Thank You for Participating

After the morning exercises ended, the students returned to their classrooms one after another. Quite a few people gathered in the teaching building's corridors, discussing what had just happened on the field.

"The one the dean called out during morning exercises today was that guy from the class next door, right..."

"Hu Lai! I heard he's quite the celebrity in their class. Everyone knows his name..."

"Is he really that famous?"

"Because he embarrasses himself all the time!"

"Pfft!"

"I really never thought someone could turn radio calisthenics into something so fancy..."

"I saw the dean call him to the office. He's probably getting punished for sure... I really don't know what he was thinking. What good could come of doing that?"

"Hey, you wouldn't understand the world of weirdos!"

"If I understood it, wouldn't that make me a weirdo too?!"

"That's true! Hahaha!"

Such chatter filled the corridor until Hu Lai appeared at the stairwell. The closest conversations grew quieter when people saw him, and everyone turned to look at him.

Hu Lai heard the discussion about himself and noticed all the stares, but he did not care in the slightest. He held his head high and strode through the crowd.

People on both sides of the corridor looked over at him, and the murmurs faded with his passing. Only after he left did the discussions rise again.

"So that's Hu Lai..."

"Yeah, yeah, that's Hu Lai..."

"Look, there he is, there he is..."

It was like walking down a hallway fitted with motion-sensor lights. With every step he took, lights flickered on one by one ahead of him, then went out one by one behind him.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, he walked into Class 2, Grade 10.

The moment Song Jiajia saw Hu Lai, he rose from his seat and went over. "So? How many thousand words is the self-criticism?"

Hu Lai rolled his eyes at him. "What self-criticism?"

"Then you're done for... Public condemnation?"

"I did the exercises seriously and worked hard to train my body. What crime did I commit?" Hu Lai spread his hands and questioned his deskmate. "People like you, on the other hand, just go through the motions every time. That's irresponsible toward your own body!"

The moment Song Jiajia heard that, he knew Hu Lai was fine. He spat, "Pah! If you've got the guts, keep it up tomorrow!"

Hu Lai shook his head. "A tree that stands out in the forest will be blown down first. The more seriously I do it, the more halfhearted all of you look, don't you? No, no. I can't betray my classmates for my own sake!"

"Tch!" Song Jiajia gave his deskmate a look of disdain.

While Hu Lai and Song Jiajia were talking, quite a few people in the classroom were watching them. Most of their gazes carried mockery and schadenfreude, and when they heard Hu Lai's last remark, everyone burst out laughing—this guy Hu Lai was clearly too scared to continue, yet he still insisted on talking tough.

Hu Lai was not angry in the face of those obviously unfriendly laughs. He still wore a cheerful smile.

Amid the laughter, Li Qingqing, who had also been watching Hu Lai, curled her lips. The furrow between her brows did not ease.

Hu Lai did not bother lowering himself to his classmates' level because he was eager to claim his quest reward in his mind.

A glittering golden treasure chest now floated in Hu Lai's mind, waiting for him to open it.

The reason he had not opened it in front of the dean was that he was afraid he would get too excited and be misunderstood—in front of the dean's scolding, Hu Lai had been extremely obedient, with a particularly good attitude.

Hu Lai issued the command to open the chest with his consciousness. As its lid flipped open, dazzling golden light poured out, nearly filling the entire system space.

When the light faded, several items appeared in Hu Lai's mind.

The first was a glass vial filled with liquid. When Hu Lai focused on it, detailed information about the item automatically appeared in his mind:

[Marrow-Cleansing Potion]: After consumption, slightly improves physical attributes, including speed, stamina, strength, jumping ability, and coordination.

Hu Lai's eyes widened at the description—this was actually the reward!

An improvement to physical attributes!

Just as its name suggested, this was practically the legendary Marrow-Cleansing Scripture from martial arts novels!

Weren't martial arts novels always like this? A boy with terribly poor innate talent would transform his meridians and cleanse his marrow, becoming a genius blessed with exceptional talent...

He had never expected something like this to appear in reality. The system really lived up to its name!

Although the description said it would only "slightly" improve his physical attributes, physical attributes were already exceptionally difficult to improve. Even specialized training programs produced minimal results. Now he could improve his physical condition simply by drinking this potion—what more could he ask for?

And most importantly, those physical attributes included coordination!

He still remembered what that girl had said about him yesterday—his body coordination was terrible...

And now, a potion capable of improving his coordination had appeared before him. It was practically tailor-made for him...

Hu Lai rubbed his hands excitedly, deciding that once class ended, he would find an empty stall in the restroom and drink the potion. Then he turned his attention to the other items.

[1,000 Points]: Can be used to purchase lottery tickets in the Official Store. Five hundred points can be exchanged for one lottery ticket.

[One Lottery Ticket]: Can be used to conduct one lottery draw in the system. Rewards are random.

"There's even a lottery?" The thought had barely popped into Hu Lai's mind when a giant lucky wheel appeared in the system. A ring of marquee lights around its edge constantly shifted colors. At the sight of it, Hu Lai could not help thinking of "Macau's first online..."

It would be even better if there were two bunny girls beside the lucky wheel...

But this time, the system did not change in response to his thoughts. The wheel remained the same wheel. Other than its changing lights, everything was as usual.

Hu Lai recalled the rewards he had received: one lottery ticket and one thousand points. At five hundred points per draw, that meant he now had three chances to draw.

He wanted to give it a try and see what he could get.

He went to the store first. The Official Store interface was so bare-bones it was almost pitiful—the entire page consisted of a single empty shelf, with only one item sitting on it...

At first glance, it looked like a supermarket after everyone had rushed in to stock up before a typhoon, clearing out all the instant noodles and leaving only tomato-and-egg gravy-flavored instant noodles standing stubbornly on the shelf. [Note]

Looking at such a crude Official Store, Hu Lai really wanted to complain that compared to the lifelike, vividly rendered virtual version of himself outside, this looked like technology twenty years behind.

Then he thought of the lucky wheel that did not even come with bunny girls. Could it be that the system had spent all its technical capability on appearances? Once it tricked people in, it just made do with whatever it had...

And it had the nerve to call itself the "Official Store"? Hu Lai felt "Official Convenience Store" would be much more accurate.

After finishing his complaints about the system, Hu Lai finally looked at the only item for sale in the Official Store.

Lottery tickets.

The price beneath them read—five hundred points.

Since it was the only thing available for purchase, Hu Lai chose to spend all one thousand points in his possession and exchange them for two lottery tickets.

Then he exited the store, came before the lucky wheel, and used one lottery ticket.

The lucky wheel began spinning at high speed, while the colored lights around its edge flashed rapidly, like a brightly lit pinwheel.

A few seconds later, the pinwheel began slowing down until it gradually came to a stop. Once it stopped, light flashed, and something leaped out of the glow, appearing before Hu Lai.

[Stamina Potion]: Restores the stamina consumed in the previous match, ensuring the user is full of energy for the next match. Note: One bottle per use. Drinking more is ineffective. Stamina lost due to injury cannot be restored.

Hu Lai froze when he saw this—there was even something like this?

Then he became excited.

Feeling tired after playing a match was perfectly normal. If there were several matches within a short period, a player's stamina naturally would not be able to keep up, increasing the risk of injury.

That was why Europe's elite clubs all needed multiple lineups for rotation—relying on only one lineup across multiple competitions would cause everything to collapse. Players were not robots; the more they played, the less stamina they had. Without sufficient rest, they could not handle a relentless schedule.

There had previously been an analysis in the Premier League explaining why Premier League players were most likely to get injured around the New Year. By the midpoint of the season, most of the stamina built up in preseason had already been used, while the Premier League schedule during Christmas was at its most congested. Then FA Cup matches followed right after New Year's Day, forcing Premier League teams to fight on multiple fronts, play twice a week, or even three times a week. When players could not keep up physically, their movements were more likely to become distorted, naturally increasing the likelihood of injury.

But if there were a Stamina Potion like this after every match, and drinking it fully replenished all the stamina expended in the previous game, wouldn't that mean there was no such thing as insufficient stamina at all? The risk of injury would also be greatly reduced.

This potion came from the lottery, which meant it could be obtained repeatedly. When the time came, he could stockpile dozens of bottles and use one after every match, over and over. He could go through an entire season without rotation and maintain perfect attendance. It was practically a must-have for model workers!

Of course, Hu Lai had no need for it yet, but this was the kind of item where more was always better. It was good to stock up while he could.

After all, the famous football game Football Manager had a feature in its editor, known as the nuclear option, that could fully restore a player's stamina. It was an extremely useful function...

And since this lottery system even had something like that, Hu Lai's curiosity was further aroused. He wanted to see what other miraculous treasures he could draw.

So he used another lottery ticket.

The pinwheel began spinning madly again, its colored lights flashing.

The flickering colored lights reflected in Hu Lai's eyes, along with his anticipation.

When the pinwheel gradually stopped, another flash of light appeared—

Hu Lai's eyes widened as he stared fixedly at the light. Though it was somewhat blinding, he did not blink or look away.

He eagerly imagined what magical treasure would leap out of the light and appear before him.

If he got another [Marrow-Cleansing Potion], he would hit the jackpot. Even another [Stamina Potion] would be acceptable...

Under his gaze, something did indeed jump out of the light, but it was not any tangible item. Instead, it was... four large words:

Thank you for participating.

Those four words were reflected in Hu Lai's eyes, and the smile on his face gradually froze.

"'Thank you for participating'?! What the hell does 'thank you for participating' mean?!" Hu Lai was furious. If there really had been a bunny girl in front of him, he would have grabbed her by the collar and demanded she explain exactly what "thank you for participating" meant!

He would not have shown the slightest tenderness toward women.

But unfortunately, there was no one there.

Had the system foreseen this exact scenario, and that was why it had not equipped the lucky wheel with two bunny girls?

What a crafty bastard!

Hu Lai cursed indignantly in his heart.

The system gave no response to his dissatisfaction. That mechanical voice had never appeared from beginning to end.

Song Jiajia noticed movement beside him. He turned and saw Hu Lai gritting his teeth as he lay sprawled over his desk, both hands shoved into the desk compartment. The sounds seemed to be coming from his hands inside it. "What are you doing, Hu Lai? Still have to write a self-criticism?"

Hu Lai glared at him viciously without answering.

"Ah, then think about how to write it. I won't disturb you..." Song Jiajia was frightened by Hu Lai's expression and turned his head back around.

Li Qingqing, sitting diagonally behind Hu Lai, saw the entire scene. She thought that no matter how carefree the boy pretended to be in front of others, he must still be deeply unwilling to accept it inside...

Hu Lai looked at the last remaining lottery ticket in his inventory and gritted his teeth. "I refuse to believe this!"

He used the ticket.

The pinwheel spun again, its colored lights flashing.

Then it gradually came to a stop.

Golden light flashed...

Four large words:

Thank you for participating.

Note 1: I have only eaten tomato-and-egg gravy-flavored instant noodles once in my life. That was in 2005, when I went to Beijing to participate in the recording of CCTV Sports Channel's Feast of the Giants episode on Real Madrid. They were sold at the little shop next to the guesthouse.

I think I had just arrived at the hotel by train and missed mealtime, so I went to the little shop to buy instant noodles.

Back then, I was used to eating Qiaomian Noodle House's old-style pickled cabbage beef noodles in Chengdu, but I discovered that the little shop in Beijing did not have them.

They did, however, have tomato-and-egg gravy-flavored instant noodles.

Out of curiosity, I bought one.

Then I regretted it—I truly had not expected instant noodles in that flavor to taste so awful...

I only ever ate instant noodles in that flavor once in my life. It was both the first and last time.

Speaking of that video recording, unfortunately, there are no online resources for that program now. Otherwise, I would have wanted to download and save it for my children to watch someday.

When it aired, I was still at the guesthouse and had not left yet. I watched it with the other two Real Madrid fan contestants. Now I completely cannot remember how I performed on the show. I only remember getting stumped by an obscure question about the title of David Beckham's wife Victoria Beckham's new album...

Well, I still do not remember the name of that album even now.