I'm a sophomore in college, what the heck is this "male god cultivation system"?

Chapter 15 Hand-to-Hand Combat
Unlike previous task functions, this time the system directly provides three options, and no matter which one Chen Yan chooses, he will receive a reward.

The first option he ruled out was option 3 – turning around and leaving. After all, if someone was talking to him nicely and he just turned around and left, putting aside how idiotic that behavior was, the fact that the reward significantly increased his attractiveness to the same sex was enough to make Chen Yan avoid him.

Chen Yan was torn between agreeing and refusing.

While option 1's reward of a random mastery-level skill seems more practical, what if the skill you get is a niche skill?

Skills like skiing, wingsuit flying, and tank driving are useless to him.

As for the reward for option 2—a cool and aloof demeanor—it's not much better.

Although novels often feature characters like aloof goddesses and aloof school heartthrobs, in reality, unless one has a significant advantage in other areas, being "aloof" only increases the difficulty of communicating with others.

At the same time, Chen Yan did not feel that a cold and aloof demeanor suited him.

Just as pairing a righteous face with a sinister and ruthless temperament would obviously feel incongruous, Chen Yan's features are on the gentler side, and he usually gives people the feeling of being "easy to get along with" and "good-natured". Giving him a cold and aloof temperament is like asking a swordsman to fight a BOSS with a staff.

'Hopefully, the skill they give me will be a little better,' Chen Yan prayed silently, then nodded.

"Sure, but I might not come to play every day. Sometimes you might have to find other partners."

Chen Yan didn't rule out any possibility of a complete defeat. In case things got too boring playing against weak opponents, he could use stalling tactics.

If Tian Jingyi is dissatisfied with what he said and then finds someone else to play ball with, that would be even better—Chen Yan has already received the reward, so the rest doesn't matter.

However, judging from their expressions, the other party did not seem to be dissatisfied.

"Okay, okay, let's exchange contact information first." As she spoke, Tian Jingyi took out her phone and showed her WeChat QR code.

After exchanging contact information, Chen Yan had no intention of staying any longer, as did Tian Jingyi, so the two of them headed towards the elevator together.

"Chen Yan, you're also from Fengning, so where did you go to high school?"

"No. 1 Middle School, what about you?"

"I'm from a higher level. You should be a junior after September, so I'm a year below you."

……

The moment they stepped out of the mall, the two went their separate ways.

At the same time, a voice also rang in Chen Yan's mind.

[Congratulations, host, for completing option 1.]

[Rewards are being distributed...]

[Congratulations, host, you have acquired the skill - Combat (Master Level)]

"Beautiful." Chen Yan couldn't help but cheer in his heart. Like most boys, he was quite interested in fighting, a sport involving violence. Now that he could master it automatically without learning, Chen Yan was naturally satisfied.

While this ability is largely useless in most situations, having some self-defense skills is always a good thing, giving you more options in case of extreme circumstances.

After receiving the [Fighting (Master Level)], Chen Yan remembered the [Beauty Cream] he had obtained after completing the [True Ending] mission half an hour earlier. With a thought, a small piece of white ointment suddenly appeared in his hand, which was originally in his pocket.

The ointment is only the size of a fingernail. According to the system's instructions, this thing is the same as the previous [Cleansing Body Wash], and you only need to use it once.

The only difference is that the cleansing body wash needs to be applied all over the body, while this stuff only needs to be applied to the face for five minutes, and then wiped off. 'I wonder how effective this beauty cream will be.' Chen Yan let out a long breath, feeling somewhat expectant.

Currently, his looks are probably around 78 out of 100, which is the ceiling among handsome young men. If this "beauty cream" can't help him break through to 80, which is the level of a great handsome man, then he'd be too useless.

With anticipation in his heart, Chen Yan unconsciously quickened his pace and headed towards the nearby residential area.

……

After bath.

"No, what exactly has changed?" Chen Yan looked at himself in the mirror, completely confused.

After using the beauty cream, Chen Yan's appearance did improve, but for a while, he couldn't figure out where he had improved.

Even though it's still the same face and the features haven't changed much, the visual effect is noticeably improved.

After pondering for a minute or two, Chen Yan couldn't find any changes, so he simply picked up his phone, opened his photo album, found his previous photos, and compared them with his reflection in the mirror.

"His nose seems more prominent... his eyes are a little bigger... and the proportions of his face have improved."

After careful comparison, Chen Yan finally identified the changes in himself. The changes in each individual part were quite subtle, the kind that were barely noticeable without close inspection. Yet, when combined, they created a qualitative leap from a quantitative one.

'I think I'm good enough for 85 points now.' Looking at himself, who has now entered the realm of 'handsome guy,' Chen Yan was in a very good mood. He felt that his appearance had finally reached a little bit the level of his QQ name from junior high school.

As for his QQ name from junior high school...

— Dawn in Jianghai Province.

……

After that day, Chen Yan's life included another thing—playing ball.

Although Tian Jingyi was a bit of a novice, the water bill, court fee, and badminton equipment were all paid by her. Chen Yan treated it as a way to play three hours of badminton every night for health and to add a little spice to his life.

The only thing that really concerned him was his new book, since it was doing exceptionally well, far surpassing his previous one.

After spending a week reading through the recommendations from Sanjiang, Chen Yan successfully published his novel with 16 words, achieving 4200 first-day subscriptions.

On Qidian.com, Chen Yan's new book is ranked number one in first-day subscriptions, more than double the 2000 first-day subscriptions of the second-place book.

For the vast majority of authors, it is not a problem for a new book to see its sales multiply several times during the golden period of the first month after its release.

If we can secure a spot in the "Bestseller Selection" section, then achieving an average subscription of over 10,000 is not an unreasonable scenario.

Unfortunately, the "Bestseller Selection" recommendation spot not only requires subscription performance but also requires the author to update consistently for a month. Even if Chen Yan's performance is excellent, he still has to wait until next month to be recommended.

However, Chen Yan has another trump card.

Looking at the densely packed chapters in his drafts, Chen Yan chuckled, then released ten long chapters of 10,000 words each, and wrote a line in the "Author's Note" section that would make countless authors tremble.

"On the first day of updating 100,000 words a day, the current average subscription is 4200. For every 500 increase in the average subscription, I will post an additional 10,000 words."

(End of this chapter)