Intricate CS

"About supper, let's do it some other time. I'm going to head back first," Chen Mu said to Zhuo Xiaobai.

"Alright. I'm going to play a while longer. See you tomorrow," Zhuo Xiaobai replied. 

"How much is the internet fee this time? I'll pay you tomorrow," Chen Mu asked. 

"We'll talk tomorrow, it's not a big matter," Zhuo Xiaobai said in dismissal. 

As both of them exited the cybercafe, Chen Mu saw an old grandma selling corn on the cob. She had a rather huge grill even though it looked old and was specked with signs of rust. 

"Grandma, give me one please." Chen Mu took out his money and counted two bucks before handing the money over to the grandma. 

"Here, hold it. Eat it while it's hot." The corn-seller grandma was rather concerned about them. 

"Yep, thanks." Chen Mu began to lament about how things were getting more and more expensive as he walked down the road. One year prior, corn was sold at a price of 1 buck and fifty cents. Now, it had increased to two bucks. According to the basic principles of price increments greater than the GDP1, Chen Mu estimated that its price would hike up to three bucks in two years. 

Hence, if the salary of a job did not increase with time, it would gradually depreciate. It made saving money seem like a waste. 

Grabbing hold of the corn that was wrapped in a plastic bag, Chen Mu forcefully snapped it in half. One of the sides was longer than the other. He kept the short one for himself and passed the long one to Chen Yifei along with the plastic bag. 

"Thank you, Big Brother." Chen Yifei took the corn from Chen Mu. She sniffed at the corn's fragrance and bit into it, tasting a mouthful of sweetness. 

The source of Chen Yifei's foul mouth could be attributed to their family. Chen Mu's parents had raised him strictly, while they spoiled Chen Yifei. As a result of such upbringing, Chen Yifei had been showered with affection ever since she was young. Not to mention, everyone liked her because of her good looks. 

Starting from her fourth year in primary school, boys who were bold started appearing. They used various methods such as writing love letters, bullying her, and approaching her. Some of them had even stopped her from going home after school.

It made Chen Mu develop as a holistic child in both academic and physical aspects. Chen Mu fought his way through the entire primary school. Eventually, the fight that occurred in Year 2 Junior sent Chen Mu straight to the hospital. From then onward, the foul-mouthed Chen Yifei became even more foul-mouthed. Whenever a boy tried to approach her, they suffered great blows from her. 

By the time they had finished their corn, they reached home. Chen Yifei asked Chen Mu to teach her how to play the game once more. Otherwise, both sides would lose if she told their parents about it.

Chen Mu felt helpless and told her that he would teach her on weekends. It was a huge issue. He wondered if he would survive if it got out to his parents. 

Chen Mu was in the early semester of his Year 3 Senior. In the coming year, in his first semester, he would have to sit for his National College Entrance Examination. The heavens are great; the earth is great, but the National College Entrance Examination is the greatest of them all. If his old pa found out about his little distraction, Chen Mu guessed that he would not have his days easy. 

Once they got home, the moment Chen Mu sat down, the System popped up again.

"To become the strongest, having a strong foundation in building CS is important. Mission triggered: Complete a custom match using Scarecrow2. Without using any abilities or items, build a CS above eighty-five within 10 minutes. 

"Success will grant you a hundred points and the same amount will be deducted if you fail." 

The moment the System's voice was heard, Chen Mu knew that his training was about to begin. He switched on his computer immediately. 

"Scarecrow is coincidentally free this week. Using this champion to build CS? Isn't eighty-five too much? Can I get a discount?" Chen Mu could not help but ask.

"In the current version of the game, minions have a travel time of one minute and thirty seconds. In the future, it will be shortened to one minute and ten seconds. Then, the CS requirement will be more than ninety-three. This is quite the deal, sir," said the System. 

Following the System's instructions, Chen Mu started a custom game and locked in the Scarecrow. Chen Mu had managed to memorize all the champions after a day's worth of drilling. 

After a few seconds, Chen Mu loaded into the game. Without equipping any items, he went mid lane and started to build up his CS which meant landing the killing blow on minions. 

In the first wave, Chen Mu missed three minions. He felt incredulous. What was wrong with the champion? Why were his attacks so slow and soft? 

The more anxious Chen Mu got, the harder it became for him to farm CS. After ten minutes, his CS was at thirty-one. 

"Is it bugged? Why is this hero so hard to use? I missed my target by more than half." Chen Mu thought that it had to be because he had not mastered the trick of using the champion yet. 

Another round—thirty-eight; the third round—forty-one. 

Glancing at the time, the clock showed that it was almost eleven o'clock. It would not work out well. If it continued like this, would Chen Mu not be staying up for the sake of CS? 

Chen Mu went into a frenzy. He took out a straight ruler and then started to measure. 

In the fourth match, Chen Mu gave up on simply farming CS and began his calculations. 

Melee minions, initial stats: 445 health, 12 attack damage, armor: 2, magic resistance: 1 

Castor minions, initial stats: 295 health, 25 attack damage, armor: 1, magic resistance: 2 

Siege minions, initial stats: 700 health, 40 attack damage, armor: 15, magic resistance: 0 

Meanwhile, Scarecrow, the Harbinger of Doom, had a base attack of 46 damage. After accounting for the one percent damage reduction the minions had from their armor, the Scarecrow's attack damage was exactly 45 points each time it landed. The health bar of the minion right before it was killed had to be exactly one over ten its full health bar's length. 

Chen Mu estimated a melee minion's health bar to be one point two centimeters long at full health. Therefore, if Chen Mu attacked the said minion when there were only one point two millimeters left in its health bar, the melee minion would die. 

Chen Mu then drew a line on a piece of draft paper and marked it at the one point two millimeters mark.

Afterward, he engraved the length into his mind and repeated the same calculation for the caster and siege minions. 

After that, he experimented with his champion. He realized that if other minions were not attacking the minion he was targeting, he could easily last hit the said minion. However, if three castor minions were simultaneously attacking the minion he was targeting, his attacks would only land on its dead body if he was slow.

Therefore, he needed to factor in the attack damage of the minions as well. A melee minion inflicted eleven points of damage while a castor minion dealt twenty-four. 

Using this information to measure and mark the length down on the health bar, it became easier for him to determine when each minion would attack. With some practice, Chen Mu should be able to complete the mission the System had assigned him.

At the beginning of his fifth match, Chen Mu closed in on the minions more before he auto attacked and landed each killing blow so that he could attack faster. 

In his fifth match, his CS hit eighty. Chen Mu inhaled deeply, knowing that he had grown steadier. His method was right. According to the increase in stats for each level he gained, he was granted three more points in attack damage each time he leveled up. As a result, it made it easier for him to last hit the minions. Simultaneously, what troubled Chen Mu was the realization that the attack damage of the caster minions increased as well.

Due to that, Chen Mu still missed out on a few minions. However, he successfully managed to accrue a CS of eighty-six at the end of his sixth match.

Chen Mu spent an hour in total with the six matches. Nevertheless, it allowed Chen Mu to improve his CSing ability to a satisfactory standard. 

When faced with difficult situations, Chen Mu usually did not act recklessly. If he had kept drilling himself without thinking, he might have been able to complete the System's mission by staying up the entire night. 

At last, he was able to go to bed. However, a thought suddenly occurred to him. Chen Mu thought about the reward he had obtained for becoming number one in his year in his exam. It seemed like he had not claimed his prize yet. 'However, with the System around this time, would he be able to see it too?' 

Before Chen Mu turned off his computer, he hovered his over the My Computer's icon with his cursor. However, he hesitated, to click or not to click, that was the question. 

[Mission accomplished. Received one hundred points. Current accumulative points: seven hundred points!] 

"Sir, please give up. The folder labeled 'Learning Materials' that you hid six layers deep in this folder has already been deleted by the System. As the future Unkillable Demon King, you must not waste time in other aspects." 

"Nani!" Chen Mu felt as though he had been struck by lightning, and he froze in front of the computer. 

He entered his password. Chen Mu had set the first twenty decimal places of pi as his password. He believed that nobody else in the house other than him could access the folder.

The folder turned out to be empty!