Siheyuan (traditional courtyard house): Starting with the Korean War, returning home to take charge

The title of deputy squad leader didn't bring He Yuzhu any special privileges; instead, it added a lot of miscellaneous tasks. He had to manage everything from lining up the squad and taking roll call to checking the soldiers' quarters and even mediating minor conflicts between the new recruits. Black-faced Li was particularly strict with him; if a movement wasn't done correctly, a willow stick would come down without mercy—but when the stick landed on him, Black-faced Li's brow would always furrow first: this kid's muscles were hard as a rock.

Days passed in sweat and commands. He was so tired during the day that he would fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, but whenever he lay on his hard bed late at night, listening to the rising and falling snores all around him, He Yuzhu's thoughts would become clear. The 100 million points hanging over his head, and the system itself, were like two locks, firmly holding his attention.

The screen reappeared, still displaying a cold interface. The main quest, "Iron-Blooded Foundation," hung high in the sky, its progress bar almost blank. Having previously focused solely on training, now that he had a brief respite, he resolved to delve deeper into the system's intricacies.

His consciousness switched between the main sections of the light screen—[Personal Information], [Tasks], [Exchange], and [Map]. When he focused on the [Tasks] section, he discovered a new entry:

【Task Subsystem】

Main Quest: [Ironclad Foundation] (Unique, Mandatory)

Daily tasks: (To be refreshed/Available to be triggered)

Battlefield Mission: (Not activated; requires entering the war zone)

Hidden Quest: (Conditions unknown, triggered randomly)

Routine task? He subtly focused his attention on it.

The light screen refreshes immediately:

[Daily Tasks List (Current Military Camp Environment)]:

Physical Fitness Challenge: Complete a 10km trail run within 24 hours in under 40 minutes. Reward: 200 points.

Skills Refinement: Achieve an average score of 9 or higher on the 100-meter target in the next live-fire shooting exercise (no fewer than 10 shots). Reward: 100 points.

Discipline Benchmark: No demerit points deducted during three consecutive recruit platoon housekeeping inspections. Reward: 50 points. (Requires the candidate to be a deputy platoon leader within their jurisdiction)

[Note: Daily tasks refresh daily, and multiple tasks can be accepted simultaneously. There is no penalty for failure. Reward points are added to the main storyline progress.]

He Yuzhu's eyes lit up. The main storyline points seemed unattainable, but every little bit counted. Especially the "10,000-meter run in under 40 minutes"—with his current physique, it was just a warm-up.

"Accept the 'Body Tempering Chains'," he murmured.

[Task accepted. Countdown: 23:59:59.]

The following afternoon, the entire battalion underwent armed cross-country training. The route circled the mountain roads surrounding the camp, exactly ten kilometers. The sky was overcast, and a cold wind whipped at their faces. Dark-faced Li rode a lean horse alongside the group, his eyes sharp as an eagle.

The whistle blew, and the column charged forward. The mountain path was rugged, and after running only a few miles with their heavy loads, the column stretched into a long snake. Wang Dazhuang gritted his teeth and followed beside He Yuzhu, panting heavily. Sun Ba and his gang rushed ahead, determined to overtake him.

He Yuzhu wasn't in a hurry, controlling his breathing to stay steady in the middle of the pack. After running five kilometers, many people staggered, and Sun Ba's group also slowed down. Only then did he slightly pick up the pace, his stride even as he overtook one comrade after another. His steady, tireless progress was particularly eye-catching.

Li, with a dark face, rode past, glanced at him, and said nothing.

In the last two kilometers, He Yuzhu even slightly increased his cadence. When he was the first to rush back to the camp's timing officer, the officer looked down at his pocket watch, then looked up at him with surprise: "Thirty-eight minutes and seven seconds. You've broken the recruit camp record."

Those who returned later looked at him as if he were a monster when they heard his score. Sun Ba was helped back more than twenty minutes later, his face pale. When he looked at He Yuzhu's back, a trace of fear finally seeped into his defiance.

He Yuzhu walked to the water vat and slowly drank a ladleful of cool water. The mental prompt arrived as expected:

Daily quest "Physical Training" completed.

[Reward: 200 Battlefield Points]

Current battlefield score: 1050 points.

Success! Two hundred points in no effort. This approach works.

With the points in hand, his mind started racing. Was basic rifle shooting enough? The Korean War was mostly mountainous and jungle-filled, with frequent sniper fire and artillery barrages; sometimes, a skilled sniper could be more effective than an entire platoon. He remembered the [Basic Sniping Skill] priced at 200 points. He'd initially thought it expensive, but now, considering the daily mission rewards, it seemed worth a try.

Furthermore, survival is paramount. How to live longer? Besides running fast and shooting accurately, you also need to be good at hiding. The system shop also has "Basic Camouflage and Stealth Tips" priced at 100 points.

Late at night, after the footsteps of the checkpoint inspection had faded into the distance, He Yuzhu summoned the system again.

"Redeem the [Basic Sniper Skill Pack]".

[200 points consumed, successful. Remaining: 850 points.]

"Exchange for [Basic Disguise and Stealth Essentials]".

[100 points consumed, successful. Remaining: 750 points.]

Two streams of knowledge flowed in. The sniping skill package was more profound than rifle specialization: precise rangefinding, wind speed and ballistic correction, distance drop compensation, the interference of breathing and heartbeat on aiming, and even basic field observation and ambush position selection. Camouflage essentials covered using natural methods to eliminate outline reflections, mobile concealment, the construction of simple concealment sites, and trace removal. The knowledge wasn't esoteric, but it was extremely practical, precisely the battlefield survival skills that new recruits desperately needed.

Knowledge needs to be digested, but even more so, it needs to be practiced. In subsequent training, He Yuzhu's performance gradually showed subtle but professional changes. He became more stable when shooting, his breathing control during firing was near perfect, and his anticipation and adjustment of bullet impacts were swift. In one 200-meter prone shooting exercise, he scored an astonishing 48 points with five shots, the bullet holes almost overlapping, leaving the instructors speechless.

In cross-country running and tactical crawling, he no longer pursued speed at all, but began to consciously use the terrain and vegetation for concealment, his movement route was unpredictable, and when he stopped to observe, he also showed a caution that was not in keeping with the identity of a new recruit.

To outsiders, these changes were simply attributed to his "high comprehension" and "natural talent for military service," but to discerning individuals, they carried a completely different significance.

Li, the stern-faced man, began to visit him more frequently. Sometimes he would correct his tactical movements alone, sometimes he would throw him a worn-out old tactics manual and ask him to "take a look," and sometimes he would simply squat by the training field and observe silently, his eyes filled with increasing scrutiny.

On one occasion, Li, with a dark expression, suddenly asked, "He Weiguo, do you have any elders in your family who served in the military? Especially... those who were snipers?"

He Yuzhu's heart tightened, but his expression remained normal: "Reporting to the instructor, no. My father is a cook, and he went to Baoding. These... I figured them out myself, from books, and from the veterans."

Li, with a dark expression, stared at him for a few seconds, then stopped asking questions and simply nodded: "Good for you. Some things can't be taught; you have to figure them out yourself. Keep it up."

He Yuzhu understood that his "genius recruit" persona had been initially established, but it had also attracted deeper attention. Fortune and misfortune are intertwined, and he had to grasp the right balance.

He didn't slack off on his daily tasks. He easily completed the shooting task in the "Skills Polishing" section, earning another 100 points. The "Discipline Benchmark" task was a bit troublesome because it required managing the whole class—Sun Ba's bed kept having minor problems. He Yuzhu didn't waste any words and directly pulled him into "extra practice" tidying up his room. After two days of struggling, Sun Ba folded a barely acceptable tofu block with a dark face, completing the task with a stumble and earning 50 points.

After several days of accumulation, the battlefield points slowly rose to 900.

While checking the system late at night, he suddenly noticed a change in the points display. The previously separate sections for "Battlefield Points" and "Non-Battlefield Points" had disappeared, replaced by a single display:

Available points: 10023

Main Quest Points: 900 / 100,000,000

They've merged? He touched it lightly with his consciousness.

[Points System Optimization Notes: To facilitate host management, all points not directly derived from battlefield kills/contributions (such as daily tasks, non-combat rewards, etc.) are combined into "Usable Points," which can be exchanged for all skills and items within the system (some high-privilege items require additional conditions to be met). The "100 million points" required for the main quest specifically refers to points obtained through direct battlefield contributions; the two are calculated independently. However, "Usable Points" can be converted proportionally (requires unlocking permissions) to assist in completing the main quest.]

I see. The 9,000+ points accumulated from previous beginner and daily quests, along with the current 900 battlefield points, are both used as "currency" in the system shop. However, the 100 million points required for the main storyline are exclusive "military merits," which must be earned through actual combat on the battlefield. But the "usable points" might be able to help him earn "military merits" in some way in the future.

This is good news; resource utilization has improved. Looking at the score of "10023," He Yuzhu felt slightly relieved. At least before stepping into the flesh-and-blood furnace, he could prepare himself with more resources to save his life and kill the enemy.

He closed the light screen and opened his eyes in the darkness.

Daily tasks are a gradual process.

Skill exchange is a way to plan ahead.

The real torrent is still raging in the north, in the mountains and rivers that are about to be engulfed in flames.

He needs to hone himself to become even sharper through this steady, continuous process.