Lu Mingfei: Don't call me a loser, call me a hero.

Lu Mingfei was completely stunned when the game suddenly confirmed the option for him.

No, I meant to choose to go online!

That "focus on studying" was just a polite way of saying something to appease your aunt; why did you take it seriously?

Is there something wrong with the voice recognition system in this game?

"System, I request to withdraw my previous choice!" Lu Mingfei tried to salvage the situation.

In a game of chess, you can take back a move; you can revoke an agreement. Why can't he take back a slip of the tongue?

However, the game firmly rejected him: [The mission has been confirmed and cannot be reversed!]

"I want to file a complaint! This is against the players' will! It's an unfair contract!"

Please submit your complaint through the "Feedback" channel.

Where is the feedback channel?

[Please explore on your own!]

"I don't care, I just want to go online!"

Lu Mingfei started acting like a rogue. He was very angry and aggrieved, and he wanted to collapse on the ground and transform into a sea of ​​maggots, or even demand compensation for emotional distress.

[Selected: Spend two hours online every day]

[Mission Reward: Unlock the "Hacker" skill upon first completion of the mission]

[Skill: Hacking (The moment you connect to the internet, your browsing history is already mine!)]

Effects: Improves information retrieval efficiency and online skills learning ability.

"Huh? What's going on?"

Lu Mingfei's internal monologue, which he was building up halfway through, was interrupted, and only shock remained on his face.

He hadn't even had a chance to throw a tantrum, so why did the game suddenly give in?

Daily tasks are multiple-choice and can be performed simultaneously.

"Wow, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Lu Mingfei's expression visibly brightened, and with a grand gesture, he declared, "I want them all!"

He took on all three tasks: exercising, surfing the internet, and studying!

[Selected: Exercise for two hours every day]

[Quest Reward: Unlocks and enhances skills upon first completion of the quest]

[Skill: Enhancement (Muscles are just a bonus; an indomitable will is the real reward!)]

Effect: Improves physical health

Lu Mingfei's eyes lit up when he saw the skills that training brought him.

He is 1.75 meters tall and weighs only 50 kilograms, which makes him appear too petite and slender in a family where the average weight is over 150 kilograms.

If other people his age are slim when dressed but muscular when undressed, then he looks like a skinny monkey whether he's dressed or not.

Lu Mingfei had previously suspected that his aunt was always targeting him because his physique didn't look like that of a member of the Lu family.

After all, Uncle is round, Aunt is round, and Lu Mingze is round. He's just a bamboo pole standing there, and he's an eyesore no matter how you look at him.

But he later discovered that there was no direct causal relationship between the two; his aunt was simply disgusted by the house because of her love for it.

Because he doesn't like his mother, he doesn't like him either.

Even if he ate until he became a 200-pound fat man, his aunt would only complain that he was just eating and doing nothing, like a pig.

Putting aside these unpleasant thoughts, Lu Mingfei quickly finished his rice bowl while his uncle's family of three was still discussing piano training classes.

If he eats too slowly, he'll have to wash the dishes later; he doesn't want to waste time on such trivial matters.

Back in the house, Lu Mingfei began to study three skills.

[Focus] is undoubtedly a powerful support skill that can be used in anything, so it's definitely the first skill you should acquire.

[Hacker] Judging from the results, it should help him become a computer expert, enabling him to distinguish between rubbish and useful information on the Internet at a glance. There's no need to rush that.

As for [Enhancement] – its power is immense, need I say more?

Lu Mingfei dreams of having a good-looking physique, so that he can confidently say goodbye to retrieving balls in PE class, join the court for exhilarating competition, and not worry about being sent flying with the slightest touch.

I don't expect you to be able to dominate the court if you practice well, but at least don't fly around aimlessly.

The three skills complement each other and can form a virtuous cycle. Lu Mingfei is fully confident that he can complete a complete transformation during the summer vacation... no, within a year.

However, after experiencing so much over the weekend, it's unrealistic to expect Lu Mingfei to settle down and study. Even the slightest sound of insects chirping or birdsong can distract him.

But learning is not just about reading books and studying textbooks; doing homework also falls under the scope of learning.

It just so happens that all the teachers assigned test papers this weekend, and if I want to finish them all, it will probably take me from noon to night.

Although his grades were constantly criticized by his aunt and teachers, Lu Mingfei's Chinese and English scores were actually quite good, which might explain why his attribute panel showed Language Lv1.

When it comes to learning, if you can focus on it, time seems to fly by; if you can't focus on it, time seems to drag on forever.

Lu Mingfei wisely chose the Chinese and English exams, which were the subjects he was most comfortable with and where he could most easily get into the zone.

As for why there's no math problem, it's simply because people can do anything when pushed to the limit, but they really can't solve math problems.

The house wasn't very soundproof, and Lu Mingfei could still hear the conversation outside. The family of three was making a bit of noise, so he had to force himself to calm down and focus all his attention on the exam paper.

"Why is Li Hua writing to foreign netizens again? Is this never going to end?!"

After finishing the English test, Lu Mingfei switched to the Chinese test. This was to prevent him from getting distracted and missing the study time, and he could make up for the lost time by writing a Chinese essay.

Time flew by, and when Lu Mingfei finished the last reading comprehension question and turned to the essay page, he was stunned when he saw the question:

"Please write a narrative essay entitled 'The Warmth of Family Love,' drawing on your own experiences."

Family ties?

warmth?

Lu Mingfei fell silent...

When he was in elementary school, he could write without hesitation about his mother carrying him to the hospital on a cold, rainy night when he had a high fever, about her wet hair sticking to her forehead, and about her running breathlessly but without stopping.

But it seems that's not possible now.

The whole school knew that his parents hadn't come back to China to see him for five years. The only proof that they still remembered they had a son was the annual letter they received and the monthly remittances they sent.

Lu Mingfei can barely remember what his parents look like anymore. He can't exactly write that his aunt carried him to the hospital in the middle of the night to get a fever-reducing injection, can he?

He had no intention of fabricating such a false case.

"What a load of crap!"

Lu Mingfei slammed his pen on the table, leaned back in his chair, looked up at the ceiling, and exited study mode.

After he calmed himself down, he was surprised to find that a full two and a half hours had passed.

And a new skill, [Focus Lv1], has quietly appeared in the skill bar.

"System, why didn't you say anything to remind me?" Lu Mingfei searched for enemies in the void.

However, the game completely ignored him.

Lu Mingfei stood up and stretched his limbs, only to realize later that his chubby cousin hadn't come in to bother him for the past two and a half hours, and he couldn't hear any voices outside.

When I opened the door, I found the whole house empty. I had no idea where my uncle and the others had gone.

Lu Mingfei searched around and found a note left by his uncle on the coffee table:

"Mingfei, we're going to the CBD to buy some things. I didn't want to bother you because you were working so hard!"

Lu Mingfei looked at the note, then crumpled it into a ball and threw it into the trash can with a slight pressure from his fingers.

He rubbed his face, then looked up at the ceiling and yelled:

"Wuhu! The air of freedom!"

The echo bounced twice in the empty living room, but no one heard it except him, and no one cared.

After shouting to himself, he returned to his room, turned on his computer, searched for a representative visual novel, and began to complete his task of staying online for two hours.

The best way to kill time would have been to play StarCraft, but downloading visual novels would take up network bandwidth, so he had to leave the download running while he went outside to surf the internet.

The internet cafe was still the same, filled with smoke and constant shouting and cursing.

The network administrator didn't even lift his eyelids when he saw Lu Mingfei walk in.

I'm a regular customer; I don't even need to say hello. They just take my money and give me a password slip.

Lu Mingfei turned on a computer and, as usual, logged into QQ first.

Chen Wenwen's profile picture was still gray. He sent her a message asking what time she would be leaving for Chu Zihang's birthday party tomorrow, how the anthology was going, and if she needed any help.

Naturally, no one responded.

Lu Mingfei thought it would be fine to give her a surprise when he arrived at the scene tomorrow.

Then I opened the StarCraft channel to invite people to play the game, and also to test the bonus from focusing on the game.

However, an hour passed and he still couldn't get into a focused state.

"Is it because I'm too good at this, and I can't learn anything from these guys?"

"Do you expect me to use my full strength? But wouldn't that be too cruel to them?"

When playing against his friends in the group, Lu Ming insisted on either using the computer's red dot control or switching to his left hand to hold the mouse, deliberately making things difficult for himself and taking care of his friends' gaming experience.

If he gives it his all, the group members will have no chance to resist.

"Perhaps my focus level isn't high enough yet. Once I raise my level, I shouldn't be limited to just studying anymore."

With that in mind, Lu Mingfei switched to other games, such as CrossFire, Counter-Strike, and Call of Duty...

The "Focus" perk still wasn't triggered. In fact, because of his reckless shooting, frequently using open-range headshots, gunfight headshots, and flick shots, he was reported and his account was banned.

Left with no other choice, he could only watch videos, browse online forums, and see what other netizens were good at in visual novels.

This time, the skill "Focus" was actually triggered!

Several posts were quite well-written, clearly dissecting the design logic and traps of the favorability system. Lu Mingfei nodded frequently as he read them, finding them very helpful.

One step closer to becoming a dating expert!

Once Lu Mingfei determined the effective range of the Focus skill, the task of going online was completed as scheduled, and a new skill, [Hacker Lv1], appeared in his skill bar.

But it's already past five o'clock, and if he doesn't go back soon, his aunt will be furious again.

It seems the training task will have to wait until tomorrow.

Lu Mingfei opened QQ and saw that Chen Wenwen hadn't replied to his message, so he could only log off with regret.

As soon as I got back to the neighborhood, I saw my uncle's BMW parked downstairs. My uncle and aunt got out of the car carrying big bags and small bags, it seemed like they had a great shopping spree.

Lu Mingfei was conscripted into the army and ended up with three or four extra bags.

My chubby cousin was carrying a Heilan Home bag and walking at the front, his good mood was obvious to everyone.

Based on their conversation at noon, Lu Mingfei had reason to suspect that the bag contained a formal dress that Lu Mingze would need for future piano practice or stage performances.

A real formal dress, specially prepared for a certain occasion, a dress that makes one stand up straight when worn!

There was an indescribable envy in Lu Mingfei's eyes, because he had always wanted a suit, but his aunt hadn't agreed to it.

Even though it was the formal attire he was going to wear for a group dance performance at the Spring Festival Gala.

Even though he prepared for that dance for three months and received countless disapproving looks from the dance teacher.

His dance partner in that group dance was Chen Wenwen.

However, because he didn't have a formal suit, he lost his only chance to perform on stage and dance with Chen Wenwen, and could only watch her dance with others from the audience.

The family of three walked ahead happily, while Lu Mingfei followed at the back carrying four large bags.

The bag's handles were digging into his palms, making them ache. It wasn't actually heavy, but every step felt incredibly difficult.

Looking down at his wrinkled T-shirt and sweatpants, and then looking up at the round ball in front of him hopping around with a Heilan Home bag, Lu Mingfei suddenly remembered the essay topic.

Warm family affection...

He saw the family affection, but where was the warmth?

"System, why can't I see my uncles' and their affection levels?"

[Non-story character affinity is not yet available]

"You mean, they can't be won over, and they can't become my allies?"

The game remained silent, offering no response.

Looking at the marks left by the setting sun on the horizon, Lu Mingfei suddenly felt a slight resonance with the heartbroken man at the ends of the earth.

This resonance lasted until Chen Wenwen replied to his message that night:

I'm leaving at 3 PM tomorrow.

"The compilation process is quite complex, and I might not have time to pick it up. Could you please help me carry it?"