"Mission Start!"

He closed his eyes and silently repeated the phrase—not once, but twice, just to be sure.

When he opened them again, a line of translucent text materialized before him.

【Mission 3: Commenced. Current duration: 0 hours. Timer pauses upon leaving the library.】

Startled by the sudden appearance of the text, Lu Zhou glanced around nervously. It wasn’t until a passing classmate walked straight through the floating words without reacting that he relaxed.

So the system’s text is invisible to others.

In any case, the mission was simple—just find a few textbooks, kill time in the library for twenty-four hours, and he’d be done, right?

Since he had nothing better to do, Lu Zhou headed toward the math section. Just as he reached for a random book, his vision blurred—and suddenly, numerical values appeared floating above the spines. Not only that, but the colors followed a clear pattern, shifting from red (highest) to gray (lowest) based on some hidden metric.

【Dixmier’s Foundations of Modern Analysis – 10】 【Linear Algebra (Greub) – 0】 【Zhang Zhusheng’s New Lectures on Mathematical Analysis – 100】 【...】

What the hell?!

Just as he processed this, Lu Zhou remembered the mission reward: the final experience points were determined by the "value coefficient" of the books he read.

In other words, if he just sat in the library doing nothing but technically "AFK-ing," he’d only earn a single lottery draw upon completion. real overachiever doesn’t just waste time in the library!

Realizing this, Lu Zhou swallowed hard.

But one thing still puzzled him—why did some advanced mathematical texts (like Dixmier’s masterpiece, which their algebra professor had praised to the skies) have such low coefficients, while beginner-friendly textbooks scored absurdly high?

Then it hit him.

He opened his attribute panel.

Mathematics: LV0 sudden epiphany struck.

So the "value coefficient" is based on my current knowledge level!

Value was a double-edged sword. Take the Riemann Hypothesis, for example. To the academic world, it was a monumental problem, with thousands of theorems built upon its assumed truth—its value was immeasurable. But for Lu Zhou personally? Understanding it was far beyond his reach, and it wouldn’t help his studies at all. Hence, its value to him was zero.

With that realization, he didn’t hesitate—he pulled Zhang Zhusheng’s New Lectures on Mathematical Analysis from the shelf.

Coincidentally, their math analysis 2 exam was in two weeks, and he still struggled with some of the trickier concepts. This would kill two birds with one stone—mission progress and exam prep.

Finding a seat, Lu Zhou cracked open the book.

To be honest, he didn’t particularly enjoy math. But this book… surprisingly, he couldn’t put it down.

Whether it was the system’s influence or something else, he soon slipped into a state of deep focus. The world faded away—nothing existed except him and the book.

Time ticked by. The library grew quieter as students trickled out, but Lu Zhou remained oblivious, utterly absorbed in the text.

It wasn’t until someone tapped his shoulder that he snapped out of his trance.

"Student, it’s ten o’clock—the library’s closing," the librarian said.

Lu Zhou jolted upright, hastily stuffing a bookmark into the pages. "Ah, sorry—I lost track of time. Let me pack up."

"No worries," the librarian sighed. "In all my years here, I’ve never seen a student so engrossed in a math book."

"Can I still check it out? I’d like to take it with me," Lu Zhou asked, reluctant to leave the immersive experience behind.

He had never been this captivated by a math textbook before. It felt less like studying and more like reading a novel—the biography of a number, chronicling its life and struggles.

Perhaps sensing his politeness, the librarian waved him off. "Sure, go ahead. The computer’s still on—I’ll log it for you. Got your card?"

Lu Zhou nodded earnestly. "Got it… Thanks a lot!"

"No problem!"

Slamming the borrowed book into his backpack, Lu Zhou hurried out of the library.

The moment he passed through the holographic panel, the mission timer paused.

But Lu Zhou barely noticed. He was desperate to return to that magical state of reading.

Back in the dorm, his two roommates were already there, deep into a League of Legends match.

Hearing the door open, Huang Guangming—mid-fight and frantically mashing his ultimate—called over his shoulder, "Zhouzi, you in? Let’s play!"

The way he dragged out the word "play" was their dorm’s inside joke for summoning each other to the Rift.

"I’ve got stuff to do. Not tonight," Lu Zhou replied.

After finishing a team fight and pushing the enemy to their base, Shi Shang finally glanced back—and did a double-take. "Damn, Zhouzi, since when are you this into studying?"

Liu Rui, equally shocked, abandoned his problem set and craned his neck to stare at Lu Zhou’s desk.

Lu Zhou chuckled, deciding it was too much effort to explain. "Exam’s coming up. I’m way behind—gotta cram. Afterward, I’ll play with you guys."

"Bullshit, just scrape by with a passing grade!" Huang Guangming snorted, unleashing a barrage of attacks on the enemy turret.

Last final exam, he’d said the same thing. (Though if Lu Zhou recalled correctly, Huang had scored an 89 in Calculus 1—just one point shy of Liu Rui, the dorm’s resident genius.)

Everyone worked hard in their own way.

Lu Zhou smiled faintly and turned back to his book, flipping to his bookmark.

Ten seconds passed. minute.

Five minutes…

Then the Victory jingle blared from his roommates’ game. He hadn’t even turned the page.

"LOL, Bronze IV here I come!" Huang Guangming collapsed into his chair, cackling.

"Thanks to me carrying your ass, trash tier," Shi Shang stretched.

"Debating who carried who? When my Fiora one-shot your ADC in base, that’s skill."

"Skill my ass. You’re just farming in the river and flexing. Get out of elo hell—I’ve been boosting you on smurf accounts. Forgot to take the first win bonus yesterday!"

Nope. Can’t focus at all.

It wasn’t just the noise—the moment he tried reading, his mind scattered like leaves in the wind. Every tiny distraction pulled him away from the page.

Back in the library, even surrounded by chatter and movement, he’d been able to dive deep into the text.

Lu Zhou sighed and closed Zhang Zhusheng’s Lectures.

So that was the system’s doing, huh?