Chapter 1: Talent Awakening—Traveler (EX-Rank)
"Roshin, oh great kind-hearted Roshin, please help me! I need these paper stars by tonight, but I just don't have enough time. Can you fold a few for me?" A girl smiled as she dumped a pile of pre-cut colored paper strips onto Roshin's desk.
Though her tone was pleading, she showed no hesitation, as if refusal was completely out of the question.
"Sure." Roshin nodded faintly.
"Thanks." The girl offered a perfunctory word of gratitude before hurriedly returning to her seat.
"Honestly, don't you know how to say no? Next period is our homeroom teacher's class. If she catches you folding stars during the lesson, you'll be in trouble—maybe even called in for a parent meeting," Roshin's deskmate remarked lazily, stretching her graceful figure across the desk.
"As long as I don't get caught, it's fine, right?" Roshin propped his chin on his hand, gazing at the mountain of paper strips.
This was definitely more than just "a few."
"No wonder everyone calls you 'Kind-hearted Roshin.' You really are..."
His deskmate had tried refusing these requests on his behalf before, but the problem was that Roshin himself never turned anyone down.
"We, your loyal subjects, are ready to fight to the death—why, Your Majesty, do you surrender first?"
"You're so mean, making Roshin fold them for you. Didn't you say birthday gifts for your boyfriend should be folded by hand to show sincerity?" The girl's deskmate whispered after she sat back down.
"Come on, you know I'm terrible at this! This is the last class of the day, and his birthday is tomorrow—there's no time!" The girl rolled her eyes.
"Then fold them tonight?"
"I have dramas to watch tonight! Anyway, Roshin doesn't mind, so why do you care? He's the great Kind-hearted Roshin—he never refuses to help a classmate."
"That may be true, but..."
Ding-ding-ding!
The bell rang, and the history teacher—also their homeroom teacher—entered the classroom. The noisy room instantly fell silent.
...
Roshin absentmindedly folded the little paper stars in his hands while staring in the direction of the homeroom teacher.
Though it seemed like he was spacing out, a closer look would reveal his eyes were sharply focused on a certain point in front of him.
Unfortunately, this was the homeroom teacher's class—no one dared to look around carelessly here.
That would be suicidal.
99.9%
"Damn it, what kind of lousy talent is this? Stuck at 99.9%—are you trying to mess with me?" Roshin sighed as he stared at the number floating before him, continuing to fold the stars.
"I hope this awakened talent isn't something like 'helping others brings joy.' That would drive me insane."
While internally complaining, Roshin also recalled the tragic backstory behind his nickname, "Roshin the Great Philanthropist."
"And that girl—if it's a birthday gift for your boyfriend, fold it yourself! Why give it to me? I'm not your boyfriend." Roshin's sharp ears had caught her quiet muttering.
But complaints aside, for the sake of awakening his talent, Roshin endured it.
This talent awakening interface had suddenly appeared before him one day, lingering in his vision for who knows how long. If he had to trace its origins, he could only think back to when the nickname "Roshin the Great Philanthropist" first started circulating.
In short, after Roshin once helped someone toss a bag of trash and the progress bar jumped by 0.1%, he knew he was in for a rough time.
Heaven help him! Did this thing expect him to do 1,000 good deeds?
Whoever wants this job can have it—I'm not doing it... Fine, for the sake of whatever this talent turns out to be, I'll tough it out for now.
Later, however, Roshin realized it wasn't as simple as doing 1,000 good deeds.
Because sometimes, even if you helped, if the other person didn't acknowledge it, it didn't count.
There was good news, though—if the help you provided was truly significant, the progress increase could be more than just 0.1%.
For example, when he saw someone bullying a classmate in the bathroom, he grabbed a mop, dipped it in filth, and swung it like a weapon, even teaching the bully a "lesson" in the process. That earned him a 0.25% increase.
Though 1,000 good deeds might sound doable over time, it was far from easy.
Some days, he was lucky to even encounter one opportunity.
After all, Roshin was still a student—how much free time did he have to go around helping others? He had to study too.
He had no idea how much of his free time he'd sacrificed just to reach 99.9%.
After folding 66 little stars—so many that his hands began trembling—he finally ran out of paper strips.
Under Roshin's hopeful gaze, the last sliver of the progress bar instantly filled to completion.
"I told you, the Wei-Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties were chaotic times, not some golden age!"
"No, the Wei-Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties were absurd yet beautiful."
"In that era, boys could embrace gentleness as a virtue, girls could fight on the battlefield, and boys could even..."
Thud!
Roshin's head slammed onto the desk.
"Sun Lian! Look at how you've upset Roshin!" The young history teacher, lightly made-up, pointed at Roshin, whose head was still buried in his desk, not having lifted it yet.
"???" Sun Lian was utterly confused.
How could this possibly be blamed on her?
"Roshin, are you alright?" The history teacher asked with concern.
But even before the teacher, Roshin's deskmate had already shown concern.
"Roshin, are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine, just a sudden headache," Roshin replied, holding his head while weakly raising his hand to signal he was still alive.
"Good to hear. Sun Lian, have your parents call me later. Look at how you've upset him." The history teacher glared at Sun Lian.
Sun Lian, baffled at being told to call her parents, then equally bewildered, accepted a small jar of paper stars secretly passed to her from Roshin.
Could it be... that making him fold these stars had caused his headache?
Feeling somewhat guilty, Sun Lian didn't argue and silently accepted the unfair blame.
As the history teacher resumed the lesson, Roshin rubbed his head while listening to a voice echoing in his mind.
[Ding! The talent awakening progress bar is full. Talent awakening in progress.]
[Ding! Congratulations on obtaining the EX-level talent—Traveler.]
[As someone unwilling to settle for mediocrity, you are destined to embark on journeys, traverse the world, and explore the unknown. You are a born traveler, never meant to stay in one place for long—not even the world can confine you forever. Your willingness to help others will bring you unexpected surprises.]