Study Monster Cultivation System - Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Permutations and Probability Theory

[Relaxation activity detected: Shopping]

[Energy recovery rate: 0.2]

[You can recover up to a maximum of 40 hours each month.]

[You can enhance the relaxation experience with Game Coins]…

[Trendsetter: Gain the ability to recognize the color of every premium lipstick and praise every seasonal item.] (5 Game Coins)

[Product Expert: Gain the ability to easily differentiate between real and fake products and gain the upper hand during price negotiations.] (5 Game Coins)

[Fashion Expert: Gain the ability to come up with a suitable and fashionable outfit based on a person’s body type, appearance, needs, and setting.] (10 Game Coins)

Unlike the relaxation activities that he’d discovered before, the recovery limit of shopping was tallied in “months.”

That meant that he could recover 40 hours of energy in one sitting, then wait for the next month before shopping again.

The efficiency of this activity was rather alluring.

But regrettably, shopping was like playing basketball. Only a true pro would be able to experience joy.

At its current efficiency, Li Zheng might as well head home to sleep.

Li Zheng glanced at his 20 Game Coins and inevitably started to feel conflicted.

He hadn’t managed to make a decision when Zhang Xiaoke led him into a dimly-lit shop.

Unlike the other shops, the decor here followed a dark style, and the products were displayed messily. It didn’t look like a clean place.

The boss was even dirtier. He had a long, dirty braid that hadn’t been washed for ages, and he was wearing a pair of oily jeans that reached his knees. He also hadn’t shaved his beard. He raised his hand and welcomed them.

“You’re here, Xiaoke.”

“I’m here, Uncle Fei.”

They high-fived each other as if they knew each other very well.

Uncle Fei then raised his hand and aimed it toward Li Zheng.

But his arm froze midair.

“This… What kind of style is he going for?” he thought.

“School uniform with a high V neckline?”

“And those oversized leather shoes.”

“And that righteous gaze.”

Zhang Xiaoke quickly explained, “Aren’t I a transfer student? This is my new classmate, Li Zheng, my mentor. He taught me how to study, so I brought him here to get some clothes~”

“Oh.” Uncle Fei reluctantly waved at LI Zheng. “Yo?”

Li Zheng knew that this was a way of greeting in the martial arts world.

Thus, he raised his arm and reluctantly high-fived Uncle Fei as a greeting.

“Hehe… Interesting…” Uncle Fei pointed his lips toward Li Zheng. “This is the so-called straight-A student, right?”

“Alright, I’ll pick out some clothes for him~” Zhang Xiaoke pulled Li Zheng deep into the shop and nagged, “This shop is great. The products here are picked out by the boss himself with a focus on trendy brands. There are all kinds of stuff here. This is the most progressive shop in the area.”

Li Zheng scanned through the loose-fitting clothes and knitted his brows tightly together. It felt as though a bunch of demons was dancing around him.

Sometime later, Zhang Xiaoke had put together an outfit for him. She pushed Li Zheng into the changing room.

Li Zheng put on the outfit and stood in front of the mirror.

“Ah.” He was shocked.

The person in the mirror was not him.

They were wearing a gray hoodie with a cropped black denim jacket over it.

The lower half of his body consisted of folded jeans and a brown high top shoes.

If it wasn’t for how angular the fitting room was, he would have thought that he was flipping through a magazine.

“Clothes sure are magical,” he thought.

Unknowingly, his energy recovery rate ballooned.

Zhang Xiaoke also covered her face in shock when Li Zheng walked out of the changing room.

“Oh f***!”

“Xiaoke, why does a girl like you speak such vulgar language…” Uncle Fei jogged over with a smile when he heard her, then stopped halfway in his tracks. “Oh f***!!!”

Li Zheng blushed. He scratched his head and said, “Is this too depraved?”

“No, it’s great.” Zhang Xiaoke quickly took out her phone and manically started to take pictures. “Humans truly depend on clothes. Who would have thought you could look like this?”

Uncle Fei also stepped forward to check out Li Zheng. “Lad, I didn’t realize that you are quite suitable as a clothes rack.”

“A clothes rack?”

“That’s a person who has a good figure and can wear anything. It’s a compliment.” Uncle Fei then pouted and said, “It would be perfect if we could adjust your hairstyle a little, then get you to walk together with Xiaoke.”

Li Zheng and Zhang Xiaoke turned to look at each other and said at the same time, “Who wants to walk with her (him)?”

“Alright, fine, fine, fine. You can continue picking out pieces you like. Choose any item you want.” Uncle Fei waved his arm and went to attend to the other customers.

“Aiyaya, aiyaya~” Zhang Xiaoke shuffled toward Li Zheng, then licked her lips and smiled. “Do you understand now? Shop with me and allow me to pick out an outfit for you. I’ll easily transform you from a sparrow to a phoenix.”

“You sure have a way with these things.” Li Zheng turned around and adjusted his collar, then looked at himself in the mirror. He was tempted.

Of course, what tempted him wasn’t his outfit but his energy. It had reached 3.

“Is the joy that comes with shopping about searching for an item that I like and pairing it to form a magical combo?” he thought.

“Speaking about pairings and combinations.”

Li Zheng’s eyes widened.

“Could the crux of shopping be permutations?”

He glanced excitedly toward the clothes racks, which held a variety of items.

Just this one shop contained hundreds of products.

If there were 80 shirts and 40 pants…

Then a simple calculation would reveal 3200 permutations.

That wasn’t counting the shoes and hats.

“I want to try on other outfits.” There was a faint demonic gleam in Li Zheng’s eyes.

“You can try. You can’t create a better combination than me anyway~” Zhang Xiaoke also started to pick out her outfit. “I did want to get a coat. We’ll split up and look for our own stuff now.”

“Alright.”

Li Zheng quickly grabbed the shirts and pants that were closest to him and entered the changing room.

He tried on his first combination.

A black hoodie with dragon prints and large white sweatpants.

The figure in the mirror looked a little ridiculous.

He looked like a high-schooler who had been dragged to perform at a hip-hop concert.

[Energy recovery rate: 0 ↓]

“This…” he thought.

“Do I need an audience?”

He quickly rushed out of the changing room and ran over to Zhang Xiaoke to show off his outfit.

“Urgh…” Zhang Xiaoke covered her mouth and scolded, “Why don’t you go and die!”

Thus, Li Zheng put on another outfit.

A large white T-shirt and large black, dragon-print sweatpants.

[Energy recovery rate: – 0.3 ↓]

He once again ran to Zhang Xiaoke.

“Can you not choose dragon prints?”

The third time.

A red dragon-print hoodie paired with dark green travel pants.

[Energy recovery rate: – 0.5 ↓]

Zhang Xiaoke said, “Change back into your uniform!”

The fourth time he entered the changing room…

Li Zheng looked at the red and green figure in the mirror and clenched his fists.

“It turns out that it’s not permutations,” he thought.

“It’s probability theory.”

“There’s only a small probability that an outfit will create a chemical reaction and touch on the nerve that reacts to aesthetics.”

“And that reaction differs between individuals.”

“Only an expert like Zhang Xiaoke can casually create a decent combination for every individual.”

“As for me, using a silly method like permutations won’t yield any results.”

“But this is a one-time regeneration of tens of hours of energy.”

He involuntarily looked at his status bar.

[Game Coins: 20.]

[Relaxation Level: Lv2.]

[Progress toward leveling up: Relax 9/72 (hours)]

If he could regain the energy shopping gave him for the month in one sitting, he would definitely level up in less than two days.

When that time came, he might even be given some wonderful missions.

Just like [Passion for Chemistry], the earlier he got the rewards, the more beneficial they would be.

Ultimately, he couldn’t stop himself. He locked in on the three ability cards that were related to shopping.

[Trendsetter: 5 Game Coins]

[Product Expert: 5 Game Coins]

[Fashion Expert: 10 game Coins]

Trendsetter was overly exaggerated and seemed like it was a means for showing off.

Product Expert was undoubtedly used for haggling.

No matter how he looked at it, Fashion Expert made the most sense to him.