Chapter 31: Chapter 31- What? I am Hitting on a Girl?

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation  Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

“Assemble directly in front of the laboratory building tomorrow morning at 7.30 o’clock after you have eaten your breakfast,” Zhao Jingzhong said.

After everyone had learned the two Reiki techniques, Zhao Jingzhong instructed everyone to place the crystals back onto the plates and led everyone out of the building.

They exited the building in an orderly fashion. Everyone was excited and some of the group members who were more eager began trying their hands on the two Reiki techniques that they have just learned, ‘Clothing’ and ‘Lock’. However, their efforts only resulted in their faces turning red with exhaustion.

“All of you have learned the techniques, haven’t you?” Yuan Dang asked.

“Of course.” Xie Qiansi added, “Learning through experience and not through verbal teaching! We’re finally learning the ways of true Practitioners! Insane!”

Another member from Group 8 said, “I originally thought that we would be learning some abstract metaphysical methodologies or gain some spiritual powers, or perhaps some ancient Xuan techniques from literature or ancient texts…Who knew it would just be a direct infusion of knowledge…”

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“If only we had such learning methods while we were still in school, we wouldn’t have needed to spend so much time listening to teachers rattling on and on. We could have spent that time playing instead.”

“Such a teaching method is bound to revolutionize the way knowledge is transmitted throughout our education system. It seems like teachers would be driven out of their profession soon.”

“Perhaps we would be able to gain all sorts of knowledge, or at the least, acquire a Bachelor’s degree in every discipline.”

Only Qiao Muyi had remained cool and collected. She said, “Have you all noticed that your breathing currents are almost depleted?”

Everyone was stunned for a brief moment. They had not taken note of the state of their breathing currents when they were not exercising while performing the breathing rhythms since their breathing currents had not stabilized. Upon hearing what Qiao Muyi said, everyone tried to perform the breathing rhythms and realized that their breathing currents had been reduced to a mere trickle of air. They had to focus on absorbing more Reiki into their bodies before they could formally generate their breathing currents again.

“It must be that our internal Reiki is utilized for the transmission of Reiki techniques. This must also be why we could only learn the Reiki techniques after we were able to generate our own breathing currents,” Li Qingxuan reckoned. She said, “However, I don’t think this transmission requires a lot of internal Reiki. The amount that ordinary people can hold when they first activate their breathing currents should be sufficient for such a transmission of Reiki techniques.”

“In the Reiki introduction lesson that we had conducted previously, the scholar mentioned that the breathing currents generated in the maturing phase and the transformation phase are actually very similar. Over the last few days, we have been practicing in order to generate our own breathing currents and reach the transformation phase, but the total amount of internal Reiki we are able to hold in our body is still the same. Hence, if the nation is able to accurately control the amount of Reiki needed for the transmission of Reiki techniques, these techniques can be transmitted to their ‘target group’ precisely,” she continued.

Everyone was slightly amused by Li Qingxuan’s analysis. Very quickly, someone replied, “Does that mean that the reception of such knowledge requires our own Reiki? In that case, if we were to receive a huge amount of other knowledge…”

“I would suppose so. Furthermore, the two Reiki techniques that we have learned, [Clothes] and [Lock], are…more about feeling and experiencing. I would think that the size of the transmitted knowledge is small, and it would possibly be just over 10 bits if the knowledge were to be transmitted through the internet. However, if we were to download entire textbooks of knowledge, they would probably be megabytes in size, and if we add on supplementary materials like videos and practical knowledge, I would expect the size to be in the range of gigabytes.”

Yuan Dang nodded his head in agreement. He said, “I believe this is why downloading multiple disciplines of knowledge would not be feasible. Not only do you need people who are willing to upload the knowledge, but you would also need to have sufficient internal Reiki to be able to sustain the entire transmission process of such an enormous amount of knowledge.”

“Simply put, we are still in the times when we can only use a dial-up connection to connect to the internet, and there would be no use daydreaming about the distant future where we use fiber-optic networks.”

Everyone realized how fortunate they already were. As the first batch of civil servants to become Practitioners, it was just a matter of time before they could benefit from the knowledge they require to perform their duties. They were already the first 1% of people in the entire world to become Practitioners, and they had even learned two Reiki techniques which could essentially make them superhumans. What more could they wish for?

At this juncture, Ren Suo walked closer to Qiao Muyi and patted her back. He said in a hushed tone, “Muyi, I have something to talk to you about in private.”

Qiao Muyi took a glance at Li Qingxuan and the rest of the girls before replying, “Okay.”

Ren Suo and Qiao Muyi discreetly separated from the group, but those who had taken interest in the developments between both of them naturally noticed their disappearance. Xie Qiansi and the rest of the roommates in Ren Suo’s room have all noticed Ren Suo’s actions but did not say anything. After a short while, Li Qingxuan and the rest of the girls noticed that Qiao Muyi and Ren Suo were no longer with the group. Nonetheless, as adults, they all knew…

Naturally, those who knew would know.

At the same time, Ren Suo and Qiao Muyi were headed towards the supermarket located in the training campus. However, Ren Suo had no intention of going to a crowded area and hence, pointed towards a small forested area a short distance away. Trees still stood in the area that Ren Suo pointed at and had not been cut down for the development of the training campus. He said to Qiao Muyi, “Let’s go over there to talk.”

Qiao Muyi nodded her head and followed Ren Suo towards the small grove area. However, before they reached the grove, Qiao Muyi stopped and said, “I think this is far enough.”

“Here?” Ren Suo looked around and saw that there was no one else around. He felt it was still within his comfort zone and agreed, “Alright.”

When Ren Suo touched Qiao Muyi’s shoulder just now, he realized that he only needed 3000 seconds to retrieve the key from a conscious and awake Qiao Muyi.

There were only 3600 seconds in an hour, and now he would be able to retrieve the key by touching Qiao Muyi for less than an hour. This meant that their relationship has become much closer than when he had needed over 9000 seconds to retrieve the key from her.

The next day would be the fifth and last day of the training camp. They would be returning to the city in the afternoon, and Ren Suo was unsure of what jobs they would be assigned to by the Ministry of State Security when they returned. Would they be dispatched to other cities for business trips or even for long-term attachments? Now that they had learned how to Practice—and it’s even two Reiki techniques—could they say ‘No’ to the Nation’s orders?

It was now or never for Ren Suo to retrieve the key from Qiao Muyi.

Furthermore, when they return to the city, they would regain access to their phones. The five days of group training and communal living was nothing significant, and he would never know how busy Qiao Muyi would be when they return. If Ren Suo did not make a move now, he may never ever get the chance to do so again.

Ren Suo had never been one to delay doing anything and always held the philosophy of ‘work first, play later’, typical of a model student who would dutifully complete his work before relaxing. If he did not complete his homework on the first day of the holidays, he would never be completing it afterward. If he saw something he wanted, he would quickly calculate his finances to assess if he was able to afford it. He would only purchase the item if he could, and not otherwise, and never wasted any time being indecisive.

Ren Suo stared at Qiao Muyi, his expression slightly complicated as he racked his brains to think of a reason for him to ask her to sleep in front of him. However, Qiao Muyi said suddenly, “I am not someone to beat around the bush, so…we can only be friends.”

“Mmm…Hmm?” Ren Suo let out a nasal, thinking hum through his nose.

“I’m sorry. Although you are definitely a nice person, I don’t have any intentions to start dating at the moment.” Qiao Muyi continued, “Furthermore, your character does not really fit my expectations.”

What? Ren Suo was dumbfounded. He stretched out a hand in an attempt to stop Qiao Muyi from leaving and explain why he called her out, but Qiao Muyi nimbly avoided his outstretched hand. She said, “I’m going back first, see you tomorrow.”

Qiao Muyi seemed to let out a satisfied smile as she left hurriedly without stopping, leaving Ren Suo behind standing alone by the trees, like a large, solidified pile of garbage. It was as if a chapter had ended in a game and remained frozen in the last scene.

It was only then that Ren Suo recalled his actions over the last few days:

Talking to Qiao Muyi and the group of girls at every available opportunity;

Going to the girls’ room to play poker cards with them;

Insisting on eating with the girls during meals;

Engaging himself in the girls’ conversations without being asked to…

Have I been mistaken for chattering with them and trying to hit on Qiao Muyi?

As a houseperson who’s prepared to make his game console his wife in the future, this was the first time Ren Suo had a realization of what his actions in the past few days had meant to other people. Although he was not shy when talking to girls, he was not someone who would frequently engage in a conversation with other girls…Alright, fine, he was slightly shy as someone who was single, but it was natural for anyone who did not have a partner to be so.

However, over the last four days, he had treated Qiao Muyi as an NPC while pursuing his goal of ‘retrieving keys’ as part of the game mission. He had also figured out that decreasing the distance between them would be able to reduce the amount of time he needed to maintain physical contact to retrieve the key. As such, he tried his best to get as close to Qiao Muyi as possible.

Thinking back, Ren Suo realized that his actions were typical of hitting someone up and deepening the feelings between the two of them in Xuan Nation’s society and culture.

Ren Suo recalled the looks of ‘approval’ and ‘awe’ from Xie Qiansi and his roommates, as well as the weird smiles from the girls. He finally understood why they had such reactions. They had misinterpreted him!

At this juncture, Ren Suo had a strong urge of running to catch up with Qiao Muyi and yell in her face, “You have misunderstood me! I just wanted you to sleep in front of me, not get into a relationship with me!”

“Psht…Haha.”

Ren Suo turned around in the direction of the sound and saw a human figure on the grass behind him, between the line of trees.