CHAPTER 47: CHAPTER 47 FLASH OF INSIGHT_1

The proctor on the podium was taken aback by Lu Yuan’s response. His face quickly turned cold.

"Alright, leave your test paper on the desk and go."

Lu Yuan picked up his stationery and left the examination room with a calm stride.

"These students nowadays..." the proctor muttered, watching Lu Yuan’s retreating figure. He shook his head lightly, unsure whether he was disappointed or amused.

He casually walked over to Lu Yuan’s seat.

He picked up the test sheet from the desk, but his eyes widened in stunned silence the next second.

What he saw was not the vast blank space he had anticipated, but rather a neatly written and completely filled answer sheet.

His gaze moved down the page, question by question.

The proctor’s initial look of disdain quickly turned to surprise, then to incredulity, and finally, utter disbelief...

"It’s Lu Yuan from Class Three! He turned in his paper early again!"

"The exam just started fifteen minutes ago! I haven’t even finished the multiple-choice questions! How could he possibly be done?"

"This isn’t the first exam; he does this for every single one! I’ve seen his papers; they’re always completely filled out..."

"He’s a real freak."

"Could someone let me copy their fill-in-the-blank answers..."

"Silence!"

The proctor sternly silenced the buzzing in the classroom and turned his attention back to the test sheet in his hand.

He lightly wiped the sweat from his forehead, his face a mask of complex emotions, leaving him speechless.

「 」

Lu Yuan walked alone on the campus road.

Tall ginkgo trees lined both sides of the road, their dense leaves shielding him from the harsh noon sun, casting dappled shadows on the ground beneath.

The chirping of cicadas was incessant.

[You have completed an exam, Occupational Experience +7]

[Your History skill has improved, Experience Points +5]

As Lu Yuan walked, he checked the notifications popping up on his panel, his expression unchanging.

Even a major exam like the finals only gives me this little experience. High school knowledge is truly a bit too shallow for me now.

He pulled up his Occupation Panel, which displayed—

[Occupation: Student Lv 4 (788/800)]

[Occupation Basic Skills:

Language Lv 5 (133/1,600)

Mathematics Lv 5 (245/1,600)

Physics Lv 4 (580/800)

Chemistry Lv 4 (434/800)

Biology Lv 4 (362/800)

History Lv 4 (377/800)

Geography Lv 4 (589/800)

Information Technology Lv 4 (32/800)]

He had been working on advanced mathematics from college courses lately and had even taught himself a minor foreign language.

But only after leveling Language and Mathematics to Lv 5 did he realize that the maximum level for basic skills under the [Student] Occupation wasn’t Level 5 at all.

His original plan to quickly accumulate attribute points using the [Student] panel had instantly fallen apart; he would have to take things slowly.

This had been the last exam of the term, and Lu Yuan had turned in his paper nearly an hour early.

With no class to return to, he simply left the school grounds. He couldn’t be bothered to wait for the bus and decided to walk home instead.

"A lemonade, please. Extra large."

After walking under the scorching sun for twenty minutes, Lu Yuan, now just a few blocks from home, finally succumbed to the heat. He stopped at a roadside tea shop and bought a lemonade for eight yuan.

The iced lemonade in his hand brought a touch of cool relief.

He inserted the straw and, GULP GULP, downed the entire cup of lemonade in one go.

Then he tore off the plastic film seal on the cup, poured the leftover lemon slices and ice into his mouth, and chewed them with big bites...

The tartness and icy chill finally made him feel like he was slowly recovering.

After finishing the lemonade and lemon slices in a few quick bites, he casually tossed the empty cup into a trash can by the roadside.

Only then did Lu Yuan shift his focus back to the Occupation Panel before him.

[Occupation Core Skills: Absolute Focus Lv 3 (Active)]

Besides that, there was also a newly unlocked skill—[Flash of Insight Lv 1 (Passive)]

This latter skill was what Lu Yuan was mainly focusing on.

[Flash of Insight Lv 1] (Passive)

Effect: A low probability of triggering flashes of inspiration, thoughts, or ideas associated with a higher level of intelligence.

Lu Yuan had spent days studying this second Core Skill unlocked under the [Student] Occupation but still couldn’t quite figure it out.

The activation chance is so low, it’s infuriating! Eight final exams, and it didn’t trigger even once.

Conversely, when I was practicing Martial Arts, I think it might have triggered once or twice...

In fact, Lu Yuan wasn’t sure whether those two instances could be regarded as successful triggers.

One time was during his practice of the Crane-shaped Pile.

Without entering the Lv 3 unconscious, instinctual state of [Absolute Focus], Lu Yuan had been stuck on the sixteenth movement, unable to perform it correctly.

But during one practice session, he unexpectedly felt a sudden HUM.

It was as if a switch in his brain had suddenly been flipped; a torrent of images related to practicing the Crane-shaped Pile flooded his mind.

His body, seemingly under some mysterious instruction, moved as if enlightened, naturally completing the sixteenth movement.

The second time occurred during a sparring match with Lin Zhiquin.

It was a similar experience.

The switch in his brain flipped, his body reacted, and he executed an incredibly ’perfect’ kick. It even forced Lin Zhiquin to retreat half a step, a flicker of shock crossing his face.

It’s like the critical hit mechanic in online games.

[Flash of Insight] allows me a chance to perform far beyond my usual level in study or combat... a true stroke of genius!

Unfortunately, my ’crit rate’ is too low right now.

Besides the trigger probability being heavily reliant on pure luck, I wonder if it’s also related to another factor?

Lu Yuan’s brain, with its 11 points of Intelligence, began to analyze at high speed.

He suddenly quickened his pace, ducking out of the scorching sunlight into a patch of shade, his eyes flickering thoughtfully.

A word popped into his mind—

Pressure!

「 」

"Dad, why are you home so early today?"

When Lu Yuan got home, he saw his father, Lu Xinghua, walking out of their small shop carrying a sack.

He couldn’t tell what was inside the sack, but it looked heavy.

"Yeah, your grandfather can be discharged from the hospital in a couple of days."

Lu Xinghua carried the sack straight to the trash can placed by the roadside in front of the shop. Lu Yuan, curious, went over to take a look.

But he was called back by his mother, Zheng Qiuling.

"What’s there to see? It’s just dead rats!"

Dead rats?!

Lu Yuan’s heart skipped a beat. He immediately recalled the enormous rat that had attacked him in the alley a few nights prior.

"Have there been a lot of rats in the shop these last few days?" Lu Yuan asked, feigning nonchalance, his gaze quickly scanning the ceiling and various corners of the small shop.

"Who knows where they suddenly came from," Zheng Qiuling said, her expression turning a bit unsightly. She lowered her voice. "This morning, one even ran over my foot! Thankfully, there were no customers in the shop then. The storeroom..."

"Alright, that’s enough," Lu Xinghua came over and interrupted impatiently. "Are you trying to stir up more trouble?"

Zheng Qiuling fell silent.

Lu Xinghua then turned to Lu Yuan and admonished, "You, don’t go spreading this around either. Every grain and oil shop has a few rats. I’ve already called someone to take care of it... Now that you’re on break, hurry up and hit the books. Stop loafing around in front of me all day; it’s annoying."

Lu Yuan just replied with an "Oh," not daring to say that he had just finished his exams and was, technically, already on summer vacation.

His father, Lu Xinghua, had lost a noticeable amount of weight recently. Just over a month ago, he still had the presence of mind to help Lu Yuan sign up for Martial Arts classes and would occasionally ask about his studies.

Now, he didn’t even seem to care whether Lu Yuan had final exams or not.

The pressures and trivialities of life were overwhelming the man before him, leaving him exhausted and irritable.

Rats in the shop... this proves that huge rat definitely didn’t go far. It must be hiding nearby... Lu Yuan analyzed in his mind as he climbed the stairs.

This conclusion made him feel somewhat uneasy.

His previous encounter with the enormous rat—its speed and ferocity—had left an extremely deep impression on him.

He could hardly imagine what would happen if an ordinary person were to encounter it.

Yet, he had no good solution. Even the police could only advise everyone to be more careful. He couldn’t possibly go crawling into the sewers to search for it in the middle of summer, could he?