499: The Dream of a Foolish Hero

【Daily Settlement Rewards are as follows:】

【Completed demolition work, Money +140. Strength +2, Physique +2.】

【Completed corn drying work, Money +200, Strength +2, Physique +2.】

That's it…

Not a single Fifth Dimension Attribute was activated.

Thinking about it, it makes sense. The two jobs above were completely simple tasks.

Anyone who isn't an idiot could do them.

And the requirements for activating Fifth Dimension Attributes are quite high, so naturally, there were no rewards.

However.

It was still very satisfying!

These attribute points came too easily.

What more could he ask for?

For the next few days, Shen Bei's daily routine was very stable.

He was either loitering around Beijing Martial Arts University or doing odd jobs at the Labor Market.

Accumulating attribute points little by little.

Ten days later.

Shen Bei underwent another test.

【Name: Shen Bei】

【Beijing Martial Arts University, Fifth Year.】

【Strength: 1113.】

【Physique: 1105.】

【Spirit: 798.】

【Agility: 876.】

【Rating: Nine-Rank Martial Artist ★】

Upon seeing his data, Shen Bei's eyes widened.

He had an incredulous expression.

According to Shen Bei's estimation, his Strength and Physique should be above 1000, but not by more than 10 points.

And his Spirit should be less than 700 points, but not 770 points.

But he never expected.

These four attribute points all had a much greater increase than estimated!

“After reaching Nine-Rank, I received a bonus of 100 points for everything?”

Shen Bei gasped.

This was a bit fierce!

Previously, when advancing in Martial Artist ranks, he would either get a random few dozen points or a fixed few dozen points.

But after entering Nine-Rank, he directly received a three-digit bonus!

“As expected of someone about to reach the Martial Artist ceiling, this attribute reward… is indeed fierce!”

Shen Bei muttered to himself, still in shock.

That night.

Shen Bei had just finished showering and came out of the bathroom.

Jian Tong, having undergone a complete transformation, lay on the bed, her small eyes filled with a hazy Qi.

Shen Bei shivered all over.

Good heavens.

Something was a little off about this situation.

“I'm going out for a night run, you should calm down,” Shen Bei said.

“Stop right there!”

Jian Tong snorted and beckoned with her finger: “Running around outside every day, not even attending classes. Give me your homework!”

Shen Bei: …

It must be said that Jian Tong's makeup tonight was a blend of sexiness and charm.

A touch of mature woman's allure was added to her delicate features, which were as sweet and pure as a young girl's.

Her pair of fair, long legs had skin as tender and smooth as milk, reflecting a faint glow under the room's lights, as if covered by a sacred veil. The lines of her leg muscles were also perfectly sculpted, neither too much nor too little, striking a balance between strength and softness.

Her red cherry lips were coated with a shimmering, bling-bling lip gloss, making them look moisturized and full. As for her attire, she wore an extremely sexy and revealing black body-hugging dress with a high slit. The top was a deep V-neck, low-cut camisole, revealing a hint of her shoulder and a large expanse of her chest.

What else could Shen Bei do?

He just had to let it out!

…

After the exhilarating experience.

Jian Tong, half-drunk and half-awake, her voice lazy: “What have you been busy with these past few days?”

Shen Bei yawned: “Preparing to go to the underground caves.”

“By yourself?”

“Yes.”

Jian Tong was puzzled: “Is it not another mission? Why are you working so hard?”

Jian Tong wasn't worried that Shen Bei would encounter any danger in the underground caves.

She knew that Shen Bei was shrewd.

His intelligence was online, and so was his strength.

At this moment, Shen Bei rubbed his face: “No mission, just something personal I need to resolve.”

The complete breakdown had to be resolved.

The longer it dragged on, the more severe the consequences would be.

But he couldn't tell Jian Tong about this directly; it would only cause her more worry, and Jian Tong couldn't help much anyway.

“Then be careful,” Jian Tong said, lying in Shen Bei's arms.

Shen Bei bragged: “I'll walk sideways in the underground caves.”

“Just don't play the hero. If you need to be cowardly, be cowardly,” Jian Tong reminded him.

Shen Bei nodded.

Jian Tong didn't need to say this at all.

Where there's life, there's hope.

Shen Bei was a guy who didn't play by the rules.

That night.

Shen Bei had a strange dream.

In the dream, Shen Bei was in a space of pure darkness. Although there was no light, he could incredibly see his own body, and his feet were indeed stepping on a very flat ground, only the ground also seemed to be painted the same dark color as the space.

Looking as far as the eye could see, the dark space extended infinitely in all directions, and no horizon could be seen. The dark space and the dark ground seemed to cleverly merge into one.

What was strange was that five meters to Shen Bei's right stood a door, merely a door panel placed there, not connected to any building.

The door panel was wooden, dark brown, with a silver-gray L-shaped doorknob, seemingly the front door of an ordinary residence.

Shen Bei recognized this door panel; it was the door to his own home in Changtu County, and it was his childhood door.

Shen Bei was just very puzzled as to why this door panel was here, because it should not exist anywhere in this world. But thinking that this was a dream, he felt relieved.

Yes, Shen Bei knew he was dreaming; this was a so-called “lucid dream.”

Then Shen Bei pushed the door open.

Behind the door was no longer the dark space, but a living room with a television and a sofa. A child sat on the sofa watching a TV program, who was none other than Shen Bei as a child.

This Shen Bei was the Shen Bei before his Transmigration.

Although he was also “Shen Bei,” Shen Bei preferred to refer to him as “he.”

His appearance was not worth mentioning; he simply had black short hair, black eyes, and a childish face, barely cute, but due to his stern expression, he wasn't very cute at all.

The TV was playing an anime, a hot-blooded combat genre, where the protagonists embarked on an adventure to stop a villainous organization attempting to destroy the world with a “planet-destroying bomb.”

Shen Bei sat down next to the child and asked, “Do you like watching it?”

“Mm,” he replied with a tender voice.

“Do you also want to be a hero?”

“Yes.”

“Like in this anime?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

The anime was showing the protagonist yelling at the confidently smiling villain. He pointed at this scene and said, “They look like idiots.”

Shen Bei looked and nodded in agreement: “Indeed.”

“I hate bad people. When I see someone doing bad things, I want to defeat them.”

He continued, “But in many stories, heroes are always angry, sometimes crying, sometimes wavering; while villains are always confident, smiling, and steadfastly pursuing their plans. Don't you think such heroes are out of line?”

“They are out of line.”

“So, although I want to be a hero, I don't want to be that kind of idiotic hero.” He said, “You don't have to smile, but you must be confident and resolute. You also can't be emotional; you have to act within your capabilities.”

“Insightful.”

“Sometimes you also have to be cruel to yourself, and you have to learn to accept sacrifices.”

“That's right.”

“When the villain takes hostages, you can blow up both the villain and the hostages. Letting the villain escape will only lead to more bloodshed.”

“I disagree.”

Hearing this, he suddenly turned and glared at Shen Bei, shouting, “Idiot!”

Then he quickly jumped off the sofa and trotted through the door he had entered earlier.

Shen Bei followed him out, but this time Shen Bei did not return to the dark space he had been in before. Instead, he found himself in a jazz bar, unable to distinguish the intermediate steps from the “dark space” to the “jazz bar.”

But since it was a dream, Shen Bei accepted it. He looked around but couldn't find “the little boy” or “me.” Instead, he found another familiar figure at the bar.

It was… Two Headed Vine!