Chapter 2: Could It Be... Too Soon?

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“Xiaotian, congratulations on winning first place in the school sports meet’s 100-meter dash.” The girl who spoke, her face adorned with a sweet smile, had been his classmate in elementary school, and then again in middle school. In the future, she would become even more...

Yes.

They say that tormenting one’s wife brings momentary satisfaction, but chasing her down is like a walk through fire. Such foolishness, he would never commit.

“Xiaofang, thank you. I feel like the school sports meet is no longer enough for me. I want to try competing in the city.” Su Shen remembered clearly that in just half a year, he would seize his first city championship at the Xiangshan City Games.

That was also his very first medal.

The first time he made a name for himself in the city.

“Alright,” the petite, delicate girl turned her head and added, “If you need any help with your studies, you can always come to me for tutoring.” She hesitated, then said, “Although I think that if you put in a little more effort, you’d do just fine in school. Didn’t you tell me you wanted to become a professor one day? I think you’re getting further and further from that dream.”

Su Shen recalled this memory well.

Last time, he hadn’t said a word—just gave an awkward smile—because deep down, he had no confidence at all.

Back then, with his grades, becoming a professor seemed harder than winning the lottery.

But now...

He was no longer just a fourteen-year-old boy on the surface, so he replied with confidence, “Don’t worry, Xiaofang. I remember what I said, and you must keep your promise too.”

Though Su Shen didn’t speak loudly, his absolute confidence made Lin Yanfang, his childhood friend, forget to breathe for a moment. At this age, few boys could exude such an aura from within.

But as she remembered their childhood game of house and the promises made, her cheeks flushed bright red. She only nodded and dashed back to the classroom in small, hurried steps.

That fleeting, graceful turn truly made Su Shen’s heart race.

...

When the school sports meet ended, Yang Yongqiang came over with his stopwatch, accompanied by the so-called “connected one.” He asked Su Shen to run another 100 meters, this time wanting to time it himself.

The “connected one” was named Zhang Gu. He didn’t know much, but he could fire the starting pistol.

Why bring the pistol? Yang Yongqiang wanted to see, in the most authentic environment, whether this kid could really run that fast.

“Don’t be nervous, Xiaotian. This is just a test. Run as you normally would,” Yang Yongqiang tried to ease Su Shen’s mind, but he didn’t realize... what pressure was there to relieve?

Su Shen felt none at all.

He’d done tests like this countless times—it was as easy as eating or drinking water.

Who would get nervous about eating or drinking?

As Su Shen took his place at the starting line again, Yang Yongqiang suddenly thought of something and halted the test. He had the “connected one” fetch a simple starting block from the equipment room.

Su Shen immediately understood, but said nothing, waiting patiently.

After a while, the starting blocks arrived. Yang Yongqiang asked, “Xiaotian, do you know how to use this? From your stance earlier, it looked like you’d used a starting block before.”

“Yes, Mr. Yang. I saw it on TV, and at home I’d use bricks against the wall to practice,” Su Shen replied. Yang Yongqiang nodded in understanding. He knew this boy loved running, loved speed. After all, he’d recruited him to the school track team after he’d said—

“I once snuck my family’s motorcycle out and loved the feeling of chasing the wind.”

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This boy was born to love the thrill of racing with the wind.

That passion was an essential trait for a good runner.

Even with talent, if you didn’t love the sport, you’d never reach your full potential. The monotonous grind of daily training is hard to endure even for those who love it—how much harder for those who don’t?

Seeing Su Shen standing on the starting blocks with a textbook-perfect stance, Yang Yongqiang couldn’t help but think...

This was almost too perfect.

He couldn’t find a single flaw.

It was exactly like the stances he’d seen from national-level athletes on television.

If there were any difference, it would be strange. In this era, Su Shen’s form was probably the most standard.

His physical condition might not be as good as before, but his technique and movement memory hadn’t faded.

The only drawback was that the well-worn starting blocks of this small town’s middle school felt uncomfortable. But with the school’s lack of funding, there was no point in complaining.

Even up close, even the half-baked Zhang Gu, the “connected one,” was struck by the sheer impact and grace of Su Shen’s starting pose.

And that was just the stance—he hadn’t even started running yet.

“On your marks.”

“Set.”

Bang—

As soon as the starting pistol fired, Su Shen shot forward like an arrow released from the bow.

Eyes focused, giving his all.

This speed seemed even faster than before.

Was it just his imagination?

Yang Yongqiang, though no professional coach, had led the school’s track team for years and could judge speed fairly well. But this time, for the first time, this boy messed with his sense of prediction.

Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.

While Yang Yongqiang was lost in thought, Su Shen was subconsciously assessing his changes.

His starting push and leg drive felt more powerful—was that due to increased strength attributes?

His raw speed and stride frequency had both clearly improved—was that the boost from increased speed attributes?

So that was it.

Now that he had figured out the system’s mechanisms, excitement surged within Su Shen. He was certain that in this life, he could create an even more glorious Chinese Red.

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Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.

As he neared the finish line and prepared to dip across, even the technique of this final move left Yang Yongqiang speechless.

Whoosh—

Feeling a gust of wind rush past him, Yang Yongqiang quickly stopped the watch and looked down, his heart pounding in disbelief.

11.42 seconds?

Though it was hand-timed, and electronic timing would add another 0.02 to 0.03 seconds, this was still astonishingly fast.

He was only fourteen.

But what Yang Yongqiang didn’t know was that in his previous life, Su Shen had already achieved 11.72 seconds electronically timed in the city competition that coming autumn. In other words, for hand timing, he’d already had this performance by November. Now, with the heaven-sent “Five-Dimensional Flying Man System” and years of accumulated training and experience, Su Shen wasn’t surprised at achieving this result half a year early.

What he wanted was to break his previous life’s 11.72 seconds at the city competition in November.

That would be true success.

“Um, Xiaotian, why don’t you rest a bit and try again later?” Yang Yongqiang looked at his stopwatch, doubting his own results and asking Su Shen to run again.

Because this was the fastest middle schooler he’d ever seen.

Much faster than he’d expected.

Half an hour later, they tested again.

This time his speed noticeably dropped.

But that was normal—after a sprint like that, recovery takes time.

The higher the level, the greater the effect.

This time Su Shen ran 11.54 seconds, 0.12 seconds slower than before.

But now... Yang Yongqiang was convinced.

Looking at Su Shen, both shocked and excited, he said, “There’s a city meet in November this year. Would you like to give it a try?” In his previous life, Su Shen had entered that competition on his own. This time, the situation had changed.

“Yes, Mr. Yang.” Su Shen agreed immediately, as that was his plan all along—to use that stage to step onto the path of a professional athlete.

After Su Shen left, Yang Yongqiang, still not quite recovered, hurried to his office and called his old friend—Ning Debao, coach at Xiangshan City Sports School. Ning Debao didn’t think much of it; though it sounded promising, she’d seen too many inflated school results.

She’d received several calls like this before, gone to investigate, and every time... it ended in disappointment.

It was always something: the timing was off, the track too short, the measurement wrong—each with its own excuse. But a truly legitimate result, by professional standards... she’d never seen one.

In time, Ning Debao became jaded, deciding that if there was anything to it, the city’s November track meet would reveal the truth. She was tired of going out hopeful and returning in disappointment.

Seeing his old friend’s lack of enthusiasm, Yang Yongqiang was a bit frustrated, but couldn’t push her. So he resolved to have Su Shen keep improving, and in half a year, stun everyone at the city meet.

Dazzle his old friend’s eyes.

With that in mind, Yang Yongqiang accidentally dazzled himself first.

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