Chapter 2: Why Work for Nothing?

Staring at the boxed text that had suddenly appeared before his eyes, Chen Jue froze.

He thought he had smoked too much and the smoke had started messing with his eyes.

He subconsciously reached up and rubbed them.

But after rubbing them, Chen Jue was even more bewildered.

Because after the three lines of notification text vanished, a character attribute box, like something from a MUD text-based game, popped up automatically!

——————

Character: Chen Jue

Strength: 0.76

Constitution: 0.89

Spirit: 1.05

Skill: [Stone Skimming Lv. 0 (1/100)]

Assignable Free Attribute Points: 0.00

(Character Evaluation: An ordinary corporate drone. Your body is in a state of severe sub-health.)

——————

"What is this?"

"A system?"

"A cheat?"

"Have I been reading too many web novels? Am I hallucinating?"

Chen Jue frowned, thinking that maybe the immense pressure had caused him to develop some kind of mental illness.

He had worked at his company for four years and in this building, Huaye Mansion, for two. Chen Jue had heard plenty of stories about people in the surrounding office parks having mental breakdowns from work.

The pressure on office workers was immense, and with the "involution" culture growing more severe in recent years, there were even cases of people threatening to jump off buildings after being laid off.

Fearing that something was wrong with his own mind, Chen Jue hurried to the restroom in the small garden, took off his glasses, and splashed cold water on his face.

He hoped the shock of the cold water would clear his head.

But no matter how much he splashed, rubbed, or washed his eyes, the character attribute box remained fixed in his vision.

’Damn it!’

’This thing isn’t going to stay here forever, is it?’

’How am I supposed to browse incognito online if it comes with its own mosaic censor?’

Chen Jue waved a hand in front of his face. Finally, he tried to mentally focus on the ’X’ in the top-right corner of the box, and he finally managed to close the panel.

He then tried opening and closing it a few more times.

After fiddling with it a dozen or so times, Chen Jue grudgingly accepted the objective fact that he now had an attribute panel in his body.

’What’s this panel for?’

’To add attribute points to myself?’

’And this [Stone Skimming] Skill... no matter how I look at it, something feels off.’ Chen Jue stared at the panel, studying it for a moment.

There were no instructions, just a solitary, floating panel.

Setting aside the Skill and free attribute points for now, the three core Attributes of Strength, Constitution, and Spirit were just like what you’d find on a character in many RPGs.

However, it was the first time Chen Jue had ever seen attribute values precise to two decimal places.

Below that, there was also a short character evaluation.

As for the word "sub-health" in the evaluation, Chen Jue vaguely recalled seeing it in his high school biology textbook.

’How do I get these free attribute points?’

’Don’t you usually get a few free points when you first start a game system?’

’Do I have to pay to top up?’

Chen Jue scanned the panel but couldn’t find a top-up portal.

This panel probably wasn’t made by Penguin, he figured.

...

CLICK.

He took out his lighter and lit up.

HIIISSS... PFFFT...

Looking at the word "sub-health" in the evaluation, Chen Jue felt like he needed a few more cigarettes to calm his nerves.

He pondered for a moment but still couldn’t figure out the panel’s purpose.

However, remembering what had activated the panel in the first place, Chen Jue went back to the edge of the pond in the small garden and picked up a few more pebbles.

PLONK.

PLOP.

The first two pebbles didn’t skim, sinking straight to the bottom of the pond after he threw them.

’Do I have to actually make it skim to get a reaction?’

Chen Jue stared blankly at the two sets of ripples spreading across the pond’s surface. He glanced at the panel he’d summoned, but there was no notification.

He had no choice but to squat down, search carefully, and switch to a smooth, flat, thin stone.

He adjusted his stance, found the right angle, and threw with all his might.

SPLAT!

A series of splashes erupted as the stone successfully skipped four times across the pond, sending a beautiful chain of ripples spreading across the water.

This time, the attribute box finally showed some activity!

[Ding!]

[Action meets requirements]

[Stone Skimming Skill Level +1]

After the three lines of notifications scrolled by, a green "↑" arrow appeared next to the newly awakened [Stone Skimming Lv. 0 (1/100)] in his Skill Bar, and the progress bar rose slightly, changing to (2/100).

’So as long as I perform a successful stone skim that meets the requirements, the Skill Level increases?’ Chen Jue’s interest was suddenly piqued as he read the notification on the panel.

This was way more fun than work!

He stubbed out his cigarette, squatted down, and continued searching for suitable stones.

Over the next few minutes, he threw dozens of times and managed nine successful skims.

Watching the green "+1" notifications for his [Stone Skimming] Skill Level constantly pop up, Chen Jue felt a sense of liberation in both mind and body.

"This thing is a great stress reliever!"

Chen Jue couldn’t help but marvel, feeling as though he had rediscovered the simple childhood joy of playing by the reservoir back in his rural hometown.

But after throwing dozens of stones, Chen Jue’s right forearm and wrist began to feel sore.

Having spent years sitting in an office with no exercise, it had been a long time since he’d performed such a repetitive, forceful motion.

At the same time, the commotion from his stone skimming attracted a uniformed security guard.

"Hey buddy, which company are you with? If you keep throwing stones in the pond, I’m going to have to talk to your boss!" the guard said, his face dark.

The pebbles in the small garden had been bought and transported here for landscaping. If everyone tossed them into the pond as wantonly as Chen Jue, the whole arrangement would be ruined in a few days.

The property management for the office park had even sent out several notices about this.

Besides, the security guards and janitors were the ones who had to get the stones back out of the pond.

Wasn’t this just making trouble for them right in front of their faces?

Realizing he was in the wrong, Chen Jue quickly offered a few cigarettes to the security guard.

After apologizing several times and promising it wouldn’t happen again, Chen Jue scurried away from the rooftop garden and took the elevator back to his company.

...

Huaye Mansion had 28 floors in total. Taisheng Finance was on the 23rd floor, sharing the entire level with a medical aesthetics company across the hall. The annual rent alone was 1.8 million.

The entrance was adorned with the company name in imposing, three-dimensional letters, and they even had an exceptionally attractive receptionist sitting at the front desk to keep up appearances.

Unfortunately, the company was poorly managed, and its annual profit didn’t even amount to a rounding error for the medical aesthetics company across the hall.

That medical aesthetics company was rumored to be listed on the STAR Market. Their Hang City office was just a branch; the headquarters had already moved to Shanghai. They were incredibly well-funded and couldn’t be compared to a soon-to-be-bankrupt, ragtag operation like Taisheng Finance.

Staring at the company entrance he had passed through for thousands of days and nights, Chen Jue couldn’t help but lament how quickly time had flown. His four years of youth felt like a skipped stone, tossed into the vast ocean of Hang City without making so much as a ripple.

He swiped his key card and went inside.

The young woman at the front desk was loudly chatting on a voice message with her friend, asking about new, trendy online-famous shops nearby that they could check out after work.

For junior clerks like her, with low salaries and high job turnover, finding a new position was never a concern.

Plenty of people job-hopped between companies within the same building, unlike someone like Chen Jue in a highly specialized technical role.

He walked quickly back to his desk just as the door to the conference room, which had been closed all day, swung open.

Several shareholders and executives emerged one by one, their faces flushed from arguing and their expressions grim.

One of them, a slightly chubby, round-faced executive with a buzz cut, wore a long face and beckoned to Chen Jue. "Chen Jue, come to my office for a second!"

At his words, Chen Jue immediately stood up and, under the astonished gazes of his office colleagues, followed the round-faced executive to his office.

...

Inside the impressively decorated general manager’s office, Chen Jue sat uneasily on the large leather sofa.

As for the round-faced executive, after taking a few calls, he pressed a few buttons on a tea-making machine and served Chen Jue a bowl of Gongfu tea while he spoke.

Ragtag financial operations all loved this kind of setup.

Some small-time financial intermediaries would just rent a storefront, set up a tea table, and start doing business.

They could talk a big game, but they’d spend all day doing nothing serious, just sitting around drinking Gongfu tea. The moment they snagged a client, they’d fleece them for all they were worth with their endless schemes.

However, the round-faced Zhou Yong in front of him was actually quite capable.

Chen Jue knew that the entire business framework of Taisheng Finance had been built by this President Zhou.

The other shareholders and the chairman had basically just put up the money without contributing any effort; they had no real business acumen.

"Chen Jue, you’ve been with the company for four years, and your performance has been pretty good."

"The company hasn’t been doing well these past few years. As the one in charge, I feel I’ve let everyone down."

"How about this: I’m about to leave and start over, funding a new company myself. I plan on taking a group of people with me. Are you interested in continuing to work for me?" Zhou Yong picked up his teacup and took a sip, his shifty eyes scrutinizing Chen Jue.

Being stared at like that made Chen Jue’s skin crawl. Although he was a mid-level employee, people in technical positions were often introverted and not particularly skilled at socializing or dealing with people.

So, when asked so directly about leaving his job, Chen Jue felt a wave of panic.

Fortunately, he was a quick thinker. He called up the newly awakened panel, using its text to temporarily block the executive’s scrutinizing gaze.

’Awesome!’

Staring at the mosaic of text in front of him and avoiding the other man’s gaze, Chen Jue felt his confidence firm up a little. After taking two sips of tea, he asked, "President Zhou, if I go with you, will my salary and benefits stay the same?"

"Well... the new company will just be starting out. Before we start seeing results, it will definitely be a bit lower than what you make here. For now, I can offer you seven thousand."

"But don’t worry, I’ll raise it back to your current level within a year at most. I can guarantee you that." Zhou Yong started making a grand promise.

’Damn it! I’m almost thirty and I’m still being fed these empty promises.’

’No house, no wife, and now no money either. You want me to take out loans and max out my credit cards just to work for you? Are you kidding me?’

’Why the hell would I work a job that doesn’t even pay!’ Chen Jue complained endlessly in his head.