After jumping a few times, Shen Yi felt his entire body becoming incredibly light.
Compared to before, it was as if a layer of weight had been lifted from him.
Walking to the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror and noticed significant changes.
Shen Yi's current physique resembled that of a long-distance runner he'd seen on television.
His muscles were streamlined, not bulky but rather form-fitting, giving him an overall appearance of agility.
"Wait a minute, I think I've grown taller..."
The mirror in this rental apartment was mounted quite low, something he had previously complained about.
Now as he looked at his reflection, he noticed the mirror seemed even lower than before, with his hair extending beyond its frame - clear evidence that he had grown taller.
Although he usually claimed to be 1.80 meters tall, his actual height was only 1.78 meters without shoes, reaching his claimed height only when wearing them.
Looking in the mirror, Shen Yi couldn't determine exactly how much he'd grown, but he estimated it was at least two or three centimeters.
After turning around a few times, Shen Yi felt quite satisfied with his current condition.
He went back, pulled out some shorts and a t-shirt to change into, put on his shoes, and prepared to go running.
The apartment was too cramped for proper exercise, so he needed to go outside to fully test his enhanced physical abilities.
After heading downstairs, Shen Yi started jogging along the path without planning any specific route.
Perhaps due to the August heat, there were very few other night runners out.
Initially, Shen Yi kept his pace moderate, only gradually increasing his speed after getting warmed up.
After several adjustments, he settled into a comfortable rhythm.
Though this "comfortable" pace was already faster than most people's sprint speed.
With the cool breeze on his face and scenery rushing past on both sides, Shen Yi grew more excited as he ran, feeling increasingly happy and completely free of fatigue.
He maintained this pace for nearly an hour without slowing down.
Eventually, he came to a stop, not because he was tired.
But because he was hungry.
The enticing aroma led him to sit down at a barbecue stand, and Shen Yi finally understood why those internet jokes about night runs and failed diets were so true.
He ordered all his favorite skewers and a bottle of ice-cold cola.
It had to be regular cola, not diet, since he wasn't trying to lose weight anyway. As for beer, he didn't care for it.
While enjoying his skewers, Shen Yi took out his phone to calculate how far he had run.
The results shocked him.
The app showed he had run for 57 minutes, covering nearly 20 kilometers.
While Shen Yi wasn't sure about professional standards, a quick calculation suggested this performance would be impressive even among athletes.
However, the most important point wasn't about speed - it was that Shen Yi hadn't felt even the slightest bit of fatigue.
He had only stopped because he was hungry.
In other words, if he wanted to, Shen Yi could have continued running, even faster than before, as long as his energy consumption could keep up.
Taking a sip of his soda, Shen Yi marveled internally:
"This is the power of the system. I need to work harder to conquer more targets."
Perhaps due to his improved constitution, Shen Yi's appetite had increased significantly.
After casually consuming what would normally be enough for three people and leaving a pile of bamboo skewers on the table, Shen Yi patted his still-flat stomach and stood up to pay.
Despite being far from home, Shen Yi decided to run back.
This test run had made him realize that with his 2 points in stamina plus his talent boost, this level of exercise was barely different from taking a walk.
Back home, Shen Yi took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and lay down in his bean bag chair with the air conditioning on.
"Simulator, activate!"
The familiar interface appeared before his eyes.
[Text Simulation] [Scene Simulation]
Suddenly, a flashing light in the lower right corner of the screen caught Shen Yi's attention. Upon closer inspection, he noticed it was an envelope icon.
Driven by curiosity, he reached out to open it. The envelope flew up before his eyes and expanded.
The envelope scattered into numerous pink magpies dancing gracefully, creating spectacular rainbow halos.
A short arch bridge formed at both ends.
[Night silver candles autumn light, willow tips bright moon shine, Weaver Girl meets Cowherd divine, magpies sing their joy sublime.]
[A thousand miles of fate connected by a single thread, Qixi Festival special promotion.]
[Click for details.]
The unexpected display caught Shen Yi off guard, as he had originally intended to do a casual scene simulation.
After all, Fu Nanzhi's image and voice were still vivid in his mind, and his previous experience had left quite an impression.
"It really is a game system, even having special events?"
Shen Yi found this fresh and interesting, reaching out to touch the screen.
Given that it was mid-August, it was indeed close to the Qixi Festival, so having an event wasn't too surprising.
When Shen Yi selected to learn more, the magpies dispersed, revealing detailed information.
[Qixi Special Event: Make Your Dreams Come True.]
[Embark on a dream world adventure with your romance target!]
[Explore endless worlds, create your own love story, change character destinies, and begin an epic adventure!]
[Random worlds, random matching, role-playing, perfect conquest unlocks limited achievements and rare rewards.]
[Click to begin.]
[Love Dating Assistant Friendly Reminder: Dream World experience involves full consciousness simulation.]
"This promotional text has such a third-rate web game vibe..."
Shen Yi grimaced while commenting.
However, despite his criticism, he didn't want to pass up such an interesting holiday event.
Unlike regular simulations, Shen Yi figured this dream world must be an entirely new world constructed by the system. Even if not for pursuing romance targets, it would be worth experiencing just for the novelty.
Shen Yi guessed this dream world would be similar to those described in classic novels about full-immersion virtual games, where consciousness enters another world to level up and fight monsters.
Except in his case, he would be pursuing romance targets.
Without much hesitation, Shen Yi chose to begin.
With his hand still suspended in mid-air, Shen Yi felt an irresistible drowsiness overcome him, his eyelids growing heavy as his consciousness began to sink.
"So quick... I haven't even hung up the clothes in the washing machine..."
Shen Yi's last conscious thought faded as he fell into a deep sleep.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a brilliantly lit space, surrounded by pure white.
In the void, a massive roulette wheel appeared.
[Beginning random world selection...]
The bronze-colored wheel began spinning continuously, emitting a low humming sound.
The countless words on the wheel transformed into black lines, making them impossible for Shen Yi to read clearly.
Gradually, the spinning slowed, and Shen Yi could barely make out some options.
"Martial Arts World", "Female-Dominated World", "Immortal Cultivation World", "Ancient World", "Adult World"...
The long list made him dizzy.
All sorts of worlds rolled past on the wheel, their variety impressive to behold.
The wheel's momentum continued to decrease until it finally came to a complete stop, with the pointer landing on...
[Apocalyptic World!]
[World has been anchored.]
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
