A string of exaggerated “wows”—Thunder Chad, gesticulating wildly, spoke with a stern and serious face, his voice booming like a broken bell, acting as if it were a matter of life and death. It was clear he was way too into it, performing with such intensity that he unintentionally drew a crowd of passersby. Many recognized Thunder Chad, abandoning their meals to stop and watch the spectacle, all grinning as they paused to enjoy the show. Every time Thunder Chad made a dramatic “wow” and lunged forward, the three listeners instinctively leaned back, afraid of being sprayed by his spit. Once Thunder Chad finished his summary, he let out a long breath and delivered the punchline, grinning: “Impressive, right!? The great and badass protagonist escapes his miserable life thanks to sweet potatoes, kills every male he meets in another world, and, well, you know, with every female… Oh my god, it’s awesome, totally unstoppable.”

With that, the whole crowd, including the three who’d struck up the conversation, burst into laughter. Thunder Chad laughed too, so heartily that the flesh on his cheeks and belly quivered. At this point, everyone understood: apparently, Thunder Chad was well on his way from being a newbie to a full-blown idiot.

The more outrageous he got, the more people gathered, all eager to watch the joke unfold. The three biochemistry guys, being closest, laughed the hardest. Before they could recover from the fun, things took another turn. Fired up, Thunder Chad seemed to think it was a shame that such a great book had no audience. He pointed at the three of them, imitating a student affairs officer scolding students: “You guys haven’t even read such an awesome book—no wonder web novels can’t thrive. You just don’t appreciate them! How can you grow if you don’t appreciate things? If you can’t grow, you’ll always be stuck in this sorry state.”

Another round of laughter erupted, this time at the expense of the three biochemistry guys. The tall one’s face turned a mix of green and blue, caught between laughter and tears, already regretting getting involved. Listening to an idiot tell stories, bystanders would probably think both the storyteller and the listeners were idiots. Seeing the guys from their dorm building covering their mouths and laughing at them, the tall guy couldn’t take it anymore and quickly pulled his friends away, muttering, “Let’s go, let’s go…”

It seemed the rumors about “thunder rolling wherever Thunder Chad goes, and anyone who meets him gets struck” were true. As the three tried to leave, Thunder Chad still enthusiastically called after them: “Don’t go! I’m not done yet, let me tell you about the next part… Or how about we grab a meal together? What are your names? I’m Chad Bennett, if you need anything, come find me in dorm 222.”

But the three didn’t dare respond. As they walked away, the tall one grumbled, while the short biochemistry guy laughed and said, “It’s fine, everyone knows he’s the leader of the school’s goofball youth… Chinese Department, Class 2 of the second year, lives on the second floor in dorm 222, and he’s second in the dorm… You won’t find anyone in the whole school more ridiculous than him. Seriously, could you even get through a web novel about leveling up by eating sweet potatoes?”

The one who liked web novels also chuckled, but the tall guy just shook his head and said, “Forget it, don’t mess with him. Just talking to him, you can’t even tell who’s the bigger fool.”

A brief episode came to an end. The three biochemistry guys disappeared, and as Thunder Chad Chad Bennett strolled along behind, it was clear he didn’t attract much trouble. Even those who knew him from the same building would just smile and walk by at most. Most people, seeing his idiotic sideways glance, kept their distance. As for Chad Bennett himself, he was used to being the center of attention. If someone didn’t greet him, he’d take the initiative to greet them, happily calling out to people along the way. It wasn’t until he turned a corner that he realized something was off.

Right, something was definitely off. Brother Chad looked at his empty hands, scratched his head for a while, and suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Smacking his forehead, he realized he’d been so caught up in admiring the great and badass leveling up that he’d forgotten to bring his lunchbox.

So, Thunder Chad turned around and headed back to the dorm…

Chapter 02: Making a Fuss and Mooching Food

“If you’re not a fish, how do you know the joy of fish?”

If you’re not a fool, how do you know the joy of foolish laughter?

Chad Bennett was the type who really enjoyed his own company and found joy in life, though to others, he often seemed to laugh foolishly for no reason. Sure enough, after taking just a few steps back toward the dorm, he started grinning again. Standing there like an upside-down giant pumpkin, his face beamed with such a bright smile that he outshone the morning glories blooming in the school’s holly bushes.

Why such a pure and innocent smile?

Oh, it’s obvious—his lunchbox was coming to him on its own.

Out of the dorm rushed a short, skinny guy in a school uniform, with a buzz cut and a few pimples on his face—clearly from a background even rougher than his surroundings. He was nothing like Chad Bennett. Carrying two lunchboxes, he called out to Chad Bennett with obvious annoyance: “Can’t you take care of yourself? You can’t just get so caught up in web novels that you forget your lunchbox! What’s there to read, anyway? The writing makes no sense, the plot’s nonexistent, and worst of all, it’s full of typos. You’re a Chinese major, aren’t you embarrassed?”

“You talk about literary theory every day, but people still laugh at you for being an artsy type. What’s the difference?”

Chad Bennett cheerfully followed the short guy, his roommate and classmate, surname Si, given name Victor Bennett. Just hearing the name sounded literary, but the guy was even more artsy than his name suggested. He was always sighing over Tang and Song poetry, lamenting his unrecognized talent, and sometimes wrote sappy poems for the school paper under the four-character pen name “Victor Bennett.” It didn’t mean “too high to bear the cold”—privately, Victor Smith said it meant he wanted to surpass Han Han. This made Chad Bennett constantly tease his artsy friend for being a goofball.