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Chapter 18: Reality Feedback – Energy Replenishment
🕑 Added 2024-12-18 15:26:15 +0000 UTCWhen the darkness receded, Feng Qi found himself back in reality.
Reaching out, he pressed the switch on the bedside table, and the light illuminated his room.
The two lines of text that had appeared before he left the dream realm left Feng Qi puzzled.
“Initial energy depleted? What does that even mean?”
He pondered for a while but couldn’t make sense of it. Deciding not to dwell on it, he shrugged it off.
Upon getting up, he noticed a clear change in his physique—his body felt sturdier, more resilient. However, this realization was quickly overshadowed by an intense hunger clawing at his stomach, demanding immediate attention.
Opening the refrigerator, he grabbed a few ingredients and headed to the kitchen.
While canned food was convenient, Feng Qi preferred a hot, freshly cooked meal.
The fully equipped kitchen in the Star City Academy dormitory provided him the perfect opportunity to exercise his culinary skills.
Skillfully, he cracked two eggs into a bowl and whisked them, blending the yolks and whites. Next, he washed a tomato and diced it into chunks.
Heating the pan, he added two spoonfuls of oil. Once the oil was hot, he poured the beaten eggs into the pan.
The eggs sizzled as they hit the oil, filling the kitchen with a fragrant aroma that made Feng Qi’s stomach growl in protest.
Resisting the urge to eat immediately, he chopped some green onions and sprinkled them into the pan. After letting the mixture cook slightly, he added the diced tomatoes, stirring them into the eggs.
As the rich aroma intensified, Feng Qi added a pinch of salt and sugar, stirring the mixture until a thick sauce began to form.
When the dish was nearly done, each grain of rice had turned a glistening, translucent golden hue, coated in the rich tomato-egg mixture.
Before attending Star City No. 1 High School, Feng Qi had lived alone.
Both his parents were members of a combat regiment and spent most of their time away on missions. Apart from occasionally sending money, their contact with Feng Qi was minimal. This upbringing forced him to become self-reliant from a young age.
Over the years, he had honed his cooking skills to the point of expertise.
Although he wasn’t picky about food, Feng Qi always treated the meals he prepared himself with meticulous care.
As he finished the dish by adding water and a bit of cornstarch to thicken the sauce, a steaming pot of golden tomato and egg fried rice was ready to be served.
Seated at the table, Feng Qi devoured the food with gusto. Within minutes, the entire pot of fried rice was gone.
Satisfied, he licked his lips and prepared to get up when a virtual panel suddenly appeared in his mind.
[Energy replenishment in progress. Current energy: 0.02%.]
The energy percentage displayed on the panel began to rise incrementally, with each jump increasing by 0.001%.
“Eating restores energy?”
Feng Qi stared at the panel, wondering if the incrementing numbers were related to the fried rice he had just eaten and was now digesting.
What surprised him even more was the fact that the virtual panel—previously confined to the dream realm—was now visible in reality.
The key difference was that while the dream realm panel displayed his physical attributes, the reality panel focused on energy replenishment progress and percentages.
What would happen when the progress bar reached its maximum? Feng Qi had no idea.
Lacking immediate answers, he returned to his bedroom.
He decided to make the most of his time by continuing to sleep. His plan was to re-enter the dream realm, learn a new cultivation technique, and the next morning visit the academy library to dive deeper into the study of Cultivation Research.
Since he had committed to the role of a "prodigy," he knew that a solid foundation was crucial. His schedule for the coming days was already meticulously planned.
After washing up, Feng Qi lay down in bed, his breathing gradually evening out as he drifted off to sleep, a look of peace spreading across his face.
The Next Morning
When Feng Qi awoke, the morning sunlight filtered through the curtains, gently illuminating the room.
Rubbing his tousled hair, he felt slightly disoriented.
The night’s sleep had been exceptionally restful—he woke up completely refreshed, without even a trace of fatigue. But the problem was that, despite his intentions, he hadn’t entered the dream realm.
“I’ve lost my ability to enter the dream realm?!”
The thought hit Feng Qi like a hammer. Then, his mind replayed the energy progress bar that had appeared last night.
“Could it be… I can only re-enter the dream realm after fully replenishing the energy bar?”
Calculating quickly, his face darkened.
“One meal only replenished 0.12% of energy. At this rate, I’ll need to eat over a thousand meals to fill the energy bar!”
“Damn it!”
With the sky already bright, Feng Qi got out of bed, washed up, and headed straight for the academy cafeteria.
Although the pot of tomato and egg fried rice from the previous night had eased his hunger, it had barely been enough to sustain him. After a good night’s sleep, the intense hunger had returned with a vengeance.
As his stomach growled, Feng Qi couldn’t help but think of Mu Qing.
Her appetite was legendary, stemming from her status as a Rune-Enhanced Human. By integrating rune energy derived from domain creatures, she could absorb strength from food, her power growing proportionately with the amount she consumed.
While Feng Qi’s appetite was not quite as monstrous as Mu Qing’s, nor did he possess her ability to draw power from food, he found their situations strangely similar.
He too acquired his powers from domain creatures, but instead of relying on embedded rune crystals, the abilities manifested through prefix titles that enhanced his physical attributes.
This realization brought a wry smile to Feng Qi’s face.
“In a way, I’m not so different from her. Guess we’re both freaks!”
As he approached the academy cafeteria, his resolve to eat a hearty meal—and maybe progress the energy bar—strengthened.
Upon stepping inside, the mingling aromas of diverse foods wafted through the air. Dozens of students navigated the counters, trays piled with dishes. Feng Qi’s stomach let out another loud protest, urging him forward.
Scanning the room, he quickly spotted Mu Qing sitting in a far corner.
Her table was laden with plates of food, a towering feast that easily dwarfed anyone else’s portions. Around her, however, the space was eerily empty. No one dared to sit near her.
Feng Qi grabbed a tray and began selecting his breakfast.
Custard-filled egg tarts, scallion potato pancakes, banana crepes, steamed rice noodle rolls, fried dough sticks, packets of soy milk (both sweet and salty), glutinous rice dumplings—his tray filled rapidly.
When the tray was nearly overflowing, he hesitated, then casually added a hamburger for good measure.
The cafeteria auntie behind the counter shot him a stern look.
“Food may be free here, young man, but wasting it is shameful,” she admonished.
Feng Qi flashed her a cheeky grin. “You’re absolutely right, Auntie!”
Then he grabbed another meat skewer.
The cafeteria auntie: …
Carrying his overloaded tray, Feng Qi approached Mu Qing’s table. Ignoring the empty seats elsewhere, he set his tray down and took a seat opposite her.
Mu Qing, who had been devouring her meal with single-minded focus, froze.
Looking up, she met Feng Qi’s gaze. Though her expression remained calm, a flicker of surprise danced in her purple, slit-like pupils.
Feng Qi offered no explanation. Without a word, he grabbed a glutinous rice dumpling, stuffed it with pickled mustard greens, and wrapped it with a fried dough stick before taking a hearty bite.
“Why are you sitting here?” Mu Qing asked, her voice as cold as ever.
“Why can’t I sit here? Is the cafeteria yours? Everywhere else is packed, and there’s plenty of space here,” Feng Qi retorted, not even bothering to look up as he continued eating.
Mu Qing blinked, visibly taken aback. After a moment, she returned her attention to her food, ignoring him.
Around them, whispers rippled through the cafeteria.
Students paused mid-bite to stare, shocked—not at Feng Qi’s voracious appetite, but at his audacity in sitting with Mu Qing.
Those familiar with her reputation were well aware of how dangerous she could be.
On one infamous occasion, she had nearly killed a fellow student in a moment of uncontrolled rage. Had a passing teacher not intervened, that unlucky individual would have been left permanently crippled—or worse.
This incident, combined with her fearsome modifications, ensured that no one willingly associated with her.
Feng Qi’s boldness seemed like nothing short of a death wish.
But Feng Qi paid no mind to the sidelong glances or hushed murmurs.
As Mu Qing continued eating, she occasionally glanced at Feng Qi.
His appetite puzzled her. While her extraordinary consumption was a result of her rune-enhanced metabolism, allowing her to absorb vast amounts of energy from food, Feng Qi had no such modifications—or so she thought.
For a "normal" person, his eating habits were downright excessive.
Noticing her gaze, Feng Qi looked up, his cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk’s.
“What’re you staring at? Eat while it’s still warm!” he mumbled through a mouthful of food.
As if to emphasize his point, he casually reached over and snatched a pork chop from Mu Qing’s plate, popping it into his mouth without hesitation.
Mu Qing: …
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