Seeing the words "[Climbing] Skill Level +3" pop up on his panel, a slight smile touched Chen Jue’s lips. He knew he’d come to the right place.
’This Rock Climbing sport is practically tailor-made for the [Climbing] Skill!’
"You’re pretty good, Brother Jue!"
"At your level, you can skip the beginner wall. Why not try the professional-grade one?" Yu Jie said, pointing to a nearby climbing wall that was over ten meters tall.
Chen Jue hopped down from the three-meter-high beginner wall. Under Yu Jie’s guidance, he put on the protective safety harness and began to slowly pull himself up, grabbing one hold after another.
At first, he was a little tense. It was his first time climbing such a high wall, and he wasn’t used to it. Combined with his unfamiliarity with the hold positions, his ascent was very slow.
When climbing to great heights with your body suspended in the air, it’s common to involuntarily experience dizziness, nausea, and weak legs. Some even feel an impulse to jump.
However, as his [Climbing] Skill started to kick in, and with the safety rope eliminating any real risk, Chen Jue gradually overcame his fear of heights. The higher he climbed, the faster his heart beat and the more exhilarated he became.
When he successfully reached the top two minutes later, a notification—one that went beyond just Skill Level—popped up on his panel:
——————
[DING~]
[You have completed a high-standard climbing exercise. Your Adrenaline secretion has increased, your metabolism has improved, and your hormone secretion function has slightly improved.]
[Your fear of heights has weakened, your courage has increased, your willpower has been strengthened, and your resolve has been tempered.]
[Constitution +0.01]
[Spirit +0.01]
——————
’Awesome!’
’I scored a crit!’ Chen Jue pumped his fist in excitement at the top of the climbing wall.
Down below, Yu Jie was also a bit surprised to see this.
Although Chen Jue’s movements were a bit rusty, it was hard to find any fault in his technique. It was as if he had taught himself to rock climb in private and just lacked practical experience.
"Brother Jue, you’ve got a real talent for Rock Climbing! Want to sign up for a class to improve further?" Using both his hands and feet, Yu Jie scrambled to the top in just over ten seconds and began pitching the climbing club’s courses to Chen Jue.
However, Chen Jue was also surprised by how fast Yu Jie climbed. Envious of his skill, he stated the real purpose of his visit. "I’ll pass on the classes. It’s a few thousand yuan for a year-long membership, and I won’t be able to come that often. But... I’d like to learn from you. I’ll pay you a fee directly. Are you interested?"
"Huh?"
"This... taking on a private gig behind the club’s back... isn’t that a bit inappropriate?" Yu Jie muttered, stunned. He never thought Chen Jue would be after him.
"What’s so inappropriate about it!"
"You’re just working part-time, not a full-time employee of the club. I’ll transfer the fee to you privately. As long as you don’t tell anyone, what’s the problem?" Chen Jue clapped him on the shoulder, schooling the naive college student.
"Well... alright, then!"
Probably thinking about his own living expenses, Yu Jie glanced around guiltily. When he saw that no club staff were nearby, he quietly agreed to Chen Jue’s proposal.
He asked about Yu Jie’s part-time wages and found out he only made one hundred yuan for half a day’s work.
’Sure enough, college students are the cheapest labor around! Even with such high-level Rock Climbing skills, in the eyes of a capitalist, he’s worth practically nothing.’
"I’ll pay you a 200 yuan fee per session, and we can just use the facility here for training."
"Besides, I won’t come too often. Usually on weekend afternoons. If anyone asks, just say I’m a member of a school club who’s here to have some fun."
Seeing how naive the guy was, Chen Jue even came up with a complete cover story for him.
Yu Jie grinned sheepishly and nodded like a chicken pecking at grain, officially accepting Chen Jue as his overage club member.
「...」
After settling on the fee and transferring the first 200 yuan, Chen Jue began learning proper Rock Climbing techniques from Yu Jie.
They started with the theoretical knowledge first.
According to the fundamental Rock Climbing theory Yu Jie had been taught, the fear of heights is an evolutionary trait. Our early ancestors faced the constant danger of falling whenever they picked fruit from tall trees or traversed high terrain.
It’s a natural protective mechanism, a physiological response that makes humans instinctively avoid the dangers of high places.
"The former president of my club once told me that 91% of modern urbanites experience some form of acrophobia."
"The sport of Rock Climbing is all about gradually overcoming that physiological and psychological barrier through practice," Yu Jie said, demonstrating the proper way to grip the holds and the correct posture for climbing.
Chen Jue copied the movements a few times and noticed his [Climbing] Skill Level rapidly ticking up, +1, +1. ’This 200-yuan lesson is totally worth it,’ he thought.
"As for the types of Rock Climbing, if we’re talking about competitive sports, it can be divided into lead climbing, speed climbing, and bouldering."
"I’m better at speed climbing. On a standard fifteen-meter wall like this, I can reach the top in ten-odd seconds," Yu Jie explained, a hint of pride on his face.
However, the world record for fifteen-meter speed climbing was 5.208 seconds. Yu Jie’s ten-odd-second time was amateur at best, so he didn’t get too cocky about it in front of Chen Jue.
「...」
After two hours of training with Yu Jie, constantly gripping the holds made Chen Jue’s fingers and forearms burn with pain.
Still, he had successfully grinded over 600 points for his [Climbing] Skill Level and even managed to eke out 0.01 Free Attribute points.
Including the Attribute crit from before, Chen Jue had managed to grind a total of 0.03 Attribute points from Rock Climbing in a single afternoon.
’This improvement rate isn’t much worse than training street fitness.’
Most importantly, by repeatedly climbing the 15-meter wall, Chen Jue was gradually conquering his fear of being up high.
"Are there any more thrilling types of climbing, something to really build courage?" Chen Jue asked curiously as they rested after their session.
"There are!"
"If we’re going by official definitions, what we’re doing now is called sport climbing on an artificial wall. As for the thrilling kind you’re talking about, Brother Jue, that would be free soloing on natural rock faces."
"You don’t use any safety ropes at all. You rely solely on your bare hands to climb a natural rock face. It’s a total death wish."
Yu Jie pursed his lips, explained a few professional climbing terms, and then pulled out his phone to show Chen Jue a clip from the documentary *Free Solo*.
The documentary was about a foreigner named Alex who, without any protective gear whatsoever, climbed El Capitan, one of the most difficult ascents in the world.
According to Yu Jie, that kind of free soloing was a one-life-only run; you were literally grinding with your life on the line.
If you fail, it’s an instant "GG." There are no second chances.
"A lot of people have died on El Capitan."
"This legend, Alex, is considered the number one guy in the free soloing world right now."
"Every day, tens of thousands of people across the globe search to see if he’s dead yet, but he’s still alive and kicking. Not even the Red Bull daredevils are as crazy as he is!" Yu Jie shrugged.
Chen Jue watched a bit of the documentary and noticed that these free solo climbers seemed to have innately overcome their fear of heights and death.
Their eyes were as calm as still water—what you would call the absolute pinnacle of composure.
’They’ve even overcome the fear of death... Just how immense must their courage be?’ Chen Jue mused, feeling as though his own gentle training methods were missing something crucial.