Chapter 328 - 254: Free Gift

Chapter 328: Chapter 254: Free Gift

Chen Lin felt pretty good as he looked at the series of system messages popping up before him.

’Automatic Learning, Intelligent Duration...’

He mused to himself, ’The next step must be to turn on the computer and start learning, right?’

’Will the system’s learning process involve opening text documents and videos, or will it just open a development environment and start writing code?’

’If it’s the latter, wouldn’t that be like having masters of Bai Qian and Pan Si’s caliber personally guiding me?’

’The thought was actually a little exciting.’

However—

To Chen Lin’s surprise, the system messages hadn’t ended.

Another system message popped up:

[Searching for learning materials...]

[Personal computer found]

Chen Lin nodded. ’That’s pretty normal,’ he thought. ’I have a top-of-the-line desktop right in front of me.’

But the next second—

[Host is too young. Use of personal computer is not recommended!]

Chen Lin: "???"

He was completely stunned.

’What does it mean, "too young"?’

’What does it mean, "not recommended"?’

Although he quickly realized the system now considered him a "second-grade" student...

’But isn’t that a little too rigid?!’

’Who made the rule that second graders can’t use computers to learn!’

’Kids these days start playing with tablets in kindergarten!’

’Besides, if you’re not going to use a computer to study computer science, what are you supposed to use?’

Before Chen Lin could finish his rant, the system displayed a new message:

[Textbooks are currently missing!]

[The system will provide the host with free textbooks!]

’Huh?’

’That’s generous!’

Chen Lin’s eyes instantly lit up.

’Free textbooks?’

’Looks like this system upgrade is pretty generous after all!’

’Maybe it’ll just pour the knowledge directly into my brain?’

’Or maybe it’ll conjure a master-level programming grimoire out of thin air?’

Just as he was brimming with anticipation—

His body suddenly stood up on its own.

Chen Lin: "?"

He hadn’t issued any command.

But his legs, as if with a will of their own, took a clean, decisive step forward.

He started walking toward the door.

Chen Lin: "??"

’Wait!’

’What is happening?!’

He tried to stop but found his body wouldn’t obey him at all.

It was as if... something had taken control of it.

The next second—

His body suddenly accelerated, bursting straight out of the office door!

BANG!

The sound of the door being thrown open echoed through the office.

In the open-plan office of Yanhai Company.

Sun Yu and Shen Yan, who were closest to Chen Lin’s desk, looked up at almost the same time.

"Just now..."

Sun Yu rubbed his eyes, staring in utter confusion at the door, which was still swaying slightly.

"Did something just... bolt out of here?"

He had only seen a blur.

It was moving too fast to see what it was.

Shen Yan frowned as well, her gaze subconsciously shifting to Chen Lin’s desk—

It was empty.

Chen Lin had been at his desk just a moment ago. How could he have suddenly vanished?

She glanced around, then exchanged a look with Bai Qian, Pan Si, Huang Yiyi, and Yunqing, who had reacted a moment later.

The same word was written on all of their faces—

Baffled.

"Where’s President Chen?" Bai Qian asked, taking off his headphones in confusion.

"No idea..." Pan Si looked equally clueless.

Yunqing and Shen Yan exchanged a look, a hint of worry in both their eyes.

The figure that had just burst out was moving at an absurd speed.

If that really was Chen Lin...

’Did something happen?’

Yunqing hurried back to her desk, picked up her phone, and sent Chen Lin a WeChat message:

"Boss? Where did you go?"

After sending it, she stared at the screen, waiting for a reply.

Five minutes passed, but Chen Lin still hadn’t replied.

Yunqing frowned.

「Meanwhile.」

Chen Lin, for his part, was terrified.

From the moment he’d burst out of the office door, he knew something was terribly wrong.

His body was completely out of his control!

Worse, the system was controlling his body, making him sprint at the full speed granted by his [Little Champion] title!

The enhanced [Little Champion] title gave him a physique three times stronger than that of an ordinary person!

What did that mean?

It meant that his current running speed far surpassed Usain Bolt’s in a hundred-meter dash!

And at this moment—

It was just past three in the afternoon on the Yannan University campus.

While it wasn’t the busiest time between classes, there were still plenty of students walking about.

He watched helplessly as the system steered him from the relatively empty area of the university’s innovation hub toward the main, crowded campus thoroughfare.

Chen Lin panicked!

’System! Stop!’

He screamed frantically in his mind.

’If I hit someone at this speed, the consequences will be unimaginable!’

’Best case, I send someone flying. Worst case...’

’He didn’t even dare to think about it!’

’System! Do you hear me? Stop, now!’

However, the system was completely unresponsive.

His body maintained its terrifying speed, hurtling forward like a bolt of lightning.

Chen Lin could only watch as a boy, engrossed in his phone, appeared directly in his path—

’It’s over!’

’I’m going to hit him!’

Just as Chen Lin thought a tragedy was about to occur—

His body suddenly swerved, zipping past the boy at an unbelievable angle.

WHOOSH—

A strong gust of wind swept by.

The boy’s hair was whipped into a mess. He stood frozen in place, taking a long moment to process what had just happened.

"Wh... what was that?"

He lifted his head, looking around in a daze.

But he saw nothing except a blurry figure rapidly disappearing into the distance.

Chen Lin let out a long sigh of relief.

’So the system isn’t completely reckless after all...’

’At least it automatically avoids obstacles.’

That put him slightly more at ease.

But only very slightly.

His body was still running at high speed, showing no signs of stopping.

’I don’t want Automatic Learning anymore!’

Chen Lin continued to scream in his mind:

’Stop! Stop right now!’

The system remained indifferent.

It felt as if...

...as if the system couldn’t hear a word he was saying.

He could only watch helplessly as his own body sped off toward the Yannan University library, leaving everything else in the dust.

He startled people all along the way.

"Holy crap, what was that?!"

"So fast!"

"Was that... a person?"

"Did you get that on video? Quick, record it!"

"Too late, it’s already out of sight..."

At this point, Chen Lin couldn’t be bothered with any of that.

Besides, a few months ago, when he’d first gotten the [Little Champion] title, he had already done a full-speed run across campus once.

A few people had recorded it and posted it on the school forums, sparking a discussion about a "Campus Flash."

But the recording back then was just a blurry shot from behind; his face wasn’t visible at all.

Now, his [Little Champion] title had been enhanced by a [Little Red Flower], making him even faster than before.

At this speed, forget seeing his face—they’d be lucky to make out a human shape at all.

So Chen Lin wasn’t too worried about being recognized.

He was more worried about—

Where on earth was the system taking him?

What did this "providing free textbooks" business actually mean?

Soon, Chen Lin’s question was answered.

As he neared the library, his system-controlled body finally began to slow down.

It switched from "Usain Bolt 100-meter dash" mode to "normal person’s brisk walk" mode.

At the same time, his body automatically adjusted its course to avoid the scattered groups of people at the library entrance.

Chen Lin breathed a sigh of relief.

’Thank goodness...’

’At least the system isn’t crazy enough to charge directly into a crowd.’

His body walked into the library, crossed the first-floor lobby, went up the stairs, and continued all the way to the third floor.

The third floor of the library.

Chen Lin was very familiar with this place.

The computer science books were on this floor.

Back when he was teaching himself Python, he had borrowed his first textbook, *Python Mathematical Programming*, from here.

Looking at the familiar bookshelves and aisles before him, Chen Lin finally understood what the system meant by "providing free textbooks"...

...it meant finding suitable textbooks in the library.

And then bringing him here to "borrow" them.

Chen Lin had mixed feelings.

On the one hand, he was relieved.

From the moment the system made him bolt from the office, he had realized there might be a problem with this "free provision."

Now it seemed that while the process had been a bit nerve-wracking, the outcome was relatively normal.

’It’s just borrowing some books, after all.’

And it didn’t seem like anyone had recognized him during his mad dash.

The third floor of the library was empty now, so he wouldn’t have to worry about being seen if he did anything else strange for the time being.

On the other hand...

...he couldn’t help but want to complain.

’Provide my ass!’

’This is just making me come to the library and borrow books!’

’You have to return borrowed books, you know!’

But complaints were one thing—

Chen Lin’s body, still under the system’s control, had walked over to the computer science bookshelves.

His hand rose on its own and pulled a book from the shelf.

*Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in C*

Chen Lin frowned slightly as he looked at the title on the cover.

He had heard of this book a few months ago while searching for information on programming Q&A sites during his self-study.

It was one of the classic textbooks for computer science majors, known in the field as the "little yellow book" because of its yellow cover.

It was said to be quite difficult, with very hardcore content.

’But the problem is...’

’Aren’t I supposed to be learning Python?’

’Why did it grab a book on C?’

Before he could figure it out, his other hand rose and pulled a second book from a nearby shelf.

*Computer Networks: A Top-Down Approach*

Chen Lin had heard of this book, too.

It was another classic computer science textbook, nicknamed the "black book" because of its predominantly black cover.

Its content covered every aspect of computer networking, from the application layer all the way down to the physical layer.