"Huff... huff..."
Gu Ji woke up from his dorm bed, and as soon as he opened his eyes, his stomach growled, and a strong feeling of hunger surged up.
"Hey, the rooster crows right on time!"
Gao Bo also happened to be waking up and teased when he heard the noise from the top bunk.
"Get lost, hurry up and wash up."
Gu Ji wanted to kick Gao Bo's bed frame but found himself weak all over.
That shouldn't be, right?
Didn't I just strengthen my skeletal muscles last night?
He quickly pulled up the game character panel.
[Skeletal Muscle Exercise]: 13.7＋0.8 (Time remaining for enhancement: 59 hours 48 minutes 23 seconds, Crisis points needed for immediate enhancement: 5.98)
What?!
At first, Gu Ji thought he was seeing things because he was too hungry and misread it.
But after reading the numbers carefully several times, he realized there was no mistake. After a whole night, the enhancement time not only didn't shorten, but it increased significantly, including the Central Nervous System.
What the hell kind of logic is this?
"No way, I ate before coming back to the dorm last night. Even if I spent an hour and a half in the game world, only four minutes passed in the real world, and I only used my brain a bit, I shouldn't be this hungry, right?"
Gu Ji glared at the attributes "13.7" and "0.8." The changes indicated that enhancement was indeed in progress.
He carefully recalled the previously assigned enhancement time by the game.
If calculated based on 39 hours, he slept for 13 hours, about a third, theoretically, it should have enhanced by 0.3 points, but not only were the values insufficient, the time extended, and his stomach was unusually hungry.
"Could it be..."
A thought flashed in his mind, and seeing Jiang Hao, who was sleeping on the opposite bunk, opening his eyes, Gu Ji urgently spoke up, "Big bro, can I borrow a couple of bags of the chicken breast you use for working out?"
"If you want it, just take it. Why talk about borrowing?"
Jiang Hao usually liked to work out and was the most well-built in the dorm. He often stocked up on fitness food. He got up, pulled out a cardboard box from under the bed, and casually handed over two bags of chicken breast, "Are two bags enough?"
"Yes, enough."
Gu Ji quickly got up to take them and, without checking the flavor, tore open a bag and stuffed it into his mouth.
Gao Bo, looking at how he was wolfing down his food from the top bunk, froze for a moment, "So hungry, didn't you eat last night?"
"Mmm... mmm..."
Gu Ji tore open another bag, biting off more than half of the chicken breast in one bite, his cheeks bulging, leaving Jiang Hao astonished.
He ate this stuff daily, so he knew how dry chicken breast could be, but he didn't expect Gu Ji to swallow the whole block in two bites, "Take it slow, drink some water, don't choke yourself."
Gu Ji swallowed it down dry, "Gulp... Big bro, can I have two more packs?"
"Ah, sure."
Jiang Hao took out two more packs, "Is that enough?"
"Enough."
Gu Ji took the chicken breast, ripped them open, and swallowed them. The two packs quickly disappeared, but his stomach was just starting to feel it, "Big bro..."
Jiang Hao was slightly taken aback, "You don't mean you need to eat more, do you?"
"Four more... no, four more packs! Just the last four! I'll transfer you the money later." At first, Gu Ji held up two fingers, but quickly changed to four.
"I'm not worried about the chicken breast, I'm just afraid you'll make yourself sick. At my weight, I only eat three packs at a time, and you..."
"Big bro is right, Gu Ji, you should..."
Gao Bo also worried that Gu Ji might end up with a bloated stomach, but before he could finish, Gu Ji dismissed it with a "I'm fine" look and walked straight to the box of chicken breasts.
One pack, two packs, three packs, four packs.
The dorm mates all got up from their beds and wide-eyed watched Gu Ji.
Counting those from before, he had managed to consume eight packs of chicken breast in one go!!
"Gulp..."
Swallowing the last bite, Gu Ji touched his stomach, his eyes showing a hint of barely contained excitement.
"Whoa, Gu Ji, you've been hiding quite a bit!"
Gao Bo was so shocked his eyes were about to pop out, "After four years in college together, I never knew you had the talent to be a big eater?"
"Yeah, Gu Ji, with this appetite, starting a live stream would definitely blow up!"
Li Zongxuan was also full of shock.
"Just happened to be starving."
Gu Ji casually came up with an excuse, internally thrilled while staring at the attributes panel in front of him.
[Skeletal Muscle Exercise]: 13.8＋0.7 (Time remaining for enhancement: 19 hours 47 minutes 12 seconds, Crisis points needed for immediate enhancement: 1.88)
No mistake.
After eating eight packs of chicken breast, the system not only quickly filled in the missing "0.1," but also greatly shortened the remaining enhancement time without needing to spend extra Crisis points.
This unexpected surprise instantly gave him a sense of "getting something for nothing."
Through the repeated taste testing and research just now, he finally figured out the principle of the game's enhancement: It achieves the enhancement of physical fitness by stimulating the secretion of various hormones and accelerating the metabolism of nutrients in the body. This undoubtedly greatly increases the body's energy consumption and is the main reason why Gu Ji felt extremely hungry early in the morning.
Once the body's nutritional energy is insufficient, the system will slow down the rate of enhancement to ensure the body is not harmed; Conversely, if you can timely supplement with a large amount of nutritious food, the enhancement ability will be improved.
But this mode also has an upper limit.
As the amount of food increases, the enhancement effect will gradually diminish until it completely disappears. Gu Ji suspects this is related to the strength of the "digestive system" attribute; after all, the stronger the digestive ability, the higher the nutrient absorption efficiency.
In addition, consuming chicken breast enhances the "skeletal muscle movement" more effectively than the "central nervous system."
It must be because the protein in meat is an important substance for muscle synthesis, while the brain requires more complex and rich nutrients.
"It seems I not only need to eat more but also need to maintain a balanced diet."
Gu Ji couldn't help but marvel at the realism of this game.
After returning from the bathroom, Gao Bo and a few others discussed going to the dining hall for breakfast and then heading to the library to study.
Among the six people in the dormitory, aside from the third brother who got into the Jingzhou Police Academy for graduate studies and is taking the academic path, the remaining five need to prepare for the second round of the public security joint exam interviews.
"Wait for me, I'll come with you guys."
Gu Ji shouted to Gao Bo as he put on his shoes.
"Don't tell me you're going to eat at the dining hall again?" Gao Bo looked at him with a gaze as if he were a monster.
"I'm just going for a cup of milk."
...
The police academy has morning training every day, so the dining hall is especially crowded in the morning, with most being freshmen and sophomores.
Gu Ji ordered a freshly squeezed avocado tea and casually found an empty table to sit down. This stuff is rich in unsaturated fatty acids and vitamins, perfectly replenishing the brain's nutritional consumption.
"Whoa! Guys, check out this video. It's badass—a real-life airport counter-terrorism, mysterious traveler with super high tactical foresight successfully took down the terrorists and saved nearly eight hundred civilians!"
Airport counter-terrorism?
Hearing the voices, Gu Ji looked up and saw a few juniors at the next table chattering around a phone, seemingly watching a video.
"I didn't find it particularly special, just intercepting intelligence information in advance, ambushing the terrorists at the airport, and they didn't even manage to focus fire properly, a bit amateurish..."
"No, didn't you read the news? This person was just a passing traveler, and the police were recruited last minute. He took only twenty seconds to gather all the airport forces and led these people to take down four terrorists!"
"A passing traveler? Twenty seconds? That's some insanely efficient crisis management! Where did this happen?"
"Ethiopia."
Upon hearing the last word, Gu Ji's pupils suddenly contracted.
Terrorists, airport, concentrated police force, location—every piece of information being discussed closely resembled the first level he entered in the "Crisis Management Game" last night!
Could it be...?
Thump, thump, feeling his heartbeat intensify, he hurriedly slid open his phone.
Just as he was about to open the browser to search, a notification popped up on the headline news: A terrorist attack occurred at Ethiopia Laird International Airport! A mysterious traveler turned the tide and saved 794 civilians!
On the afternoon of June 2nd local time, Laird International Airport in Ethiopia's capital was attacked by six armed assailants, resulting in 18 deaths, 23 injuries, and the loss of two federal police officers.
The Ethiopian National Security Department issued a statement saying the attack was launched around 12:18 local time. A traveler suspected of being a former South Korean SWAT officer predicted the attack time in advance through intelligence and organized a tactical retaliation with federal police inside the airport and two FBI field agents, successfully saving 794 civilian lives.
The Ethiopian government military stated that the attack is under thorough investigation and will not be commented on externally for now. However, from the videos circulated by tourists, it's evident that the terrorists had the Luoao Rebel Army's markings on their necks.
Currently, Laird International Airport has been shut down and taken over by the government military.
...
After reading the entire report, Gu Ji took a deep breath.
Every piece of information matched perfectly!
Everything he did in the game world really happened in reality!!
"What are you looking at?"
As Gu Ji was immersed in deep shock, Gao Bo, holding the breakfast he bought, sat beside him. "You're looking at this news too, huh? I saw many people discussing this while I was in line for buns. The Koreans are really proud of this one."
Since this is a police school, the students are especially attentive to counter-terrorism crime news.
Li Zongxuan took a sip of his porridge and suddenly laughed, "Did you guys watch the live video? I think that Korean looks a bit like Zhang Qiandan from 'Crime City'."
"Yes, yes, I thought he looked familiar too, definitely looks like him!"
Jiang Hao nodded in agreement as well.
Upon hearing the word "video," Gu Ji instantly snapped back to reality and quickly started searching. He hadn't expected the topic of "airport terrorist attack" to already be trending, with platforms flooded with countless remixed videos.
He clicked on the first one. The video's shooting angle was from a distance, seemingly taken from the second floor of Laird Airport's gallery.
Accompanied by the recent hit background music from "Asphalt 8," the scene showed an Asian in a yellow shirt with a ponytail, leading several federal police officers and two white men. They were armed with Type 56 assault rifles, ambushing in various corners of the airport lobby.
As the music ticked by, everyone held their breath, nerves on edge.
Then, a maroon Toyota MPV suddenly skidded to a stop in front of the airport lobby, the car door swung open with a "whoosh," and the BGM reached its climax. The long-haired Asian decisively ordered:
"Fire! Fire! Fire!!"
Tat-tat-tat...
In an instant, the muzzle flames flashed, bullets crazily poured onto the maroon MPV. The video screen flipped abruptly at this time, seemingly as the recorder crouched in panic, shouting with terrified yet excited screams: "Oh! My! God! It's real! It's real! The attack he talked about was real!!"