Chapter 76: The Path of Life

Chapter 76: The Path of Life

Faced with the dilemma of choosing between two elementary student factions, young Chen Sijin ultimately chose the firm path right down the middle.

He first turned to look at the tall Xiaolezi and his elementary student army on the right: "No one's bullying me, we're all friends and classmates, why would anyone do something bad?"

"We're all friends here!"

Xiaolezi and the group of tall, chubby kids behind him nodded seriously, feeling that Sijin was on the right track, a prime candidate for their friendship.

Then, Chen Sijin turned to address the good, obedient students on the left: "Kong, you see, they haven't bullied me, so there's no need for me to report anything to the teacher.

However, if there are bad kids bullying other children in school, it's still important to tell the teacher! I'll leave that responsibility to you, Kong!"

After speaking to both sides, Chen Sijin directly walked down the stairs from the middle of the bathroom.

What a joke, joining either side right now would just make him a target for the other. He obviously had to choose the master of neutrality!

It turned out that Chen Sijin's neutrality was well-received; both the bully group and the obedient student group considered him reliable.

He was seen as a future companion for their small circles.

Consequently, Chen Sijin managed to weather the subsequent storms with rare tranquility.

However, it was visibly apparent that the paths of life for those exiles ranked in the top fifty and those in the bottom fifty diverged significantly and became opposed—

In the following ten days, the elementary students underwent two exams and two bullying incidents. The exiles ranked in the top fifty steadily passed their exams, while a small fraction of those ranked in the bottom fifty participated in bullying.

Chen Sijin's exam scores consistently remained on point.

Each time there was bullying, he perfectly avoided it due to Xiaolezi's and his own high charisma.

It could be said that he was earnestly walking the middle path between being a goodie and a rebel, but everyone else had clearly chosen their sides.

Initially, Chen Sijin thought that the goodie wave of exiles ranked in the top fifty would advance further on the path of life.

The rebels seemed unlikely to graduate from school smoothly.

However, although these rebellious students didn't achieve excellent academic scores, under Xiaolezi's leadership, they... collectively boosted their grades through sports.

At the sports meet, those students who weren't favored by teachers and weren't obedient showcased their strong athletic abilities, shining for their classes. Then, during the final exams, although their academic performance wasn't stellar, they all received boosts from their sports achievements.

Thus, in the end, all 79 students advanced to middle school. It was just that their positions on the map of life varied in height.

When he advanced to middle school, Chen Sijin found it almost hard to believe.

Six years of elementary school had passed without any significant events; he thought at least twenty people would be weeded out during that time.

But not a single person was left behind.

He couldn't believe the path of life would be so straightforward.

Then, on the very first day of middle school, the path of life indeed started to show its true colors—

His character attributes, besides the original [Intelligence], [Health/Physical Strength], [Charisma], [Money], now included additional ones: [Self-Esteem], [Emotion], [Stress], [Fatigue].

Initially, Chen Sijin didn't see a problem with his current stats of Self-Esteem at 90, Emotion at 10, Stress at 10, Fatigue at 3, but after eating breakfast, he felt significantly worse.

"Sijin, you're in middle school now. From this moment on, you must take responsibility for your life. Your academic performance isn't particularly outstanding; you must work even harder in middle school, understand?" his mother, now even more stern and rigid after the promotion, said.

Young Chen Sijin watched as his Stress level went directly from 10 to 11.

His Self-Esteem dropped from 90 to 89.

This was just from a single sentence from his mother.

"Your mother is speaking to you; why aren't you responding? Is that not rude?"

Stress 12.

Self-Esteem 88.

Chen Sijin offered a forced smile: "Understood, I'll do my best."

"Good, drink these three glasses of milk. We're doing this for your benefit, to help you grow taller. After you finish, your father and I will take you to school."

Chen Sijin, looking at the three glasses of milk that no normal person should be expected to drink in one sitting, felt his stress jump from 12 to 20.

He thought if he really drank all three glasses, his stress would probably soar to 50.

"Oh, okay, how about mom and dad drink a glass with me? If you drink, it's as if I've drunk it. Let's all drink milk together to celebrate my starting middle school."

With a smile, Chen Sijin said this. There was a momentary pause from his parents across the table, but soon both picked up a glass of milk and drank it down with audible gulps.

Then, the young man with a future look, Sijin, also finished his glass of milk, curving his beautiful phoenix eyes.

His stress increased to 30.

And his self-esteem, that little devil, dropped by 3 points to 85.

Chen Sijin, observing both attributes, felt alarmed; one rising too quickly, the other falling too fast, was truly dangerous.

However, his parents, seeing the three empty milk glasses on the table, nodded in satisfaction.

"Well done, Sijin, you truly are an obedient child. Now that you're in middle school, we'll increase your allowance. You'll get 300 a day from now on."

Chen Sijin saw his money increase from 150 to 300.

Stress 30-1.

This is the daily allowance he could have. It seems money can alleviate some stress.

Muttering silently to himself in disbelief, Chen Sijin turned his attention to the grand map of the path of life.

Then, his pupils contracted sharply.

[Exile Number 9 (Middle School Phase) talked back to parents, entered a rebellious phase, stress exceeded 90 during an argument, jumped from the eighteenth floor of their home, and died instantly.

The path of life for Exile Number 9 has been severed.]

He had been wondering what the consequences of high stress might be, and now a vivid example was laid out before him.

But there was more—

[Exile Number 20 (Middle School Phase) suffered a severe blow to self-esteem, falling below 20, during a family gathering where they were constantly compared for not being particularly outstanding in any aspect. Personality changed, entered a state of moderate depression.

In this state, all attribute growth rates are halved, while stress and fatigue growth rates are accelerated.

Exile Number 20 is urged to seek active treatment promptly; severe depression could sever the path of life.]

Sitting in the car, Chen Sijin took a deep breath. So, a low self-esteem score could lead to uncontrollable negative states, and being in a negative state essentially means one cannot properly navigate the path of life.

[Exile Number 98 (Middle School Phase) died due to long-term health being below 10 from waking up early to work for money with parents and staying up late to earn money, fatigue exceeded 90, internal injuries and diseases erupted, and was declared dead after unsuccessful medical attempts.

The path of life for Exile Number 98 has been severed.]

Chen Sijin could only force a smile upon seeing this last announcement.

He had thought it strange that not a single person died in elementary school, making the path of life seem suddenly easy.

Now it appears that real life begins in middle school.

This morning at the start of middle school witnessed two deaths and one depression.

Chen Sijin was certain that Exile Number 20 wasn't the only one with a negative state this morning. The situation with Number 20 must have been severe enough to warrant an announcement, while the other exiles' newly added four attributes, except for Emotion, likely had unhealthy levels of Self-Esteem, Stress, and Fatigue.

This is what middle school is like.

With a sigh, Chen Sijin arrived at the entrance of the middle school.

At the entrance of Royal Middle School, there was still a clear divide between luxury cars and those of regular parents.

As young Chen, dressed in custom-made clothes, approached the school gate, he happened to see Number One, Kong Ju, on his left, and Number 100, Xiaolezi, on his right.

Both teenagers were now nearly reaching 1.8 meters in height, with the one on the left exuding pride and luxury, and the one on the right displaying a rebellious and dominant aura.

The moment he saw them, young Chen Sijin noticed his additional attributes start to fluctuate.

Stress 29+1+1

Self-Esteem 85-1-1

Fatigue 3+1

Chen Sijin: ...Great, my attributes are telling me not to get close to them. It would be unfortunate.

The 1.7-meter-tall boy, with a stoic face, turned to leave, only to have his arms caught by someone on each side.

The battleground was set once again.

Kong Ju, with a smile: "Sijin, good morning. We're in the same class again in middle school. Would you like to be my desk mate? I can tutor you, helping your grades to get into the best high schools and universities."

Chen Sijin: Stress 31+1

Before Chen Sijin could even respond, Xiaolezi laughed derisively, "As if my sweet Jin's intelligence needs your tutoring? Stay away, trash! I can lead him to dominate the entire middle school!"

Chen Sijin: Stress 32+1

"Life isn't supposed to be lived this way. Relying solely on brute force and not following the rules will lead to death."

"That's because you're not strong enough. Once you're strong enough, all the rules cease to be rules."

Chen Sijin: Stress 33+1+1

As the two continued to bicker, the boy they were holding forcefully shook off their hands and freed himself from both of them.

He almost turned around to give them both the middle finger, but ultimately he restrained himself and quickly ran forward with his backpack.

"Mind your own business! Pah! Don't follow me! I can study well and avoid being bullied on my own!"

"Stay away from me, all of you!"

Stress 35-2

Phew, that felt good.

Then, as the running young Chen Sijin saw his meager Emotion value of 10 slowly increase to 11.

Oh, this must be the feeling of being upset.

He hoped such upsetting feelings wouldn’t cling to him in the future.

However, he soon realized this was wishful thinking.

Middle school, compared to elementary, not only brought a sudden increase in academic pressure that could easily lead to depression and irritability but also brought more upsetting incidents.

Like right now:

[You’ve lost your homework notebook three days in a row. Stress +50.]

[Your stress level has exceeded 50. Please address the homework incident promptly. Failure to do so may result in psychological shadows and uncontrollable negative states.]

Chen Sijin closed his eyes as he looked at his overturned desk, while all the students in the advanced class were engrossed in their studies, making it seem unlikely that any of them would steal his homework notebook.

However, both Kong Ju and Xiaolezi noticed his distress.

"Sijin? What's happened? Do you need help?" Kong Ju asked with a smile, resembling an elegant little prince.

Xiaolezi, seeing him, felt an urge to punch him, his deep blue eyes darkening as he reached out to grasp Chen Sijin's hand: "Who bullied you? I'll beat them to death."

Chen Sijin offered a smile in return to Xiaolezi and a forced smile to Kong Ju.

"Who could bully me?"

As he spoke, Chen Sijin walked to the podium and tapped the blackboard with the eraser.

As all his classmates looked up, he asked with a smile, "Could the person who took my homework notebook please return it willingly?"

The students below the podium looked at him expressionlessly, then one by one, they lowered their heads, with no one responding.

Who would admit to such a thing?

Chen Sijin asked again from the podium: "Really, isn't there anyone willing to voluntarily return my notebook?"

Some snickers even emerged among the students below.

Even in Kong Ju's green eyes, there was a flash of boredom.

The young man then broke into a laugh: "Oh, my apologies. My notebook has a timer alarm on it, and it's about to go off since you haven’t confessed."

Before the students could look up in collective astonishment, a sharp sound erupted from the center of the class.

[I am the thief! I am the thief! Come catch me! I am the thief—]

Instantly, a girl sitting in the middle of the class turned deathly pale.

As everyone's gaze turned to her, she desperately shook her head: "It wasn't me! I didn’t do it! I don’t know how Chen Sijin’s notebook got into my backpack!!"

Chen Sijin walked down from the podium, stretching out his hand while adding: "I coated my notebook with a special paint that shows up when wet. Would you like to check your hands?"

The girl, who had been shaking her head, suddenly froze, then looked up with a gaze that turned sharp and malicious.

"It’s all because of you! You're really no good!! Why do Kong Ju and Xiaolezi like you so much? They talk to you every day and you dare to ignore them!"

"What status do you have! And what about the status of Master Kong! How dare you treat him like that! If it were me, if it were me! I definitely, definitely would..."

Chen Sijin couldn’t be bothered to listen any longer, he retrieved his notebook, watching his stress drop from 65 to 20.

His self-esteem rose to 90.

And the upsetting Emotion increased to 23.

[You have successfully resolved the stolen notebook incident. Everything returns to normal.]

Meanwhile, on the map of life's branching paths, two red dots dimmed.

[Exile Number 33 (Middle School Phase) lost a pure gold pen specially bought by his father, failed to find the thief, suffered from overwhelming stress, and died in a car accident on the way home.

The path of life for Exile Number 33 has been severed.]

[Exile Number 76 (Middle School Phase) was found with the missing class funds during a desk search by a teacher, unable to prove his innocence. Expelled from school for theft, with self-esteem below 20 and stress over 80, he entered an extremely unstable state of fury.

In anger, Exile Number 76 fatally attacked Exile Number 41, who was mocking him, and was then committed to a psychiatric institution.

The paths of life for Exiles Number 76 and 41 have been severed.]

Chen Sijin's gaze darkened as he read these consecutive life path announcements.