Lines of text rapidly refreshed before Cheng Fei’s eyes.
[Article 1: Host may earn points through online-romance check-ins.]
[Article 2: Points may be exchanged in the Shop for attribute values and items.]
[Article 3: Online romantic partners must be opposite-sex players whose attributes meet the required standard.]
[Article 4: Host is advised to use Scanners to determine whether a player meets the standard.
Scanners may be purchased in the Shop.]
[Article 5: The System will periodically issue special missions to guide the Host toward online romance.
Whether to complete them is at the Host’s discretion.]
[…]
[Article 20: The Host and the Host’s game avatar will henceforth share attribute values.]
[…]
[Article 40: Three new items will be added to the Shop through a monthly lottery.
Host is advised to draw promptly.]
[…]
[Article 45: Check-in rewards from the first month of the Host’s initial online relationship are consumed in activating the System and will not be refunded.]
[…]
[Article 90: The System assumes no responsibility for psychological trauma or threats to life resulting from improper romantic entanglements.]
[…]
[Article 97: For the safety of both Host and System, do not disclose the System’s existence.]
[Article 98: The System reserves final right of interpretation regarding this agreement.]
[Article 99: Once signed, this agreement cannot be revoked.
Signing constitutes confirmation that the Host has thoroughly read and accepted all terms.]
[Do you accept the agreement?]
[Accept / Accept]
[Failure to act within 24 hours will be regarded as automatic acceptance.]
Cheng Fei blinked.
He confirmed that the dense wall of text was not a hallucination.
An online dating system…
What the hell?
Fifteen years.
It had been fifteen whole years.
Did this thing have any idea how he had spent those fifteen years?
Late at night, Cheng Fei read every last clause without skipping a word.
He had originally harbored some concerns, but after taking a closer look, he realized there wasn’t even an option to refuse.
Cheng Fei could feel the malice radiating from the interface.
Back when he desperately wanted a system, none appeared.
Now that he had given up all hope, one had finally arrived.
“Fine!
Damn it, I accept!” Cheng Fei snapped.
[Agreement successfully signed.]
[Current online romantic partners: 1]
[@!AA_A#123{;return false;} (Shen Xi): Check-in duration → 30 days]
[Note: Check-in rewards will be distributed when a relationship is first confirmed, and subsequently at one week, one month, one quarter, six months, and one year.]
The garbage-looking string was the silver-haired girl’s game ID.
Cheng Fei assumed the name in parentheses was her real one.
That night, before drifting into sleep, he kept staring at that name while a strange thought lingered in his mind.
Shen Xi…
When your elementary-school teacher punished you by making you copy your own name a hundred times, you definitely cried while writing it, didn’t you?
…
The next day.
Four in the afternoon.
Unlike most of the noisy students around him, the young man seated in one corner of the classroom was completely focused.
Even when laughing girls occasionally passed nearby, skirts fluttering and youthful legs flashing past, his attention didn’t waver.
His pen moved rapidly across the page with faint scratching sounds.
Cheng Fei worked on a reading-comprehension exercise while simultaneously studying the System.
Two options glowed before him.
Personal Status and Shop.
[Host ID: Where’s My System]
[Host Name: Cheng Fei]
[Strength: 3 — Poor]
[Perception: 6 — Excellent]
[Stamina: 5 — Average]
[Charm: 8 — Exceptional]
[Intelligence: 8 — Exceptional]
[Agility: 6 — Excellent]
[Luck: 3 — Poor]
[Items Owned: Scanner ×3]
It matched the real Cheng Fei perfectly.
Good brain.
Girls generally didn’t dislike him.
Exercise somewhat neglected.
It was also basically identical to the base attributes assigned to his avatar by Corridor’s algorithm.
Cheng Fei was curious.
If he somehow increased Strength inside the game right now, would he genuinely become stronger in reality?
Unfortunately, basic game attributes couldn’t be altered casually.
If he wanted more Strength, actually going to the gym was probably more realistic.
He opened the Shop.
[Scanner → 100 points each]
[Notice: Three Scanners may be purchased for free initially.]
[Attributes: 10,000 points increases an attribute by 1.]
[At 9 points, an attribute reaches the human limit → Spend 100,000 points to select one corresponding Transcendent Ability.]
[Current Points: 0]
[This month’s new-item lottery is available.
Draw now?]
Cheng Fei selected yes.
[Dawn Flower: A small white flower that does not exist in reality.
Blooms only on clear mornings and possesses a special fragrance.
→ 1 point]
[Ancient Fitness Bracelet: A device that guides physical exercise and draws energy from sunlight.
Supposedly every human in the Corridor Era wore one.
→ 3,000 points]
[Eighth Note: An ornament once belonging to a great musician of the Corridor Era.
It is said those who wore it could see melodies.
→ 5,000 points]
After the three items appeared, Cheng Fei fell silent for a long time.
If he remembered correctly, Dawn Flowers were everywhere inside the game.
The fact that they didn’t exist in reality was certainly special, but Cheng Fei couldn’t think of any practical use for them.
Taking one outside might even cause unnecessary trouble.
For now: trash.
As for the latter two…
All Cheng Fei could say was that this System had clearly learned item descriptions from some video game.
The explanations were obscure, and neither object looked especially useful.
“This System sucks.”
After waiting fifteen years, this was all he got?
Cheng Fei was deeply disappointed.
He could forgive not getting supernatural powers or divine artifacts.
But couldn’t it at least give him some cultivation pill that would establish his foundation or something?
Cheng Fei had no choice but to suspect his mighty 3 Luck was interfering.
He had always believed in science.
Unfortunately, his System believed in superstition.
Sure enough, relying on heaven or earth was inferior to relying on yourself.
Taking the civil-service exam remained the dependable choice.
Cheng Fei sighed and once again admired the wisdom of the life decision he had made at the age of five.
Once the lottery was finished, Cheng Fei spent zero points purchasing his three free Scanners.
He immediately used one.
The target was the Chinese class representative sitting not far away, a cute girl with dimples when she smiled.
[Game ID: None]
[Name: Zhou Han]
[Strength: 4 — Below Average]
[Perception: 6 — Excellent]
[Stamina: 5 — Average]
[Charm: 7 — Outstanding]
[Intelligence: 7 — Outstanding]
[Agility: 5 — Average]
[Luck: 5 — Average]
[Attribute requirements satisfied.]
[Non-player.
Cannot establish online romantic relationship.]
[Host is advised to scan a player.]
Cheng Fei realized he had made a mistake.
The Chinese class representative had good Charm and Intelligence, but as a model student, she obviously didn’t play games.
He should show the System a little respect and stop wasting Scanners.
Cheng Fei shook his head, dismissed the interface, and returned his full attention to reading comprehension.
Some time later, a hand slapped his shoulder.
A sonorous voice deliberately filled with sorrow sounded behind him.
“Cheng Fei.
You’ve worked hard.”
“Huh?” Cheng Fei looked up.
A guy with a pompadour, thick eyebrows, and large eyes was staring solemnly at him.
His name was Chen Hao.
He could more or less be considered Cheng Fei’s friend at this school.
“To shoulder the heavy responsibility of giving me homework to copy tomorrow morning, you’re still sitting here after classes ended.
I feel deeply ashamed.”
“I’m not that kindhearted.
I just have something to do later, so I’m killing some time.”
“Part-time job?”
“No.
Looking for a club.”
“The homeroom teacher is still pestering you?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s ridiculous.
What kind of school forces students to join clubs?
You’re second in the entire grade.
What if this nonsense makes your scores drop?
Sakura High’s rules have completely inverted common sense.”
“Academy City tradition, maybe?” Cheng Fei considered.
Built along the coast, covering more than a thousand square kilometers, containing hundreds of educational institutions, bringing together top global resources, and serving outstanding students from around the world.
That was how the admissions brochure described Academy City.
It pursued elite education.
Its tuition was terrifyingly expensive.
Without a scholarship, Cheng Fei could never have afforded Sakura High School.
“I guess.
Sakura is one of the older high schools in Academy City, after all.
Personally, I’m pretty happy about the rule.
Two whole hours of club activities with high school girls every day.
Hehehe…”
“Does the basketball club have female players?” Cheng Fei interrupted his fantasy.
“Well…
no.”
Chen Hao looked depressed for exactly one second before brightening again.
“But our team manager is a beauty.
Cheng Fei, interested in joining?”
“You want me to do physical training?
Are you trying to kill me?
Besides, I don’t have time.
I need a club that lets me leave early.”
“Understandable, but clubs willing to let members leave early are pretty rare at Sakura.”
“I’ll look.
Recruitment lasts all week, right?”
“Yeah.
Good luck…” Chen Hao suddenly slapped his fist into his palm.
“Wait!
Cheng Fei, do you play Corridor?
That full-dive game.”
“A little.
Why?”
“There’s a club that might suit you.”
“What club?”
“The Corridor Research Club.”
Thank you so much for reading until the end.
[ END 401 Chapter ]
Chainsaw Man: The Covenant of Flame Demon [Ss3 268 Chapter ]
The Problem Child Starts from Gensokyo [ 311 Chapter ]
Honkai star rail:Invincible From the Moment I Started Playing as Jing Yuan [Ss2 339 Chapter ]
FGO: Handcrafted Lostbelt, the Strongest is the Real History [ 196 Chapter ]
Honkai World: Kiana Doesn’t Need Redemption [ 315 Chapter ]
Astral Courtyard: One View from the Trailblazing Department!
[ 207 Chapter ]
Chat Group: My Character Card Refreshes Every Month [ 213 Chapter ]
American Comics: Armed with a Villainous Superhero Template.
[ 157 Chapter ]
Great.
Now we’re definitely screwed!
[Ss4 141 Chapter ]
Crossover: It All Begins with the Invasion of a Crimson Lord [ 157 Chapter ]
My Youthful Struggle with the Uma Musume Can’t Possibly Go Wrong [ 144 Chapter ]
At Tracen, I’m an Expert at Doing Time [ 138 Chapter ]
I’m a Trainer, and an Uma Musume Too!
[ 126 Chapter ]
Honkai Star Rail: Starting the Simulation by Planting a Credit Tree [ 106 Chapter ]
A Dimensional Journey Adrift with the Current [ 127 Chapter ]
Uma Musume:Trapped in the Game [ 109 Chapter ]
[ 103 Chapter ]