Awakening Elementary School System in University
Chapter 6: Run, Proud Youth

Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Run, Proud Youth

Yannan University’s cafeteria had four floors. The first and second floors were traditional school cafeterias, where you’d grab a tray, line up to get your food, and then swipe your card to pay.

The third floor was more like a shopping mall food court, with stalls selling all sorts of made-to-order snacks from around the country lined up in a row.

As for the fourth floor, there was a relatively large barbecue joint and a hot pot restaurant. Ordinary students rarely went there. It was usually only chosen when some rich guy or girl wanted to treat their friends and book a place without leaving campus.

However, the bubble tea and fruit tea shops on the fourth floor did a booming business. Chen Lin was saving money, so he usually just drank mineral water, but a large portion of his delivery gigs involved these tea drinks.

Because of this, he had become a familiar face to most of the owners on the third and fourth floors.

The boxed meals Li Zihan and the others wanted were from a stir-fry shop on the third floor called "Aunt Wang’s Stir-Fry." This shop was unique. Every day, it only sold three types of set boxed meals: one meat and one vegetable, two meats and one vegetable, or one meat and two vegetables.

Because they were generous with their ingredients and the food tasted as good as anything from an off-campus eatery, while the price was only slightly higher than the regular cafeteria’s, business was booming.

Chen Lin glanced at the time on his phone: 5:39 PM.

A long line would start forming at Aunt Wang’s Stir-Fry at six o’clock, stretching from the third floor all the way down to the second-floor landing.

Chen Lin quickly put on his shoes, splashed some water on his face in the bathroom, and rushed out the door.

Because he was always running delivery errands, Chen Lin had specifically timed the walk from his dorm to the cafeteria. At a normal pace, it took 15 to 20 minutes, which meant walking now was too risky.

The moment he got to the bottom of the dorm stairs, Chen Lin broke into a run.

He had barely taken two steps when the system’s holographic screen lit up before his eyes again without any warning.

[Detecting Host’s need to run at high speed!]

[A healthy body is the foundation of all great endeavors! Run, proud youth!]

[Quest Requirement: Run 100 meters in under 30 seconds]

[Reward: Title [Little Champion]]

[Little Champion: Increases your strength, jumping ability, speed, and other physical attributes by 100%!]

"..."

’Here we go again.’

Facing this situation for the third time, Chen Lin was already quite calm.

So, running into the evening breeze, Chen Lin began to speed up.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that Chen Lin was a Chinese literature major. He had spent a long time running all over campus for a few bucks in delivery fees. As a result, his physical fitness was much better than his peers who just holed up in their dorms playing games or spent all day in bed scrolling through short videos.

A hundred meters in thirty seconds wasn’t difficult for him.

Just over twenty seconds later, two new messages popped up from the system.

[It has been determined that the Host has completed a 100-meter run in under 30 seconds!]

[Quest Complete! Reward has been distributed!]

Almost at the exact moment the notification appeared, Chen Lin felt the heaviness in his legs from running vanish. They suddenly became incredibly light, as if he’d just removed several kilograms of sandbags.

Every breath he took became deeper and longer.

He could feel and control every part of his body.

"Holy shit, this feeling!"

An idea struck Chen Lin, and he decided to immediately test just how powerful this 100% boost to his physical attributes really was.

He lowered his center of gravity and powerfully pushed off the ground!

WHOOSH—!

In an instant, his entire body shot forward from a standstill!

People were coming and going on the main campus road in the evening. Students walked leisurely in twos and threes, heading toward the cafeteria or the library.

Suddenly, a blurry afterimage shot past them, kicking up a gust of wind that messed up the long hair of a passing female student.

"The hell? What was that?" A guy who was just about to light a cigarette fumbled, nearly dropping his lighter.

"Looked like a person? That was way too fast!"

"Must be from the track team, right? Is he training?"

"Even for training, nobody runs like that. It’s terrifying! Besides, he wasn’t even wearing athletic clothes, just a regular T-shirt."

A few guys who had just come from the basketball court stared, dumbfounded, as the figure rapidly receded into the distance, leaving behind only a cool silhouette.

Meanwhile, a few girls on the side of the road had a completely different reaction.

"Wow! That guy just now was so fast!"

"Not just fast! Did you get a good look at his face? His profile was so handsome!"

"I saw, I saw! It was just a flash, but he looked so energetic. Totally my type!" one of the girls said, cupping her face, her eyes already sparkling.

Of course, Chen Lin knew nothing of this.

He was completely immersed in the thrill of moving as fast as lightning. All he could feel was the wind howling in his ears and see the scenery rushing backward. A journey that would have taken him over ten minutes on foot felt like it took less than three.

When he came to a perfect, sudden stop right at the cafeteria entrance, he pulled out his phone and checked the time—

5:43 PM.

Feeling pleased, Chen Lin took a leisurely stroll up to the third floor.

At this time, only two or three scattered people were waiting for their food in front of the Aunt Wang’s Stir-Fry stall. The line hadn’t started to form yet.

"Aunt Wang, four boxed meals to go!" Chen Lin called out like a regular.

Aunt Wang, who was tossing food in her wok, looked up. Seeing Chen Lin, she broke into a warm smile. "Oh, Chen! You’re here! Getting food for your classmates again today? Not even taking a break on a Sunday?"

"Can’t be helped, it’s business," Chen Lin replied with a smile, deftly scanning the QR code to pay. "Four orders of one meat and one vegetable, one serving of rice each. Pack the one with no spice separately."

"You got it! Coming right up!"

Aunt Wang deftly packed the stir-fry into boxes while Chen Lin stood by and waited.

Just then, the rich aroma of food drifted into his nostrils, making his stomach start to GROWL.

It was only then that he suddenly remembered he hadn’t eaten anything for almost a full day, since last night, aside from chugging a stomachful of water.

He hadn’t felt it before, but now the aroma hit him.

"Aunt Wang!" Chen Lin called out decisively. "Add one more for me, two meats and one vegetable!"

"You got it!"

...

「The Math Department building, in the same study room.」

When Chen Lin pushed the door open and went inside, he found Li Zihan and the other two "NPCs" gathered behind Shen Yan, watching her edit a document—probably the report for their modeling project.

Compared to the tense, hostile atmosphere from the previous day, things had suddenly become harmonious today.

Just like the other times Chen Lin had delivered food to them, the four girls were talking and laughing.

’Heh, women!’

"Chen, you’re here!" Li Zihan saw Chen Lin walk in with the bag of food and eagerly went to greet him.

"The non-spicy one is at the bottom. This time, I’m adding a 10-yuan delivery fee for each meal, so it’s 88 yuan total. Just send it to my WeChat."

Chen Lin didn’t pay them any more mind. He put the food down next to Li Zihan and prepared to head back to his dorm to eat his own meal.

He was starving!

"Chen, did you buy one for yourself, too? It’s a long walk back to the dorms, why don’t you just eat here..."

Shen Yan suddenly spoke up. Chen Lin wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he detected a faint, almost imperceptible hint of shyness in her voice.

Li Zihan had just finished transferring the money. Hearing what Shen Yan said, she looked at her in surprise, then glanced back at Chen Lin, and suddenly broke into a knowing, teasing smile.

"Chen, you know, this is the first time our Yanyan has ever invited a guy to eat with her. You’re not going to refuse, are you?"