First, he flicked a few playing cards around his room. Seeing that his left hand could throw them without the slightest hesitation, just as flexibly and powerfully as his right, Chen Jue’s anxious heart finally settled.
’Good, forcefully adding those points last time didn’t leave any side effects!’
’Now I can get back to my normal training routine.’ Chen Jue was happy.
In his view, a healthy body was more important than anything.
The past few days, with his left hand injured, had really cost him a lot of training time.
As for his left hand, he’d previously heard Lin Ling mention acquired left-handedness and had been thinking about training his left hand to perform complex movements just like his right. Because of this, he had high hopes for it.
He went up to the rooftop just as the sun was rising and started with his usual 30 minutes of red light therapy and Eye Health Exercises.
This time, he didn’t have to do it one-handed. After completing the full duration, his Constitution Attribute increased by another 0.01.
A warm current formed around his eyes, and his vision improved again, dropping by several dozen degrees.
Feeling that his current 300-degree glasses were now a bit too strong, Chen Jue went back to his room and switched to another pair he had prepared in advance, a 200-degree pair.
At his current rate of improvement, about 100 degrees per week, Chen Jue estimated that in another half a month of practice, he could finally take off the glasses he’d worn for over a decade.
...
He went out to the park for his morning exercise but didn’t see Wu Fang or the old man.
’It’s Sunday, after all,’ he thought. ’They can’t possibly come to the park seven days a week. People need to rest and relax.’
Not everyone could be like Chen Jue, wound as tight as a clock spring every day, spending all their time exercising and grinding Attributes.
Without a panel, it would be hard for anyone to be as self-disciplined as he was.
The human body’s rate of skill improvement is very low, and the returns are small, so the motivation to persevere is naturally weaker.
However, Zhao Jianguo’s Tai Chi Class was still running. According to Teacher Zhao, as long as it wasn’t windy, raining, or a public holiday, he would be in the park leading practice.
He practiced with them for two hours, grinding some Skill Level for Tai Chi and the Thirteen Stances, and even gained 0.02 free attribute points in the process.
He didn’t spend them right away, choosing to save them for a rainy day.
If another money-making opportunity like the silver brick challenge came up, these free attribute points would be a huge help.
And of course, if he suffered any sprains or bruises, he could also use the points to recover.
...
Not seeing Teacher Wu in the morning had dampened Chen Jue’s enthusiasm for exercise quite a bit.
After finishing his Tai Chi practice with Zhao Jianguo, he left the park to get breakfast and took the opportunity to check the video earnings on his Brother of Special Skills account.
Thanks to the traffic from yesterday’s trending topics, the view counts for his three uploaded videos had skyrocketed.
The most popular one, "[Special Skill: Royal Flush]," already had over 500,000 views, while the other two had surpassed 100,000. Including the promotional collaboration with Rainbow Light Studio, his total earnings had reached over 2,000 yuan.
’This is easy money!’
’Even counting the filming equipment, the cost was only a few hundred yuan, and it’ll keep generating income.’ Chen Jue couldn’t help but marvel.
Although he had missed the golden age of short-form video, earning two thousand yuan from just three crudely made "special skill" videos was something he could have never imagined back when he was a white-collar worker.
But after seeing this real, tangible income that he could withdraw at any time, Chen Jue suddenly understood why so many people were desperately trying to become internet celebrities these days.
’As long as you get enough followers, combined with those view counts that easily break a hundred million, couldn’t you just lie at home and count money?’
...
The morning flew by. After a short nap following lunch, Chen Jue spent the afternoon cooped up in his room, practicing the Horse Stance and using his grip strengthener.
He also took advantage of his free time to browse online fitness tutorials and read up on health knowledge related to human movement.
He had now taken a major step toward successful weight loss; his body fat and weight had both dropped significantly.
But there was still a considerable gap between his current physique and the one he wanted—the kind with eight-pack abs and a V-taper, similar to Yu Jie’s.
’After the fat on my arms, thighs, and abdomen has gone down, the next step is to train what Coach Li called the core!’ Chen Jue recalled a fitness theory he had heard during a trial class.
From an anatomical perspective, the so-called "human core" refers to the axial skeleton and all the soft tissues that are proximally connected to it and originate from it.
This includes the muscle groups and fascia of the shoulders, neck, chest, abdomen, and pelvis.
As for the function of the core, it is to provide static support, stabilize the torso to prevent excessive spinal movement, and assist in transmitting power through the body’s kinetic chain.
To put it simply, think of human limb movement as a bicycle’s drivetrain. If the movement of the limbs is the chain on the outside, then the core is the fixed central chainring. The chain cannot move without the chainring turning.
In the past, due to long hours of desk work, a lack of exercise, and poor posture, Chen Jue had developed a herniated lumbar disc and an anterior pelvic tilt, as well as a certain degree of spinal curvature.
This combination of issues had a terrible effect on his overall appearance and bearing.
Whenever he stood, he would stick his belly out, hunch his back, and crane his neck, which made him look extremely awkward.
Fortunately, thanks to the improvements from his panel and his recent period of efficient exercise, this awkward bearing had greatly improved.
However, it was still far from perfect.
To further improve his physical fitness, in addition to his daily limb-focused training, he needed to add core exercises.
While exercises like stance training and the Horse Stance did have elements that strengthened the core, both of these Skills were static exercises, and their effect on improving core strength was minimal.
’Looks like I’ll have to focus on Climbing!’
Chen Jue looked through a bunch of online fitness tutorials, then glanced at his panel. Right now, the only thing that fit the bill was the [Climbing] Skill, which he had largely ignored until now.
However, Chen Jue still needed to find some time to ask Yu Jie how to train Climbing specifically.
Relying solely on the little bit of stair climbing he did at work every day was obviously not a realistic way to significantly improve his core strength.
’If all else fails, maybe I should join a rock climbing club or a gym?’ Chen Jue mused.
...
On Sunday night, Chen Jue didn’t exercise anymore. He relaxed by watching some mindless videos online, playing a couple of games, and then watching a popular new movie.
He hated the feeling of constantly being wound up, like he was back in the workplace caught in an endless internal competition.
In any case, he had plenty of time now, so he could just train slowly with the help of his panel.
When he woke up the next morning, the weather in Hang City had taken a turn.
A cold front must have moved south. A light rain began to fall outside, and even his apartment felt damp and cold.
Unable to sunbathe in the sunrise, Chen Jue had to turn on his computer and use the artificial red light to train his eyes.
After half an hour, he had grinded out another 0.01 Constitution. Seeing it wasn’t time for work yet, he started flicking playing cards around his room to pass the time.
Since his left hand was fully recovered, Chen Jue practiced his Flying Card skill with both hands at once, repeatedly piercing a styrofoam shipping block he had hung up in his room.
He didn’t stop until two hours had passed, by which point the playing cards had sliced the styrofoam block in two.
’Not bad! Another 2,300 Skill Level points for [Hidden Weapon Throwing]!’ Seeing the long progress bar was now more than halfway full, Chen Jue was in high spirits.
He went downstairs, ate breakfast, and drove to Hengtong Group.
He took the stairs up, arriving at his workstation at 9:10.
This was Chen Jue’s second week on the job. The one-week introductory period was over, and starting today, the office system would automatically assign him clients.
However, reviewing clients was practically effortless for a risk control master like Chen Jue. He just had to rush through them before the end of the day like Fatty Bai did, leaving most of his time free to slack off.
But just as he was thinking about starting his daily grip training, his neighboring colleague, Fatty Bai Shen Shikun, suddenly staggered out of the restroom.
From his pale face and stumbling legs, it was clear he had just been squatting on the toilet and his legs had gone numb.
Chen Jue glanced over, just about to greet him.
Unexpectedly, Shen Shikun barreled forward clumsily, seeming to struggle for breath. He clutched his chest with one hand and supported himself with the other on the office’s glass partition wall as he stumbled forward a few quick steps.
"Shikun, are you okay?" Chen Jue asked with concern, seeing that something was clearly wrong.
But before the man could even make a sound, he opened his mouth, clutched his chest, and with a THUD, collapsed heavily beside Chen Jue’s workstation!
His fall sent the colleagues, who had been chatting about their weekend plans and the latest trending news, into a panic.
"Quick!"
"Help him!"