4: Chapter 4 Triggers Hidden Mechanisms

"..." It was actually noticed after all.

He had taken the talisman paper away so quickly at the time, he thought that since Zhou Shu was feeling unwell, she wouldn't notice.

"Fever patch."

"What's the matter?" Chen Zhen turned around and said, facing Zhou Shu.

His expression was calm, revealing not a hint of surprise.

"Oh..." Zhou Shu drew out the tone, nodding slowly.

"Then... it's nothing, I was just thinking about it and asked."

"Mm, just call me if you need anything."

After saying this, Chen Zhen restrained the urge to quicken his pace and walked toward his room at a normal speed.

He closed the guest room door as he walked out.

Zhou Shu looked at the closed room door. She muttered her doubts softly.

"Is this what a fever patch feels like?"

"It feels more like homework paper."

"And... I seem to vaguely remember that not long after Cousin placed the paper on my forehead, I felt a bit better."

Having said that, she shook her head slightly.

"Since Cousin said it's a fever patch, then it must be a fever patch."

"Maybe I was delirious from the fever and had an illusion."

Inside Chen Zhen's room.

Chen Zhen gently closed the door and leaned his back against the door panel.

This little girl is quite sharp even while running a fever.

Hearing her hesitate earlier, she probably didn't believe it.

That's true, the texture of a fever patch is vastly different from scratch paper.

It's the same difference as wiping with toilet paper versus scratch paper after using the bathroom.

It's very easy to tell the difference between the two.

However, even though she didn't believe it, she didn't continue to ask.

Anyway, as long as he insists it's a fever patch, that's all that matters.

After all, there's no physical or witness evidence.

He wasn't worried about his mom finding out that his method when his cousin had a fever was to stick a talisman on her first.

And then getting scolded by Mom for dabbling in some Evil Path.

He just felt that, given how sharp that girl was just now.

She was probably wondering why her temperature dropped so quickly after that paper was applied.

But it's not a big deal anyway.

Even if he volunteered the truth, no one would believe it.

Sticking a talisman to quickly lower a temperature—if it were him before he had the System, he wouldn't have believed it either.

Right, the talisman paper.

Chen Zhen reached into his pocket, wanting to take out that piece of talisman paper.

"Knock, knock." The sudden knocking on the door gave him a big fright.

Chen Zhen stopped the action of taking out the talisman paper.

"Xiao Zhen, it's time for dinner!"

"Okay! Got it."

Chen Zhen opened the door.

"Mom, next time just call out; knocking on the door is like you're trying to take my life."

"Hey, you child, fine, fine, fine, I'll just stand in the living room and call you from now on."

"OK, thanks Mom."

Come to think of it, he felt like Mom hadn't gone to cook long ago, right? It was done so quickly...

Oh, no wonder.

Chen Zhen walked to the table, looking at the dishes that were almost identical to lunch.

"Xiao Shu has a fever, so let's eat something light."

After finishing the meal and washing the dishes, Chen Zhen couldn't wait to dive back into his room.

"Xiao Shu, get some rest early tonight. If you feel uncomfortable, message me or your brother immediately."

"Mm, I know, Auntie." Zhou Shu still had that obedient look.

"Xiao Zhen, stay alert tonight too. If Xiao Shu messages, call me immediately."

"Got it, Mom."

After responding, Chen Zhen closed the door.

He took the talisman paper out of his pocket.

On the paper, the marks of the red ballpoint pen had already blurred a bit.

If he called it a talisman rune and showed it to others, they would probably wonder why he was showing a child's doodle to them.

But it was this sloppy thing that looked like a doodle that lowered his cousin's body temperature by 0.5°C.

He sat down at the desk. The system panel unfolded before his eyes.

[Daily Summary] [Completed Daily Tasks: Morning run 3 km, Summer homework 12 pages, Reading extracurricular book 10 pages] [Completed Emergency Task: Relieve illness] [Total Gained: Cultivation + 0.61] [Current Total Cultivation: 3.01/100] [Health Dimension Progress: 9.7/100] [Learning Dimension Progress: 13.5/100]

The progress bar moved so slowly. At this rate, when would he be able to transform from a Mortal to Foundation Establishment?

But if he really had to study for twenty-four hours a day, he definitely wouldn't be happy about that either.

Although it was little, it did move. If it keeps moving like this, he will always reach Foundation Establishment.

No rush, no rush. Haste makes waste. It's already pretty good to have this System.

Chen Zhen closed the system panel and looked out the window. Night had completely fallen. The city lights connected into a hazy sea of light in the distance.

Chen Zhen admired this beautiful scene. In his heart, he recalled the events of the day.

He felt that from the day he got the System, his future life would become different.

It was only when drawing the talisman paper today that he realized he actually had a trace amount of spiritual power.

Chen Zhen spread his palm, looking at the lines on his palm. Qi Condensation... Qi Gathering... There was nothing.

Chen Zhen lay on the bed. He closed his eyes. The system panel automatically appeared in his dark field of vision.

It had already listed tomorrow's [Daily Tasks]. 1. Morning run 3 km 2. Summer homework 15 pages 3. Help mother with housework 4. Read for one hour

Although it was called a Cultivation System, the tasks were all very trivial, very ordinary things that a normal high school student would do during summer vacation.

Except for the emergency event of drawing the talisman paper today, the other things he did didn't seem to be any different from usual. There wasn't that much of a jarring sense of disconnect.

Chen Zhen turned over, facing the wall. He silently let out a breath in the darkness. Sleepiness slowly washed over him.

Before falling into a deep sleep, the system panel finally popped up a reminder: [Recommended schedule: Sleep before 23:00] [Estimated gain: Mental Energy fully restored, Cultivation + 0.3]

... Running became a habit. Because he didn't stay up all night again, the running time was changed to early morning. The third day, the fourth day, the fifth day...

Chen Zhen's biological clock was forcibly calibrated by the System. Every morning at 5:50, without an alarm, he would wake up naturally.

After waking up, the system panel would pop up, displaying today's tasks. By the sixth day, Chen Zhen unlocked the first "Consecutive Achievement."

"Hoo..." Chen Zhen calmed his breathing, slowing down from a jog to walking around the park. At this moment, the system panel popped up.

[Consecutive morning run 5 days achieved] [Obtained extra reward: Cultivation + 0.5] [Health Dimension experience + 3] [Unlocked: Consecutive Achievement System] [Current consecutive record: Morning run (5 days)] [Daily reward increases by 5%]

Chen Zhen: !!! An unexpected surprise. There was actually an achievement System. Daily reward increases...

He was just wondering, why today when he was running, a tiny flame icon popped up in the bottom right corner of the system panel. Next to it was marked "× 5."

Every kilometer he finished, the experience points were 0.02 more than usual, and Cultivation was 0.003 more. He had thought that it was because he had accumulated a few days of running, so it triggered a double mode. But he didn't expect that it had actually triggered a new hidden mechanism.

... The seventh day. Sunday. Chen Zhen went out as usual. He was changing his shoes at the door when his mother poked her head out from the kitchen:

"Yo, still running today?" "Running." Chen Zhen tightened his shoelaces.

"Not bad, it's rare to have such perseverance." His mother's words revealed surprise. "Before, when I asked you to go downstairs to take out the trash, you would dawdle. Truly, the sun has risen from the west!"

"...Haha, that's right, your son has always been this perseverant!" Chen Zhen automatically ignored "rare" and the sentence that followed.

"Look at you, praising yourself!" Chen Zhen smiled, "I'm off." Then he pushed the door open and went out.