Natural Selection

Late at night, Lin Zichen lay awake in bed, his mind consumed by thoughts of the Public Security Team captain's death.

The news had reported that he had been killed by a Giant Mutant Rat.

Could the huge rat he'd seen from inside the car that day... have been the Giant Mutant Rat that killed the captain?

But that so-called huge rat had looked no bigger than a cat. How could it possibly have been a Giant Mutant Rat three meters long?

He couldn't make head nor tail of it.

He looked up at the window.

It was deep into the night.

All the streetlights along the road were out, and not a soul was in sight.

"Come to think of it, I haven't tested my physical stats in ages. I can't sleep anyway, so I might as well go outside and test them."

With that, Lin Zichen put on a hat and mask and quietly slipped out of the house.

He stuck to streets without surveillance cameras, taking some time to reach an abandoned highway.

After a quick warm-up, he took out his phone, opened the stopwatch, and began testing his hundred-meter sprint.

In a mere instant, he dashed across the hundred-meter distance he'd measured out beforehand.

The time on his phone: 4.61 seconds.

Last time, it had been 6 seconds; this time, 4.61. He'd improved by almost 1.4 seconds. Not bad.

After testing his speed, he moved on to his jumping ability.

He found a few elevated spots and measured their heights, then tested whether he could reach them with a vertical jump to get a rough idea of his jumping ability.

He tested himself nearly ten times, all told, and finally came up with a fairly accurate figure.

—5.51 meters.

Last time, it had been 4 meters; this time, 5.51. He'd gained nearly 1.5 meters.

With speed and jumping tested, it was time to test his strength.

Lin Zichen kept clear of the cameras as he walked, sizing up the cars parked along the roadside.

He had every model of car in this world and each one's weight memorized.

He needed to pick a suitable car to use as a barbell and see whether he could lift it easily with one hand.

"You'll do."

After looking over more than a dozen cars, Lin Zichen settled on one that weighed around 1,500 kilograms.

He walked over and circled it, looking for a good place to grip and lift it before trying to raise it one-handed.

Three minutes later.

He failed.

The SUV was too heavy. He couldn't lift it at all, so he had to try a lighter one.

Soon, Lin Zichen picked out a car weighing around 1,200 kilograms.

He lifted it halfway, but couldn't hold it up.

In the end, he found a small women's car weighing around 1,000 kilograms and finally managed to lift it, just barely.

Last time, it had been 700 kilograms; this time, 1,000. He'd gained 300 kilograms.

All three of his basic stats had improved considerably.

He could only put it down to the fact that he was growing fast during puberty, and his basic stats were rising just as quickly.

Time flew by.

Before he knew it, Monday of the following week had arrived.

After school that afternoon, Lin Zichen headed to the gym to practice martial arts.

In truth, he was only learning some basic punches and kicks. It wasn't like in martial arts novels, where there were all sorts of powerful techniques to cultivate.

Lin Zichen didn't mind.

He'd joined the Martial Arts Team only to compete and win prize money. He'd never expected to learn much from it.

"Zichen, your martial arts talent is incredible. No matter what technique I teach, you're always the first to master it. You've got a bright future ahead of you!"

Guo Xiangyuan praised him with a hearty laugh.

He had just taught the team's eight members a dodging technique that relied on constantly swaying the head to avoid an opponent's punches.

He'd barely finished demonstrating it when Lin Zichen mastered it on the spot.

The other seven still looked awkward. They'd need at least several days of bobbing their heads before they could get the hang of it.

"It's all thanks to your great coaching."

With that, Lin Zichen took the clean clothes Shen Qinghan handed him and headed to the changing room.

He only took a quick rinse, as was common in the south; it wasn't a full scrub-down like in the north.

So Lin Zichen was back out of the changing room in less than five minutes.

"Xiao Chen, I've gathered up all your dirty clothes for you."

Shen Qinghan stood at the changing-room entrance, smiling sweetly.

Lin Zichen noticed that her bangs were a little messy and carefully fixed them for her. His voice was gentle as he said,

"Come on, let's go home."

"Mm."

Shen Qinghan answered softly and quietly walked beside Lin Zichen.

They reached the bike shed.

As soon as Lin Zichen wheeled out his bicycle, Shen Qinghan pulled out her phone and showed him the photos she'd taken at the gym.

"Xiao Chen, look. You look so handsome when you punch."

"Your bangs fly with the momentum, and a few beads of sweat fly off too. You look absolutely amazing."

"If your little fangirls saw you, they'd probably go crazy."

Shen Qinghan held the phone in front of Lin Zi, swiping through the photos one after another for him to admire.

Lin Zichen smiled. "You're the one who took them so well."

The days passed by.

Before he knew it, Lin Zichen had been on the Martial Arts Team for over a month.

At first, Shen Qinghan had been the only girl in the gym to watch him practice, quietly waiting for him to finish so they could head home together.

Gradually, word got around that he'd joined the Martial Arts Team, and many girls learned that he came to the gym to practice after school.

By now, he'd barely started training when girls began trickling in to watch him work up a sweat. Half an hour later, there were more than thirty spectators.

"Wow, Junior Zichen, that kick you just did was so cool! If you kicked me, it'd hurt so much I'd cry, wouldn't it?"

A girl in the ninth grade spoke with an infatuated look after watching Lin Zichen kick the wooden post in front of him.

Lin Zichen found it a little awkward, and his enthusiasm for training immediately faded.

He'd brought the issue up with Guo Xiangyuan, asking him not to let the girls in because they would distract everyone from training.

In the end, he'd been awkwardly met with unanimous opposition from the other seven team members.

Before, their martial arts practice had consisted of a few boys silently training in the vast gym. It was painfully dull.

Now, with so many female spectators suddenly watching them, they felt as if they'd entered paradise. They were more motivated than ever and didn't want things to change.

Guo Xiangyuan felt the same.

Since the team members had trained more seriously after the gym filled with female spectators, and the Martial Arts Team had received more attention, he thought it was working out well. He asked Lin Zichen to make a small sacrifice.

Lin Zichen thought it over. Since everyone else was happy with things as they were, he didn't mind.

The seconds ticked by.

Before long, it was nearly half past six in the evening.

When it was about time, Lin Zichen took the clothes Shen Qinghan handed him and headed for the changing room.

A ninth-grade girl stepped in front of him, looking lovestruck. "Junior Zichen, I brought you some milk. Fresh milk!"

"No, thank you. That's kind of you, but I'm allergic to milk." Lin Zichen didn't want to accept a gift from a girl and risk giving her the wrong idea, so he made up an excuse to turn her down. Then he walked around her.

But he'd barely taken two steps when an annoyed shout came from behind him.

"Zichen, how can you reject a girl's kind gesture?"

"Even if you're allergic to milk, you could've accepted it and given it to someone else. Why did you have to hurt her feelings?"

"Couldn't you show some manners?"

It was Zhang Kai, the boy who had won the all-around silver medal at the school sports meet.

The girl who'd just brought Lin Zichen fresh milk was the one he had a crush on.

Lin Zichen thought Zhang Kai was being ridiculous, and replied curtly, "I make my own decisions. Worry about yourself."

Zhang Kai was just an impulsive middle schooler. Lin Zichen's words made him feel humiliated, and he immediately called out,

"Do you dare to spar with me? If I lose, I'll never give you crap again. If I win, you accept the milk!"

At that, everyone perked up.

Guo Xiangyuan did too.

Lin Zichen had been on the Martial Arts Team for over a month, but every time, he'd trained quietly by himself, then showered and gone home. He'd never sparred with anyone.

As time went by, the others on the team had grown curious about how strong he was.

Zhang Kai's challenge was starting to annoy Lin Zichen too.

He wanted to teach this hothead to keep his tail between his legs and stop bouncing around all the time, so he agreed without a second thought. "Fine. Let's spar."

As soon as the words left his mouth, familiar text appeared in the void.

[Achievement: In formal competitive settings, eliminate 1,000 different competitors using the most primitive methods of living beings]

[Reward: Gain the biological attribute—Natural Selection]

[Competitors eliminated: 0/1000]

Lin Zichen stared at the text floating in the void, first startled, then quietly excited.

After waiting so long, he'd finally received his fourth Achievement mission.

He wondered what effect the Natural Selection biological attribute would have. Would it be more powerful than the previous three?

P.S. Setting out the bowl—please vote with monthly and recommendation tickets!