Running Circles Forever · Transferred to Clerical Work

Yang Yunzhi had initially thought the track was 1,000 meters long.

Only after stepping onto it did he realize something was off.

He asked, "Little Bean, how long is this track?"

"Your map has a diameter of 200 meters. Based on the scale shown on your map, one lap around this track is 1,500 meters!"

"Damn it!" Yang Yunzhi was instantly speechless.

One lap was 1,500 meters. Wouldn't five laps be 7,500 meters?

This body of mine isn't any different from my previous life. Back then, even running a thousand meters nearly killed me. Now they want me to run 7,500 meters?

Thinking of this, Yang Yunzhi immediately contacted the system. "System, system, can you give me the strength of a third-class private first? Once I finish five laps, I'll naturally become a third-class private anyway, so it won't count as breaking the rules!"

"Sorry, I do not have that authority. I am only your personal AI!" Little Bean replied.

Yang Yunzhi was speechless. "I wasn't talking to you!"

However, the system showed no intention of responding to him at all.

It seemed that system assistant had really left!

It was fine if it left, but what about his strength?

Why didn't the newbie gift pack reward him with some super serum or something?

Sigh, there didn't seem to be any other way. He should just run first!

To be fair, this body was still much better than his body in his previous life. At the very least, he managed to finish the first thousand meters.

But by the second thousand meters, he was already starting to lose steam.

Still, with the system dangling ahead of him as motivation, Yang Yunzhi chose to persevere.

Perseverance was victory. Come on, give it your all!

Breathe steadily, slow down, keep the rhythm!

That's right. They never said I had to finish five laps at a certain speed. Can't I just jog?

"Whoosh..."

Someone passed him from the side.

This was not the first time. With his physique, anyone could overtake him, and some could even lap him.

Some of them did not forget to turn back and mock him a couple of times.

Yang Yunzhi knew why they mocked him: because he was handsome.

It was not as though he was breathtakingly handsome, but people in One Piece naturally looked bizarre. That made Yang Yunzhi—who understood balanced nutrition, exercised moderately, had a well-proportioned body, and regular features—look like a handsome guy.

His handsome appearance had drawn plenty of attention since his school days. Women approached him, while men resented him.

After more than a decade of this, he had long since gotten used to it.

His performance did make Hina look at him a few more times.

After all, she had seen plenty of hot-tempered people, but someone with such a steady temperament was a first.

Unfortunately, a steady temperament was useless in the Marines. You needed strength!

With this kid's physical ability, he was probably destined to have nothing to do with the Marines!

Still, she could not bring herself to say something as blunt as rejecting him outright. In any case, she did not think he could finish five laps.

Then it wouldn't be me eliminating you. It would be you failing to meet the standard yourself!

Six minutes later, he completed the second lap.

Yang Yunzhi could no longer feel his legs, and his chest burned painfully.

Worst of all, his head was starting to spin too.

"I think... I didn't eat breakfast?" Yang Yunzhi suddenly remembered. He had boarded a ship for Glazed Town last night, and when he woke up, he had seen the Marine base.

In his excitement, he had rushed over to register without eating. Who would have thought that after arriving at the Marine base, he would not even have time for a meal before being thrown straight into the assessment?

Missing one meal would have been fine, but the key was that he had spent twelve days on a ship.

Although he attended the Maritime Academy, most of his classes had been held in classrooms. He had spent very little time aboard ships, so while he had endured the twelve-day voyage, he was definitely not in good condition.

And he had not eaten after waking up, either.

"Huh?" Yang Yunzhi felt his vision go dark.

When he woke up again, he was already lying on the grass.

"How long was I unconscious?" Yang Yunzhi asked.

"Four minutes and thirty-six seconds!" Little Bean answered.

"Is that so?" Yang Yunzhi sighed. Clearly, his blood sugar had dropped.

This was One Piece. How could I still have a problem like this? Zeff went without food for dozens of days and was fine!

"You're awake!" A woman's smoky voice came from nearby. Yang Yunzhi turned his head and saw Hina sitting not far away, still watching the Marine assessment.

"Your body is too weak. Go back where you came from!" Hina said.

"But I just didn't eat breakfast!" Yang Yunzhi argued.

"Even if you had eaten, it wouldn't help. Your physique is right there for everyone to see!" Hina said. "I do not mean to put you down, but your physical condition is genuinely the worst I have ever seen in my life!"

Yang Yunzhi was immediately speechless.

He wanted to tell Hina that as long as she let him join the Marines, he could immediately grow stronger.

But he could not reveal something like that. The system was his greatest secret.

Seeing Yang Yunzhi's unwilling expression, Hina explained, "We are the Marines. We go out to sea and face vicious pirates. If you have no fighting ability, going to sea will only get you killed. You would be better off returning to your hometown and living as an ordinary person!"

"But do the Marines only recruit people with strong physiques who can fight?" Yang Yunzhi asked in return.

Since running laps was not going to work, he decided to try another route.

The Marines could not possibly be made entirely of combat personnel without any clerks, right?

In any case, he should join the Marines first. There would always be a chance to show his strength later.

"You mean clerical work?" Hina raised an eyebrow, suddenly interested. "You can read?"

"What kind of question is that?" Yang Yunzhi was speechless. "I started school when I was four and graduated just two days ago. I studied for fourteen years total. How could I not know how to read?"

"Oh?" Hina's expression brightened again. "What school did you attend?"

"That... I can tell you privately." Yang Yunzhi glanced at the few Marines beside Hina. "I want to keep my identity secret, so that if I become famous someday, pirates won't retaliate against my family!"

"How could that happen?" Hina shook her head. "The Marines protect family members very strictly. Once there is an attack on a Marine's family, we will fight those pirates to the death!"

"What does fighting to the death matter? The person is already dead. Can they come back to life?" Yang Yunzhi spread his hands. "Rather than wait until they die to avenge them, it's better not to expose them from the beginning!"

Hina listened and immediately felt that it made a lot of sense.

Fortunately, her own family had been moved into the Marine family district when she was promoted to major, so she did not need to worry about that.

"I'm starting to believe that you can read," Hina said. After all, she did not think an illiterate person could have such strong logic. "In that case, from today onward, you are a soldier of my Base 36. I'll give you the rank of second lieutenant first!"

"What?" Yang Yunzhi was shocked. "No, just like that? And such a high rank?"

"Can't be helped!" Hina spread her hands. "People who can fight are everywhere, but in all these days, you're the only literate person I've seen!!"

Yang Yunzhi was immediately speechless.

Right. One Piece was a world full of illiterates. Even Luffy could not read.

He was the grandson of a vice admiral!

And Garp probably had not taught him to read because he thought illiteracy was normal.

If even a Marine vice admiral thought that way, it showed that this world might not have any concept of universal education at all.

Without universal education, there naturally would not be many literate people.

Yet the Marines needed literate people to handle administrative work, such as writing battle reports, issuing press releases, drafting notices, and compiling logistics statistics.

If a base commander could not find any literate soldiers, all that work would naturally fall on them.

Hina was a military officer. Of course she did not want to deal with reports every day. Now that she had found someone who could read, how could she not recruit him immediately?

"I can join, but I can't be a second lieutenant!"

"You still think the rank is too low?" Hina shook her head. "But this is already the highest rank I can grant. Anything higher is beyond my authority!"

"I don't think it's low. I think it's too high. I've only just joined the Marines and have accomplished nothing. How can I be a second lieutenant?" Yang Yunzhi said. "Just give me the rank of third-class private. I can work my way up slowly!"

The system had said that every promotion would reward him with a lottery draw.

Of course, skipping ranks might possibly let the lottery chances accumulate.

But what if they did not accumulate?

He was unwilling to gamble several lottery chances on that possibility.

"I've seen people complain that their rank was too low, but never that it was too high!" Hina was somewhat speechless. Still, she was straightforward, so she nodded. "In that case, Ryan, take him to change into a uniform and get something to eat. Once he's done eating, bring him back here to help me!"

"Yes!"

Yang Yunzhi was instantly delighted. Wasn't that settled?

But why wasn't there a reward? Where was my reward?