Jian Chuyi held her head as she recited English vocabulary, while Ji Tian shifted her gaze away from Shen Zhiyi and sneaked a peek at the English textbook.
She noticed that the level of English had already surpassed high school; it was on par with university standards.
She realized that this special class was more advanced than a regular high school class, with some college knowledge slowly seeping in.
How on earth was she qualified to be in such a class? With her grades, her family must have paid for her to get in through the back door.
Jian Chuyi started reading out of fear from just a few words spoken by Shen Zhiyi. Lying on the table and closing her eyes, Ji Tian prepared to catch up on some sleep.
Suddenly, the voice of King of Competition echoed in her mind: "Ding, an abnormal magnetic field has been detected around the host. It's difficult for you to obtain enough Faith Value by yourself, so I have just upgraded to version 2.0 and am authorized to issue hidden missions. Are you willing to accept the mission?"
Her startle at its sudden appearance was because King of Competition rarely showed up, but these past couple of days it had been more active, showing up two times a day.
In her mind appeared a panel with two options:
1. Willing.
2. Very willing.
Ji Tian's temples twitched, momentarily unsure what the difference between the two choices was.
"Ding, due to the host's prolonged indecision, the system has automatically selected—Very willing. The mission release timer will now commence."
After hearing it finish, a panel loaded in her mind, and whether it was disconnected or something, the progress bar stayed at 1%, making her wish she could manually drag it to full.
"Can you speed it up? It's been ten minutes, and the progress bar hasn't moved at all."
"Disconnected. Reconnecting now."
Ji Tian: "..."
No wonder it's the worst system out of them all—truly garbage...
After waiting twenty minutes, the progress bar finally filled, and just when Ji Tian thought she could see the mission, King of Competition's mechanical voice rang out: "Since you are a new user, our System Planet has introduced a new benefit to help the host quickly and efficiently gain points. It is now time for a limited double Faith Value event. The host only needs to watch a 60-second advertisement for the mission to be released."
Ji Tian: "..." Don't be ridiculous.
Another panel appeared in her mind.
The advertisement will commence shortly; please select:
1. Confirm.
2. Very Confirm.
Ji Tian chose with a deadpan face—Very Confirm.
Soon, the content emerged on the panel:
Learning X
Ambition X
Playing Games ✓
Let's rescue the dog together.
In the advertisement, a dog's head appeared, and the player needed to encircle dangerous items attacking the dog's head. If the dog's head remains safe for ten seconds, the level was cleared.
Watching the ad's brain-dead mechanics, Ji Tian gripped and loosened her hand, barely resisting the urge to close the dumb ad.
For a full sixty seconds, she watched the dog head die nearly three times.
Finally, King of Competition announced the mission: "Get your deskmate Jian Chuyi to slack off for half an hour, add two Faith Value points. Host, please hurry and complete this."
King of Competition logged off without a moment's hesitation.
Ji Tian couldn't care less about the mission at this point—she wanted nothing more than to rescue the dog with her phone immediately.
She lowered her head, muted her phone, and quickly found the game, starting from the first level.
Jian Chuyi initially concentrated on studying, but her peripheral vision always caught Ji Tian playing the game.
It made her anxious too, and she wanted to offer a guiding hand.
Ten minutes later...
Jian Chuyi pointed at the dog's head on the screen and whispered, "You should circle it like this, Tiantian. You need to loop the line here."
Ji Tian took her advice.
The two played for almost three hours, including time spent watching several ads when they ran out of energy; finally, they cleared the level during lunch.
[Wisdom value +1, Beauty Value +1, Laziness Power progress 3%.]
Ji Tian shut her phone off with satisfaction; all she lacked now was lighting up her Luck Value. Once everything was lit, she could freely choose her Faith Value.
Jian Chuyi had no appetite left.
She was guilty! She had been distracted during class.
So she stared at her English book with a furrowed brow.
Ji Tian stood up, stretched, and patted Jian Chuyi on the shoulder, "Let's go eat first; it's only English. I'll tutor you."
Jian Chuyi's eyes sparkled, "Really?"
After all, she had dragged someone into three hours of idleness and hadn't studied anything, so Ji Tian felt a twinge of guilt and nodded, "Really, I won't let you score too low."
That brought the smile back to Jian Chuyi's face, and the two went to the cafeteria together.
Ji Tian also brought the T-shirt.
Imperial City Academy's cafeteria was very luxurious, offering a buffet with several types of cuisine – Sichuan, Hunan, Cantonese, seafood, desserts, cakes, fruits, nutritious porridge, and a variety of nutritional soups – over thirty different dishes to choose from.
Wealthy students paid to eat in the cafeteria, while the commoner students brought lunchboxes from home to eat in the school's back garden.
The cafeteria was decorated like a palace, with white jade floors and tables inlaid with jade and gold; not to mention several sparkling chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.
Despite the fancy decor, Ji Tian still found her gold necklace, which she wore a different one of each day, never repeating, more appealing.
Ji Tian walked over to her favorite, the seafood selection, and looked around for Qin Jiangsheng.
"Tsk, what a country bumpkin, wearing such a vulgar gold chain," a haughty female voice reached her ears.
Ji Tian looked down at her gold chain, certain there was no mistake, the sarcastic voice was making fun of her; she lifted her gaze.
Not far off, a girl in an expensive JK uniform, with twin ponytails and pretty features, had a snobbish and mean look that detracted from her beauty.
Jian Chuyi quietly warned at her side, "Crap, Gong Dongxi is back to seek trouble with you; wasn't she abroad for a piano competition? How come she's back so soon?"
Ji Tian's memory might have forgotten past knowledge, but she remembered the people around her.
Gong Dongxi was Gong Yu's twin sister, a boy and girl pair.
Ji Tian usually didn't interact much with Gong Yu, but Gong Dongxi targeted her.
Because she was a hardworking child from a young age, the kind others' parents would compare their own kids to.
Gong Dongxi used to perform poorly and was often compared to Ji Tian by her family. They commented on how she was inferior to Ji Tian in every aspect. Over time, she became determined to study and compete with Ji Tian in everything, developing a grudge and growing to despise Ji Tian; whenever they met, she would have sharp words for Ji Tian. The two were archenemies.
For this unforeseen enemy, Ji Tian felt entirely innocent.
Previously, Ji Tian didn't want to provoke further trouble, opting to avoid it when possible; this only made Gong Dongxi more arrogant, always looking to snap at Ji Tian when they crossed paths.
But the Ji Tian now was Niugulu Ji Tian who had transmigrated from another time-space; she would not bow down again!
She raised her eyebrows and, using her pale fingers, playfully touched the gold chain, revealing a faint smile, "You call Milan Buer's designer necklace vulgar. You must be blind, like a dog. I think you shouldn't be surnamed Gong; 'Gou' (dog) would be more fitting."