Reward: The specific amount of subject experience is determined by the type of book read and its value coefficient. 100 points. One lottery draw (90% junk, 9% sample, 1% blueprint)

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This system is pretty straightforward, even the drop rates are clearly listed.

But what’s with this long-distance running? And the lottery has a 100% chance of giving junk?! What a rip-off!

And what’s that thing at the end about developing rapport with the professor? Treating them to a meal? Giving gifts directly? No matter which one, it sounds like it’ll cost a lot of money...

Only the last one seems even remotely normal. Although it doesn’t say exactly how much experience you can get, the chance of getting junk from the lottery is the lowest! Thinking in terms of online games, this task should be the so-called optimal strategy, right?

Besides, just idling in the library for 24 hours doesn’t sound all that hard.

Having figured this out, William Carter didn’t hesitate any longer and immediately chose Task Three.

A top student’s life needs no explanation!

[Once a task is chosen, it cannot be changed. There is no time limit for completion. Abandoning a task costs 200 points. The host currently has zero points. Confirm selection? (First reminder)]

William Carter answered without hesitation, “Confirm!”

[Selection successful, good luck to you]

With a flash of white light, in his attribute panel, the [Task] row changed from “None” to “Task Three.”

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and silently exited the system. When William Carter opened his eyes again, what he saw was still that hospital room.

Lying in bed for a while, William Carter took about five minutes to slowly digest the information in his mind.

Although he wasn’t sure why, it seemed he had become the host of a black technology system.

Thinking back to when Henry Clark shook him awake earlier, that system space should be located deep within his consciousness, independent of the real world. And when he entered the system, time inside and outside the system space should flow in parallel.

Honestly, even now, William Carter didn’t feel like the system was real at all.

But none of that mattered anymore.

Whether it was an alien conspiracy, an April Fool’s joke, or just something wrong with his head, he’d already accepted the task—he’d just have to try and see.

Thinking this, William Carter picked up the cup on his bedside table, drank all the water in one gulp, then got out of bed.

After having his temperature taken by the nurse on duty and confirming that he was in good health, he left the hospital and walked to the nearby bus stop to take the bus back to school.

When he returned to the dorm, only David Foster was there; the other two were probably out surfing the internet.

Noticing William Carter’s return, David Foster put down the reference book he was reviewing, pushed up his glasses, and asked, “William Carter, I heard you had heatstroke?”

“Yeah... but it’s nothing serious.” William Carter forced a smile and walked toward his bed.

In this four-person dorm, the bed was on top and the desk and cabinet were below. He usually tossed all his various cards in the drawer.

After searching for a while, he finally found his library card. William Carter breathed a sigh of relief, grabbed his shoulder bag, and walked out of the dorm.

The evening breeze rustled the sycamore treetops, making a soft rustling sound.

On the road lit by streetlights, students and professors carrying books came and went. On the track of the sports field not far away, some people strolled hand in hand, others jogged together in the evening. This campus always seemed so lively and full of life.

It was already eight o’clock. Looking at the brightly lit library, William Carter felt both unfamiliar and deeply nostalgic.

How long had it been since he’d last come here?

Taking a deep breath and feeling a bit nervous, he stepped into the library.

Chapter 3: A True Top Student Is Never Idle

“Task start!”

He closed his eyes and silently repeated the words in his mind. Once wasn’t enough, so William Carter repeated it two more times.

When he opened his eyes, a line of semi-transparent text floated before him.

[Task Three has started. Current time: 0 hours. Timer stops when you leave the library.]

Startled by the sudden text, William Carter looked around suspiciously. It wasn’t until a classmate walked right through the semi-transparent words without noticing anything that he finally relaxed.

Looks like no one else can see the system’s text.

Anyway, just find a few professional books to read in the library and kill these twenty-four hours—that should complete the task, right?

With nothing better to do, William Carter walked over to the mathematics section, ready to grab a book at random. Suddenly, his vision blurred, and he saw lines of numerical tags appear on the books. Not only that, but the colors of these numbers followed a certain pattern, fading from red to gray as the values decreased.

[Didonne’s Foundations of Modern Analysis, 10]

[Linear Algebra (by Greub), 0]

[New Lectures on Mathematical Analysis, Zhang Zhusheng Edition, 100]

[…]

What the heck?!

Just as he was thinking this, William Carter suddenly recalled the reward for Task Three—the final subject experience reward seemed to be determined by the value coefficient of the books he read.