The Great Steam Golem

Chen Mu leaned against the corridor of the academic building and stared at the field below him blankly as he contemplated on ways for him to earn money. If not for the deal he had with Zhuo Xiaobai, the fifty bucks he saved up would have really been given away to Chen Yifei. If that were the case, he might not have been able to afford to pay for his practice test sheets. 

Now that Chen Mu had paid off his practice test sheets with the hundred and twenty bucks, he was left with ninety bucks. He only purchased Mandarin and English practice test sheets that cost him fifteen per subject. Initially, he thought it was good to keep the ninety bucks, but Chen Mu really wanted to help however he could to improve his family's condition.　　

Three years ago, he was always able to add on youtiao and soymilk whenever he brought his younger sister out for breakfast. Not to mention, he sometimes added on milk for the extra nutrients it contained. As for the present, they had been thrifty for the past few years, and they could only afford two rounds of shredded meat with peppers each month. They could not afford actual meat. Chen Mu could not help but feel that his younger sister was getting thinner out of hunger. What was going to happen if her growth became stunted?　　

Moreover, now that Chen Mu had forbidden Chen Yifei from letting others pay for her gaming sessions and asked her to pay for herself, it would not be long until the fifty he gave her was spent.

Suddenly, Zhuo Xiaobai and a few boys were heard chitchatting at the side. 　　

"It seems like League of Legends is getting more popular. Wanna play together after school?" asked Zhuo Xiaobai.　

"What's the point of queuing as a premade team of four? It's so complicated whenever there's another stranger who ends up stealing everything. Find one more person and we can play as a premade team of five!" said another boy in glasses. Chen Mu knew him; his name was Lu Ren1. Like his name, Lu Ren did have the looks of an insignificant passerby because one could easily find someone who looked like him anywhere. He was from an alright family too. 　

In Class (9), the class which Chen Mu was studying in, despite being known as an elite class, there were at least twenty students among the class of fifty who were not qualified to be in the class. Those people had entered the class through different methods. Thus, the homeroom teacher had made them sit at the back of the class and let them do whatever they wanted as long as they did not disturb the elite students.　　

Chen Mu had never interacted with them much. However, once he heard them talk about League of Legends, he could not help but eavesdrop. This was because Chen Mu would have to eventually put in his all for the game in the future.

"Then, let's split into teams of two and play rank. I'm already at six hundred ELO points. If I keep dropping in rank games, every other player I meet will be a goddamned troll." Zhuo Xiaobai announced, "Whichever one of you can boost me, I'll pay for your internet and supper."　　

Everyone else exchanged glances. Who would have been able to boost anyone else when all of them were mediocre players? They nearly always cried in defeat whenever they played together in teams of two. 　

"What if I boost you instead?" A sudden voice entered their conversation. Everyone shifted their gaze toward Chen Mu who was smiling at them. 　

"The hell? The god of studies plays League of Legends? How many ELO points do you have now?" Lu Ren asked in a shocked tone. Something was not right. He dared claim that he could boost Zhuo Xiaobai. Did that mean he was a player with a very high number of ELO points?　　

"Points? I don't know, I just reached level-3 yesterday," said Chen Mu. 　　

"Dang it, how dare you drop such shocking claims on us when you're level-3? Do you even know what 'six hundred points' mean?" Lu Ren sneered. The opportunity for Lu Ren to ridicule a high-flyer who was three hundred points ahead of him academically did not come by easily.　

"You can get into Tier 1 institutions with six hundred points. It should be pretty amazing, right?" said Chen Mu with a straight face.

The crowd lapsed into silence.　

"Yep, having six hundred points is amazing, indeed. But it'd be nice for you to come along if you want to play. We'll be a full team. Let's play a normal match, and let Chen Mu be our support. We'll win for sure," said Zhuo Xiaobai. 　

"What about paying for the internet and supper? Do they still count?" asked Chen Mu. He only decided to join them because he had heard about supper. He could pack a portion to take home for his younger sister then so that she could get more nutrition.　

"Of course, I'll give you more if it's you. We'll go together tonight." The moment Zhuo Xiaobai finished his sentence, the bell rang to indicate that their recess was over. As a result, Chen Mu took off for the classroom first. 　

Zhuo Xiaobai was rather keen to build up his relationship with the almighty god of studies. Perhaps, he could even hire Chen Mu to work for him in his company in the future. 'So what if he's good in his studies? He'll just end up working for me in the future," thought Zhuo Xiaobai. He would be very proud and flattered if the day it happened came.　

If it happened, Zhuo Xiaobai was ready to make Chen Mu work overtime each day. He had been left with a very strong impression when he saw his father overworking his employees by making them work into the night each day without paying them for their overtime.

Then, at the end of the year, Zuo Xiaobai's old pops got out of a Bentley and patted a Royal Capital University graduate on the shoulder. His father said, "Well done! If you're able to remain this hardworking next year, I'll be able to get another Bentley!"　

Zhuo Xiaobai was extremely touched by the scene. It was true that money could buy the devil itself over. A little over more than a hundred bucks could be exchanged for a maths paper with full marks—it was now his method of choice to deal with his exams!　

During the lessons that followed, Chen Mu was able to choose to expand the System's interface to memorize more information whenever he pleased or turn it off to listen to his teacher.　

Chen Mu acted based on the content of each lesson and their difficulty—he would listen in if it was a concept he was unfamiliar with and memorize League info if it was a concept he had already mastered. The day flew by swiftly. That night, Zhuo Xiaobai brought all three of his friends to wait for Chen Mu before they departed together for the cybercafe.　

The idea of the study god visiting a cybercafe was curiously refreshing to all of them. It was an overpowering thought to think that Chen Mu, who was was the top in his year, was starting to go wild in his Year 3 Senior year.　

When they arrived at the cybercafe, Zhuo Xiaobai dragged them straight to a higher class section. At first glance, they noticed that the computer screens were much bigger compared to the ones they normally used, and the seats were cushioned.　　

"This is a reserved area. We can use all the champions available along with an additional skin. It's really cool," said Zhuo Xiaobai generously.　

He was paying for everyone this round. Despite having just paid Chen Mu a hundred and twenty bucks, the extra sixty marks that he got in his exam had managed to get him a reward him of a thousand bucks from his old pops. He would not lose out no matter how many times they agreed on the same deal.

Chen Mu sat next to Zhuo Xiaobai because the latter had told him to follow his instructions. After all, Zhuo Xiaobai was a maxed-out player who was level 30 and played ranked games. Everyone should be able to win lying down if they wanted to. 　

After entering the matchmaking interface, Zhuo Xiaobai instantly locked in Vayne, the Night Hunter—his favorite champion. 

"Do you know any champions? Why don't you lock in Zither Lady2?" said Zhuo Xiaobai.　

"Uh-hmm, I know all of them. You just chose Vayne, the Night Hunter, right? I know that," said Chen Mu. Then, he browsed the support champion list and saw a character that looked mechanical.

The Golem, Blitzcrank!　

Chen Mu thought that there was some sci-fi feel to the champion. If nothing had happened within his family years ago, his ambition would not be to be a programmer but instead a robot scientist. Since the champion was coincidentally a support champion, Chen Mu chose him without any hesitation.

After having spent his time memorizing throughout the day, Chen Mu not only knew all the champions' names and thumbnails, but he also knew all their roles. Chen Mu knew that the main role of a support was to assist the ADC3 and help the rest of the team ward in the late game.

"Golem? Will you be able to hook anyone? But it's okay. I'll be there with you. Everything will be OK. Everyone else will become trash once I get fed," said Zhuo Xiaobai.　

Once they entered the game, some of them bought Boots and four Health Potions before they left the base. It was the latest meta for people to buy those starting items even though nobody understood why. They only followed suit because they saw pro players and just about any Tom, Dick, and Harry equipping themselves like that.

Zhuo Xiaobai got Chen Mu to bring more potions along. Hence, Chen Mu maxed out by purchasing five Red Pots and five Blue Pots straight. Nevertheless, for some reason, Chen Mu could not continue buying more potions even though he still had gold.

A mission was then triggered by the System.　

"Ding! As the future Unkillable Demon King, you should possess basic prediction skills. Your mission: Using Golem's Q, Rocket Grab, maintain an accuracy above sixty percent. Your targets are champions and large monsters. Your main objective in grabbing large monsters should be to disrupt your opponents.

"Once the mission has ended, success will grant you a hundred points while the same amount of points will be deducted if you fail."　

"Let me try the ability first," Chen Mu said to the System. Before he left the base, he pressed his Q key and observed the effects of his ability, its range, and its travel animation.　　

"Total Q casts: one. Accuracy: 0%. Please work harder, sir." The System's notification irked Chen Mu greatly. 'I can't even try it once? 　

'Fine. Guess this is what happens when the System is OP. I'll just focus on my fight,' thought Chen Mu. 　

P.S. Many players might not know that in S2, starting with Boots and four Red Pots was all the rage back then. Even Junglers would equip Boots. The same applied to the World Championship Series players at that time too.