Chapter 48: [Minimap]

In the evening, Little Fatty found Su Hao.

The moment Fatty approached, Su Hao finally understood what the rune ‹Perception› truly was.

It felt as though he had gained an additional sense, one that extended beyond sight and hearing, allowing him to perceive the space around him with heightened awareness.

He stood at the center of this perception space, continuously radiating some sort of invisible ripple outward. When Little Fatty approached, it was as if a wave met an obstacle, immediately alerting Su Hao at the center that something was nearby.

Wasn't this just like a radar?

Little Fatty appeared before Su Hao, looking both excited and anxious. He said, "Xiangwu, the annual competition is tomorrow. I've been assigned to Group 7. Which group are you in?"

Su Hao withdrew his gaze from Little Fatty, closed his eyes, and could still precisely sense Little Fatty's position, as if he had a thermal imaging device. When he opened his eyes again, his vision seamlessly merged with his heightened perception, with no trace of dissonance.

While experimenting, Su Hao replied, "Ah, that? I'm not too sure."

Little Fatty was shocked. "What? You're not even concerned about it? I heard that the first prize of the annual competition is a powerful footwork Technique called «Treading Steps». With your strength, you could easily take first place. If you miss the competition, it would be a real pity!"

Su Hao shrugged indifferently. "You already know I'd take first place easily. Whether I go or not doesn't matter much. I don't want to bully others anymore; it's good to give people some hope. You can't just hog all the benefits."

Little Fatty thought for a moment and nodded. "You have a point."

Then, he excitedly said, "Xiangwu, my strength has reached the level of a mid-level warrior. Our instructor said I'm a genius too! My match is tomorrow morning, and I'm going to do my best to get a good ranking. You must come watch me perform."

Su Hao nodded. "No problem. But what about Qingqing? Which group is she in?"

"Hmm?"

Su Hao suddenly sensed someone approaching rapidly, seemingly running. The wave intensity in his perception was stronger than Little Fatty's.

Su Hao turned his head and saw He Qingqing.

"Xiangwu!" He Qingqing approached, and upon seeing Little Fatty, her initially tense demeanor relaxed considerably. She flashed a bright smile and said, "Xiangwu, Little Fatty, you're both here!"

Little Fatty immediately asked, "Qingqing, we were just talking about you. Which group are you in for tomorrow?"

He Qingqing replied, "In the preliminary rounds tomorrow, the girls are all placed in the last three groups. I'm in Group 11. What about you guys?"

Little Fatty said, "I'm in Group 7. Xiangwu said he's not participating in the competition, which is a shame. If he wins first place, it would be great if he could show me the «Treading Steps».'

Su Hao chuckled. "If I participated, to be frank, the competition would lose most of its meaning and turn into a solo performance."

He Qingqing looked at Su Hao with anticipation. "Xiangwu, will you come to watch my match tomorrow?"

Su Hao simply nodded. "Of course!"

Since the incident where he challenged all the third-year students alone, He Qingqing had become much more open around Su Hao, almost like a completely different person.

Su Hao had thought that He Qingqing still harbored a grudge from their childhood and wouldn't get too close to him. But now, it seemed she had reverted to her old self, reminiscent of their childhood days.

Hearing Su Hao's answer, He Qingqing jumped up joyfully.

Little Fatty immediately chimed in, "Qingqing, I'll definitely come to watch your match too."

He Qingqing nodded and smiled at Little Fatty. "Thank you, Little Fatty!"

Su Hao said, "Since we still have some time, do you need me to help you train?"

Unexpectedly, He Qingqing immediately refused. "No, I want to rely on myself. I can do it!"

Little Fatty hesitated for a moment, tempted to ask for Su Hao's help, but seeing He Qingqing's resolute attitude, he also shook his head. "I'll train on my own. I've been working hard this whole year."

"Then I wish you both the best of luck in the competition tomorrow," Su Hao nodded.

He understood the eagerness of youths to prove themselves. But if it were his choice, he would never turn down someone's help.

Accepting others' help could speed up progress, and why not? The time saved could be spent on more interesting and meaningful things in the future.

He would never miss an opportunity to learn new things just because of some misplaced pride. As long as one maintained a sense of respect for the knowledge and its impartor, that was enough.

After Little Fatty and He Qingqing left, Su Hao resumed his research on the Blood Qi network.

Although his current Blood Qi was still less than half of his body's capacity, it was already abundant compared to before.

If he could unleash such a vast amount of Blood Qi in an instant, the resulting power would be unimaginable, even to himself.

"The newly acquired perception ability can only sense Blood Qi, and lifeless objects without Blood Qi are completely undetectable."

"When Little Fatty and Qingqing moved beyond 100 meters, they were out of my perception range. Based on this, my perception range is roughly 100 meters, though not entirely accurate."

"There are slight differences in perception range for Little Fatty and Qingqing. Qingqing's Blood Qi is stronger than Little Fatty's, and I can sense Qingqing from farther away. This suggests that my perception range fluctuates with the amount of Blood Qi—the stronger the Blood Qi, the wider my perception range."

"Moreover, I can sense that each person's Blood Qi feels different. Little Fatty's Blood Qi feels bloated and loose, characterized by softness and lack of explosiveness. Qingqing's Blood Qi feels lean and restless, characterized by activity. In other words…"

"A Minimap!"

Exactly. Su Hao thought of the minimaps in games like LOL or Honor of Kings, which display the positions of allies and enemies.

With his ‹Perception› rune combined with his system [Cosmic Light], he could essentially create his own personal [Minimap].

Su Hao swiftly entered the Marbel Space and immediately set to work, coding the corresponding map program.

First, he established a character database and a creature database, categorizing everyone and every Blood Qi-containing creature he encountered into their respective databases.

He then located the perception records within the Marbel Space, creating a separate program named [Radar] to sync his perception with the radar.

Next, he added labels for different Blood Qi levels, categorizing them according to the Warrior levels of this world: Low, Mid, and High Common levels were marked in gray as non-threatening; Low, Mid, and High elite levels were marked in white as non-threatening; Low, Mid, and High master levels were marked in yellow as somewhat threatening. Higher levels would be added as needed.

Finally, he set up a real-time synchronization of the surrounding map. Although this was challenging, Su Hao kept his expectations low, only needing some basic blocks and lines to represent major obstacles.

Su Hao first input Little Fatty's and He Qingqing's data into the [Radar] and began a trial run.

At first, the [Radar] was empty.

Su Hao got up and walked outside.

He intended to take a walk and gather more information to fill his database.

Soon, Su Hao encountered his first person.

"Record, name: Student 00001, Beginner Common."

Following Su Hao's command, the person in his perception no longer appeared as a red blob but as a circular icon, much like the minimap in LOL, with [Student 00001] written in gray above it. The icon moved in real-time with the student's movements.

'It worked!'

Su Hao knew that the 100-meter range was not the limit; as he adapted and his Blood Qi increased, this range would continue to expand.

Delighted, Su Hao began wandering around the academy, gleefully recording everyone within his 100-meter radius.

When he squeezed into a crowd, his perception space became filled with icons, yet it remained clear and organized, making it easy to identify each individual. When he moved away, the space would empty again.

However, what Su Hao didn't realize was that his odd behavior of wandering aimlessly around the academy and performing strange actions had been noticed by all the students.

As a result, a peculiar rumor spread throughout the academy: