Chapter 6

At half past five after school, Wang Bo arrived at the school gate on time. The track and field team had already gathered there, and a bus was parked at the gate. Under the teacher's instructions, everyone boarded the bus in an orderly manner. The bus then took the school's track and field team to the district sports center.

It turned out that the training location was at the district sports center, where the lights were bright, allowing for nighttime training without any issues. Inside the venue, some athletes from other places were also training. This was Wang Bo's first time participating in such an event, and he couldn't help but be impressed by the school's arrangements.

The Guanglin Middle School track and field team consisted of seventeen students, eight boys and nine girls. Most of them were runners, with one male high jumper, one female long jumper, and one female javelin thrower. Wang Bo was the shot putter.

The training started with a slow jog to warm up, followed by some calisthenics and marching exercises. The others were very familiar with these routines, but Wang Bo awkwardly followed along, mimicking everyone else. After the exercises, the team split up. The sprinters and middle-distance runners were led by two different teachers, and the teacher in charge of the long jump and high jump took the remaining athletes. Before leaving, the teacher said to a female student, "Zhang Yi, you take care of the new student."

Zhang Yi was a senior in high school, a javelin thrower, tall and strong with a broad back and broad shoulders. Standing next to her, Wang Bo looked like a bamboo stick, and it was hard to see any similarity between their events.

The teacher entrusted Wang Bo to Zhang Yi, and he dared not complain, obediently following her to practice. They mainly did some strength training for the waist, back, and abdomen using dumbbells, with a few sets of squats in between. There was no actual throwing practice.

Zhang Yi didn't talk much, and when she did, it was brief, appearing somewhat shy. After the exercises, she instructed, "You can do these exercises at home. Make sure to train every day, but remember to warm up before training to avoid injuries."

Wang Bo nodded in agreement. Then he asked, "Does the track and field team often come here for training?"

"We come here every two weeks. Usually, we train on Saturday mornings at school. Daily training is on your own; the school doesn't organize it."

"Oh, so I have to train for half a day tomorrow," Wang Bo nodded thoughtfully, looking at the other groups training in the distance. He realized that these school celebrities also put in a lot of time and effort behind the scenes.

After a while, the team began specialized training, with the teachers recording everyone's results. The teacher in charge of the high jump and long jump took Wang Bo to the shot put area during a break. He broke down the standard shot put technique and some power generation techniques, then had Wang Bo try it out.

With professional guidance, the effect was indeed different. Wang Bo's performance was better than in yesterday's PE class, approaching 18 meters. The teacher nodded in satisfaction, recorded his score, and then moved on to test others.

After three rounds of this, the training ended. It was already around 7:30 PM, and Wang Bo's stomach was growling. However, dinner was still not arranged. The teacher led the team into the sports center building, where everyone's height and weight were measured. Wang Bo was 1.72 meters tall and weighed 65 kilograms, which was considered standard.

After the physical tests, they finally had dinner in the cafeteria. The seventeen students and three teachers filled two tables. According to the previous arrangement, the boys and teachers sat at one table, and the girls at another. With Wang Bo joining, he was assigned to the girls' table since there was an extra seat there.

Once they were seated, the waiters brought the prepared food. Everyone, regardless of their image, started eating enthusiastically. Wang Bo was a bit slower, initially thinking the girls might be more reserved with him there, but it turned out he was the most reserved! The girls were like wolves, as if they hadn't eaten for three days.

Seeing the dishes on the table rapidly disappearing, Wang Bo realized he had to speed up or he would go hungry. He also started eating quickly. The food was delicious, far better than the school cafeteria, and comparable to a high-end restaurant.

After dinner, it was already around 8:00 PM. The bus took the track and field team back to school. Several private cars were waiting at the school gate to pick up the students. Wang Bo, who had kept his joining the track and field team a secret from his family, had no one to pick him up. He could only walk home with his backpack.

After walking a few steps, a car slowly drove alongside him. The window on the back seat rolled down, and a girl called out, "Wang Dali, where do you live?"

Wang Bo turned and saw Huang Wen. He replied, "Just a bit ahead, Shuqiao Jingyuan."

"Ha, get in then. It's on the way, I'll give you a ride." The car had already stopped, and Wang Bo didn't hesitate, opening the passenger door and getting in, saying thanks.

He saw that the driver was a handsome young man, not the expected Huang Wen's father. He didn't know how to address him and swallowed his words.

Huang Wen didn't introduce the driver either. The car drove smoothly but quickly, reaching Shuqiao Jingyuan in no time. Wang Bo thanked her again and got out of the car.

"You're welcome, it's on the way," Huang Wen smiled slightly, "See you tomorrow."

Tomorrow was Saturday, and the track and field team had training in the morning. The teacher had already informed him. Wang Bo smiled in response, waved, and turned to enter the neighborhood.

Watching him leave, Huang Wen faintly said, "Drive," and the car smoothly drove forward, disappearing into the moonlight.

Back home, his parents were still awake, waiting for him to explain his late return. Wang Bo had to tell them about joining the track and field team. To his surprise, they didn't oppose or scold him. Instead, they accepted it calmly and asked for more details, seeming pleased that he had found a skill.

After taking a shower, Wang Bo returned to his room to do homework. He didn't go online that night, staying up until past 11:00 PM before going to bed.

Once again, he entered the mysterious dream. His points were still zero, and the current task was: Persuade Liu Yan and Jin Xiaoli to participate in the cultural festival performance with him. The task reward was 100 points, with an additional 50 points if the program passed the preliminary selection. The other two tasks were locked and could not be accepted. The remaining time for the task list was 27 days.

The preliminary selection for the cultural festival was set for next Sunday. Before then, he had to persuade the two girls to cooperate and rehearse. He had already thought of the program: he would perform martial arts on stage, and they would play instruments as accompaniment. However, to make the performance outstanding, they needed to build chemistry and familiarize themselves with the rhythm.

Wang Bo had very little time left. The planned negotiations had not been scheduled for today or tomorrow, and it had been postponed until Sunday afternoon, making his heart sink. He was already mentally prepared for the failure of his first task.

If he couldn't complete the task, he wouldn't get any points, and he would only be able to envy the items on the exchange list. Wang Bo didn't rush to study the exchange items, thinking there would be plenty of time later. He aimlessly walked around the white room, noticing a door by chance.

The door was seamlessly integrated into the wall, with almost no visible seam. Wang Bo had initially thought it was a closed space with walls on all sides until he discovered the white door handle.

Wang Bo gripped the door handle, wondering what was behind the door. He was a bit nervous because the room itself was a magical place with an incredible exchange system. This door might lead to an even more magical place, or perhaps something dangerous?

He gently turned the handle and slowly pushed the door open, peeking inside. To his surprise, behind the door was a small open space surrounded by a white mist. It seemed safe, so he pushed the door open a bit more. He then realized that the white room was like a floating pavilion supported by a large cloud, and the small open space behind the door was next to a long staircase that seemed to extend to the sky, leading to an unknown destination.

Wang Bo released the handle, ensuring the door wouldn't close automatically. He stepped onto the open space and looked up at the staircase that seemed to reach the sky. He took a step, nothing happened, and he looked back at the open door. Thinking it was just a dream, he decided to take the risk and climb up to see.

With this thought, Wang Bo started climbing step by step. He would stop and look up after a while, but he couldn't see the end of the staircase. There were no handrails on either side, and he had no place to rest. For the first time in the dream, he felt tired, panting and feeling more exhausted than the track and field training that evening.

If he looked back now, the door was already very small. Wang Bo estimated he had climbed at least thirty floors, but he still couldn't see where the staircase led. Just as he was about to give up and turn back, his eyes caught something on a step not far above.

He gritted his teeth and climbed a few more steps, finally reaching the strange step. He saw a few golden words floating above it: 10 points.

Surprised, Wang Bo stepped onto the step. The golden words then dissipated, and a strange system notification sounded in his mind: "10 points reward received."

Wang Bo was overjoyed. Climbing the stairs had such a benefit! He felt the effort was worth it and continued climbing with renewed energy.