Jiangcheng University.
Buxue Building, lecture hall.
The annual club recruiting event.
Yu Jin stared blankly at the translucent gray text in front of him.
[You successfully influenced and took in Tier Three Mutated Beast King 'Shadow Leopard', Wasteland Points +800!]
A few minutes ago, after Yu Jin casually fed a stray calico kitten with a sausage, this line of text popped up before his eyes.
After a quick experiment, Yu Jin discovered—
This text is visible only to himself.
For example, right now, the guy sitting across from him, Tang Yunxuan, who was staring at something in the distance without blinking, couldn't see this half-transparent panel at all.
This dude, the vice president of Yu Jin's Environmental Protection Club, had his eyes glued entirely on the freshman girls from the dance club across the way; Yu Jin even heard him gulp audibly.
Yu Jin shook his head, stopped looking at Tang Yunxuan, and focused again on the line of text in front of him.
"Tier Three Mutated Beast King?"
"Shadow Leopard?"
Yu Jin chewed on these two phrases, but just couldn't connect them with the adorable calico kitten he'd fed earlier.
"Been staying up too late lately, starting to hallucinate?"
Yu Jin shook his head hard—so much so his brain felt a bit woozy—but the words remained clear as ever.
"System?"
Yu Jin, a seasoned reader from Qidian, immediately called out in his mind.
No response.
"Deep Blue?"
"..."
"Brother Tongzi?"
"..."
"Claim reward?"
After several tries, the translucent panel finally changed.
Below the original gray text, a small button icon appeared.
On the icon were three big words—[Awesome!]
Yu Jin pondered deeply.
Damn, why does this feel like those reward claim pop-ups in Ma Fu Alliance?
Yu Jin reached out and tapped the [Awesome!] button right in front of him.
[Reward claimed successfully!]
[You have received Wasteland Points: 800!]
[Reminder——]
[Once your Wasteland Points reach 10,000, you can unlock the Points Mall!]
[Keep it up, and strive to survive in the crisis-ridden Wasteland World!]
Yu Jin stared at the last line, once again falling into contemplation.
"Crisis-ridden Wasteland World?"
"Strive… to survive?"
Yu Jin looked up.
The lecture hall was brightly lit.
The central air conditioning was blasting cold wind, dispelling the summer heat.
Full of youthful energy, first-year students—with clear, clueless gazes—crowded around every club's recruitment board, chatting and arguing.
"Wow, the gaming club has a weekly event at the Internet cafe—five seats in a row!"
"Whoa, so many girls in the dance club, so pale, so pretty!"
"I've loved dancing since I was a kid, I just really love dance, oof oof oof!"
"Pfft! You call that loving dance? You love dance students! You're lusting after people's bodies. Shameless!"
"..."
Admittedly, the Environmental Protection Club Yu Jin belonged to was cold and deserted, completely ignored by everyone.
But that didn't stop Yu Jin from reaching a conclusion—
This was a peaceful, stable, thriving civilized society!
What the hell is "crisis-ridden," what the hell is the "Wasteland World"?
"This system most likely got buggy."
"But hey, it's no big deal, I'm already here—may as well stick around…"
"After the recruitment event, I'll go feed a few more stray kittens and try to farm those 'Wasteland Points' up to ten thousand, see what the Points Mall is all about."
So thought Yu Jin.
Just then—
Whoosh——!
The previously noisy lecture hall suddenly erupted in a loud, synchronized gasp of surprise.
"Damn!"
"Yin Yao actually showed up at the recruiting event!"
Sitting next to Yu Jin, Tang Yunxuan—the Environmental Protection Club's vice president, and its only other member—joined in the weird shouts.
"Yin Yao?"
Yu Jin murmured the name, following Tang Yunxuan's gaze.
At the doorway of the lecture hall—
A figure stood silently, as if she carried her own halo.
Tall and slender, her simple yet luxurious white dress outlined elegant curves; her hair cascaded like a waterfall, highlighting skin as pale as snow.
Her features were refined, her skin flawless, a natural air of nobility between her brows.
As a campus icon at Jiangcheng University, a goddess in the dreams of countless guys, Yin Yao's rumored background was sky-high and deep.
Yin Yao's sudden appearance brought an odd hush over the noisy hall; all eyes locked onto her, but no one dared to stare too long.
The boys held their breath, heartbeats racing; the girls silently envied her aura.
"President, why are you here?"
At the center of the lecture hall, surrounded tightly by first-year boys, another tall girl emerged from the dance club.
Yu Pan'Er, the dance club's vice president, adored for both her looks and her dance status by many freshmen and upperclassmen.
But standing next to Yin Yao, her aura paled by a long shot.
Faced with Yu Pan'Er's question, Yin Yao simply shook her head, not bothering to answer.
She lifted her gaze slightly, searching the crowd for something.
Soon enough—
Yin Yao seemed to lock eyes on her target.
Meanwhile—
Yu Jin furrowed his brows ever-so-slightly.
"Holy crap!" Tang Yunxuan let out a quiet shriek, "Old Yu, Yin Yao's looking this way! She's looking at me! Shit—she's walking over!"
Click, click, click——
In a hall packed with hundreds, it was eerily quiet, the only sound was Yin Yao's crisp heels echoing on the floor.
Soon enough—
Under the bewildered gazes of freshmen and upperclassmen alike, Yin Yao walked straight to the Environmental Protection Club's table.
"Y-Y-Senior Sister Yin!"
Tang Yunxuan's face flushed red, his words stuttering.
What did he do to deserve Senior Sister Yin personally coming to see him today?
"Hello."
Yin Yao spoke, her voice a little strange—like she was used to being cold, but now forced out a hint of politeness and… eagerness?
"H-hi! Hello!"
Tang Yunxuan scrambled to respond.
But Yin Yao wasn't actually looking at him; when she spoke, her clear eyes stared straight at Yu Jin, as if trying to uncover something.
"Something up?"
Yu Jin frowned; he had no clue when he'd gotten tied up with her.
And honestly, he didn't like that kind of tie.
Like now—
Yu Jin could feel hostile stares from dozens of male classmates all around the lecture hall.
"I want to join your Environmental Protection Club."
Yin Yao spoke softly, her tone firm, like she'd been planning this for a while.
This statement left everyone in the lecture hall baffled.
Especially Yu Pan'Er, the dance vice president who'd tagged along behind Yin Yao.
Their club president wanted to join another club?
And not just any club—but the most deserted, with only two members: one president, one vice president?
Yu Pan'Er suddenly felt her nose getting a bit swollen, like something was about to sprout out…
She'd naively thought her club president was here to promote the dance club!
But in the next second—
The conversation between Yin Yao and Yu Jin just about broke the dance vice president.
"You're the dance club president; joining our Environmental Protection Club isn't exactly appropriate."
"I can quit."
"?"