[Self-Disciplined Person] Entry. Experience Progress (100/100).
The entry, which had appeared early on Zhou Rui's taskbar, was finally complete.
It was already midnight, but Zhou Rui didn't rush to claim the reward. Instead, he got up, washed his face, and returned to his desk. He made sure his mind was clear, spent another three seconds calming himself, and then silently said in his mind: "Claim the entry!"
The pleasant sound of the system echoed in his mind, and the text in his vision shifted.
"Congratulations to the host, you have obtained the white entry [Self-Disciplined Person]."
"Effect of the entry: Slightly increases willpower, greatly reduces the possibility of 'burnout,' significantly enhances 'execution' ability, and boosts 'self-discipline.' Repetitive behavior becomes increasingly beneficial the more it is repeated."
Zhou Rui paused, processing the details of this new power.
The ability to gain increasing benefits from repetitive actions? Interesting.
If he committed to studying, would he become exponentially better at it over time? Would consistent training result in him reaching physical peaks unimaginable to others?
The phrase "execution ability" intrigued him. How would that be measured?
At first glance, [Self-Disciplined Person] seemed less impactful than [Focused], which had the active "Focus Time" ability. However, upon reflection, its potential far outweighed its immediate benefits. The longer he persisted in a discipline, the greater his returns.
Zhou Rui imagined the possibilities. If he could maintain this over years, even decades, he could master virtually any field. It was an entry designed for building extraordinary achievements through ordinary consistency.
Still, Zhou Rui had his sights set on the [Academic Master] entry. The temptation of synthesizing his first green entry outweighed the allure of long-term gains.
But one question remained: would synthesizing [Self-Disciplined Person] erase its effects? If so, he would have to reacquire it later.
Determined, Zhou Rui exhaled deeply and silently commanded: "Entry synthesis!"
The interface in his mind shifted. The four entries he owned—each emitting a distinct glow—appeared before him.
Green Entry: [Absolute Music]
White Entry: [Student]
White Entry: [Focused]
White Entry: [Self-Disciplined Person]
"Please select the entries you wish to synthesize. If the paths do not match, synthesis will fail. Entries will remain intact after failure, but the process will consume mental energy. Proceed cautiously."
Zhou Rui selected [Student] and [Self-Disciplined Person], recalling the novice reward hint that confirmed their compatibility.
The other entries disappeared, leaving only the two white entries glowing before him.
"Entries selected. Searching for synthesis path... Path found. Initiating synthesis."
In his mind, the two entries began to glow brighter, dissolving into shimmering particles and merging into one. Zhou Rui watched intently, feeling a slight mental strain. Finally, the merged particles coalesced into a brilliant green light.
"Synthesis successful. Congratulations to the host for obtaining the green entry [Academic Master]."
Zhou Rui's heart leaped with joy—he hadn't expected a green-tier entry! He quickly checked its details:
[Academic Master] (Green Entry)
Effect:
Significantly enhances willpower, execution ability, thinking efficiency, and learning capacity.
Eradicates fatigue associated with learning.
Improves performance in all exams.
Increases charisma and persuasiveness with "classmates."
Automatically masters all high school knowledge and rapidly learns university-level content.
Zhou Rui nearly jumped out of his chair.
Automatically master all high school knowledge?!
He'd made the right call. His college entrance exam was now virtually guaranteed.
"Detecting host's first successful entry synthesis. Reward: Revealing a synthesis path relevant to the host."
"Revealed Path: [Inspiration] + [The Light of Righteousness] = [A Flash of Inspiration]."
But Zhou Rui barely noticed the system's message. A tidal wave of knowledge flooded his brain, overwhelming him.
Math, Chinese, English, physics, chemistry—every subject he had struggled with or even forgotten in his past life surged into his consciousness. It wasn't just surface-level understanding; it was complete mastery, as if he'd studied these subjects for years.
Overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information and his recent exhaustion, Zhou Rui's mind blanked out. His head hit the desk, and he fell into a deep, unconscious sleep.
---
When Zhou Rui finally stirred, he felt something wet at the corner of his mouth. Groggily wiping it away, he sat up in confusion.
"Was it all a dream?"
He glanced outside—dawn had already broken. A quick look at his watch confirmed it was 6:00 a.m.
Remembering his late-night achievement, Zhou Rui opened the system interface. Relief washed over him as he saw the three remaining entries, two of which now glowed green.
Excited to test his new abilities, Zhou Rui grabbed the math test paper he had struggled with the previous night. His eyes fell on a particularly tricky question:
"The center of the ellipse is at the origin. The focal length is 4, and the directrix is..."
Before he even finished reading, Zhou Rui instinctively identified the concept being tested. He scanned the four answer choices and immediately selected B without hesitation.
It felt like second nature, as if he'd solved thousands of similar problems before.
To confirm, Zhou Rui worked through the calculations methodically. His pen flew across the paper, producing a concise and elegant solution. The correct answer emerged in just a few lines of work.
This wasn't cheating. The system hadn't handed him answers; it had given him genuine mastery over high school-level academics. Zhou Rui had both the knowledge and the skills to solve problems independently.
He flipped through other test papers, tackling questions from different subjects. Each one felt effortless. He could now recite ancient Chinese texts, explain their central ideas, analyze English grammar points, and recall complex scientific formulas—all with ease.
"So this is what it's like to be a true top student. Studying... it actually feels fun!"
Zhou Rui couldn't suppress a grin as he reviewed the system message from the night before.
The revealed synthesis path intrigued him:
"[Inspiration] + [The Light of Righteousness] = [A Flash of Inspiration]."
It seemed nonsensical at first glance, but Zhou Rui realized the system might have a less rigid internal logic than he had assumed.
"So, this is what you're like, System?"