Chapter 32 - 28: Knowing Others is Intelligence, Knowing Oneself is Ming

"Huh?"

’I’ve hit a limit already?’

’That’s not right. I can still level it up; it hasn’t reached Perfection yet.’

Chen Jue froze for a moment, then tried throwing one of the electronic darts in his hand.

THUD. Another bullseye.

After his [Darts] Skill reached Lv. 4, Chen Jue’s feel for it was even better than before. His bullseye accuracy was becoming absurd.

He could hit it about six or seven times out of ten.

This time, however, the panel didn’t give him a [Perfect] rating or the +5 Skill Level notification.

This outcome could only mean one thing: the panel was getting pickier and didn’t want Chen Jue to exploit the short-range target used in standard darts anymore.

This kind of mechanical, short-range throwing would no longer yield any technical returns.

’My [Stone Skimming] Skill maxed out at Lv. 4 and reached Perfection directly.’

’I didn’t expect [Darts] to hit a limit at Lv. 4 as well.’

’It seems the panel’s watershed for [Skills] starts at Lv. 4,’ Chen Jue analyzed internally.

He tried switching to another machine and threw a few times from farther away.

He started by moving from the 2.44-meter line to a spot about five meters away. The difficulty of the throw increased significantly.

However, since Chen Jue was in the zone and his steel-tip dart technique had reached a professional level, his first throw from over five meters away still successfully hit the board.

But with the increased distance, the force application of his arm, wrist, and fingers needed adjustment. His accuracy dropped sharply, and his first test throw landed on the outermost ring.

It nearly missed the board entirely.

Faced with this result, Chen Jue took a deep breath, put more force into his left hand, and threw another dart.

This one landed in the scoring area, but the panel still didn’t show any notification for an increase in Skill Level.

’Still not good enough?’

Refusing to give up, Chen Jue took a few more steps back.

This time, he backed up to a spot ten meters away from the target and tried a few more throws.

Because the distance was so great, and he hadn’t updated the high-prescription lenses in his glasses for a long time, Chen Jue found that the target looked somewhat blurry and doubled from ten meters away.

His nearsightedness and astigmatism were interfering with his performance.

His first two test throws both missed the board, without exception.

Not only did he lack the strength, but his aim was also way off.

’My left hand’s strength is too low.’

’A quick, explosive throw won’t fly that far in a straight line.’ Chen Jue adjusted his technique, switching to the more common arcing throw.

This time, he finally managed a lucky hit.

The dart landed on the outermost ring of the scoring area, and the panel finally reacted!

——————

[Ding~]

[You have completed a high-difficulty darts move. You have gained a new, extraordinary understanding of the sport of darts.]

[Darts Skill Level +1]

——————

’It only triggers from more than ten meters away?’

’The difficulty is really high!’

Chen Jue pursed his lips in resignation as he looked at the notification.

He had made that last throw based purely on feel, completely lacking the sense of control he had at the 2.44-meter line.

Neither his eyesight nor his hand strength came close to meeting the basic requirements for throwing darts from ten meters.

On top of that, he had only gained one point of Skill Level from this throw. At this rate, he feared it would take more than half a year to reach Lv. 5.

After experiencing the joy of leveling up every few days, Chen Jue naturally didn’t want to practice darts so inefficiently.

"Brother Jue, are you trying some high-difficulty trick shots?" Lin Ling, who had been practicing nearby, came over and asked curiously.

Her curiosity was piqued when she saw Chen Jue attempting to throw from over ten meters away.

"Trick shots?"

"Not really! I just wanted to test my arm strength."

Chen Jue shook his head. It reminded him of the trick shot performances in pool, something only top masters with immense confidence in their skills could pull off.

He had only just reached a professional level; he was still a long way from being a true top-tier darts master.

"Brother Jue, you only started working out a few days ago. It’s fine if your strength is a little lacking."

"Once you’ve trained for a while, lowered your body fat, and put on some muscle, your strength will naturally increase."

"Unlike Feifei and me, we don’t have a talent for darts. We’ve been playing for almost two years and we’re still at an amateur level," Lin Ling said with a smile, glancing over Chen Jue’s build and appearance as she spoke.

He had a decent foundation—a good bone structure. On a scale of one to ten, his looks were probably a six.

But he was what you’d call "skinny-fat," with a fleshy face and slightly thinning hair, which dropped him from a six to a four or five.

He was just an ordinary guy who wouldn’t get a second glance in a crowd.

If it weren’t for the fact that Chen Jue was polite and didn’t stare at them inappropriately, Lin Ling and Hu Feifei probably wouldn’t have bothered talking to him at all.

...

About half an hour later, Hu Feifei and Lin Ling had lost their enthusiasm for practice.

After saying goodbye to Chen Jue, the two women changed their clothes and left the club together.

In the parking lot, inside a black Mercedes sports car, Lin Ling deliberately teased, "Feifei, you asked for Brother Jue’s WeChat just now. Don’t tell me you’re interested in him, are you?"

Hu Feifei immediately looked disgusted. "Lin Ling, are you crazy, or am I blind? My studio is full of handsome young guys—six-packs, V-lines, even a few second-generation rich kids who are better-looking than celebrities and influencers are chasing me."

"If it weren’t for his good dart skills, I wouldn’t have even asked him for pointers. How could I possibly be interested in an old fossil like him!"

Seeing Hu Feifei deny it so vehemently, Lin Ling couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

They were both young female fitness instructors, and with their family backgrounds being considered middle-class in Hang City and their own good looks, they exclusively dated up.

A man like Chen Jue, despite having a decent personality, was at too much of a disadvantage in terms of looks and aura.

Unless he was fabulously wealthy, rich to an absurd degree, the two of them might have considered it.

Unfortunately, the moment they saw Chen Jue appear in the parking lot and get into a domestic SUV, the two women instantly lost all interest in his background.

What’s the use of an ordinary guy being good at darts?

It’s not like a handsome face; you can’t live off it.

They gave a polite honk of the horn to say goodbye, then drove off, chatting about where to go shopping and have dinner.

As for Chen Jue, because the efficiency of grinding his [Darts] Skill Level had dropped sharply, he lost the motivation to practice after a little while.

He got in his car and headed toward Changhe District.

After completing his onboarding that morning, Chen Jue had posted a message about subletting his apartment on the Huaye Park forums and in various group chats.

Over the course of the afternoon, two different parties had already contacted him, wanting to see the place.

It was almost quitting time, and if he didn’t leave soon, the main roads in Hang City would be snarled in traffic.

As for the two pretty girls, Lin Ling and Hu Feifei, he had already enjoyed watching them up close all afternoon and was in no rush to actively pursue them.

Trying to pick up a rich, beautiful girl with just his dart skills?

That was basically a toad lusting after a swan’s flesh—a complete fantasy!

He’d better focus on his own business for now. As long as he had their WeChat and they practiced at the same club, there would be plenty of opportunities to interact later.

He was almost thirty, after all. Chen Jue was at least that self-aware.

...

He drove all the way back to Changhe District.

The traffic on the roads was starting to get heavy.

After arriving at the district, Chen Jue made two calls and arranged to meet with both potential tenants.

After waiting for about ten minutes, they arrived. They were workers from companies in the park.

When he met them, he saw they were young men who had just graduated. They had boyish faces and were still wearing backpacks and glasses after work. They seemed naive but with a hint of caution, just like Chen Jue’s young apprentice, Jing Lin.

They exchanged a few words, and then he led them inside to see the room.

The room was tiny, so there wasn’t much to see. It was a standard partitioned-off room.

Because it was on the first floor, both young men seemed a bit reluctant.

The weather in Hang City is very humid, and the dampness is even worse on the ground floor. If an elderly person lived there, they would almost certainly develop rheumatic arthritis.

Only young "leeks" like these, who came to the city to work, could endure it with their youthful bodies.

However, upon hearing that the rent for the first three months was only 1,800, one of the cash-strapped young men immediately decided to take it.

Since it was a sublet, it would be hard to get it off his hands without a discount, so Chen Jue cut to the chase and reduced the monthly rent by 500.

He called the landlord, who also lived in the district, signed a sublease agreement, and received the rent and security deposit transfer from the young man. Then, Chen Jue started packing his things.

As a "Hang-drifter" and worker like him, he had arrived with just one suitcase and a set of bedding.

He didn’t expect that by the time he left, he would have accumulated all sorts of miscellaneous things.

If he hadn’t just gotten a car for commuting, Chen Jue would have had to hire a moving service online to help him pack everything up.

...

He spent over an hour packing his luggage. As for cleaning, the landlord would have someone handle it, so Chen Jue didn’t need to clean up after himself.

He loaded a pile of things into his car and handed the keys to the young man who was subletting the room.

Chen Jue took off his thin autumn jacket and sat in the driver’s seat, drenched in sweat.

He started the car, made a turn, and after leaving Changhe District, he deliberately drove a lap around the neighborhood.

He had lived and worked here for over two years, after all. Though he felt no emotional attachment, he was still filled with a certain sense of sentimentality.

Taking the opportunity, he reached into the suit jacket hanging in the back seat and pulled out a crumpled pack of Blue Lìqún with only three cigarettes left.

He took one out and lit it with a CLICK of his lighter.

As he puffed away in the car, he watched the young workers, around his own age, coming and going at the district entrance.

In these hurried and weary-faced young people, Chen Jue saw a reflection of his former self.

If he hadn’t awakened this Attribute panel, he might have been just like them, still unable to escape the cage that was the Binjiang Industrial Park.

When the cigarette burned down to the filter, he reined in these useless sentimental thoughts, stepped on the gas, and headed for the Hengtong Group’s talent apartments.

A brand-new life awaited him.

As for this park where he had spent more than two years, he probably wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon.