“Please complete the Diagnostic Test first; only then can I tailor suitable Stage Targets for your learning.”
The Tunxingren Teacher smiled kindly.
But Yun Ruoxi and Lin Zhen both felt a strange tingling sensation at the same time, as if a faint electric current was running through the air, making their hair stand on end.
No, it wasn’t just a feeling—the electric shock punishment was fully charged and ready to strike!
They silently picked up the top test paper, and only then did the tingling sensation fade.
The flow of time in the scene suddenly accelerated dramatically.
Both of them furiously scribbled away in their own spaces, the stacks of test papers visibly shrinking before their eyes.
But as the difficulty increased, Lin Zhen, whose foundation was weaker, was the first to scratch his head in frustration and fall into a fierce struggle.
Soon after, Yun Ruoxi also began frequently tugging at her stubborn tuft of hair, rubbing her jade-like earlobes.
By the end, her eyes went blank, her expression dull and mechanical as she entered a robotic answering state.
Accompanied by cheerful, comedic music, the audience burst out laughing.
After more than half a day in the teaching space, the Diagnostic Test finally ended.
As an intelligent AI, the Tunxingren Teacher glanced over the results and shook its head gravely before saying to Lin Zhen and Yun Ruoxi:
“Your math skills are equivalent to those of a three-year-old or six-year-old child on our planet. You are, without a doubt, the worst students I have ever taught.”
“To help you catch up and complete your Stage Targets, I will now arrange a customized hellish special training for you.”
“Help! Isn’t this what every teacher in the universe says?”
“Classic line: You are the worst batch I have ever had.”
“Hellish special training?” Yun Ruoxi swallowed nervously.
“Is my level really that bad?” Lin Zhen, recovering just a bit, looked somewhat dejectedly at his palm.
“Then, let’s begin!” The Tunxingren Teacher clapped its hands, and the entire classroom was instantly flooded with formulas and theorems.
They converged into a sea flowing from both sides, floating atop were math textbooks from various stages of the Human Empire.
The Tunxingren Teacher picked up its pointer and pointed to the blackboard: “Let’s start with kindergarten math.”
Whoosh!
A math book adorned with cute patterns flew out from the river of formulas and landed on their desks.
“Oh no, I’m already dizzy!”
“Math phobia patient emergency evacuation!”
As the barrage of comments rolled by, the viewers from across time and space witnessed firsthand the terrifying hell called math!
Lin Zhen and Yun Ruoxi were forcibly tied to their chairs to study.
Every time they learned a new concept, they had to take tests and do endless exercises, with failure resulting in electric shock punishment.
There was not a single break in between.
If they zoned out even briefly, the teaching space would detect it and administer a mild electric shock to forcibly wake them up.
In the short fast-cut sequence of the episode, each of them was shocked hundreds of times.
***
After a full sixteen days, they barely managed to complete their Stage Targets.
The moment they left the teaching space, both collapsed in their personal spaces, their eyes vacant and faces expressionless.
The personal AI’s voice slowly sounded:
“Congratulations on completing the Stage Target. This month’s learning progress is 3%, surpassing 89% of learners. Please keep it up.”
Lin Zhen’s eyes finally regained some spark as he murmured, “I’ve never felt… learning this painful before, and this is only 89%? There really are hidden talents in the war camp!”
“Ugh, my head feels so full, and my vision’s blurry.” Yun Ruoxi curled up on the floor holding her head, looking just like a Blue-Furred Ball.
Though it was partly for show, the pain was genuine.
This kind of intense mental torment was even worse than physical punishment.
What was most terrifying was that this psychological pain couldn’t be blocked even by the [Pain Shield].
Yun Ruoxi lay there for quite a while. Once the camera stopped rolling, she immediately wailed inside:
“System! I want to complain!”
[Complaint invalid. “Pain Shield” only applies to physical pain.]
[If the host needs to alleviate mental pain, you may exchange for the “Behavior Reward and Punishment” skill, which converts learning into mental rewards.]
[Or choose skills like “Learning Thinking” or “Mental Enhancement” to fundamentally improve learning efficiency.]
There were over ninety more courses to learn in that hellish place, and Yun Ruoxi felt that even if she could endure it, she’d probably be tortured beyond endurance.
She quickly asked:
“As long as it can ease this pain, how much popularity do I need?”
[“Behavior Reward and Punishment”: 10,000 popularity. Allows customization of targets; upon completion, grants mental pleasure and satisfaction, promoting dopamine secretion, thereby forming lasting behavioral habits.]
[“Learning Thinking”: 10,000 popularity. Optimizes learning thinking patterns, improving learning efficiency.]
[“Mental Enhancement”: 30,000 popularity. Develops host’s brain areas, enhancing computational power of the brain, thus improving thinking speed.]
Yun Ruoxi didn’t immediately decide. The camera was off her, giving her enough time to carefully consider.
She currently had over 70,000 popularity points on hand, which wasn’t gaining any interest anyway—better to just use them.
The loan repayment time would be after the popularity settlement at the end of Season One, so she wasn’t in a hurry.
Besides, strong learning ability was indispensable to standing out in the war camp.
Don’t be fooled by Lin Zhen’s much lower Diagnostic Test score than hers.
That guy had already finished the Stage Test before her, even scoring over ten points higher!
That was a terrifying reflection of Lin Zhen’s learning ability—his talent and the key to his future comeback.
Thinking this, Yun Ruoxi saw Lin Zhen selecting another course on the episode screen in the top right corner and immediately made up her mind.
“Although I’m no match for Lin Zhen in learning talent, I have my own gifts. System, allocate points to me!”
“I want both [Learning Thinking] and [Mental Enhancement]!”
[Exchange complete. Remaining popularity: 31,320.]
The system’s voice echoed in Yun Ruoxi’s mind, and she felt as if she had been washed by cool spring water.
Her head no longer felt dizzy, her eyes were no longer blurry, and she no longer felt tired.
Her mind was much clearer, and she could instantly spot the errors she had made in the previous test papers.
“Is this because I’m currently in a virtual space as a spiritual entity, so the effect is immediate?”
Yun Ruoxi quickly stood and pulled up her course list.
Though it had been sixteen days in the teaching space, at 200 times speed, that only amounted to about two hours of real time.
Even if she wanted to rest now, the war camp wouldn’t allow it, so it was better to pick a somewhat easier course.
Her fingers swiped across the screen, and she found her target.
[One Hundred Close Combat Assassination Techniques]
Having just finished a purely theoretical math course, it was time for a practical one that required some physical movement.
Besides, her [Beast Intuition] skill could be applied here, and it was high time she tried this skill she’d exchanged for but barely used.