Chapter 2

After a calm day at school, Wang Bai returned home. By the time he had finished dinner and his homework, it was around nine o'clock in the evening. Before going to bed, he went online. He didn't have many QQ friends; half of them were strangers he had met in games, some were classmates from junior high and elementary school, and only about seven or eight were from his high school. However, he had joined the class group.

Going online before bed and lurking in the group to check the latest news had become a part of his daily routine. Today, the discussion in the class group revolved around the upcoming Cultural Festival. The Cultural Festival at Guanglin High School was essentially a performance event watched by the entire school, held annually at the district cultural center.

Before the official event, there would be a preliminary selection of performances within the school. Each class and each grade's teaching team had to prepare a performance to participate in the preliminary selection. During the class meeting in the afternoon, the homeroom teacher announced the preparations for the Cultural Festival, with the preliminary selection scheduled for ten days later.

The class meeting did not reach a conclusion on what performance to prepare, and the discussion continued in the group well into the evening. Wang Bai was not interested in this and did not want to participate. After a few glances, he was about to log off and go to bed when he received a system message. Someone had applied to add him as a friend, with a note that read "Extra." Wang Bai immediately thought of Jin Xiaoli from the school newspaper. He verified the number in the group, and it was indeed her, so he accepted the request.

"You were invisible, I thought you were already asleep," Jin Xiaoli quickly sent a message.

"You're invisible too."

"I don't really have anything to do, I just forgot to thank you this morning."

"You're welcome, it was nothing." This was the first time a girl had added him as a friend, and Wang Bai felt a bit secretly happy. Learning that Jin Xiaoli had specifically come to thank him made him even more surprised.

After a while, seeing that he had nothing else to say, Jin Xiaoli finally said, "My mom is calling me to take a shower, I'll log off, bye."

Wang Bai replied with a "bye" in frustration, thinking that he had imagined a stroke of good luck. However, now that they were friends, he could visit her QQ space. He didn't miss this opportunity and went to Jin Xiaoli's QQ space to take a look.

There were some essays and prose in her space. As the publicity officer, Jin Xiaoli had always had good writing skills. Wang Bai read the articles, admiring them and gaining a deeper understanding of her. After leaving a comment of encouragement on an essay about a minor setback, Wang Bai logged off and shut down his computer.

After lying down and falling asleep, Wang Bai once again entered the mysterious dream from the previous night. The scene in the dream was exactly the same as before. He still had 100 initial points, and the exchange area had various unusual items. This time, he decided to exchange something to try it out. Since it was a dream, he didn't take the selection too seriously, and he couldn't experience some of the bizarre abilities. After a brief selection, he exchanged for a basic boxing technique, which was described as automatically learning a set of basic boxing moves and improving physical fitness.

After confirming the exchange, a strong light descended from the sky, enveloping his entire body, giving him a warm feeling. When the light dissipated, Wang Bai felt his body had become stronger, even though it was a dream and the feeling was vague. However, he could sense it, and in his mind, a set of boxing moves was imprinted, ready to be performed at any time.

Just as Wang Bai was about to practice the boxing moves to satisfy his curiosity, the dream faded, and he woke up. He looked at his phone by the bedside; it had been about an hour since he fell asleep. He felt something was off, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was.

In the darkness, he clenched his fist, feeling a sense of increased strength, similar to the feeling in the dream. However, he didn't think much about it and lay down to continue sleeping. For a while, he couldn't fall asleep and kept thinking about the dream and the boxing moves he had learned. To his surprise, he hadn't forgotten the moves and could perform them at any time.

To verify his thoughts, he couldn't help but mimic the moves while lying in bed. Gradually, he got out of bed and stood in the room, practicing the boxing moves seriously. The more he practiced, the smoother it became. He had really learned the moves!

The exchange system in the dream had actually allowed him to instantly learn boxing, which was incredible. Wang Bai became excited, recalling the various bizarre skills in the exchange system, feeling a surge of enthusiasm. If he exchanged all those skills, he would be an invincible superhero.

Wait, those items required points to exchange. He had already used up his initial points to exchange for the basic boxing technique. How could he earn points? Right, there was a task system to earn points. Next time he entered the system, he would have to carefully check the task system to earn more points and exchange for some interesting abilities.

Wang Bai couldn't wait to fall asleep and enter the exchange system again, but he couldn't suppress his excitement and tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Eventually, he fell asleep from exhaustion, and when he woke up, it was already morning. He didn't enter the exchange system's dream again.

Not being able to immediately receive tasks and earn points made Wang Bai a bit frustrated, but he couldn't neglect school.

During the morning study session, they were still discussing the Cultural Festival. After Wang Bai logged off the night before, the class group had basically reached a consensus. There were two main opinions: one was to perform a play with many classmate participants, and the other was a personal talent show, with participants chosen by drawing lots.

Based on these two opinions, the homeroom teacher held a vote during the class meeting. In the end, the personal talent show won over the group performance. Most people didn't want to spend their free time rehearsing a play, and the personal talent show, which required drawing lots, was fine because everyone had a bit of侥幸心理 (侥幸心理 means侥幸 psychology, which can be translated as "侥幸 mentality" or "侥幸 attitude," referring to a mindset of hoping for the best and expecting good luck), thinking they wouldn't be chosen.

Wang Bai also voted for the personal talent show, but his mind was not on school. He was lost in thought about the dream and the items he had seen in the exchange system, eager to try them out.

After deciding on the personal talent show, they immediately organized the drawing of lots. The homeroom teacher took out a deck of playing cards from a storage box, probably confiscated from some unlucky student. She removed 14 cards, leaving 40 in her hand.

"Come up one by one according to your student number and draw a card. The one who draws the joker will perform."

Following the homeroom teacher's command, the students lined up to draw lots. The results were revealed immediately, so each student who avoided the joker looked relieved and amused as they watched the others.

Wang Bai's student number was 14, and it was his turn soon. The homeroom teacher still had a stack of cards in her hand, so he casually took the top card and flipped it over, only to be stunned.

"The result is revealed!" The homeroom teacher snatched the card from Wang Bai's hand, holding the joker up with her slender fingers. "The rest of you can go back to your seats, no need to draw. The performer is Wang Bai. Everyone, give him a round of applause."

The classroom erupted in sparse applause, some jeering, and some sighs of relief. Wang Bai had never been the center of attention like this before. The thought of performing on stage made his head buzz. What should I do? I can't do anything, what personal talent do I have?

Although he was a bit anxious, he didn't think of resisting the fair draw and could only accept his fate. Back at his seat, his desk mate Qian Ning laughed maliciously and rolled a book into a tube, extending it to Wang Bai's mouth. "Wang Bai, having received such a glorious mission, please share your thoughts."

"My thoughts?" Wang Bai looked at him weakly and waved away the "microphone." "I want to die."

Sitting behind them, Jin Xiaoli chuckled and turned to Liu Yan, who was sitting behind her. "Yan, this is your chance to save the hero. He's definitely going to chicken out. You can play the pipa, right? Replace him, and he'll be grateful and offer himself in return."

"Offer yourself, you mean," Liu Yan's face tightened, speaking softly. "Why don't you help him? You can play the guzheng. You two are such good friends, even visiting each other's QQ spaces. Is this a small favor?"

"Really? You know about that?" Jin Xiaoli widened her eyes. "You're watching closely. But why do I smell a hint of jealousy? You said you don't have feelings for him, right?"

Liu Yan scolded, "Even if I don't have feelings for him, you know my situation. Can't you be a bit more considerate? Being so close with him is just making things difficult for me."

Jin Xiaoli stared into Liu Yan's eyes until she blushed, then laughed. "If you say you have no special thoughts, I don't believe you. It's just adding a QQ friend, and you're so worked up. Want to know what we talked about last night?"

With that, Liu Yan's ears perked up, her eyes flickering. "Say it or don't."

Jin Xiaoli rolled her eyes. "If you don't want to hear, fine." She turned to read her book, really not saying anything. Liu Yan hesitated for a moment, about to poke her to call her back, but saw Wang Bai turn around to talk to Jin Xiaoli.

By then, the group leaders had already collected the homework, and the morning study session was almost over. She had to go to the English teacher to submit the homework, so she got up reluctantly. Before leaving the classroom, she looked back and saw Wang Bai and Jin Xiaoli laughing together, not knowing what they were talking about but feeling a bit uncomfortable.