Seventy-two hours. That was exactly three days.
However, since the countdown had started on Wednesday, it wouldn’t end until Saturday afternoon. So Jiang Wan, who had originally planned to go home that weekend, decided to stay at school for another week.
Her eldest brother was absolutely devastated by this.
“You haven’t come home for two whole weeks!” he complained loudly over the phone. “If you keep this up, I’m bringing the entire family to your school to visit you!”
Jiang Wan expressionlessly flipped through the school calendar for the semester. “Don’t come. I have things to do.”
“Studying is good, but too much of a good thing isn’t! You still need to rest when it’s time to rest. How about your big brother brings you that chocolate chiffon cake from your favorite bakery?”
“No need.” Jiang Wan circled two dates on the calendar. “I’ll come home next weekend.”
Before her eldest brother could launch into another loud protest, Jiang Wan struck first with her ultimate weapon.
“Have you finished your manuscript?” she asked. “Even your editor came to me asking for help.”
Her eldest brother: “…”
“I’m hanging up,” Jiang Wan said coldly. “I’m pretty busy at school.”
—Actually, her schoolwork and various extracurricular activities weren’t particularly demanding. Jiang Wan had always handled them with ease.
The problem was the trouble caused by these “transmigrators” who seemed to specialize in making mischief.
They weren’t exactly difficult to deal with, nor were their antics particularly novel. But she still had to spare some attention for them.
Someone like Lin Chengyan was one thing. Someone like Zhou Wenxing, however, might genuinely manage to get himself killed through sheer stupidity.
Incidentally, the final disciplinary decision regarding Wednesday’s lake-jumping incident was to give Zhou Wenxing a Disciplinary Mark and issue a schoolwide notice of criticism.
Although everyone had been somewhat impressed by his leap of faith, after seeing the photographs from the scene and the videos taken by bystanders from every possible angle… well, the fact that it hadn’t turned into campus bullying was already a pretty good outcome.
Those videos were so ridiculously funny that uploading them to a short-video app would probably earn at least twenty thousand likes.
The most-liked comment beneath the campus newspaper article read: “This is the first time since Jim Carrey that I’ve seen someone’s facial features move so freely.”
…
There was no need to elaborate on Zhou Wenxing’s emotional breakdown. Chu Yishan was certainly no less frustrated than he was.
After changing her mission, giving up on Yue Mingshi, and turning her attention toward winning over the entire school’s teachers and students, her System produced a very straightforward data chart.
Chu Yishan smiled without any warmth. [I didn’t realize you had a data visualization function.]
The System replied mechanically, [Thank you. As a System, I come equipped with various functions that Hosts may need while completing their missions.]
Chu Yishan took a deep breath.
Every time she looked at the chart in front of her, she became furious. She didn’t even want to look at it anymore.
Initially, it had simply displayed a comparison of every student’s popularity, with each person’s individual data available for inspection.
As the Class Beauty, Chu Yishan was fairly popular. Even across the entire school, she was someone with a recognizable reputation and a respectable ranking.
But here was the problem.
Ten thousand yuan was a great deal more than one hundred yuan.
But compared to one hundred million yuan, there really wasn’t much difference between ten thousand and one hundred. Neither amount was remotely impressive.
[However, two positive incidents involving Jiang Wan happened this week, yet her popularity hasn’t changed much,] Chu Yishan speculated. [Doesn’t that suggest something?]
[Yes,] her System replied approvingly. [I was just about to explain that to you.]
Chu Yishan nodded and declared confidently, [She’s actually not as popular as she appears.]
At the same moment, her System said, [Her popularity within the school has almost reached its maximum possible value.]
Chu Yishan: […]
System: […]
Chu Yishan took several more deep breaths to calm herself.
After a while, she finally returned to her original train of thought. [Since this mission is so difficult, you should at least make yourself useful. Calculate the method with the highest probability of success and assign me a mission to try.]
—After all, the popularity she gained would be extracted from Jiang Wan. As one increased and the other decreased, she would eventually complete her mission.
Judging from the forum, there were plenty of transmigrators who remained in a single world for more than ten years to complete their missions. Some who entered cultivation worlds even stayed for hundreds or thousands of years.
The System considered the matter for a moment before tentatively issuing a new mission.
[Mission Triggered: Help three classmates. Upon completion, 15 Favorability Points that others hold toward Jiang Wan will be extracted.]
With a heavy heart, Chu Yishan got out of her dormitory bed to complete the mission.
Although it happened to be the weekend, all three of Chu Yishan’s roommates had gone home, leaving her alone in the empty room.
Chu Yishan wandered around the dormitory building and discovered that there weren’t many people around. After considerable effort, she helped the dorm supervisor take out the rubbish and mopped the floor for the neighboring dormitory. Finally, she managed to find another room where a girl was sitting at her desk reading.
Chu Yishan put on a smile, knocked, and entered. “What are you doing?”
She actually couldn’t remember this classmate’s name.
But the girl recognized her and smiled. “Nothing much. Just working through some practice problems.”
Chu Yishan: “…” You do practice problems when you have nothing to do? Are all the students at this school this terrifying? “I’m just about to go to the cafeteria. Would you like me to bring you something to eat?”
The girl shook her head without much interest. “I’m in the mood for instant noodles today. It took me ages to sneak some into school.”
—The school supermarket wasn’t allowed to sell instant noodles.
“Oh…” Chu Yishan refused to give up. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”
The girl gave her a strange look before exclaiming, “Oh! There’s a problem I can’t quite figure out. Could you take a look at it for me?”
Chu Yishan’s smile stiffened.
Excuse me? Is this what the world of high school students is like?
She stepped forward and pretended to examine the problem for a moment before shaking her head bashfully. “I can’t figure it out either.”
The girl sighed. “That’s understandable. It’s an exercise from Elective Mathematics II.”
Chu Yishan immediately praised her sweetly. “You’re already studying next year’s textbooks? That’s amazing!”
The girl replied casually, “I’m just looking through them. Doesn’t everyone do that?”
Chu Yishan checked her mission progress. The glaring [2/3] was still displayed, clearly indicating that the System didn’t consider her to have helped this girl.
The girl enthusiastically invited her to sit down. “I’ll ask someone for help with the problem. Would you like to listen to the explanation too?”
Chu Yishan: “…” Do I look like someone who loves studying that much?
However, thinking that there might still be a chance to complete her mission, she smiled and sat down.
The girl photographed the problem and sent it off. Chu Yishan assumed that the person she was asking for help was probably a teacher or an older relative, so she chatted with her absentmindedly until the girl’s phone rang again.
The girl immediately stopped talking and eagerly picked up her phone, clearly very interested in the solution.
Chu Yishan maintained her smile as she watched.
The next second, the girl opened the voice message she’d just received, and Jiang Wan’s cool voice emerged from the speaker.
“Draw CH as an auxiliary line.”
Chu Yishan: “…” YOU’RE the person she asked for help?!
The girl immediately took out a ruler and drew the auxiliary line. After staring at the problem for a dozen seconds, her tightly furrowed brows suddenly relaxed. Beaming, she showed Chu Yishan her textbook.
“Look! It was actually that simple!”
Chu Yishan, who had been out of school for who knew how many years and couldn’t understand the problem at all, forced a smile. “It really is. So simple.”
“Thank you for keeping me company while I waited for the answer!” the girl said cheerfully. “Now I finally feel much better. I’m not stuck anymore.”
Chu Yishan opened her System interface and saw that her mission progress had finally reached [3/3]. Despite her frustration, she felt a small measure of relief.
The first step is always the hardest. Things will gradually get better from here.
[Mission Complete. Extracting 15 Favorability Points that others hold toward Jiang Wan,] the System announced.
With a smile on her lips, Chu Yishan watched her own popularity increase by fifteen points, while Jiang Wan’s absurdly long popularity bar slowly decreased by the same amount.
The girl beside her didn’t notice Chu Yishan’s silence. She picked up her phone and sent Jiang Wan a voice message.
“Thanks, Little Wan! Love you, mwah!”
After sending the message, she rested her chin on one hand and began rapidly writing out the solution and proof on paper. At the same time, she said to Chu Yishan, “Little Wan is seriously the best. I’ll always love sweet, adorable top students!”
Chu Yishan thought distractedly, Jiang Wan is so cold. What’s sweet about her?
She smiled absentmindedly and prepared to close the System interface before saying goodbye to the girl.
But just before closing it, she saw Jiang Wan’s popularity bar rise again, recovering the fifteen points it had just lost.
After all that effort, she’d extracted five points from each of three classmates, only for one girl’s praise to restore all fifteen points at once.
Chu Yishan: “…” HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO PLAY THIS GAME?! HOW?!
…
After wallowing in despair for a while, Chu Yishan decided to approach the problem from another angle.
[Are there any other transmigrators in this world besides me?] she asked her System. [Although we’re forbidden from openly acknowledging one another, as long as we can tacitly confirm each other’s identities, we’re allowed to cooperate, right?]
The System confirmed, [Searching… Location confirmed. Two transmigrators and three System energy sources have been detected in this world.]
Chu Yishan narrowed her eyes.
There was actually an unaccompanied System in this world, and it had bound itself to a Native Inhabitant.
Unaccompanied Systems were usually failed or escaped units. Not only were their functions incomplete, but they also completely disregarded transmigration regulations and exploited their Hosts by any means necessary to obtain energy.
The System continued, [The most recent failed mission participant departed this world: 11 days ago.]
Chu Yishan’s expression turned serious.
Eleven days ago. That was only the second day after school started.
Someone had failed their mission that quickly?
She pressed her lips together and asked, [Has anyone ever successfully completed a mission in this world?]
[Searching… Number of transmigrators who have successfully completed missions in this world: 0.]
Chu Yishan gritted her teeth. [Then how many transmigrators have entered this world?]
[A total of twenty-seven.]
A chill ran down Chu Yishan’s spine.
After a long silence, she opened her eyes again. [You just said there are currently two transmigrators. That means there’s one other transmigrator besides me…]
The System replied, [The data has changed. The current number of transmigrators in this world is now: 1.]
Chu Yishan: “…”
That idiot got eliminated way too quickly! What kind of useless teammate was that?!
…
The answer, of course, was Zhou Wenxing.
Zhou Wenxing was a complete beginner at transmigration.
Although beginners didn’t understand the unwritten rules, they possessed a precious quality that seasoned veterans lacked: the determination to persevere despite repeated setbacks.
So, naturally, Zhou Wenxing wasn’t going to surrender to a seventy-two-hour countdown!
He bravely accepted the new mission issued by his System.
[Hold a small concert at school. Reward Points will be calculated according to the amount of attention and discussion generated by the Host.]
Zhou Wenxing boldly formed a hypothesis and carefully sought confirmation.
[I get it! The bigger the sensation, the better!]
The System replied, [Exactly! For example, you could borrow the floodlights on the sports field, then go to the music classroom and borrow a simple, stylish acoustic guitar…]
Zhou Wenxing declared confidently, [I can’t play the guitar! But I know the best way to create a sensation!]
…
There was no supervised evening study on Fridays because most students went home for the weekend.
When Jiang Wan, who was sitting in her dormitory, first heard the commotion downstairs, she didn’t think it had anything to do with her.
Until she heard Zhou Wenxing’s voice.
He was asking his System, [Are you sure Jiang Wan is inside the dormitory building?]
The System replied, […I’m sure. But Host, are you certain you want to do this?]
Zhou Wenxing was brimming with confidence. [I’m a high school student too! I understand high school students! This will definitely generate a huge amount of attention!]
An ominous feeling suddenly rose in Jiang Wan’s heart.
She pulled back the curtains and glanced downstairs, where she spotted Zhou Wenxing holding a microphone on a stand.
He was wearing something resembling a wizard’s robe or a cloak, which completely concealed his body from the neck down.
The System announced, [Jiang Wan has appeared.]
Zhou Wenxing’s spirits soared.
He struck a spectacular pose, then, under the gazes of the gathered crowd, dramatically whipped off his black cloak.
—Revealing the girls’ version of the school uniform underneath.
Jiang Wan immediately yanked the curtains shut.
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!?!?!
Zhou Wenxing was still explaining to his System, [I’ve got experience with this! At my previous school, a boy who dressed in girls’ clothes had an entire photo book made of him and even ended up in the news!]
Jiang Wan: “…” WHAT KIND OF BIZARRE THINGS HAVE YOU BEEN THROUGH?!