One minute passed.

Five minutes passed...

The sound of "victory" rang out behind him. He had only turned two pages, but quickly flipped back to the beginning, because he couldn't take in a single word.

"Haha, Silver IV! I ranked up!" Thomas Hill leaned back in his chair and laughed loudly.

"If it weren't for me carrying you, you little noob." Eric Grant also leaned back in his chair and stretched lazily.

"Figure out who carried whom. Fountain kill on AD, just ask if my LeBlanc was flashy enough just now."

"Flashy, my ass! Still talking so much trash while fishing in the noob pool. Hurry up and climb out of the pit. I smurf and carry you to Silver every day, and you even forgot to get your first win yesterday!"

No good, he couldn't concentrate at all.

It wasn't really because his roommates were too noisy, but because he simply couldn't focus his attention on the book. The way he was reading now was just like when he was cramming for exams—any tiny disturbance from the outside world could stir up his already chaotic thoughts.

Yet earlier, when he was in the library, even if people were talking or walking around, he could completely lose himself in the world of books.

William Carter sighed and put down the "New Lectures on Mathematical Analysis" in his hand.

So, that really was the power of the system?

Chapter 4: While Others Do Practice Problems, I Read Books

At 6 a.m., feeling the bed board shake slightly, David Foster squinted his still-sleepy eyes, searching for the source of the vibration. He happened to see William Carter at the other end of the bed climbing down with the ladder, and mumbled, "Zhouzi, up so early?"

Afraid of waking the other two roommates who were still sleeping, William Carter replied softly.

"Yeah."

David Foster pressed on.

"Still going to your part-time job?"

William Carter hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "Not going. Taking a break these days."

"Then why are you up so early?"

"Library."

David Foster instantly woke up.

After brushing his teeth at the sink, William Carter also took a detour to the restroom. When he came out, he saw David Foster climbing down from his bed as well, and asked curiously, "You're not sleeping anymore?"

"Reviewing." David Foster grabbed his toothbrush cup and jogged to the balcony sink.

Watching his roommate act as if facing a great enemy, William Carter couldn't help but feel amused. He shook his head, said nothing, put on his shoes, slung his bag over his shoulder, and headed out.

Nanjing in June was like a furnace, except for the early hours around five or six in the morning.

The air was filled with the fragrance of morning dew, and the occasional breeze brushing his cheek was all refreshing, with no trace of heat. The campus at six o'clock was like a quiet young lady, gracefully emerging from the dawn, as if it were a completely different world from the evening.

After buying two steamed buns and a cup of soy milk at the cafeteria, William Carter strolled leisurely to the library after breakfast.

Jinling University truly lived up to its reputation as a prestigious institution. At this hour, the library staff hadn't even arrived yet, but there were already quite a few people standing outside on the open ground, doing morning reading.

He also took out his CET-4 vocabulary book and memorized words for a while. Although it wasn't as good as being inside the library, the surrounding study atmosphere made it passable. William Carter waited at the library entrance until 7:30, when the staff finally arrived and opened the doors.

As the library doors opened, the postgraduate entrance exam crowd surged in like a tide, and the open space outside quickly emptied.

Following the crowd inside, William Carter didn't rush to dive into the sea of books. Instead, he went to the shelves and picked out a copy of "Advanced Algebra" by Tu Boyun, then found a quiet corner in the library to sit down.

William Carter had estimated that, in an immersive reading state, it would take about one to two hours to thoroughly master the knowledge points of a unit, including memorization, mental calculation, and analysis of problem types.

Judging by the remaining pages, the "New Lectures on Mathematical Analysis" in his hand would last at most until noon. In the afternoon, he planned to take the opportunity to brush up on his knowledge of advanced algebra.

Taking a deep breath, William Carter turned to the page where he had left his bookmark yesterday and focused his attention back on the book.

Very soon, he entered the same state as yesterday, completely forgetting the outside world, as if he and the book were the only things that existed...

Time ticked by, and at 11:30 a.m., William Carter let out a long breath and put down the book in his hand.

He had completely finished reading "New Lectures on Mathematical Analysis," and its value coefficient had dropped to 5.

This confirmed William Carter's guess: the system's evaluation of a book's value coefficient wasn't based on the academic world of this world, but on his own knowledge level.

As for why it was 5 instead of 0, it was probably because there were still parts of the book he hadn't fully mastered. To completely master it, he might have to read it again.

But William Carter clearly wasn't going to do that. Wasting precious deep reading time just to dig out those 5 points of value coefficient was a losing deal no matter how you looked at it.

It was just about lunchtime anyway, so William Carter put down his book and walked out of the library.