Chapter 12: Lightning Reflexes

Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Lightning Reflexes

"What on earth are you thinking?"

"You risked your life to be a hero, so why did you refuse the commendation from the Security Office afterward?"

"I really don’t understand you, son."

The moment the Security Officer left, Wen Wanyi couldn’t help but speak, her face a mixture of confusion and exhaustion.

Beside her, Gu Mingbo quickly tried to smooth things over. "Our son is a grown man now. It’s normal for him to have his own ideas. We shouldn’t interfere too much."

Then, he turned to Gu Qing and added, "If you ever run into something like this again, you must prioritize your own safety. Don’t make your mother and me worry, understand?"

"I know."

Gu Qing nodded lightly.

Gu Mingbo said, "After what happened tonight, don’t go to school tomorrow. Ask your advisor for a few days off and rest up at home."

Gu Qing waved his hand. "There’s no need. I just subdued a drunkard who was causing trouble with a knife. I wasn’t hurt, so I don’t need to take time off."

His Reaction Speed had already accumulated to +83.

Just two more days of farming and he could obtain the Attribute—Lightning Reflexes.

So, taking time off was out of the question.

He would wake up early tomorrow and head straight back to school to play games with Chen Zijie.

...

Inside the Security Office, the lights were blazing.

A vicious case had occurred in their jurisdiction—a knife attack that left two people dead.

The follow-up procedures were so complicated it was suffocating.

Everyone was working overtime through the night.

Amid the hustle and bustle, a man and a woman in black trench coats suddenly pushed the door open and walked in.

The woman in black stepped forward and asked:

"Did your office handle a knife assault case today where the assailant dropped dead immediately after?"

"And you are...?"

"Get your director."

The woman in black didn’t waste another word.

Before long, a slightly chubby, middle-aged man hurried out to greet them.

It was the director of the station.

The moment he saw their attire and bearing, his expression became incredibly respectful. He said:

"Distinguished guests, please, come into my office. We can talk over some tea..."

"That won’t be necessary. Just take us to see the assailant’s body."

"Yes, yes, of course! I’ll lead the way!"

The director was cautious and deferential the entire time, his humility ingrained to the bone.

Clearly, these two people in black had an extraordinary background.

Soon, the two agents saw the assailant’s body in the morgue.

The woman in black stepped forward to examine it.

After a moment, she said:

"That’s right. It has the aura of that thing."

"This drunk’s sudden rampage was because it triggered the negative emotions buried in his heart."

"However, the real cause of his death wasn’t emotional overload."

"It was a powerful blow to his arm that reverberated to his heart, causing his already fragile coronary artery to rupture on the spot, leading to sudden death."

At these words, the man in black’s gaze immediately fell upon the arm.

Beneath the skin, between the bone and flesh, there was a shocking, deep indentation.

"To cause such a severe injury with just an ordinary-looking karate chop... I have to say, that young man is quite strong."

The man in black said calmly.

...

「The next day.」

Gu Qing accidentally woke up too late.

He skipped breakfast entirely.

He rushed out the door to catch a bus back to school for class.

Fortunately, the bus was fast.

He managed to make it back to campus five minutes before class started.

He hurried into the academic building.

And walked into the classroom with a composed demeanor.

Gu Qing purposefully walked over and sat down next to the female classmate studying for the postgraduate entrance exam. He started working through practice questions with her, continuously farming Attributes from her [Top Student] tag.

He farmed for two long class blocks.

Four hours in total.

[Focus +1] x4

[Learning Ability +1] x4

Gu Qing glanced at the text notifications and paid them no more mind.

He quickly packed up his things and went to the cafeteria with Chen Zijie.

Afterward, he went back to his old routine of juggling two things at once.

In the dorm, he ate snacks with Qian Duole while playing games with Chen Zijie.

The three of them hung out like this for an hour.

[Gaming Skill +1]

[Reaction Speed +1]

Gu Qing glanced at the text notification.

Just as he thought, after obtaining the [Devouring] Attribute, he could no longer get Attributes from the [Big Eater] tag.

Because of this, Gu Qing decisively put down his snacks, not taking another bite, and chose to focus solely on gaming with Chen Zijie.

’Since I can’t farm Attributes from them anymore, even a dog wouldn’t eat these unhealthy snacks.’

Before the next game started, Gu Qing pulled up his reaction Attribute to check the stats.

[Reaction Speed Accumulated: +84]

’Just 16 more points to reach 100 and I’ll get the Attribute—Lightning Reflexes.’

In other words, he had to play games with Zijie for another 16 hours.

’It’s two in the afternoon now. If I play for 16 hours straight, that’ll be six in the morning. Factoring in time for meals and other things, it’ll probably be closer to seven a.m.’

With that in mind, Gu Qing turned to Chen Zijie and asked with a smile, "Zijie, how about we pull an all-nighter at an internet cafe tonight? We can duo queue and grind the ranks."

He quickly added, "My treat. I’ll cover the instant noodles, soy-braised eggs, sausage, and iced tea."

Pulling an all-nighter in the dorm would disturb their other roommates.

Their only option was to go to an internet cafe.

Although Chen Zijie loved gaming, he never did things like all-nighters that were bad for his health.

But then he thought about how he and Gu Qing had been on a constant winning streak while duo-queuing to climb the ranks these past few days.

Before he knew it, his rank had climbed from Diamond all the way to Grandmaster.

He was only about 200 LP away from hitting Challenger.

The more he thought about it, the more tempted Chen Zijie became. He nodded decisively.

"Alright, let’s do it! An all-nighter it is! We’ll rack up a dozen wins in a row and hit Challenger together!"

"No problem. Leave it to me. I guarantee I’ll carry you to Challenger."

Gu Qing said, full of confidence.

In just a few short days, their roles had completely reversed.

It used to be Chen Zijie carrying Gu Qing on a smurf account, stomping on the Bronze and Silver newbies in the low-elo games.

Now, it was Gu Qing carrying Chen Zijie’s main account up the ladder, stomping Master and Grandmaster experts in high-elo games.

All he could say was that the Attributes he gained from the tags were just too overpowered.

...

They played together in the dorm for eight hours straight.

Seeing that Gao Fei and Qian Duole were about to sleep, Gu Qing and Chen Zijie set off for the internet cafe to officially begin their all-nighter.

They arrived at the internet cafe.

Logged into their computers.

Bought their instant noodles, sausages, soy-braised eggs, and iced tea.

Gu Qing pulled up his reaction Attribute and took a look.

[Reaction Speed Accumulated: +92]

’Almost there. Just eight more hours, and I’ll have the Attribute—Lightning Reflexes.’

"Gu Qing, hurry up and ban a champion! The timer’s almost out!"

"Okay, okay."

"Ban Yasuo, so no idiot on our team picks him."

"Got it."

Gu Qing first banned Yasuo, then picked the Tsar for mid lane, and started the first ranked match of his all-nighter.

Time ticked by, second by second.

They won one ranked game after another.

The moment their League of Legends rank successfully promoted to Challenger, Gu Qing’s long-awaited Reaction Speed Attribute also successfully reached 100 points.

[You have played games with your roommate Chen Zijie for over an hour] x8

[Gaming Skill +1] x8

[Reaction Speed +1] x8

[Reaction Speed has reached 100 points. You have successfully obtained the Attribute—Lightning Reflexes]

[Lightning Reflexes: Your reaction speed is greatly enhanced.]

The instant the text notification popped up, a sharp, intense pain suddenly shot through Gu Qing’s head.

It was so painful his body convulsed.

His eyes reflexively squeezed shut.

But when the pain subsided and he opened his eyes again, the scene before him left him completely stunned.

Everything in his field of vision had slowed down by dozens, even hundreds of times!

...