Chapter 23 - 22: Who Says Darts Can’t Stab People?

Chen Jue had always thought that only professional video makers could pull off such wild-looking stone skips.

Who would’ve thought he could do the same after just five days of practice!

’It really is a low-level sport.’

’The skill ceiling is very low!’

Chen Jue recalled a foreign research paper he had seen online about Stone Skimming.

The paper mentioned that the number of skips and the distance a stone travels across the water depend on the stone’s material, its entry angle, and its initial velocity upon hitting the water.

In terms of physical technique, Chen Jue had already reached Max Level, putting him on par with professional players.

If he wanted to achieve the world record holder’s skips of over a hundred meters and more than 300 bounces, he’d have to work on the "hardware."

First, he’d need to buy specially crafted, petal-shaped clay Water-Drifting Stones online.

Second, he’d have to improve his physical fundamentals—his wrist, finger, and arm strength—to increase the stone’s initial velocity upon release.

But Chen Jue didn’t make a living from Stone Skimming. Even if he filmed a video and posted it online, he probably wouldn’t get as much traffic as the world record holder.

It was a very niche recreational sport with few followers. Besides the person in first place, no one cared about who came in second or third.

Unless he practiced for a while longer, reclaimed the world record, and created some buzz for himself.

But considering his social anxiety and the low-key nature of a normal person who didn’t want to be in front of a camera, Chen Jue felt he wasn’t cut out to be some stunt-pulling vlogger or Douyin influencer.

Although the term "influencer" was synonymous with making big money these days, only a very small group of people could actually swallow their pride and make a living that way.

Most people avoided it like the plague or sneered at influencers, just scrolling through videos online for a good laugh.

’Sigh!’

’All this power with a Max Level Stone Skimming skill...’

’It’s a really fucking useless skill.’ Chen Jue sat on the lawn for a short break, casually picked up a small stone by his feet, and hurled it forcefully at a large tree in the distance.

He used his right hand again, this time applying the technique from his Max Level Stone Skimming.

THUMP! The stone spun at an extremely high speed in mid-air before slamming heavily into the tree trunk with a dull thud.

And then, a notification unexpectedly popped up on the panel in his vision!

——————

[Ding!]

[Action meets requirements]

[Darts Skill Level +1]

——————

’What?’

’Throwing a stone can increase my Darts Skill Level?’

’This... works without a target and standard darts?’ Chen Jue froze for a moment, then scrambled up from the lawn.

He picked up another stone, aimed at the same tree, and threw it again.

THUMP! It hit the tree trunk.

This time, the panel actually gave him an [Excellent] rating, and his Darts Skill Level increased by 2.

In disbelief, Chen Jue tried a few more times. As long as he stood a bit farther away and threw with more accuracy, the panel would give him +1 or +2 Skill Level notifications, even when throwing stones with his right hand.

’Wait... let me get this straight...’

’Have I been wrong all this time? The panel’s Darts Skill isn’t just for the internationally popular steel-tip darts?’ Chen Jue’s mind started working. He went online and did some searching.

He discovered that the definition of Darts varied around the world.

Especially in Hua Country, a dominant power in ancient cold weapons, the term Darts was closely linked to self-defense and Martial Arts.

There were countless types, like Plum Blossom Darts, Swallow Darts, Meteor Darts, Grain Darts, and so on.

There were also those from literary works, like the Xiaoli Flying Knife and the Shaolin Plum Blossom Needle.

Of course, this also included using stones as darts.

For instance, Zhang Qing, nicknamed the "Featherless Arrow" in *Water Margin*, used flying stones. He used pebbles to defeat fifteen of the Liangshan Mountain heroes in a row, eventually earning the 16th seat of honor on Liangshan Mountain.

Chen Jue’s technique of throwing stones using his Stone Skimming skills was remarkably similar to Zhang Qing’s flying stones.

But in the panel’s eyes, it seemed that throwing stones, or any other kind of dart for that matter, all fell under the Darts Skill.

Just like the British-style steel-tip darts Chen Jue had practiced before, which were also just one branch within the larger category of Darts.

It was just that they were better promoted, had become professionalized, and had their own set of competition rules.

Unlike Hua Country’s Darts Skill, which very few people ever got into.

After all, these days, it’s hard to popularize a niche sport without some financial incentive.

’So, Stone Skimming should also count as a variation of Darts, right?’

’No wonder it triggered the Skill Merge notification before.’ Chen Jue closed his phone with a soft sigh, feeling like he had just acquired another piece of fun but fucking useless trivia.

...

Having discovered a new way to play, Chen Jue started to enjoy himself, using both hands to practice for a while, treating the trees as targets and the stones as darts.

When he was too tired to move, he returned to Changhe District to rest.

Wednesday was a regular workday.

He had already taken yesterday off, so skipping work again would be unjustifiable.

So, Chen Jue had no choice but to show up at the company on time, clock in, and take his seat.

Besides, after several days of high-intensity exercise, his body needed to adapt. Chen Jue planned to use his slacking-off time at work to strike a balance between work and rest.

Although the company’s funds had been embezzled and they couldn’t pay salaries for the time being.

But with so many shareholders and bosses around, plus a ton of valuable assets, he figured he’d eventually get his money if he just waited a while.

But this naive thought didn’t even last the morning. Chen Jue saw his colleagues being called into the boss’s office for a talk, one after another.