After ten minutes…
"No, I am here to learn."
After reading a short novel from an obscure author who was known to update at a snail's pace, Lin Yu snapped out of his procrastination due to his frustration, regaining some control over his mind. With that, he proceeded to buckle down and resumed studying.
After another five minutes…
"I choose death!"
Lin Yu then returned the book back onto the shelf silently as he was hopeless in his 'studies'.
Procrastination was difficult to curb, and he was not someone motivated by some deeply rooted grudge nor was he known to be strong-willed. He never had a dire situation force it onto him, nor did he have superhuman abilities that formed an interest in his heart to study, but it did not seem to be enough to persuade him to commit to working hard.
Studying in this state was no different from back then. It could be described as a brief spike in motivation, followed by a fall that resulted in some form of regret.
Moreover, he was trapped in his own illusion for far too long; his inability to focus when reading a boring technical book before he felt the urge to stare at his phone. Him staring at a book was merely to make himself feel slightly better, but he would have no idea what was even written on the page he was staring at.
To put it bluntly, his habit of zoning out was more interesting. With a subject textbook, he could hallucinate by staring at an ant. However, he was not able to digest a single word in a book.
"How I envy those main characters in webnovels who were natural academic geniuses. I wish I could get myself an Academic Genius System. Why am I given a stupid level-up ability? It's so troublesome. Everything that was upgraded could be replaced by actual common items made by actual modern industrial technology."
Lin Yu sighed as he once again took his phone out for another glance.
However, he was stunned the moment he was done brooding and his eyes lit up almost immediately.
"That's right, an Academic Genius System! I can just make that system and with that, I will be known as the man with the ultimate hack of all systems."
Lin Yu was extremely ecstatic as he slapped his forehead and proceeded to swiftly walk toward the exit while carrying his backpack with him.
As he approached the door, the librarian who was already back to reading his book shook his head without saying a word. It seemed he had seen this scene play out far too often.
People who came to the library would often do so out of sudden brief interest. The ones who could stay to read were extremely rare and these were the same few people.
…
Without straying too far off-topic, the focus shifted back toward Lin Yu.
Lin Yu bolted back toward his dorm, completely fueled by excitement. He was excited to start working on his Academic Genius System. However, it seemed he was stunned the instant he began working on it.
Making a learning assistance program—the ultimate hack of all systems—was an excellent idea.
The problem was how exactly was he going to build that system?
There were no physical objects to build this little project of his, none to even assemble a model.
"Let's try making a carrier system? I believe my level up ability is based on how accurate or knowledgeable I am about something, right? Let's try making a ring with the 'Ultra Academic Genius Program' status buff, although I'm not sure if that would work…"
After contemplating it for a brief moment, Lin Yu retrieved a leftover edge from a wooden block and a carving knife to begin carving a ring.
A round structure with some simple designs would do. It was not too difficult. However, as an insurance policy for himself, he decided to work on some color fading details and spent 40 minutes carving out an explosive design. He used black as its main base color with splashes of ash green.
___
[Basic Wood Carved Ring]
Rank (LV0): 0/3
Description: An extremely crude ring made from wood that not even a single soul would be willing to wear. Young lad, a word of advice: If you have decided to hand this over to someone as a gift, please change it to one made of gold. The better option would be one with a huge diamond on it.
Evaluation: Even the carvings itself are questionable.
___
Lin Yu was speechless.
It was the first time in Lin Yu's life to have seen such a painfully low total EXP points.
Furthermore, it seemed impossible for the system to grant him a gold ring with such a low EXP requirement.
Since the total EXP points for an upgrade would be double the requirement of the previous upgrade, the required EXP for this ring to be upgraded by three levels would only cost about 300 EXP points and could not possibly be a lesser item than an item made of metal.
"Wasn't the system supposed to determine the direction of how an upgrade worked based on what I want? Maybe I haven't fully understood how this system works. Maybe it requires an actual reference object like my Hextech Gauntlets?"
Lin Yu grabbed onto his hair in frustration as there were no answers to the many questions he had in mind.
With that, he proceeded to wash his face with cold water in order to calm his mind in the washroom. He returned to his bed before taking his laptop out and opened up his organized documents to think.
"First was the Charge Blade from Monster Hunter. There is a physical body to it. I understand its looks and abilities, and it started as a wooden blade. Upon upgrading, the material of the Charge Blade began to change as well.
"Next was the Hextech Gauntlets. They were from League of Legends. There is an actual physical body and I had some knowledge of how it works from the game. It was made from 3D-printed plastic parts and when it was upgraded, it functioned similarly to a gauntlet from an Exo suit.
"The final item was the wooden ring. There was a physical body as well, and I wanted it to behave like an Academic Genius Program as the ultimate hack of all systems seemed to be commonly referenced from an array of web novels, so this was not without references. It shouldn't be any weaker compared to the Charge Blade or the Hextech Gauntlets.
"If I were to get into the actual details, I dare not say that my desperation and need in creating this Academic Genius System is greater than the Hextech Gauntlets. At the very least, it should be better than the Charge Blade since I was unaware of my abilities when I made it."
After he was done writing his entry, Lin Yu zoned out while staring at his laptop screen—completely lost in his thoughts.
There were some principles that made no sense since, based on some factors, the wooden ring was not a lesser item in comparison to the Charge Blade and the Hextech Gauntlets. However, the outcome was contradictory.
"Third Brother, why did you suddenly make a ring? Which junior girl are you having a crush on?"
It was unclear how much time had passed. Zhou Jie's groggy yawn could be heard and meant that he had woken up. As he dragged his slippers while holding his mug and toothbrush, he noticed the wooden ring Lin Yu had made earlier amongst some mess that had not been cleaned up yet.
"What did you just say?"
As Lin Yu snapped out of his trance, a ray of light flashed across his head which stunned him again.
Zhou Jie stopped while rolling his eyes and said, "I'm asking you, which junior girl are you crushing on?"
"No no. The one before that?"
Lin Yu sounded impatient as he said that.
"Why did you suddenly decide to make a ring?"
Zhou Jie yawned again.
"What's this?"
Lin Yu held the ring from his desk and raised it up.
"It's a ring. If that's not a ring, then is it a goddamn earring?"
Zhou Jie was still puzzled, akin to staring at a madman as he casually stretched his arm to feel Lin Yu's forehead while saying, "Are you confused from your sleep, or are you having a fever?"
"Just go, leave. You're the confused one. I woke up at around seven in the morning today."
Lin Yu slapped Zhou Jie's hand away in an impatient manner.
"Did you go to class?"
"No."
"Then why did you make that statement then!"
Zhou Jie pouted as he walked toward the washroom in his flip flops.