Chapter 411 - 207: You Seem to Have Been Captured
Chapter 411: Chapter 207: You Seem to Have Been Captured
The exaggerated complaints of Ah Jie and Chen Mingyu, along with the commotion in the hallway, were shut out by the classroom door.
Soon after, Shen Yuan’s pained yet gleeful yelp could be heard.
After his bros gave him an Aruba, Shen Yuan grumbled his way back to his seat, the smug look on his face long gone.
All that remained was the glaring score of 638 on his phone screen and Li Zhi’s final, meaningful words—"Go get a 650 in your dreams"—ringing in his ears like a demonic chant.
He took a deep breath, as if trying to suppress the restlessness and indignation simmering in his chest.
’No, I have to get my score up!’
At this thought, Shen Yuan remembered the newest skill he had acquired.
[Concentration (Basic): Enter a state of concentration more quickly. Efficiency is increased while in this state. After exiting a prolonged state of concentration, fatigue will be significantly increased.]
What he needed right now was to improve his concentration and efficiency.
As for the fatigue that would come with the Concentration skill...
Shen Yuan also had a skill called Vigorous and Full of Energy.
’Alright, let’s try studying with Concentration and see what happens,’ Shen Yuan thought to himself.
As Shen Yuan entered the state of Concentration, a wondrous change occurred.
The buzz of discussions inside the classroom and the clamor from the class next door seemed to be separated by an invisible film. They instantly became muffled and distant, losing their distracting, piercing quality.
The scene before him became exceptionally clear—and not just in a physical sense.
The mountain of notes on his desk, the dense text on the exam papers, the elegant handwriting on Li Zhi’s near-perfect test spread out on her desk...
Every detail seemed to be focused through a high-powered magnifying glass, entering his vision with an unprecedented sense of "purpose."
In a flash, Shen Yuan’s objective became crystal clear.
’Go over all the questions I got wrong on the joint exam!’
’Especially fucking math!’
Without a moment’s hesitation, Shen Yuan took out his math joint exam paper.
Now, empowered by [Concentration (Basic)], Shen Yuan began to rapidly go through the questions he’d gotten wrong, carefully copying them into his corrections notebook.
Recalling the problem-solving methods Old Zhou had explained in class, Shen Yuan didn’t look at the copied-down answers. Instead, he tackled the problems again with his newfound understanding.
Under the effects of Concentration, the complex lines and the various possibilities for auxiliary lines seemed to be automatically filtered in his mind.
Inspiration was no longer a fleeting meteor but a flowing stream he could follow.
He scribbled calculations furiously on his scratch paper, the tip of his pen making a rapid RUSTLE against the page. He was completely immersed in the labyrinth of numbers and symbols, oblivious to everything around him.
Li Zhi, sitting beside him, had been staring at her own near-perfect science exam, mulling over an alternative solution to a multiple-choice question.
Her pen tip tapped unconsciously against the paper, but her peripheral vision sharply caught the change in the person beside her.
’This guy... had a personality transplant?’
Li Zhi’s eyebrow twitched, rising almost imperceptibly.
Shen Yuan was usually a proactive student, but there was a world of difference between his normal self and how he looked now.
The beautiful girl stopped her pen, tilting her head to study him.
Shen Yuan was leaning forward slightly, his shoulders tense with effort. The knuckles of the hand gripping the pen had turned white from the force.
Shen Yuan’s brow was deeply furrowed, but it wasn’t with his usual frustration at an unsolvable problem. It was more like the intense focus of someone powering through a difficult video game level.
His pen moved quickly and steadily. The new calculations on his scratch paper were clear and extremely purposeful, a stark contrast to the messy, corrected scribbles he’d made on the exam.
Of course, the most crucial change was that the gloomy cloud of frustration that had hung over him since he saw his score had been replaced by a quiet, intense thirst for knowledge.
A nearly imperceptible arc formed on Li Zhi’s lips, curving slowly upward.
In her beautiful eyes, the sharp, appraising look faded, replaced by satisfaction.
That’s right. Satisfaction.
A satisfaction even more gratifying than getting a perfect score herself.
’That dumbass Shen Yuan is finally starting to use his brain.’
’Why couldn’t he have been like this from the start?’
’Hmm... In that case, I guess I’ll reluctantly lower the goal to 649.’
The lunch break passed quickly, and the school bell shattered Shen Yuan’s state of Concentration.
However, Shen Yuan soon discovered that the state of Concentration also worked during class.
His efficiency soared as he listened to the lecture with complete focus.
During physics class, as the teacher analyzed the last major question on the exam, Shen Yuan found that he understood it almost instantly.
’This is just overpowered,’ was all Shen Yuan could think.
’I can already study for twelve hours straight. I don’t know how much of a boost Concentration gives me, but no matter what, it means I’ll have way more study time than anyone else!’
Moreover, Shen Yuan discovered that he could turn the state of Concentration off and on again. This meant he could study for a while, exit the state, and then re-enter it later.
’What did that mean?’
The description for the Concentration skill clearly stated that fatigue would increase after being in the state for a "prolonged" period. He didn’t know if "prolonged" meant a single, continuous session or a cumulative total.
But if it was the former, it meant Shen Yuan had found a system bug.
By turning the state of Concentration on and off intermittently, he could avoid triggering the "increased fatigue" debuff.
’Exploiting bugs is pretty fun.’
’Especially the system’s bugs.’
Shen Yuan kept the state of Concentration active all the way until the end of evening self-study.