Scholar's Delight, the Victim Comes Calling

"The taste was better than I'd imagined..."

On the way, Su Chen smacked his lips and stoppered the glass bottle. The hunger in his stomach had completely vanished, and he even felt full.

Bai Fengxi's nutrient solution still had two-thirds left.

"It doesn't look like much, but it tastes pretty good." Su Chen put away the nutrient solution.

After asking for directions a few more times, Su Chen found his dormitory building. Security was quite strict, and the guards at the entrance gave off a fierce air.

Only after he swiped his student ID through the device was he allowed inside.

Luckily, he had secured a private dormitory while handling the enrollment procedures. It was not large, but it had everything he needed. At the very least, he could stretch out his legs on the bed.

"Mm, I need to pay off the Strongman loan as soon as possible..." Su Chen took out the hemp rope and Shadow-Hiding Garment stuffed on his person and tossed them beneath the bed.

He immediately assumed a stance and began training with huffing breaths.

[Body Tempering Trial] required breaking through one's physical limits ten times. For people in this world, that was not particularly difficult.

What was harder was reaching mastery in physical skills, which required persistent training.

The troublesome part was that, since he was already a Strongman, his physical constitution was exceptionally powerful. As a result, some training methods from his previous life were extremely inefficient.

It was not until eight or nine in the evening that Su Chen felt his strength was nearly spent. His body was exhausted to the extreme, his heart pounded like a drum, and sweat covered his skin.

"Hu... hu... hu..."

Suddenly, he felt his body loosen. Though he had already been completely drained, a warm current somehow surged up within him.

When he opened his panel, it was just as expected: he had broken through one limit.

"This... this is way too difficult..." Su Chen lay on the bed, not wanting to move even a finger.

A number had also appeared after [Strongman] on the panel.

[Strongman: 1%]

So this was profession development progress? It could be quantified too. Not bad.

Even if he had taken up the profession early, he still needed to fulfill its requirements. But now it could also help increase his profession development progress. Either way, it was a gain.

Profession development would improve his own strength in every aspect. Once it reached a certain stage, he could even uncover other profession abilities.

"Still, I need to find a training method related to the profession. This clumsy method is too slow." Su Chen could not help thinking.

As professions advanced and all aspects of physical ability improved, ordinary physical training methods would become increasingly ineffective. Corresponding high-level training methods were needed.

From what he had learned in the library, a suitable training method could multiply profession development efficiency severalfold, but such methods were also extremely precious.

"High-level training methods are secrets. Under normal circumstances, they'll probably be hard to obtain." Su Chen lay on the bed, catching his breath.

After resting for a while, he took off his clothes, washed up, and returned to bed, where he began the Candlefire Mental Training Method again.

Physical and mental exhaustion assailed him at the same time. A first-rank professional had not transcended the concept of being human.

Not sleeping was obviously impossible.

However, at the first light of dawn, Su Chen's body trembled slightly. He let out a long breath, feeling as though he had been reborn.

[Candlefire Mental Training Method—Mastery: 10%]

After only one night, it had entered the mastery stage. The improvement it brought also washed away the mental fatigue from staying up all night.

After a night of expenditure, hunger came rushing back. After some thought, Su Chen drank another half of the remaining nutrient solution and continued training.

By mid-afternoon, he broke through another limit. Lying on the bed, he stared blankly at the ceiling. This exhaustion left him wanting to do nothing at all.

In a daze, the panel abruptly appeared—

[The Scholar witnessed your diligent practice and felt delight, deciding to reduce the required years of study.]

Su Chen watched as the Scholar's requirement changed from twelve years to eleven years and eleven months.

"Finally, there's a reaction..." He shot upright from the bed, and even his exhaustion seemed to recede somewhat.

"So the harder I work, the happier he gets..." Su Chen was speechless. Though it had only been reduced by one month, he had trained for just one day.

At this rate, three years could be erased in at most a month.

He could not help feeling curious about what abilities this special profession might have.

Thinking of this, he looked again at [Mystic Artificer]. He had already figured out what "profession traits" were.

Profession traits concerned a profession's advancement path. For example, the Strongman profession could only advance toward professions related to strength.

[Mystic Artificer] shared the profession traits of Rope Master and Arcane Apprentice, meaning he could choose to advance into the higher-tier professions of either of those two professions.

"The consumption really is fast..."

Su Chen poured down the last of the nutrient solution and burped.

This stuff could sustain an ordinary person for several days, yet it had only lasted him a day and a half.

"I need to find Jiang He as soon as possible, or I'll have to go hungry again." He calculated that repaying the Strongman loan required constant training, and his nutrient consumption was faster than usual as well.

He glanced at the wall clock. It was already past three in the afternoon.

After resting a little longer, Su Chen left the dormitory. At this hour, there were not many people in the corridor.

At the end of the hallway stood a rectangular device with an iron-brown exterior and an LCD screen in the center.

Finding the narrow slot below, he inserted his student ID, and a schedule appeared.

This was his class timetable. It really was not too packed. He had only completed his enrollment yesterday, so he had no classes today.

Tomorrow, he only had three classes, all Jiang He's Mysticism courses. The second period was in the morning.

"Then I can only find her tomorrow..." Su Chen frowned. Not having any convenient way to contact her was troublesome.

He guessed this world surely had such things, but he had yet to encounter them.

"Tomorrow it is, then. I'll go hungry for one more night today." He shook his head, preparing to return and continue training.

Thumping sounds came from the stairwell as a young man ran upstairs. He glanced at Su Chen, looked left and right at the room numbers, and muttered, "301, 301..."

Su Chen's expression turned strange. Isn't that my room number?

He said nothing and merely followed behind the young man. After finding 301, the young man knocked on the door.

"Are you looking for me?" A voice suddenly came from behind him, startling the young man into a shudder.

"Who?" He instinctively shouted as he turned around, his gaze becoming resentful. "You're the owner of this room?"

"Yeah." Su Chen glanced at the student ID on the man's chest—Li Ming.

He then unlocked the room to prove his identity.

Is he sick? He definitely heard me muttering just now, yet he followed behind me without saying a word.

Li Ming complained inwardly, but said, "You're Su Chen, right? Someone downstairs is looking for you."

"Who?" Su Chen asked instinctively, then immediately corrected himself. "A man or a woman?"

"A man," Li Ming answered. "He's downstairs."

With that, he tried to leave, only to find himself firmly grabbed.

"What does he look like?" Su Chen stared at him. If it were a woman, there were still Jiang He and Bai Fengxi as possible candidates. But if it was a man...

"He's downstairs. Why don't you just go down?" Li Ming was getting impatient.

Su Chen said nothing, but his grip gradually tightened.

"Fuck, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts... Big brother, big brother..." Li Ming wailed and hurriedly explained, "He's dressed pretty well, quite handsome, and very polite. He asked me to come up and find you, and even gave me a gold coin."

"He isn't from the academy. Oh, right, his eyes are blue."

The victim had come calling!

Su Chen's eyes flickered, and he loosened his grip. "Go tell him to give me 100 gold coins, or I won't come down. Wait, I'll give you another gold coin afterward."

Li Ming stared at him in astonishment. Were they playing some kind of game?

"I'll go, I'll go..." Feeling pain faintly return to his arm, Li Ming hurriedly agreed.

"He really is sick..." Only after going downstairs did Li Ming dare curse.

Rubbing his elbow, he left the dormitory building and prepared to leave. There was no way he was passing a message for a lunatic.

"Student..."

"Fuck!" Li Ming jolted and turned around. The man who had asked him to go up and find someone was somehow standing behind him with a smile, his deep blue eyes unfathomable.

"Where is the person I asked you to call?" he asked gently.

"He... he isn't there..." Li Ming did not want to get involved.

"Lying isn't a good habit." The other man seemed to see right through him. "Think carefully."

Li Ming clearly saw flames burning in the man's eyes. He was a professional.

What rotten luck. He cursed inwardly, then said helplessly, "He asked me to tell you that unless you give him 100 gold coins, he won't come down."

Li Ming noticed the man's expression stiffen, his smile disappearing. Then he looked up.

After a long while, he pulled out a special wallet from his pocket, poured out a handful of gold coins, and said flatly, "Tell him this is all I have. I'll keep waiting for him."

He actually fucking gave it to him!?

Li Ming was dumbfounded as he walked numbly back into the dormitory building.

A moment later, Su Chen stared at the gold coins before him. They were only the size of fingernails, not the gold he understood. They felt warm to the touch and faintly emitted a certain radiance.

He fell into deep thought. What should I do now that the victim has come calling?