printed text to wild, flowing calligraphy!
Chen Zhao was completely dumbfounded. His mouth gaped wide enough to fit a fist. Almost everything in his room was changing!
Chen Zhao grabbed his phone and took a look. Sure enough, its brand logo had changed too, to something like a target. The screen had also grown by a tenth of an inch, from 6.4 inches to 6.5!
But he was relieved to find that his photos, songs, and other saved files were still there, and none of his installed apps had been renamed. A few app icons had changed, though. He logged into QQ and WeChat, and his contact lists were still the same, though many people had different profile pictures and usernames. Thankfully, their saved nicknames remained unchanged. His message history and the like hadn't changed either.
It seemed that while many things had changed, a lot of the important things had stayed the same.
Then Chen Zhao thought of something and hurried to the window. He pulled back the curtains and looked down. The neighborhood was changing too: the plane trees' branches twisted out of shape, their leaves rapidly shrank, and within a couple of breaths, they had turned into glossy privet trees! Many of the cars parked downstairs suddenly changed color with a flash, and their logos became brands he'd never seen before! In the distance, he could even see the heights of some buildings shifting slightly! In short, everything in sight was changing!
A voice sounded in Chen Zhao's mind:
"World Reset complete. Equilibrium achieved."
"Newbie reward two: 20-day High IQ Experience Period. Intelligence level: 400."
"Changing the host's IQ in..."
"Three..."
"Two..."
"One!"
Chen Zhao suddenly felt a powerful, lightning-like electric current surge through his head. His vision went black, and he passed out on the spot. With a heavy thud, he fell to the floor, unconscious...
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