Chapter 8: Gene Rookie Competition
Translator: Limostn Editor: Tennesh
Gene Rookie Competition. Anyone under 25 years old could participate in it.
As long as one passed the audition, one would get generous rewards. The top 20 rankers would receive even better rewards. Those in the top three would be accepted as a member of the Gene Production Association.
This was obviously an irregular recruitment process held by the Gene Production Association.
What was the Gene Production Association?
It was a place all gene producers yearned for!
And now...
This place was recruiting!
Chen Feng originally thought that this was just a competition among beginners. He never expected this so-called gene rookie competition to be a competition between the elites of the younger generations, also the most authoritative competition!
The top rankers of this competition might just be the topmost gene producers of the young generation!
Regardless of whether one was aiming for the Gene Production Association member quota or the title of strongest gene producer, this would become an intense heavyweight-level competition! Although there was a restriction on the participant’s age, Chen Feng was sure that, at that time, there would still be a huge volume of gene producers participating!
Rookie?
Sorry. You were merely cannon fodder.
Passing the audition? The second stage of the competition?
The difficulty was high!
"This..."
Chen Feng smiled bitterly.
The competition that Uncle Zhang had casually mentioned was clearly not something Chen Feng could participate in. From the age restrictions alone, one could see that this was something targeted at the public or those new graduates of universities. A gene producer that freshly graduated from high school like Chen Feng was totally not qualified to participate in this kind of competition.
Even if he managed to enter by fluke, he would merely be cannon fodder.
However, should he give up just like that?
Chen Feng did not know why, but within his heart, a flame was ignited.
His original plan was to steadily improve himself. However, Wang Yue’s appearance today had provoked him. Should he really take his time to slowly grow and get stepped on by Wang Yue?
He could not accept it!
What was Wang Yue’s status?
He was not sure. However, from the person who was protecting Wang Yue, he could roughly guess how scary the power behind Wang Yue was! High school was the only stage where they could compete fairly! The moment they graduated from high school, their competition would include other aspects, such as their background and everything else!
He was not Wang Yue’s rival at all.
Although he had previously sneered at Wang Yue, saying that he was going to use Wang Yue’s past to gain fame in the future, how could he really do that! As much as he wanted to make a name for himself, he also wanted to step on Wang Yue, to become a true expert!
An opportunity was now presented to him.
Gene rookie competition?
He only needed to enter the top three!
As long as he joined the Gene Production Association, he would be akin to a carp leaping over the dragon’s gate[1]!
The people of the current era placed a very large emphasis on universities. If that was the case, what if one were to join the Gene Production Association, which was even better than those universities? Who would still dare to look down on you?
Furthermore, the resources available there were even better, helping you to become stronger!
"Top three places?"
Chen Feng’s eyes were burning.
In normal conditions, a rookie such as him stood no chance at all.
Even those gene producers with three or four years of experience had no chance. Who knew what kind of abominable genius would appear in this competition? The gene rookie competition was held once per year. Each year, geniuses with extremely high gene-production levels would appear without exception!
However...
"They are all geniuses. Why can’t I do it?"
Chen Feng looked at the Luck Aura on his screen. His heart began stirring. "You all have good backgrounds, but I have the Luck Aura. To compete on one’s background, I’m not worse than all of you!"
"I need to first meet the qualifications required to sign up!"
"Next, to sprint toward the top three!"
Chen Feng made up his mind.
However, it was not that easy for one to reach the qualifications to sign up for the competition.
To prevent too many rookies from joining and creating trouble during the competition, the gene rookie competition’s lowest requirement was for one’s beginner production level to reach a rating of 20 stars!
"20 stars?"
Chen Feng frowned.
It was not hard to reach 20 stars. A lot of gene producers with a few years of experience would be able to get 20 stars even if they were to grind it up by sheer volume while working a job at the same time! However, it was a huge problem for Chen Feng who was a total rookie. One needed to know that even a lumberbear gene formula’s difficulty level was only 1 star!
"In other words."
"If I purely use formulas like the lumberbear gene, I would need to master a total of 20 formulas to reach a 20-star rating?"
After some calculations, Chen Feng noted that this was an astonishing figure.
However, he did not have any point of reference. Hence, he could only master the lumberbear gene formula to determine how much time he required to master it.
"I should master the lumberbear gene first."
"Next, decide my follow-up plans based on the time I spend mastering the lumberbear gene."
Chen Feng looked at the time.
The closing date for signing up was in September. There were still three months left; he might be able to try sprinting toward it after all.
Naturally, he did not tell anyone his decision. If Uncle Zhang were to find out that this total rookie was actually aiming for the top three, he would think that Chen Feng had gone crazy.
However, at times, one needed to be crazy.
"To first master the lumberbear gene."
Chen Feng set his target.
Even though he still had a few hundred thousand worth of materials, if he did not utilize his Luck Aura, he probably wouldn’t be able to produce a lot of finished goods even if he were to spend all his money.
All this money was far from enough!
"I need to sell this off."
Chen Feng shook the reagent bottle in his hand.
The gene reagents that he might be selling in the future would not be low in amount; hence, he needed to find a long term point of sale. This would involve the more advanced aspect of this world—the virtual community.
The technologies in this world were more advanced. The virtual reality technology was also more polished. Almost every household had access to the virtual community network—this was similar to computers on Earth.
This was a semi-circular instrument. Once spiritual energy was inserted, one could enter a brand new virtual world.
Chen Feng turned it on.
"Hum—"
The room started to change. Chen Feng’s simple room suddenly changed into a magical virtual world. Blue skies and white clouds appeared while he was standing on a large public square.
This was the virtual community—something that was the most popular product of the current era. Entertainment, shopping, training, it could satisfy everything you wished for.
On the left side was the business district Chen Feng needed!
Inside were a countless amounts of shops, while on the streets were crowds bustling with activity.
"VR Taobao?"[2]
Chen Feng was stunned.
A translucent light screen appeared before his eyes. On the screen, he could set filters such as price, category, etc. The shops found after filtering would be indicated with a bright light in the virtual community. You could easily reach there by walking. Naturally, you could also casually stroll on the streets, similar to the real world!
"So it’s like this."
Chen Feng contemplated.
Chen Feng entered a shop. Gene reagents were displayed inside the glass displays around him. Chen Feng could even pick up the items with his hands. The vivid sensation left him exclaiming in admiration.
Naturally, the price left him exclaiming even more.
Despite eliminating those high-level gene-fusion reagents, F-class gene-fusion reagents alone were already extremely expensive.
F-class gene reagent—Demonic Spider Gene
Fusion requirement: 15 points of agility, 6 points of physique
Gene ability: spider silk, able to emit spider silk with formidable toughness from your hands
Selling price: 50,000 yuan
Footnotes:
1. Carp leaping over dragon’s gate - According to Chinese mythology, the Dragon’s Gate is located at the top of a waterfall cascading from a legendary mountain. Many carp swim upstream against the river’s strong current, but few are capable or brave enough for the final leap over the waterfall. If a carp successfully makes the jump, it is transformed into a powerful dragon. Usually expressing a person achieving success after hard work.
2. VR stands for virtual reality, while Taobao is a Chinese e-commerce market similar to Amazon and Ebay.