Chapter 18 - 17: Increasingly Ridiculous Stone Skimming

A five-point increase to his Skill Level in one go—he’d only ever seen that while grinding his Darts skill.

Darts could be retrieved and reused, so leveling the skill didn’t consume any resources. That’s why this Sports Skill, which he had learned later, had surprisingly surpassed Stone Skimming to reach Level 3 first, putting him at the level of an amateur player.

Seeing that tomorrow was Monday and he’d have to go back to the office to slack off, he wouldn’t be able to come out and practice during the day. Chen Jue wanted to seize this free time to level up his Stone Skimming skill!

SKPCHT~

SKPCHT~

SKPCHT~

The round Water-Drifting Stones skimmed across the river’s surface like flying saucers, sending endless ripples spreading across the water.

’Such a stable trajectory!’

’The type of stone really makes a huge difference. There’s no way I could get such a stable skip with ordinary rocks!’ Chen Jue thought, staring at the results of his throws.

He discovered that after switching to the professional Water-Drifting Stones, the trajectory of every skip was as if it had come from a template.

The stones left a trail of frequent skips that traveled far across the water!

He was still a far cry from the god-tier world record holder he’d seen online, but he was faintly approaching half of that person’s surreal skill.

Seeing this, the nearby tourists who were camping and enjoying the scenery gathered around curiously.

Some were taking pictures, others recording videos.

Many people commented from the sidelines, "Is that Stone Skimming?"

"This young guy’s got some real skill!"

"Look at how many skips he gets from one throw!"

"Whoa! It’s going so far! It’s almost reached the middle of the river—that has to be at least fifty meters, right?"

Everyone had skipped stones before, but they’d never seen anyone achieve such an absurd number of skips or cover such a long distance!

Furthermore, with the attribute panel correcting his form, Chen Jue achieved a perfect trajectory with almost every single throw.

Watching it for a while was surprisingly captivating and incredibly stress-relieving!

Some of the more playful adults and children even tried to imitate him, picking up rocks to throw. They barely got any skips and instead just splashed water all over themselves, drawing continuous laughter from the crowd.

As for Chen Jue, watching the notifications for "+4" and "+5" Skill Level continuously scroll across his panel, he threw with increasing vigor.

He continued until his arm ached from exhaustion and hung limply at his side, and until all one hundred and fifty-plus professional Water-Drifting Stones in his bag were gone. Finally, in one fell swoop, he pushed the Stone Skimming skill to Lv3!

He’d spent half the afternoon raising it two levels!

His Strength and Free Attributes also increased by 0.01 in the process.

——————

Character: Chen Jue

Strength: 0.81+

Constitution: 0.96+

Spirit: 1.06+

Skills: [Stone Skimming Lv3 (4/2000)+], [Darts Lv3 (426/2000)+], [Tai Chi Twelve Forms Lv1 (1/200)+]

Assignable Free Attribute Points: 0.01

(Character Evaluation: A somewhat enlightened office drone. Your suboptimal health is trending in a positive direction.)

——————

Looking at his ever-improving attributes on the panel, Chen Jue felt this weekend had been both fulfilling and fun.

Especially since he had mastered three obscure skills he would never have encountered otherwise.

Though they seemed useless on the surface, they were helping Chen Jue improve his physical condition and allowing him to regain hope in life.

As for the free attribute point he just earned, Chen Jue immediately allocated it to Constitution.

He’d discovered that after focusing on his Constitution Attribute for the past few days, his body had undergone significant changes.

Not only had his appetite improved, but his stamina, energy, and recovery rate were also much better than before.

In the past, if he’d gone out with Jiang Zhe for just half a day, he would’ve been so exhausted that he’d want to go back to his rented apartment and lie down for all eternity.

It was a world of difference from now, where he could wake up for a morning workout, practice Darts all morning, and still have the energy for high-intensity Stone Skimming in the afternoon!

His entire day was packed, yet he was completely energized, as if he were on a high.

But no matter how much Chen Jue wanted to keep grinding, it was time to go home and rest.

He had run out of stones, and his right arm was so sore he couldn’t lift it anymore, leaving it hanging limply at his side like a wet noodle.

He called a car back to Changhe District and, on a whim, ordered a fitness meal for dinner.

Since it was his first time trying one, Chen Jue felt like he was chewing wax and eating mud.

The beef, soba noodles, and egg were all boiled. Drizzled with some sauce and served with mashed potatoes and a vegetable salad, that was considered a full meal.

It was bland and tasteless, with not a single drop of oil!

And they charged 38 yuan for this. It was so disgusting he could barely swallow it.

’No wonder so many of the women at work complain about how hard it is to lose weight.’

’Anyone who can stick to this diet for a week is a total beast.’ Chen Jue shoveled in a few more mouthfuls, forcing himself to swallow.

’I ordered it, so I have to finish it, even if it brings tears to my eyes!’

While eating, he also browsed online, watching some of those "self-discipline" videos.

He discovered these self-discipline content creators were all absolute beasts, doing high-intensity workouts morning, noon, and night. Their three daily meals were not much different from the takeout he was currently eating.

He had no idea how these people kept it up.

If it were him, he definitely wouldn’t have that kind of willpower.

...

That night, Chen Jue went to bed exceptionally early.

After eating his takeout and taking a hot shower, he got into bed and was asleep a little after 8 PM.

He had been incredibly active this weekend. On top of that, raising his attributes and grinding Skill Levels had consumed a huge amount of energy, leaving his body exhausted.

Chen Jue slept for over 12 hours straight.

He woke up at 8:30 AM sharp the next day, just as his work alarm began to ring. Chen Jue hurriedly washed up, changed, and, dressed sharply in a suit, blended into the morning stream of commuters from the surrounding districts.

Some rushed for the subway, while others hurried to clock in and grab breakfast.

Looking at the diverse stream of people around him—especially those his own age who had clearly partied all weekend and were now dragging their exhausted bodies to work, yawning endlessly and nearly dozing off as they walked—Chen Jue felt like he was looking at his former self.

’A regular routine really is better!’

’My muscles are still a bit sore, but I’m not the least bit drowsy this morning,’ Chen Jue mused.

He bought breakfast at the first-floor cafeteria in Huaye Mansion and finished it, using the DingTalk app to clock in early via GPS to avoid losing his perfect attendance bonus.

He scanned his face to get through the security gate and squeezed into an elevator going up to the 23rd floor.

In the elevator, he ran into a few acquaintances from the medical aesthetics company that shared their floor and exchanged some pleasantries.

DING! The elevator doors slid open.

Chen Jue was just about to face the new Monday morning with his best possible attitude, while simultaneously planning how he could reasonably slack off on the clock.

But the moment he stepped out of the elevator...

He froze.

The entrance to Taisheng Finance was packed with a motley crowd, and a group of uniformed government officials were setting up a police line to maintain order.

’What the hell is this?’

’Did I get off on the wrong floor?’ Chen Jue glanced back at the floor indicator above the elevator; it was, indeed, the familiar 23rd floor.

Just then, his junior, Jiang Lin, who had arrived a little earlier, popped out of nowhere. He grabbed Chen Jue and pulled him toward a less crowded spot. "Brother Jue! Something terrible has happened at the company!"

"Chairman Zhang and Director Wang from the finance department skipped town overnight with all the money!"