Future Choices! System Activation! Heaven Rewards Diligence!

Songjiang No. 1 High School, gymnasium.

One high school student after another paid their fees and collected their Pokémon Eggs in an orderly fashion under the gym teachers' direction.

"So many eggs!"

At the back of Class 3's line, Liu Jianhao stared at the rows upon rows of similarly sized Pokémon Eggs in the gymnasium, his eyes full of anticipation.

Although Liu Jianhao looked somewhat feminine, he was actually quite tall—176 centimeters, only half a head shorter than Mu Yun. Among girls, he would have been fair-skinned, beautiful, and long-legged.

Wait, why was Mu Yun comparing him to girls?

Mu Yun figured the sun must have fried his brain a little.

"Next!"

Before long, the egg collection line neared its end. Liu Jianhao and Mu Yun presented their student IDs and student cards one after the other.

As first and twenty-second in their grade, both of them could receive one Pokémon Egg for free as their Starter Pokémon.

It was worth noting that Starter Pokémon did not necessarily have to come from schools.

In fact, schools distributing Pokémon Eggs was a benefit that had only emerged over the past decade, intended for students from ordinary families.

It was said that the initiative had been proposed by Zhou Shijin, the second-ranked of the Northern District's four Regional Elite Four members, one of the Yanhuang League's seven major regions.

To be fair, that guy seemed pretty capable. Otherwise, he probably could not have pushed through such a welfare measure.

After all, the Pokémon Eggs distributed by schools all came from Professional-level Pokémon. Even the cheapest Caterpie eggs were worth over ten thousand.

For Pokémon like Pidgey, with higher Base Stats and greater utility, the price could reach tens of thousands.

Not to mention the free Pokémon Egg Incubator and the twenty-to-fifty-percent discounts. Added together, the expenses likely exceeded a million League Coins.

And that was just one school in one city. Rolling it out nationwide was an astronomical figure Mu Yun could barely imagine.

As a beneficiary of the policy, Mu Yun was quite grateful to King Zhou.

After all, given his family circumstances, without the school's benefits, he had planned to spend one or two thousand at a private small-scale breeding house to buy a Normal Level or Veteran Level Caterpie egg, register as a Novice Trainer, and deal with the College Entrance Examination that way.

He did not intend to apply for a Trainer major anyway. Breeder majors did not care about a Pokémon's potential, either. As long as his academic scores were high enough, applying would not be affected at all.

If he wanted to raise Pokémon, he could wait until he had a university scholarship before buying one with high potential.

"Mu Yun, student number 20230301. Academic rank: 001. Congratulations, you qualify to receive a Pokémon Egg for free."

The staff member in charge of checking student IDs and cards finished the verification expressionlessly and offered his congratulations in a mechanical tone.

Mu Yun glanced at the heavy dark circles beneath the man's weary eyes and felt some sympathy.

Hopefully I won't become some workhorse pulling overtime doing experiments in the future...

After putting away his documents, Mu Yun entered the gymnasium.

Since the eggs were being given away for free, they had no right to choose and simply received them in order.

However, Mu Yun noticed that when the staff member fetched his Pokémon Egg, the man did not take one from the outer shelves in sequence. Instead, he turned into a small room and emerged carrying a Pokémon Egg covered in pale green spots.

Thoughtfully, Mu Yun accepted the incubator containing the Pokémon Egg. After thanking him, he carried it out through the gymnasium's rear entrance.

On his way back to the classroom, Mu Yun took a moment to inspect the Pokémon Egg's appearance.

It was longer and slimmer than a basketball, looking like a gigantic oval chicken egg.

If not for the pale green spots on its shell, Mu Yun would have thought it was some edible ostrich egg.

Once the Pokémon Eggs had been distributed, everyone returned to their respective classrooms.

Mu Yun glanced at his "pretty bestie," Liu Jianhao's Pokémon Egg.

It was covered in white and pink spots.

It suited him pretty well.

As the classroom filled up, Song Fu, their homeroom teacher, once again stepped onto the podium with the thermos cup he never let leave his hand.

"Students, now that you have your Pokémon Eggs, you have a full month of summer vacation ahead of you. Although it is a break, as next year's College Entrance Examination candidates, you must not relax in your studies. Even if you want to bond with your Pokémon, you must not forget your schoolwork..."

Homeroom teacher Song Fu used the status move—Chatter!

The move hit. It was super effective!

The students, who had still been excited moments ago, suddenly began feeling sleepy.

Fortunately, Song Fu knew vacation was about to begin and did not speak for long. He took a sip of chrysanthemum tea from his thermos and gave one final summary.

"Once your Pokémon Egg hatches, remember to register with the Trainer Association immediately."

"Also, for those choosing the Pokémon Class, the school will hold a battle assessment after the term begins and distribute rewards based on ranking. However, even students who intend to train Pokémon must wait until their Pokémon has passed its first week of infancy."

"Mm, that should be about it. Class dismissed!"

"Yes!"

"Goodbye, homeroom teacher! Goodbye, Pig Mom!"

"Pig Mom, have a wonderful summer vacation! Don't let the homeroom teacher squeeze you dry again!"

Amid the laughter and chatter, the classroom that had just been packed quickly became empty.

"Xiao Yun, want to come over to Uncle Song's for dinner tonight?"

Song Fu stopped Mu Yun and asked while organizing the documents on the podium.

Song Fu was a friend of Mu Yun's nominal father and had taken great care of him in both school and daily life over the years.

On top of that, his wife had passed away early, and his daughter studied away from home. At home, it was just him and Pupu Pig, so he often invited Mu Yun over for meals whenever he could.

Mu Yun knew Song Fu was worried that, living alone, he might not take proper care of himself, skip meals, harm his development, and delay his studies.

At first, so as not to hurt Mu Yun's feelings, Song Fu would always find excuses, such as tutoring running late, to keep him for dinner. As time passed, he became more casual about it.

"No, Uncle Song. The staff said this Pokémon Egg is already more than five days along. It might hatch in the next couple of days, so I need to buy some necessities," Mu Yun said.

"Mm, hatching the Pokémon Egg comes first."

Song Fu did not insist.

Pig Mom, on the other hand, looked a little disappointed.

Her pink, plump ears drooped slightly, making her look exactly like a mother saddened that her son had grown up and no longer needed her care.

"Come to think of it, it's been so long since I had Pig Mom's fish-fragrant shredded pork. Once my Pokémon Egg hatches, could I trouble Pig Mom to satisfy the cravings in my stomach?"

Seeing Pig Mom's sadness, Mu Yun immediately stepped forward and said so.

Sure enough, upon hearing that, Pig Mom's eyes instantly lit up, and her large ears sprang upright with a pop.

"Pupu!!"

She patted her chest, saying to leave it to her.

"See you in a few days, then!"

After saying goodbye to Song Fu and Pig Mom, Mu Yun left the school gates, scanned an Electric Rat Shared Bike with a basket, and rode toward the Asia-Europe Hypermarket downtown.

As the top student in his grade, Mu Yun was not only excellent in academics; he had naturally also studied knowledge related to Pokémon.

Following the records in books and the information he found online about caring for baby Pokémon, Mu Yun quickly bought everything a newborn Pokémon would need.

It had to be said, anything related to Pokémon was expensive.

A single 100-milliliter bottle of Moomoo Milk cost a full 150 League Coins, fifty percent more than even the cheapest Berry.

That was enough for him to eat at the school cafeteria for an entire week!

Life was not easy. Mu Yun sighed.

After buying everything needed for a Pokémon's infancy, Mu Yun finally rode his Shared Bike away from the hypermarket.

His home was in an old residential building. It was not large, just over fifty square meters, but though small, it had everything it needed.

Besides, he lived alone, so it was more than enough.

After sorting the items and putting them into the refrigerator, Mu Yun ate a simple dinner and carried the incubator over to his desk.

He set it steadily on the floor beside the desk, made sure it was secure, then skillfully opened the secondhand laptop on the desk.

It was the first day of vacation, and the Pokémon Egg had not hatched yet, so he decided to play some games to relax.

Pokemon Land, launch!

The moment he opened the game, Mu Yun found that a friend was online and inviting him.

[Might as Well Wait to Die (Deng Siyao): Two rounds?]

[Cloud Reader (Mu Yun): GO!]

Deng Siyao was Mu Yun's online friend and gaming buddy.

Her aim was average, but she had plenty of skins. Her voice was nice, but nobody knew what she looked like. She claimed to be an undergraduate in Evergreen University's Breeder program.

Whether that was true or not, Mu Yun had indeed learned quite a bit from her about Breeder majors.

[Might as Well Wait to Die (Deng Siyao): So, are you applying to our Evergreen University Breeder program next year? Your big sis is getting recommended for graduate school this year. Since you've carried me up the ranks, come to our school and I'll carry you! (Jigglypuff evil grin.JPG)]

[Cloud Reader (Mu Yun): Evergreen University? With my grades, even if I don't go to one of the Five Metropolises, I'm still going to the Top Ten. What kind of place is Evergreen University? Does it deserve me? (Psyduck smug face.JPG)]

[Might as Well Wait to Die (Deng Siyao): Young man, don't get too cocky. The Five Metropolises and the Top Ten are deep waters in scientific research. Even if you're smart, without some connections, you can only become a workhorse doing odd jobs there.

Unlike our Evergreen University—beautiful scenery, spacious grounds, friendly people, plenty of research projects, and freedom in activities. Most importantly, your big sis has people above her who can look after you! Follow your big sis, and you'll eat nine meals in three days! Got it? (Jigglypuff arrogant.JPG)]

[Cloud Reader (Mu Yun): Really? Rich lady, V50 me and show me what you've got. (Psyduck side-eye grin.JPG)]

While playing, Mu Yun chatted with Deng Siyao on and off.

Although they had never met, after two years of "fighting side by side," they could be considered fairly close friends.

Before long, amid Deng Siyao's excited shouting, Mu Yun won the final game in the sixteenth round with a stunning 40/14/6 performance.

(This was not some mysterious code. The author was simply good at aiming, ╮(￣▽￣)╭)

[Might as Well Wait to Die (Deng Siyao): You're my god of guns!! (Jigglypuff worship.JPG)]

[Cloud Reader (Mu Yun): Just a normal performance. Basic stuff, don't praise me. (Psyduck sunglasses.JPG)]

[Might as Well Wait to Die (Deng Siyao): But seriously, if you want to develop in the Breeder field, our Evergreen University is pretty good.

We may be below the Top Ten, but we're still in the first tier beneath them. Besides, my advisor is a nationally renowned expert in Energy Cube Making. Really, I'm not lying to you! (Jigglypuff serious.JPG)]

[Cloud Reader (Mu Yun): We'll talk about it later. There's still a year, so there's no rush. (Psyduck calm face.JPG)]

After the brief conversation, Mu Yun logged out of the game.

After washing up, he lay on his bed and began contemplating life.

His original plan had been to casually raise a Pokémon, complete his Novice Trainer registration, and thereby qualify to apply for a Breeder major.

However, just as he picked up the Pokémon Egg that belonged to him, a cold electronic notification suddenly sounded in his mind.

That was also why Mu Yun had turned down Song Fu's dinner invitation and returned home alone to wait.

[Ding! Detected that the host has obtained his first Pokémon Egg in life. Heaven Rewards Diligence System activating... 10%... 30%... 80%...]

Mu Yun narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched the loading bar in his mind.

When the notification first sounded, the progress bar rapidly loaded to 80%.

After that, it advanced at a rate of one percent per hour.

It was now eleven at night, and the progress bar had reached 90%.

If nothing unexpected happened, it would finish loading by the time he woke up tomorrow morning.

"I wonder what functions this Heaven Rewards Diligence System has. Could it be the legendary Deep Blue point-allocation system?"

With anticipation in his heart, Mu Yun drifted off to sleep.