How Am I Still Alive?

"I'm so tired, almost reaching my limit. Well, time to cheat a bit... Life's delayed payment."

A silvery glow spread over Lu Ping'an's body, and the light returned to his eyes.

[Life Bank Sub-ability 1, Life's Deferred Payment: Allows to split the payment of the life's cost into installments; current limit is six installments in six months (6/month).]

[Specify cost type as 'stamina,' set installment unit as days, and number of installments as 3.]

[Current time: May 19, 10:20:27 am. Next payment time: May 20, 10:20:27 am. Please maintain your bodily condition; if stamina is insufficient to pay the cost, double the Life-points will be deducted directly.]

Instantly, Lu Ping'an felt much more comfortable.

As fatigue dissolved to a third of what it had been, he immediately felt at ease.

He accelerated suddenly, feeling as if he had just started running.

At first, he thought his ability only allowed him to pay for pain and illness in installments.

For example, paying for a knife wound in three installments using Life-points in settlement... Result-wise, it seemed like an instant healing ability, where touching a wound only left a third or a sixth of the pain.

As a "healing" ability, its potential seemed quite high; as long as it didn't kill on the spot, it could heal up.

The only downside was that other Rule System users only had a single ability at the beginning. To avoid attracting too much attention, he didn't dare to use it too much.

Later, he realized he had a shallow understanding of the "Life's cost."

"The ability is marked as the 'cost of Life,' not injury or illness. Since pain and illness are essential costs of Life that can be deferred, can fatigue from stamina consumption be deferred too? If it's feasible, doesn't that mean I have two stamina bars?!"

So, he tried it out.

Unexpectedly, the feeling of exhaustion was significantly reduced, making him quite excited, and he immediately tried the Runner profession entry for the second time.

"...Damn, two stamina bars (actually 1.66) are still not enough."

Recalling his predicament from a few days ago, Lu Ping'an felt quite helpless.

But this time, the third time, and most likely the last attempt before the college entrance examination, was different.

He had already been eating a professional Runner's diet for five days and had made significant progress in this area.

Unlike his initial attempt, the "running skills" allowed him to use the most standard and efficient running movements. The rhythm and pace of each step were vaguely at a professional level.

As for the "breathing technique," it adjusted the body's internal circulation to conserve stamina.

Through both internal and external experience "dividends" from professionals, Lu Ping'an acquired the running skills that a Runner usually takes time to polish.

With the "software" in place, all that was left was the hardware, which was supplemented by the system's "extra stamina bar."

Ordinary "Polluters" typically require three months to half a year of basic training to succeed in their profession. By his last attempt, Lu Ping'an was not too far behind.

When a 5,000-meter long run became two 2,500-meter runs, the difficulty dropped significantly.

"...Hold on, hold on."

Drenched in sweat, his breathing remained gentle, long, and steady, his steps and arm swings maintaining a fixed rhythm. Lu Ping'an imagined himself as a machine, striving to forget his depleted stamina.

"Almost there, almost there..."

Just as he could no longer run and thought he was done for, the system's notification rang out like heavenly music.

[Beep. Congratulations, Host, for completing the profession ceremony and obtaining the 0-tier Runner profession.]

[Runner profession modification: Slight increase in Physique, Minor improvement in Reflex, Slight decrease in Spirit.]

[General skill 'Running Skills LV1' converted to Professional skill 'Chasing Light Running Skill LV1'.]

[General skill 'Breathing Technique LV1' converted to Professional skill 'Quick Flash Breathing Method LV1'.]

Lu Ping'an stopped, taking deep breaths, finally revealing a smile.

"Finally succeeded!"

Just this wouldn't have made Lu Ping'an so excited.

After successfully entering the profession, his panel also updated.

[Lu Ping'an, 16 years old, male. Life-points 4960 (-5000)]

[Status: Physique (ordinary person), Reflex (ordinary person), Spirit (ordinary person)]

[Profession: 0-tier Runner]

[Career Ability: None]

[Professional Skills: Chasing Light Running Skill LV1, Quick Flash Breathing Method LV1.]

[General Skills: Cooking LV2, Cleaning LV1.....]

Upon successfully entering the profession, the panel showed minimal improvement. It only displayed the formerly empty profession and professional skills.>/p>

But the most important part was the professional ability, a true supernatural power.

[Black-iron level Spell 'Shrinking Ground' tips, current progress 58/100.]

Among a bunch of general skills, Lu Ping'an found this in the "miscellaneous items" section... and now it could be clicked on, providing more detailed information.

Shrinking Ground was an extraordinary ability for first-tier Runners.

Initial mastery allowed the user to make an extra step in every five steps of running.

This meant being able to "teleport" a step in battle. It doesn't sound impressive, but it is incredibly valuable in practice.

Professional experience is summarized into professional skills, which become professional abilities when polished to a professional level.

Under normal circumstances, only by perfecting "running techniques" and 'breathing techniques' can one awaken the supernatural professional ability "Shrinking Ground."

Only by mastering supernatural professional abilities can one advance to a first-tier professional and be considered as truly entering the field.

Using an Eastern saying, it's like "Pao Gong explaining how to butcher a cow - from technique to mastery."

This usually requires a flash of inspiration, destiny's favor, and sometimes even awakening something unexpected.

The Lei family's siblings paid a hefty price for a good condition to achieve breakthrough opportunities.

However, after Lei Huoren had used "Shrinking Ground" for a long time, he naturally shared his experience and insights with Lu Ping'an.

[Black-iron level Spell Shrinking Ground: One extra step for every five steps.]

Lu Ping'an clicked on the screen in the void, and more information was fed back.

[Usage Requirements: Chasing Light Running Skill LV4, Quick Flash Breathing Method LV4, Spatial Perception LV1, Shrinking Ground tips 100/100.]

"It's not LV10?"

The requirements were much lower than expected, and Lu Ping'an laughed, no wonder many people said that it wasn't difficult to become a first-tier Runner. The real challenge was in having the epiphany.'

What remained was to specifically make up for the shortcomings.

Creating something out of nothing, filling in the gaps, was naturally not a challenge.

So, becoming a real professional within fifteen days was truly possible.

At this moment, Lu Ping'an looked at the school field again. The two valuable 'clients'... once they received the BUFF, they never stopped working.

Collecting the payment wasn't just for his empty pockets; after the other party paid the price, they would naturally cherish the time and state they had bought. So, his dividends for tomorrow would be even better.

"Work hard, strive for our better tomorrow!"