This isn’t even the most outrageous part. Apparently, this guy wrote love letters to girls from freshman year all the way to senior year—four years straight—and still, in this campus full of girls at Luyuan, he didn’t get a single reply. In the end, desperate and frustrated, he just posted a photo of himself in front of the two girls’ dorms with a “Looking for a Girlfriend” notice. The gist was that he was depressed and lonely, hoping for someone to date or even just to mess with him. After that, he did get a lot of attention, but it wasn’t from girls—just prankster guys or people from the department and student office coming to talk to this “morally questionable” character. Because of all this, Thunder Chad became widely recognized as the leader of Luyuan’s new generation of “goofball” youth, a position no one has managed to shake for years.

The three of them slowly walked over, step by step, exchanging glances and clearly all thinking about teasing Thunder Chad a bit. It’s said that Thunder Chad does have one good trait: he’s super friendly. Whether he knows you or not, he’s always cheerful when you strike up a conversation. Plus, his mind is as unconventional as Metersbonwe’s slogan—he never takes the usual path. That’s why he’s called “Tianlei” (“Thunderbolt”): his words are always shockingly outrageous, often leaving people stunned.

“Brother Chad... what are you looking at?”

The short guy sidled up from the left, grinning at Thunder Chad. That Brother Chad was engrossed in his e-reader, but when he looked up and the other two, who didn’t know him well, got a closer look at his face, they immediately formed an opinion. With his eyes slanted, his cheeks uneven, and his pupils not even looking in the same direction, his whole face looked like a hail-damaged, half-grown pumpkin. His hand was curled up, showing clear signs of “mouse hand,” and as for his body shape, they’d already noticed—he looked like a goblet with a bulging middle and a huge belly. At first glance, you couldn’t help but marvel at the wonders of creation—how could someone be so ugly and yet so endearing?

Even more endearing, when he heard someone call him “bro,” he cheerfully handed his e-reader to the short guy and said generously, “Reading a book... here, take a look. ‘Invincible Level-Up in Another World,’ it’s really good.”

Well, this guy isn’t just a little goofy—he’s very goofy. He was about to give away an e-reader worth several hundred bucks just like that. His generosity actually made the short guy feel awkward, so he declined with a smile, “No, no, we’re chemistry majors. We can’t really understand these web novels.”

“Oh...” Thunder Chad glanced at the short guy, muttered an “mm,” then turned to look at the sharp-chinned, middle-parted guy on the right, recognizing him as a fellow dorm-mate. That sideways glance really didn’t leave a good impression, but it only lasted a moment. Then, making things even more awkward, Thunder Chad relaxed and, as if having a sudden revelation, pointed solemnly at the tall guy and said, “I get it now. No wonder you’re from the biochem department—every one of you looks like you just walked out of Resident Evil. No wonder you can’t understand it. Not everyone can appreciate web novels...”

“Damn...” The tall guy who got pointed at turned pale, his stomach twisting. He’d come looking for fun, not to be made fun of. But looking at Thunder Chad’s dopey face, he couldn’t even get mad. Just as things were about to get heated, the short guy quickly stepped forward, grabbed his friend to prevent a fight, and, as they walked, echoed Thunder Chad’s words, “Yeah, yeah... Thunder Chad, I don’t think I’ve heard of the book you’re reading. What’s it about?”

The short guy was just trying to mess with him, prompting Thunder Chad to talk, but he didn’t expect to hit the jackpot. Thunder Chad got even more excited, and, like a learned scholar giving a lecture, waved his hand and said, “...The books you’ve heard of are all famous, but they’re boring and cliché—leveling up and fighting monsters, all the same pattern, just mindless fluff.”

“No way, isn’t the one you’re reading called ‘Invincible Level-Up’? If there’s no leveling system, what’s the point?” The third guy, with the middle part, was unconvinced, especially after hearing the term “mindless fluff.” He was often called that online and flamed for it, so being insulted by someone who looked like an idiot was just an affront to his intelligence.

“Exactly! What’s great about this book is the leveling system... it’s a whole new setup.” Thunder Chad waved his e-reader, completely oblivious to the others’ feelings, and started giving the biochem majors a crash course. Seeing their confusion, he raised his voice and explained, “Do you know how the great and awesome protagonist of this book levels up? That’s the key.”

With such a dramatic question and rhetorical flair, the three were stunned and instinctively shook their heads. Who could understand Thunder Chad’s standards?

Thunder Chad grinned and said, “You don’t know, right? Let me tell you... The great and awesome protagonist travels from Earth to another world, bringing nothing but a bag of dried sweet potatoes... He lived a miserable life on Earth, and after crossing over, it’s still miserable—how tragic is that... But then, at his lowest point, he gnaws on a piece of dried sweet potato... Suddenly, something strange happens...”

Getting more and more into it, Thunder Chad stopped walking, raised both hands as if to highlight this great and awesome turning point. The three were so taken aback they stopped too, and Thunder Chad continued, eyes shining, “He eats the sweet potato, and the protagonist feels a warm energy spreading through his body, filling him with strength. His wounds heal, he feels powerful, his spirits lift... He gets so happy he stands up, and wow, he’s suddenly handsome... He moves and, wow, he jumps several meters high... Wow, turns out you can level up by eating dried sweet potatoes, all the way to defying fate... Wow...”