Chapter 3: Golden Finger
He didn’t know if it was because of the transmigration, but Chang Ning’s head had been dizzy all along.
He fell asleep shortly after getting on the train, and some unfamiliar memories intermittently surfaced in his mind.
They were all left by the original owner of this body. Fortunately, through the memories, Chang Ning discovered that the past of this body’s owner wasn’t much different from his previous life’s experiences.
The only difference was probably his age and major of study.
In his previous life, he was already in his twenties, studying computer science in university, with mediocre skills that could barely get him by in the internet industry.
In this life, he was quite impressive, graduating from Yanjing University at just eighteen. Based on the memories, this university was equivalent to Tsinghua and Peking University from his previous life.
‘Living six or seven more years, what a profit!’
When Chang Ning opened his eyes again, they had already arrived at a new recruit training camp.
Everywhere were shouts calling the new recruits to assemble, mixed with some hot-tempered veteran soldiers’ accented cursing, making it extremely lively.
“Kid, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and assemble!”
Chang Ning didn’t need to turn around; just from the voice, he knew the one urging him was definitely Lao Pao. Now, he was more familiar with Lao Pao’s voice than anything.
After the new recruits assembled, the New Recruit Company Company Commander ordered the squad leaders to start dividing people. Lao Pao, coming from the regiment’s Vanguard Company—the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company—could pick new recruits first.
The other squad leaders, even if uncomfortable, had to hold it in. Who told their company’s strength to be inferior to the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company? The military unit was a place where strength spoke.
Chang Ning, familiar with the plot, nervously stared at Lao Pao’s slowly moving figure in the team, praying in his heart that he absolutely wouldn’t be selected by this pervert. He knew how miserable it was to be picked into Lao Pao’s squad.
While others rested, they trained; while others trained, they double-trained. They weren’t treated as new recruits at all!
Most Huaxia males didn’t have a rejection towards enlisting, and Chang Ning wanted to enlist when he was young too. Later, he got hooked on reading novels without restraint, reading day and night, which made his eyes nearsighted. Enlisting had strict requirements for physical health, so he gave up the idea.
Chang Ning wanted to enlist, but he wasn’t willing to be abused, and he knew his own body—his physical talent was average.
Without a golden finger, getting into the Reconnaissance Company and special forces was definitely impossible. Since there was no hope, why go to Lao Pao’s squad? That squad was originally for selecting good prospects.
Therefore, Chang Ning didn’t want to be selected by Lao Pao and get abused; it wouldn’t be worth it. It was better to obediently serve two years, experience it, then go home to continue studying and take the postgraduate entrance exam.
Slowly, Lao Pao walked in front of Chang Ning, saying nothing, just staring at him, as if Chang Ning were some rare treasure.
How could Chang Ning handle being stared at so intensely by a man? He immediately didn’t know what to do, his whole body tensing up, while silently chanting in his heart not to be selected.
Seeing this culprit—one of the ones who almost made him lose face earlier—now so nervous, Lao Pao felt as refreshed as eating a chilled watermelon in the dog days of summer.
He decided to recruit this kid into his squad. Usually, people with personality had some extraordinary abilities.
“Don’t be nervous, come on, smile.”
Saying that, Lao Pao demonstrated first, showing a stiff smile. To Chang Ning, that smile was just too ugly; if he weren’t in formation where he couldn’t move, he wouldn’t even bear to look.
The familiar routine unfolded before his eyes, and Chang Ning wasn’t happy at all. Because it meant this damn Lao Pao had taken a liking to him and wanted to drag him back to deal with slowly.
‘Little guy, I know all your tricks. I’m just not smiling. Want to recruit me into your squad? No way!’
Seeing Chang Ning not cooperating, Lao Pao wasn’t embarrassed. He put away his smile and said sternly: “Step out of line and follow me.”
Things took a turn, catching Chang Ning off guard. He hadn’t even smiled, so why was he still going into Lao Pao’s squad?
At this moment, Chang Ning inexplicably thought of Yuan Hua receiving Autumn Ya’s rejection call, with snow falling from the sky and that familiar background music, except Yuan Hua’s face had become his own.
Chang Ning was the last one selected by Lao Pao. He absentmindedly followed Lao Pao to the training ground, listening to Lao Pao talk about his block bullets theory and bear man theory.
These were all shows of force, aimed at crushing the new recruits’ arrogance while establishing the squad leader’s authority, laying a solid foundation for leading soldiers later.
Otherwise, if the new recruits didn’t listen to the squad leader, how could future training proceed?
The plot slowly advanced. Chen Xiwa rashly spoke up in defense, giving Lao Pao the chance to establish the squad leader’s authority. Under Lao Pao’s order, the new recruits were forced to start running with him.
How could new recruits’ physical quality compare to a Reconnaissance Company veteran soldier?
At first, Chang Ning could keep up with Lao Pao and Xiao Zhuang’s pace, but by the third lap, Chang Ning felt he couldn’t go on.
His lungs felt like they were burning with a flame, extremely uncomfortable. Each breath brought a bloody taste in his nasal cavity, and his legs felt as heavy as if filled with lead.
Slowly, Chang Ning fell to the back of the squad. Lao Pao and Xiao Zhuang at the front were competing, already lapping him twice.
‘So uncomfortable, I don’t want to run anymore.’
If this weren’t the new recruit training camp, Chang Ning definitely would’ve stopped. No one would care anyway. But not now—if he dared stop, Lao Pao would surely use him as an example again.
To avoid becoming Lao Pao’s target, Chang Ning gritted his teeth and persisted. Gradually, he found his body seemed to have more and more strength. A thread of coolness lingered in his lungs, fresh air filled his nasal cavity, and his legs became light.
‘What’s going on? My body seems to have more strength.’
This change made Chang Ning secretly click his tongue. Unable to figure it out, he could only attribute this phenomenon to the influence after breaking his physical limits.
“Ding, detected host breaking personal limit for the first time. Experience bar starting.”
10%30%
Hearing a mysterious voice in his mind, Chang Ning was ecstatic inside. He’d just been complaining about not having a golden finger, and here it came. It might be late, but it would never be absent!
Whether because of breaking the limit or the golden finger, Chang Ning now swept away his fatigue, his feet light as wind, accelerating on the training ground.
Chang Ning’s figure gradually caught up from behind. When he overtook Chen Xiwa to become third in the squad, he was discovered by Miao Lian, who was scouting for good prospects from afar.
“I want that soldier, and get me that soldier’s information.”
Miao Lian put down the binoculars and pointed out Chang Ning and Xiao Zhuang running on the training ground to Chen Guotao beside him.
Breaking the limit made Chang Ning’s stamina abundant, but the others weren’t so lucky, their stamina declining sharply. With this contrast, Chang Ning seized the opportunity and overtook Xiao Zhuang and Lao Pao at the last moment to take first place!
A new recruit from the New Recruit Company beating veteran soldiers— in the new recruits’ eyes, Chang Ning was the best, and he vented a malicious breath for them. They’d received plenty of special treatment from the Old Squad Leader since the squads were divided.
In the evening, the new recruits, tormented all afternoon, were led by Lao Pao to the dormitory, then taught how to do housekeeping. This task was one Chang Ning could do after just looking once—his hands-on ability had always been stronger than his peers since childhood.
After the lights-out bell rang, they originally planned to introduce themselves and bond a bit. But they were really too tired; once lying on the bed and relaxing, they unknowingly fell asleep.
Listening to the snores rising and falling in the dormitory, Chang Ning was too excited to sleep. He’d thought he was a blank slate transmigrator, but who knew the golden finger finally arrived.
The golden finger, loading all afternoon, could finally be opened. Chang Ning couldn’t sleep. The system panel was mainly olive green, with Chang Ning’s ID photo on the right. A pair of phoenix eyes and well-proportioned sword brows gave Chang Ning an overall heroic aura.
“Name: Chang Ning”
“Age: 18 years old”
“Stamina: 100/??? （An ordinary adult male’s stamina is 100）”
“Note: This system’s level is linked to the host’s military rank. Please strive hard, host!”
The golden finger was an experience bar, hidden in his mind. But now there was only the stamina item, for some unknown reason. Moreover, Chang Ning discovered his stamina experience cap was a long string of question marks. Did this mean his stamina had no upper limit?
Unfortunately, there was too little information on the golden finger; he wasn’t clear how this experience bar added new items. But what was gratifying was that this golden finger wouldn’t force missions on the host.
With the golden finger, he had capital to stand firm in the military. His previous mindset of coasting along had changed—who would want to be a slacker if there was a way out!
With expectations for his military career and yearning for special forces, Chang Ning fell into a dream.
