After leaving the park at 8:30, Chen Jue had a leisurely breakfast at a roadside diner.
Watching the traffic outside gradually build, Chen Jue knew he was about to face the morning rush hour, but he wasn’t the least bit worried.
His team leader, Li Mo, had told him yesterday that his work schedule for the week was just for acclimatization. He wouldn’t have any risk-control responsibilities and would only be assigned a few clients in the afternoon to get some practice.
Even if he were late, the most he’d lose was a few hundred yuan from his perfect attendance bonus. For a professional slacker on a 20K salary, that paltry bonus wasn’t even worth considering.
Besides, Chen Jue discovered that the closer he left to 9:00 AM, the less congested the roads were.
The peak congestion period had already passed. The only people left on the road were either bosses or people with the same mindset as Chen Jue: ’I’m already late, so what’s the rush?’
Then, something miraculous happened!
By the time Chen Jue drove unimpeded to Hengtong Mansion, he managed to clock in smoothly at the building’s entrance right at 8:59 AM.
The drive only took seven minutes—it was even fucking easier than leaving half an hour earlier like he did yesterday.
...
After parking the car, he slung his small bag on his back and started climbing the stairs.
This time, the exhaust fans in the stairwell were already on, WHIRRING as they pumped fresh air into the corridor.
The air wasn’t as stuffy as yesterday, making the climb more comfortable for Chen Jue.
Since he’d already done it yesterday and had some experience, Chen Jue tried to pace himself and manage his stamina this time.
He didn’t rush too hard at the start, simply taking the stairs at a steady pace.
After reaching the 8th floor, he began using both his hands and feet, pulling on the handrail for support as his legs pumped rhythmically. He didn’t stop to rest even once, climbing straight to the 17th floor in one go.
Standing at the entrance of the risk control department, he checked the time. It had only taken nine minutes—a massive improvement over yesterday!
And just then, a notification popped up on his panel:
——————
[Ding~]
[Proficiency reached 100%]
[Climbing Lv. 0 (100/100) → Lv. 1 (1/200)]
[You have gained a preliminary understanding of the sport of Climbing. You are beginning to learn how to manage your stamina, improve your posture, and coordinate your sense of balance and direction.]
——————
[Ding~]
[You have completed a high-intensity aerobic exercise. Your leg muscles have been strengthened, your cardiopulmonary function has improved, and your muscular endurance has slightly increased.]
[Free Attribute +0.01]
——————
Although he hadn’t triggered a critical hit like yesterday, Chen Jue was still thrilled to see an Attribute gain.
He was especially pleased about leveling up [Climbing], which brought with it a strange new muscle memory.
He believed that when he climbed again tomorrow morning, he could definitely improve his time to the 17th floor.
...
Under the astonished gazes of his new colleagues, Chen Jue ambled over to his workstation.
Just then, his team leader, Li Mo, who was sitting further away, glanced at the time. He frowned, then sent Chen Jue a message: "Don’t be late tomorrow!"
"I wasn’t late, Team Leader :P The line for the elevator was just a little long," Chen Jue replied in a flash, attaching his clock-in record.
When Li Mo saw Chen Jue’s down-to-the-wire clock-in time, he remembered that this guy had supposedly been squeezed in through the back door by some vice president. His connections weren’t trivial—even President Luo had personally asked about him. After a moment’s thought, he replied, "As long as you’re not late, it’s fine. But still, try to be at your desk earlier next time. It leaves a bad impression."
Chen Jue sent back an "Okay" sticker and headed to the restroom to change his clothes.
He didn’t expect that as soon as he entered the restroom, he’d see Fatty Bai, Shen Shikun, coming out with his face flushed beet red. He had clearly gone straight in for a prolonged "battle" the moment he arrived at work.
The two veteran slackers exchanged a knowing smile and wordlessly brushed past each other.
Judging by Shen Shikun’s limp, his legs had obviously fallen asleep while he was in there.
Chen Jue had hemorrhoids himself, and he’d often been constipated back when he worked at Taisheng Finance.
Anyone with a desk job who sits for long periods suffers from reduced intestinal motility; the embarrassing problem of constipation is practically unavoidable.
However, ever since awakening the panel, increasing his exercise, and regulating his daily schedule, Chen Jue had made it a habit to take care of his morning bowel movement right after his morning eye exercises.
He would drink plenty of water to lubricate his digestive tract before going to the bathroom, and everything would pass smoothly with one squat. He was usually done and completely empty in under a minute—an unexpected benefit on top of his improved eyesight.
As for the hemorrhoids, Chen Jue had done some research on them over the past few days to get a basic understanding.
It was a peculiar condition whose exact cause wasn’t fully understood, making it temporarily incurable, much like baldness. Some theories claimed it was caused by varicose veins and thrombosis of the anal cushions, while others attributed it to the downward displacement of the cushions.
The main treatments were either surgical removal or a more conservative approach using medication.
Chen Jue had been using hemorrhoid cream ever since his physical, but it wasn’t having much of an effect. He planned to try the Kegel exercises he’d read about online during work hours.
He’d have to try them to see if they actually worked.
...
After changing his clothes and sitting down at his workstation, Chen Jue glanced at Shen Shikun at the next desk.
After coming out of the restroom, the fatty’s previously beet-red face was now completely pale as he sat with his head bowed, dozing off!
His head bobbed every so often like a chicken pecking at grain. It was obvious he hadn’t gotten much sleep last night.
’Getting paid to take a dump, and now he’s napping on the clock.’
’This guy’s a much better slacker than I am!’ Chen Jue grumbled internally. He made a show of turning on his computer, then grabbed a hand gripper and began to squeeze.
He had to be consistent with his thirty-minute grip training sessions, one for each half of the day.
Since his Strength Attribute was still low, Chen Jue planned to use his work hours to boost it.
He hadn’t expected that just as he finished his 30-minute session and earned 0.01 Strength, the phone on his desk would ring.
When he answered, it was the group’s front desk. They said two police officers were at the door asking for him. Chen Jue himself was stunned.
’What did I do now?’
Chen Jue couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation. Thinking it was still about the incident where he killed the dog to save someone, he let Li Mo know and headed to the group’s first-floor reception room.
In the reception room, Officer Liu and his assistant, Xiaoli, were sipping the hot tea the young receptionist had brought them. Both were thinking the same thing: ’Damn, these finance guys really know how to have a good time!’
By day, they were elites in suits and ties; by night, they transformed into City Hunters, viciously slaughtering rats in garbage piles to experience the thrill of hunting wildlife.
To find their "suspect," Chen Jue, the master and apprentice duo had spent the night scouring the Celestial Eye surveillance footage from near the university town.
Because it was too dark, and because the trash-filled areas Chen Jue frequented were surveillance blind spots, they eventually locked onto his black, domestically-made SUV with temporary plates. They traced it all the way to a work vehicle registration at Hengtong Group.
As soon as morning office hours began, the two made a special trip out to Hengtong to pull the employee’s file, planning to catch their man red-handed and bring Chen Jue in directly.
Who would have thought that after meeting Chen Jue and asking just a few questions, both Officer Liu and his assistant, Xiaoli, would be left dumbfounded?
"You didn’t use a homemade crossbow or an air gun?"
"You just threw nails with your bare hands?"
Xiaoli, who was taking Chen Jue’s statement, raised his voice, looking at him with suspicion.
In his eyes, the mild-mannered finance professional before him, aside from having unusually sharp eyes, showed no signs of being some kind of hidden master from head to toe.
’This guy could kill a rat with a nail?’
"That’s right, just my bare hands. I don’t have any of the crossbows or homemade air guns you mentioned, officers," Chen Jue said, spreading his hands innocently.
’So all this trouble was caused by my "jungling"!’
"Mr. Chen, can you describe the scene when you were throwing the nails?"
"The surveillance footage was a bit unclear, so we made a special trip to confirm things with you," Officer Liu added from the side. He didn’t quite believe it either.
After all, the deaths of the twenty-odd rats from last night were too similar—every single one was killed by a single nail.
He couldn’t imagine anyone achieving such lethality by throwing nails with their bare hands, short of using a custom nail gun.
"I just found a good angle, from about ten meters away, waited for the rat to stop moving much, and then threw..." Chen Jue scratched his head.
"Ten meters??? Are you sure!"
Xiaoli’s note-taking hand trembled. He felt like he’d just fucking met a god.
Having only recently graduated from the police academy, Xiaoli vaguely recalled that he had barely scraped a passing grade on his own 15-meter pistol target practice.
From a distance of ten meters, accurately hitting a small, mobile target like a rat wasn’t guaranteed even with a firearm, let alone a nail.
"Forget it. I’ll just give you a demonstration. I happen to have some nails in my car."
Chen Jue had wanted to explain verbally, but he suddenly realized his Lv. 5 [Hidden Weapon Throwing] skill was, frankly, a bit ridiculous.
He had no choice but to lead the two disbelieving officers down to the underground garage and retrieve a box of nails from the trunk of his car.
Seeing this, Officer Liu warily inspected Chen Jue’s trunk but found no regulated weapons.
As for Chen Jue, he grabbed a bottle of mineral water from his car and placed it in the aisle of the garage.
He backed up about ten meters, then with a SWISH, he powerfully flung a nail. It instantly pierced the water bottle, sending water splashing everywhere.
The force of the impact sent the bottle tumbling away.
Witnessing this astonishing scene, Officer Liu and Xiaoli, who was recording everything on his body cam, were both completely dumbfounded. They were finally convinced that Chen Jue had been telling the truth.
...
The misunderstanding resolved, the two officers left Hengtong Mansion, still reeling in shock.
On the way, Officer Liu was looking up Chen Jue’s information. Seeing the registration on file for his Darts and the record from his most recent case, he burst out laughing. "So this is the hidden master who took down that dog last week! No wonder he’s so damn good at throwing nails!"
"If he can easily kill a rat with a nail from over ten meters away, taking down a dog with one dart is no big deal."
"Huh? Master, what did you say? That pit bull from last week... Chen Jue was the one who took it down?" Xiaoli, who was driving, exclaimed in shock.
Last week’s vicious dog attack had caused a huge stir in Hang City.
Although online attention had been diverted to Teacher Wu, the colleagues at their station still discussed the incident whenever they had free time.
Besides analyzing it as a case study, Xiaoli and his colleagues would privately speculate about the true abilities of the dart expert who had never shown his face.
He never expected that he would just happen to run into the man himself on a routine field assignment.
But thinking back on Chen Jue’s ordinary, white-collar image, the fantasy Xiaoli had built up in his head about the great dart master instantly crumbled.
"Master, if Chen Jue is that amazing, why doesn’t he become an internet celebrity or a star?"
"You can make way more money as an internet celebrity than working a regular job!" Xiaoli mumbled.
Officer Liu patted his shoulder, motioning for him to focus on driving. He then advised him in a meaningful tone, "You’re still young. Don’t let your imagination run wild."
"This world is full of eccentric people. Not everyone is willing to swallow their pride and seek the limelight."