Evolving infinitely from ground zero

Shanhai High School.

In a seventh-grade classroom.

Lin Zichen was attending class but he wasn't paying attention or looking at his book; his mind was full of thoughts about what happened yesterday.

Thinking about the Rat God Cult, he felt it was a security risk and that he'd need to be more careful in the future.

Thinking about the laser cannon of the mechanically modified woman, he realized he was still very weak. However, luckily he was young and had attributes like Use It or Lose It, Divine Human Wisdom Root, and Survival of the Fittest boosting him, so his growth potential was greater than anyone else's.

Thinking about the Phantom Squid atlas, he considered how to earn money to fill up the progress bar and then unlock some of the Phantom Squid's abilities by opening the atlas.

The school's scholarship?

The prize money from various student competitions?

What else?

Are there other sources of income?

Phantom Squid meat is too expensive; earning just this little each year, how many years would it take to fill up the progress bar?

He had to find ways to increase his income.

Become a star student influencer?

No, that was too conspicuous.

Start a technical side hustle?

That didn't seem right either; he was already busy enough, having to study and train; there simply wasn't any spare time.

Was there anything that could make money without interfering with his studies and training?

Forget it, three cobblers add up to one Zhuge Liang; he'd ask the well-informed netizens for advice.

Thinking this, Lin Zichen took out his phone and posted on a forum.

[Seeking advice: How can a middle school student quickly make a hundred thousand without affecting their studies?]

Perhaps because the title was so eye-catching, it soon attracted many netizens to enthusiastically comment.

First comment: You can have everything in your dreams.

Second comment: I suggest studying criminal law.

Third comment: You could join the school's Martial Arts Team to compete. I have a friend who earned nearly 300,000 in prizes over six years of middle and high school; I'm so jealous.

300,000 in prize money?

That much?

Lin Zichen was a bit surprised; he immediately exited the forum and opened a web browser, searching for information about martial arts competitions.

He searched for local competitions in Shanhai City.

After briefly browsing the results, he learned that during each school break, the city hosted various martial arts exchange competitions.

These were mainly for middle and high school students.

He searched for specific competition details and found that the forum user hadn't exaggerated; the prize money was indeed quite generous.

There was a city-wide middle school league competition where the first-place school could win as much as 50,000 Yuan.

The money was divided here and there, but the core players could still pocket several thousand Yuan at least.

For middle schoolers, this was already a substantial amount.

The key was that the duration of these competitions was short, lasting only three days to a week at most.

Earning a few thousand in just a few days was almost like stuffing money into a sack.

Most importantly, practicing martial arts could strengthen his body, so he could earn money and evolve simultaneously.

"The school does have a Martial Arts Team; I should check it out after school." Lin Zichen thought to himself.

...

It wasn't long after.

As the bell signaling the end of class rang, the morning classes finally came to an end.

The students in the classroom quickly left for the cafeteria to have lunch as soon as class ended.

Some who lived nearby went home to eat.

Others who had signed up for day-care classes nearby went there to eat.

Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan were somewhat special; both brought lunch from home and just needed to heat it in the microwave in the teacher's office.

This was one of the privileges Lin Zichen had earned for the school through numerous honors.

As his closest childhood friend, Shen Qinghan was fortunate enough to share this privilege.

"Zi Chen, try this, it's super tasty."

Shen Qinghan put a slice of egg roll into Lin Zichen's lunchbox. Her expression was quite natural, clearly not dwelling on the embarrassing incident that had happened in the car yesterday.

Lin Zichen tasted the egg roll and nodded, "It really is tasty."

"Guess who made it?"

"Guess if I will guess?"

"Stop playing word games, just give it a guess!"

"You made it."

"You guessed right!" Shen Qinghan's smile bloomed like a flower.

Then, resting her chin in her hand, she looked at Lin Zichen with moist, gleaming eyes and asked:

"Zi Chen, I've started learning to cook with mom, how about I cook for you every day from now on?"

"Sure."

Lin Zichen smiled and replied.

...

Soon, the two of them finished their lunch.

When he went out to wash his lunchbox, Lin Zichen encountered the coach of the Martial Arts Team in the corridor outside the classroom.

"Zichen, what a coincidence!"

As soon as Guo Xiangyuan saw Lin Zichen, he immediately walked over with a smile to strike up a conversation.

He had purposely waited a long time in the corridor, finally catching Lin Zichen after he had finished eating.

The reason for meticulously pretending to bump into him was to avoid being too abrupt like yesterday, which might have given Lin Zichen a bad impression.

For a sports prodigy like Lin Zichen, he believed he had to take the initiative to recruit Lin Zichen into the Martial Arts Team as soon as possible, not wasting even a single day of training.

Wasting even one more day was a crime against heaven, deserving of thunderous retribution.

"Coach Guo, I was actually looking for you."

Originally, Lin Zichen had planned to visit the gym after school, but since he had run into Guo Xiangyuan now, he might as well get to know about the Martial Arts Team right away.

Upon hearing this, Guo Xiangyuan was initially astonished, then said with great excitement:

"Are you interested in learning about the Martial Arts Team?"

"Yes."

Lin Zichen nodded.

Guo Xiangyuan immediately approached with enthusiasm, smiling cheerfully:

"Feel free to ask any questions. I'll answer everything I know."

So, in the following time, Lin Zichen asked many questions.

About the city's martial arts competitions.

About how the competition prizes were.

About the strength of martial arts teams from various schools, and so on.

Guo Xiangyuan patiently answered all these questions.

Shen Qinghan, seeing that the two might talk for quite some time, silently took Lin Zichen's lunchbox to wash it together, not disturbing them.

...

About half an hour later.

The two in the corridor finally ended their chat.

Lin Zichen verbally agreed to join the Martial Arts Team and said he would visit Room C of the gym after school.

Then he turned around and went back inside the classroom.

It was currently the lunch break, and the classroom was almost empty.

At a glance, there were only about ten students who were not napping and were diligently studying.

Among them, the diligent and studious Shen Qinghan.

Lin Zichen walked to his spot, sat down, put on his headphones, and searched his phone for a bunch of martial arts competition videos to understand what the competition process was like.

Next to him, Shen Qinghan was bent over grading a test paper, occasionally frowning, occasionally relaxing her brows.

About half an hour passed.

Shen Qinghan finally finished the test paper.

She tidied up the paper with a great sense of achievement, turned around, and patted Lin Zichen on the shoulder, wanting to talk to him.

Lin Zichen took off his headphones and asked her:

"Did you finish the paper?"

"I did, yeah."

"Not bad, finished in under an hour this time. You've improved."

"Of course, I may not be as smart as you, Xiao Chen, but I'm still pretty clever."

Shen Qinghan was slightly smug.

Then, curiously, she asked Lin Zichen:

"By the way, Xiao Chen, are you joining the school's Martial Arts Team?"

"Yeah, I've already verbally joined."

"So, does that mean I'll get to see you compete in the future?"

"It seems so."

Hearing this, Shen Qinghan's eyes smiled, and she said cheerfully, "Then I'll be your little fangirl, cheering for you in the audience every day, okay?"

"Okay," Lin Zichen smiled and replied.

No sooner had he spoken than Shen Qinghan yawned hugely, looking sleepy.

Seeing this, Lin Zichen moved a chair from the podium next to the chair where Shen Qinghan was sitting, suggested to her:

"There's still a bit more than half an hour left for the lunch break; take a nap if you're sleepy."

"Mm, I'll take a nap then. Just remember to wake me up when it's time."

After saying this, Shen Qinghan curled up like a little cat, nestled on the two chairs put together, rested her head on Lin Zichen's leg, and quickly fell asleep.

Lin Zichen fetched a small blanket to cover her.

Then he put on his headphones again and continued to watch the martial arts competition videos on his phone.

Not sure if she was dreaming or what, but Shen Qinghan, who had just fallen asleep, moved her plump cherry lips slightly and whispered softly:

"Xiao Chen..."

"I made it into Shanhai High School by my own efforts..."

"We are still desk mates..."

...

PS: Asking for Monthly Pass and recommendation tickets!