The Luckiest Man - Chapter 47

Chapter 47: A Strange Score

“Ahem.” Principal Liang coughed lightly. With Hong Xiaofu around, the atmosphere had become strange. Principal Liang pretended not to hear that and said, “Stop chatting. Zhang Yang, you can go first.”

“Oh, okay.” Zhang Yang smiled as he stepped forward. He did not only test this once or twice; he would do it whenever he felt like it. He placed his hand onto the equipment comfortably and his results were instantly reflected, “Congratulations, you have been successfully Awakened. You are an Awakener at LV1 with a score of 3.19.”

Awakener score of 3.19%!

Zhang Yang was elated when he saw the figure and he exclaimed, “Oh yes! My practice is working! It has increased by 0.04% in a matter of days. With this speed, I will be able to attain LV2 within two months!”

He had his reasons to be this happy.

Looking at the speed at which he was improving, he really would be able to reach LV2 in two months’ time. Compared to people his age, it was considered pretty fast.

Seeing how his own student was so capable, Principal Liang was pleasantly surprised, “Not bad at all. Keep going, good luck! You can do it!” Zhang Yang was delighted and he replied, “Be rest assured Principal Liang, I will become the strongest!”

After Zhang Yang finished his turn, Su Ying was next. She was adaptable as she placed her hand on the equipment and her results were also reflected quickly, “Congratulations, you have been successfully Awakened. You are an Awakener at LV1 with a score of 3.18%.”

3.18%…

When Su Ying saw the figure, she growled, “It’s lower than his by 0.01!” She clenched her fist as she spoke—she was clearly unhappy.

Zhang Yang, “…”

Why was she so against him? Was it his fault that he was good? He had not even been happy for a minute and she had to be a wet blanket. Could they still be friends?!

Actually, when Su Ying had first Awakened, her score had been lower than that of Zhang Yang by 0.01. To the day, she was still 0.01 short. However, it also meant that their Awakener potential was pretty similar.

They had both completed the assessment. Li Tianqi had taken his the day before and had received a score of 3.15%, but he had not started practicing yet. So, everyone turned their attention to Hong Xiaofu.

They were peculiar about him. His power had a crazy aura. Everyone knew that he could make people get onto their knees. However, as to how, when, and who would be made to kneel, no one was sure about.

That was why Principal Liang thought that he should just be respected as the Mascot of Class 16. More importantly, it was because he could not afford to offend him.

“Xiaofu, give it a try and see what your current score is.” Principal Liang smiled at Hong Xiaofu and added, “Come, let’s test it. Don’t be nervous.”

“Alright.” Hong Xiaofu replied as he placed his hand on the equipment.

Very quickly, the machine reflected a new set of scores. When everyone saw the numbers, they were all stunned.

“Congratulations, you have been successfully Awakened. You are an Awakener at LV1 with a score of 3.66666%.”

Su Ying, “…”

Zhang Yang, “…”

Li Tianqi, “…”

Principal Liang and the rest, “…”

When Hong Xiaofu had first Awakened, his score had also been 3.666666%. Everyone knew that.

After practicing for so many days, his score had remained at 3.6666%!? What was going on?! In similar circumstances, if one attained a high score upon Awakening, progress would be considerably faster!

Principal Liang was slightly dumbfounded and he asked blurly, “Xiaofu, your previous score was 3.6666 right? Why is it still 3.6666 this time?”

Hong Xiaofu was also dumbfounded as he stared at the number.

Although it was true that he had been falling asleep within seconds, he had been practicing for many days—yet his score had not increased at all. That was clearly unusual. Even if his progress was slow and he could not increase his score by 0.01 a day, he should at least have gained 0.001 or 0.0001. However, it had not even increased by a tiny bit.

“Xiaofu, erm…” Su Ying hesitated for a moment before she comforted him and said, “You could be using the wrong method to practice. Maybe we can try to work this out together?”

Although Zhang Yang had had to kneel down twice before Hong Xiaofu, he also tried to comfort him, “That’s right, don’t be upset about it. You still have us right?”

In all honesty, Hong Xiaofu did not feel good. It wasn’t that he did not work hard. Perhaps, he was even the one who put in the most effort. No matter how hard he tried he still could not see any results—no one would like that.

“Actually it is no big deal.” Hong Xiaofu suddenly smiled and said, “It’s fine if it didn’t increase, maybe I’m using the wrong approach. I still have you guys, right? We will be able to work this out in a few days.”

Everyone nodded and said, “Yes!”

Principal Liang was afraid that he would be too demoralized about it, so he did not think twice before standing up and patting his shoulder as he spoke, “Xiaofu, let’s do it this way. Take a few days to figure it out, I will specially approve a few days of leave for you?” He added, “Oh right, you can take this test kit home. It would be good if you assessed your score often and saw which practice method is working out for you.”

Principal Liang sincerely thought that that child had been living quite a tragic life.

It was already not easy for him to be Awakened, and he had ended up with that strange power. It would not help him with earning money to support the family—who would dare employ him? Would the supervisor not be afraid that he would have to get on his knees as well? Forget the fact that it couldn’t help him with anything, his practice was giving him problems, too! His score was not increasing! Did his life have to be so miserable?

Although nobody was feeling good, Hong Xiaofu was smiling vibrantly as he spoke, “It doesn’t really matter if my training progress is quick or slow. I cannot even understand my weird power. If the images are not helping, I’ll just find another way.”

Su Ying, Zhang Yang, and Li Tianqi made eye contact as they nodded at the same time and said, “Right, we shall settle on that!”

As they went downstairs, Zhang Yang put his arm across Hong Xiaofu’s shoulder and said, “It’s alright, Brother Fu. You still have my brother and I to depend on. Don’t worry, we will look out for you!”

Hong Xiaofu smiled widely and said, “Thanks!”

They went back home quickly after class ended. Su Ying, Zhang Yang, and Li Tianqi gave Hong Xiaofu countless ideas in the group chat and Hong Xiaofu had tried many of them: things like going on an empty stomach, eating a lot, listening to songs, playing games, and more. No matter what he tried, the score would not even increase a little.

Three days passed quickly and his score still showed no change.

“What is going on?” Hong Xiaofu sat cross-legged on his bed. He stared at the test kit and frowned before adding, “According to what Li Tianqi said, his score increased by 0.02 although he didn’t practice much for the past few days. Why is my score remaining constant after so long?” Honestly, it seemed that it no longer had anything to do with his natural gift or potential. His power clearly worked in a different way from the rest.

For the past few days, Shen Xiaoling had been watching him practice, too. She did not ask about it and he did not tell her anything, but Shen Xiaoling could sense that it was not something good, because she hardly saw Hong Xiaofu sitting alone, looking troubled.

That night, Hong Xiaofu had sat alone and stared at the test kit for a whole half hour. Shen Xiaoling could not help but ask carefully, “Brother… Are you… having some problems with your score?”

“Yup.” Hong Xiaofu sighed softly before he smiled and said, “I don’t know what went wrong either. No matter how I practice, the score does not increase at all, and I fall asleep within seconds whenever I use those images. Don’t worry about me, I think I’ll have it figured out.”

Shen Xiaoling thought about it seriously and suddenly said, “Oh, right. Brother, do you remember the time that we went to buy candied gourd?”

Hong Xiaofu was in a daze for a while before he replied, “I remember that. What’s wrong?”

Shen Xiaoling said, “I remember the pharmacy at Tianfu Commercial Plaza selling the performance-enhancing drug for Awakeners. Do you want to try that?”