Extraordinary Realm from Persuasion System

Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Beauty and the Scent of Strength

”Eh, isn’t that Lao Zhang? Didn’t I send a message in the group chat saying there were pretty girls to see today? Why is this kid running?”

As Zhang Beixing jogged around the track, earning Ability Points.

Up in the stands, a group of people noticed him, all wearing puzzled expressions. It was his roommate, Zheng Jituo, and a few others.

”Who knows, man? Maybe Lao Zhang just didn’t see the message. Speaking of which, Jituo, where’d you get this info? Is it legit? Sophia Zhou from Shishi Teachers’ University’s sports department? What’s she doing coming over to Shi University for no reason?” Jin Linyu asked skeptically.

Zheng Jituo said, ”It’s legit; don’t worry about that. As for why Sophia Zhou is coming to Shi University, I heard she’s here to visit friends. Hey, why worry so much? Isn’t it enough that there are girls to look at? Otherwise, would I have called you guys out to the track to bake in the sun?”

”Sure, but how can you be so sure Sophia Zhou will actually come to the track? What if we wait half the day and see nothing? That would suck!”

”Lao Dong, what are you talking about? If I didn’t have inside info, would I have bothered organizing this? Relax, stick with your bro Jituo, and you’re guaranteed to see some pretty girls!”

”Bro? Seriously? You’re just an anti-fan, always dissing my idol ’Gege,’ aren’t you? So cringe! If you’re so tough, then stop freeloading off everything ’Gege’ does!”

”Quit your yapping! Hurry, look, there she comes.”

Just then, as Zheng Jituo shouted, the group shifted their gaze. They saw a bunch of people walking over from outside the track, chatting and laughing, exuding youthfulness. Among them, the most eye-catching was undoubtedly the girl in the center.

The girl was dressed in athletic attire, tall and slender. Her wheat-colored skin gave her an untamed beauty, and her high ponytail highlighted her spirited look. Paired with her striking, delicate features and confident smile, she inevitably became the center of attention. Upon arrival, she captured nearly every male gaze, causing quite a stir.

At this moment, the guys from Room 203 stared in awe. They’d never seen an athletic beauty like this in real life!

Especially Zheng Jituo; his eyes were so wide it was as if he wanted to pluck them out and stick them on the girl. He looked her up and down, mumbling to himself, Those legs, that waist, that face—holy shit! Is this what a beautiful athlete looks like? If you hadn’t told me, I’d have thought she was some celebrity!

Jin Linyu didn’t quite agree, replying, ”A celebrity is a bit much. Sophia Zhou is definitely pretty, no doubt, but there’s still a significant gap between her and actual celebrities. Besides, her... ’assets’—let’s just say they’re not exactly going to ’feed any kids’—mean she’s probably not cut out for the entertainment industry. But that’s a good thing! We all know what a mess the entertainment industry is these days. If a girl like her got into it, that would be a real waste, right, Lao Dong?”

Dong Guoning, without even looking up, simply replied, ”Indeed, indeed!”

Seeing his dismissive response, the corners of Jin Linyu’s mouth twitched. He glanced at Dong Guoning’s hands and saw him clutching his phone, furiously messaging someone saved as ’Goddess.’ Despite sending dozens of messages without a single reply, Dong Guoning was still enthusiastically tapping away.

Truly a veteran simp, Jin Linyu thought, then turned back to watch Zhang Beixing running on the track. He wondered aloud, ”Speaking of which, Jituo, Lao Zhang really has changed, huh? It’s one thing for him to insist on running and exercising every day, but now that a great beauty like Sophia Zhou is here, he’s still unmoved. Usually, even if he were in the middle of taking a dump, he’d pull up his pants to come out and take a look. Do you think he...”

”Just chill, Lao Zhang’s fine. Haven’t you seen him lately, still eagerly scrolling through Douyin checking out pretty girls? It means he’s moved on from his failed confession. As for why he’s changed like this... well, people grow, man. Besides, he’s changing for the better, so don’t overthink it!”

”Oh, alright then.”

「」

As Jin Linyu and Zheng Jituo were admiring Sophia Zhou, she and her friends arrived at Shi University’s track.

”Even though this isn’t my first time here, every visit makes me exclaim how deserted it is!” Sophia Zhou lamented. ”The track is built so well, and the equipment is so comprehensive, yet barely anyone uses it. What a waste!”

Walking on the track and observing the deserted equipment, Sophia Zhou couldn’t hide her envy, her voice tinged with sourness. In their sports department at Shishi Teachers’ University, you’d have to queue just to use such equipment. Yet here at Shi University, it was all left gathering dust, completely ignored! This made her quite envious. It’s so unfair, she thought. Some have so much they don’t appreciate, while others have nothing. These Shi University students truly don’t realize how good they have it!

Her friends, long accustomed to Sophia Zhou’s complaints, just laughed without saying much. After all, it wasn’t their fault that no one used these facilities. Shi University was a science and technology institute. And as science majors, their strengths lay elsewhere, as the name suggested. Asking these students to delve into research, mathematics, or science was one thing, but expecting them to exercise? That was truly asking too much!

Sophia Zhou clearly knew this as well. No wonder the city chose this place for the training camp, she mused. If this place isn’t suitable for training, then nowhere in Shishi is!

She sighed sincerely. Just then:

”Excuse me, classmate, want to buy some water?” a voice interrupted Sophia Zhou’s thoughts. ”You must be thirsty after coming all this way from the Shi Sports Institute. I have chilled and room-temperature water. If you don’t want water, I also have energy drinks!”

Sophia Zhou snapped back to reality and looked. Beside her stood a girl with fair skin and a cute smile, offering her water. She was indeed a bit thirsty. So, she took a bottle, paid via mobile transfer, and started chatting with the girl while sipping her drink.

Through their chat, she learned the girl’s name was Lin Siqi, a junior from the School of Economics and Management. Lin Siqi had been running a stall on the track since her freshman year, rain or shine, for three years straight. Finding this quite interesting, Sophia Zhou exchanged WeChat IDs with her.

”Let’s chat another day; I’m going for a run now,” Sophia Zhou said with a smile and a wave. Running hadn’t actually been part of her plan for the day.

However, she’d had such a good time meeting up with her friends, and that good time had extended to the dinner table, where she’d carelessly eaten too much, ingesting an excess of carbs and fats.

For anyone else, overeating would have just been that—overeating. No big deal, just a bit of weight gain. But for Sophia Zhou, who was extremely, almost pathologically, strict about her figure, even gaining 0.1 kilograms was absolutely intolerable.

Thus, after the meal, she had enthusiastically rallied everyone to exercise. Fortunately, her friends were all fitness enthusiasts. Otherwise, exercising right after eating would have had others calling her crazy!

The group began to run, creating an eye-catching scene on the track.

At first, they ran joyfully, Sophia Zhou chatting and laughing easily with her friends. As time went by, however, her friends, not being sports majors, gradually slowed to a stop, ending their workout.

But then, Sophia Zhou realized something seemed off.

No matter how long she ran, there was always a man silently following her. And whenever she slowed her pace, he would catch up and overtake her within moments.

If it had happened only once or twice, briefly, that would have been one thing. But the problem was, she had been running for nearly an hour!

Even for Sophia Zhou, a long-distance runner with substantial stamina and endurance, an hour of high-intensity activity was draining. Her energy was flagging, and her steps were becoming unsteady.

The man, on the other hand, despite sweating profusely and panting heavily, maintained the same steady pace he’d held since the beginning of the hour.

What in the world? Sophia Zhou thought, flabbergasted, as she watched the steady-paced man leave her far behind.

It wasn’t just her. Zheng Jituo and Jin Linyu, who had been watching Sophia Zhou run from the stands for over an hour, were also stunned.

Zheng Jituo glanced from the still-running Zhang Beixing to Sophia Zhou, who had now slowed to a walk. After a long moment of stunned silence, he finally managed to choke out, ”What the...?!”