"Bang!"
"Ouch!"
A loud cry echoed from the balcony of a dorm room on the second floor of the boys' dormitory. A young man wearing black-rimmed glasses and with a scholarly look was hanging up his laundry when he suddenly clutched his forehead and squatted down in pain.
This was Su Hang, a freshman at Chengdu Polytechnic University, who had only entered college at age 23. He had repeated his senior year three times, feeling he just couldn't catch a break. In his first attempt at the college entrance exams, he scored high enough for a third-tier university, but was unsatisfied. He aimed to improve and enter a second-tier school, but in each of his next attempts, his scores fell just short of his goal.
Finally, in his third attempt, he managed to score well enough for a second-tier university, only for the system to merge the second and third tiers that year. Still, his scores were decent enough for admission to Chengdu Polytechnic, a top second-tier school in Sichuan Province. For a boy from the countryside, getting into a good university held the promise of a stable job and a life away from backbreaking farm labor.
Repeating high school for three years to enter a second-tier school wasn't for lack of effort on Su Hang's part. He studied hard, but his academic aptitude was limited. By today's standards, he was the sort who struggled to score high despite all his efforts.
Today was the weekend, and his roommates were out, so he took the chance to wash his clothes. Just as he was hanging them up to dry, a dark object whizzed into his vision, striking his forehead and leaving him in a daze.
Blood trickled down his forehead, and Su Hang, nearly in tears, spotted a fist-sized stone spinning on the laundry table.
"Who's the jerk trying to kill someone?"
He cursed, grabbed the stone, and looked down, but the courtyard below was empty.
Suddenly, he felt a burning sensation in his hand. The stone had absorbed the blood on his fingers and turned bright red, like a hot coal. Startled, he quickly threw the stone away.
"Whoosh!"
The stone barely hit the ground before it transformed into a red beam of light and shot straight back toward his forehead.
"Am I seeing things?"
His pupils dilated, and before he could react, the red light struck his forehead. Instead of pain, the light seeped directly into his brow and vanished.
Frozen in place, Su Hang stood there, his pupils unfocused as a strange red glow flickered in his eyes.
"Host detected. Soul check in progress… Conditions met for binding!"
"Binding soul... Binding successful. The Ultimate Learning System activated!"
…
"The Ultimate Learning System? What's that?"
After what felt like an eternity, Su Hang snapped out of his daze to find it was almost noon. His head felt crammed with new information.
"Welcome to the Ultimate Learning System!" a voice announced.
"Who's speaking?"
His heart skipped a beat, and a chill ran down his spine. The voice seemed to come from inside his head. Had that rock given him a concussion, causing him to hallucinate?
"Host need not fear. The Ultimate Learning System has been bound to your soul and will not harm you. On the contrary, I will help you achieve greatness."
Su Hang paused, trying to grasp the reality of it.
After a long while, Su Hang finally understood. A strange entity calling itself the Ultimate Learning System had entered his mind and bound itself to his soul. The stone had served as its vessel and, after absorbing his blood, chose him as its host.
For anyone, having something like this appear in their mind would be terrifying. Yet, as the system explained itself and the initial shock wore off, excitement replaced fear. It felt like he had stumbled upon a stroke of luck.
…
Name:Su Hang
Age: 23
Level: 1
Realm: Grade 1
Energy Points:0.5
Credits:0/100
Closing his eyes, Su Hang saw a data panel in his mind displaying his personal information.
"What exactly are you?" Su Hang asked, watching a rotating red crystal deep within his consciousness, which he knew was the so-called Ultimate Learning System.
"This system is a personal growth assistant, dedicated to transforming the host into an academic genius without requiring study or training," replied the system.
"The Ultimate Learning System?"
Su Hang was taken aback. He knew the concept all too well—a kind of being often spoken of in legends, an academic genius who scores higher than the best students without studying. Many top students pretended to be geniuses, but real academic geniuses supposedly didn't exist.
The system continued, "With this system, the host can spend energy points to extract and enhance the strengths of real or fictional figures, thereby truly becoming a genius without the need to study or train. Additionally, this system has the ability to strengthen ordinary objects."
"That powerful?"
Su Hang found it hard to believe. A system this extraordinary? It sounded like something out of a fantasy novel.
"What are energy points? And what are credits?" he asked.
"Currently, the host can obtain energy points by consuming food and physical exercise. Using energy points earns credits, which, when they reach a certain amount, allow the host to level up. The host's realm is restricted by level; only by leveling up can the realm continue to improve."
"Is this for real?"
Su Hang could barely process this new reality. It felt surreal, almost too good to be true.
Rubbing his stomach, Su Hang realized he was hungry, perhaps explaining why he only had 0.5 energy points. He decided to go out and test this so-called genius system.
Just as he turned around, a gust of wind shot behind him, and something jabbed him sharply between the buttocks, causing a fiery pain that made him wince.
Turning around, he saw a lewd grin on the chubby face of his dorm mate.
"You jerk! You're so old, and you still play like this? Aren't you bored?" Su Hang yelled, clutching his sore backside.
This was Shuai Yu, his dorm roommate. Despite his chubby appearance, he was all muscle. Though he looked innocent, Shuai Yu had a mischievous streak, especially with his habit of greeting people by jabbing them from behind—a quirk that few could tolerate.
Grinning, Shuai Yu held his fingers in a pistol shape, blowing on them as if they were the barrel of a gun. "You don't understand, do you? This is the Konoha Secret Technique, where I strike the enemy's chakra points to disable them instantly. Ever heard of it?"
Su Hang rolled his eyes. Shuai Yu was a huge fan of "Naruto" and loved using his "special technique" to poke someone's ass. Most people who knew him had experienced it at least once, and Su Hang was among his most frequent victims.
That said, Su Hang knew Shuai Yu was genuinely skilled. His lean muscles and strength meant it would take several people to overpower him in a fight.