Subjective System

4

It was six o’clock in the morning when he felt his bed shaking softly. Jack squinted his tired eyes and tried to figure out where the shaking was coming from. When he saw Blake climbing down the ladder, he asked dramatically, “Blake, you’re awake this early?”

Blake replied quietly as he was afraid of waking up his two other roommates.

“Yeah.”

Jack persisted and asked again.

“Working again?”

Blake hesitated before shaking his head and replied, “Not going. I’m resting for a few days.”

“It’s so early. Where are you going then?”

“The library.”

Suddenly Jack was no longer sleepy.

Blake went to the toilet to brush his teeth. When he came back and saw Jack climbing down from his bed, he asked curiously, “Are you not sleeping anymore?”

“Study,” said Jack as he took his toiletries and swiftly walked towards the toilet.

Blake did not know whether to laugh or cry at his overly competitive roommate. In the end, he shook his head and did not say anything. He put on his shoes and took his backpack before leaving the room.

Normally, Baymack was like a busy stove in June, but the mornings were an exception.

The morning air was filled with a mist that brought with it a pleasant aroma. The breeze blew across everyone’s face softly. It felt cool and refreshing and not hot at all. The school in the early morning was like a polite woman who slowly approached. Compared to night time, it was almost like another place.

Blake bought two buns and a cup of soy milk from the school cafeteria. After eating, he walked relaxingly towards the library.

It was no wonder that Baymack was a famous and renowned university. There was no staff at the library yet but the students still read outside at the library’s entrance.

Blake also began to read his level four vocabulary book. Although studying outside was a lot worse than studying in the library, it was better than expected due to the influence of the studious students around him. Blake waited outside the library till half past seven. Finally, the librarian arrived and unlocked the doors.

The library doors were opened and students flooded through the gates like tides of waves. Within minutes, the crowd outside the library disappeared.

Blake followed the crowd inside and did not bother browsing any of the books. Instead, he instantly picked up “Advanced Algebra” and sat down in a quiet corner.

Blake estimated that in his state of full concentration, he could finish reading one chapter in around one to two hours. This included memorizing topic points, doing calculations, question analysis, and other aspects.

It would take maybe until noon before Blake finished the remaining topics in “New Mathematical Analysis Lectures”. He decided to utilize the afternoon to revise some advanced algebra.

Blake took a deep breath and flipped to the bookmarked page from “New Mathematical Analysis Lectures”. He began to focus his attention on the textbook.

Soon after, he began to enter into the state of immersion and forgot everything around him. It was just him and his textbook...

Time passed by slowly and it was soon half past eleven. Blake relaxed and closed the textbook.

He finally finished “New Mathematical Analysis Lectures”. The textbook’s value score had decreased to only five.

This observation confirmed his hypothesis. The system scored books not based on its value to the academic world, but on its value to Blake.

As for why the value score was five and not zero, it could be because there were parts of the textbook that Blake did not fully understand. He would have to read it again to fully comprehend it.

Obviously, Blake was not doing it. Why would he waste his precious time on merely 5 points? It was an unfavorable deal.

When it was time to eat lunch, Blake closed the textbook and started to walk out of the library.

He passed the main entrance of the library and glanced at the information panel. The remaining mission time decreased to 18 hours.

Suddenly Blake did not want the mission to finish so quickly. He had learned more in the past six hours than he had in the past year.

Blake thought about that unopened “Advanced Algebra” textbook and hesitated.

He still had a C programming language exam. Maybe he should have found a textbook for C instead?

There was English as well.

He did not know if English books had a value score but the English newspapers near the entrance had none. The high tech system had a strange bias towards quantitative subjects and it was not good.

Blake got a meal set with his food card and quickly returned back to the library. First, he returned the book that he had read. Then, he went over to the shelves and picked up “C Language Fifth Edition” before sitting back down in his seat.

When the lunch break ended, the library became crowded again.

Blake was completely focused on “Advanced Algebra”. He was about to move onto the next chapter when he felt someone tapping his arm. He looked over and saw a beautiful girl with a ponytail and round glasses. She was holding a pen and looked apologetic.

“Classmate, sorry to bother you... Can I ask you a question?”

Blake nodded his head quickly. “Sure, ask away.”

Even though his studying was interrupted, he was not annoyed at all.

What is it that she wants to ask?

Regardless, humans are aesthetic creatures. Beauty is very important in social interactions.

But, out of everyone, why did this girl ask me?

Must be because I’m so handsome!

Blake loved people who had good taste and asked questions humbly.

He did not have any other motives and he just wanted to help.

“Thanks,” said the girl quietly. She swiftly moved her chair next to Blake and thoughtfully brought a pen and paper.

Blake took the pen and began to look at the question.

“Let me see... Finding limits, right?”

Find positive numbers a and b. Equation: (X→ 0) lim 1/(x-bsin(x)) ∫2/√(a+2t) dt =1 (integral limits are x and 0)

He had never done this type of question before but he recalled that he saw a similar one in the textbook he just read.

Perfect. He was just learning about algebra. It was time to put his skills to the test.

Blake began spinning the pen as he started to think. He took less than a minute before saying, “I solved it.”

“You... You solved it just like that?” asked Ava Harper suspiciously. She wondered how the hell did he solve it without writing anything down.

Blake looked at the girl and thought that this was why they said breast size was inversely proportional to IQ.

However, honestly speaking, he was shocked by how fast he solved the question. He had solved this type of questions before but it was never this easy. He did not even use the paper. The steps to solve the question just came into his head.

Blake did not waste his time and began writing down the working to the question. While writing he began to explain, “Typical 0/0 undefined equation. Just use L’Hopital’s rule. The first step is to separate the integral. That’s easy, right? From (X → 0) lim (1-bcosx) = 0, b equals 1. Plug this back into the equation and you would get a = 4. Check the answer and see if I’m right.”

Ava stared blankly at the paper. She thought that this guy’s explanation speed was faster than her listening speed.

When he wrote down the two answers, she was still thinking about solving the integral.

She doubted him as she flipped to the answers page. Her eyes widened.

This really is the answer!?

Blake noticed the girl’s facial expression and could not help himself but laughed. He said while spinning the pen, “It’s a very easy application of L’Hopital’s rule. The calculation part is easy. Are you a freshman? What major?”

Ava blushed and said quietly, “I’m a master’s student...”

Her face was even redder after the words came out of her mouth.

She was not ashamed but she was angry!

She was pissed off!

It’s just solving a math question. Nothing to brag about! I haven’t touched high school math in years! Who cares if you’re better than me? Not a shred of class, f*cking single dude. What a loner!

Ava’s anger died down slightly.

As for why she was also alone, it was because she was ignored by her crush.

“Ok,” said Blake with an awkward expression. He thought she was in his year. He did not realize that he was dealing with a master’s girl.

He was about to apologize when a loud coughing noise suddenly came from the seats in front of them.

Blake realized her conversation was disturbing other people. She blushed and playfully stuck her tongue out. She took the papers and question sheet before sitting back down in her seat.

Blake did not even get the chance to apologize, not to mention getting her name or WeChat number...

He sat down and contemplated for a while. Then he shook his head and began reading “Advanced Algebra” again.

Studying is more important than girls.

Networking and relationships?

Sorry, but a true genius student doesn’t play with that stuff.

Rank up mathematics to level 1 means I’d have conquered the world!

Quickly, Blake was back into the state of concentration. He completely forgot about what had happened as that was just a small obstacle.