Chapter 36 - 32: Fame and Fortune?

"Real-world Darts combat?"

’Just like a competition, the Skill Level increase is huge!’ Chen Jue thought, slightly stunned as he looked at the new notification.

He felt like he’d found another way to increase his [Darts] Skill Level.

Compared to a simple stationary target, a moving one was clearly more challenging. The greater the difficulty, the faster his Skill Level grew.

When he’d thrown the dart at the dog, it had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. Chen Jue had been afraid the pit bull would go berserk and bite someone else.

As for why he hadn’t acted while it was still biting, Chen Jue was worried his skills weren’t good enough. He feared he might fail to take down the pit bull and accidentally injure the little boy instead.

The Darts he bought weren’t sharpened, but their tips had incredible piercing power.

He’d seen a product demonstration online where an expert hired by the seller easily pierced tree bark with an unsharpened dart, sinking it deep into the wood.

With such immense piercing power, it had only taken one throw to puncture the throat of a large, tough-hided beast like a pit bull.

If he had missed and hit the little boy, Chen Jue himself would probably be the one locked up right now!

...

As he was lost in thought, a pleasant, melodic female voice sounded from behind him. "Hello!"

He turned to see that the beautiful woman who practiced the Rope Dart had just finished giving her statement and was walking out.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Wu Fang."

"I saw you in the park earlier. Your Darts skills are amazing! Are you a sports academy student? Or is it a family martial art?" Wu Fang’s eyes curiously sized up Chen Jue.

Chen Jue was taken aback. He had been planning a roundabout strategy of claiming it was a family art to spend more time getting closer to her. He never expected that after showing off his skills a little, she would be the one to approach him.

"I’m self-taught. My skills are just average, I guess! There are many people better than me," Chen Jue said, scratching his head shyly.

Looking at her dashing face and her stunning figure, this quiet horndog felt a little stir in his heart.

"Self-taught, and you can kill with a single dart?" Wu Fang was shocked to hear this.

She practiced darts herself—the Rope Dart, granted—but the principles were similar enough that she had some understanding of how difficult regular Darts were.

To do what Chen Jue did—pierce a rabid dog from five meters away with a single dart—wasn’t just a matter of skill. It also required a steady mind, incredible courage, and exceptionally sharp eyes.

Lacking even one of those prerequisites would make hitting a dog’s throat extremely difficult.

Let alone killing it in one shot!

"I graduated from a sports academy and know several university classmates who practice darts. Even if it were them, I don’t think they could have made a fatal shot like you did," Wu Fang said with some emotion.

She asked for Chen Jue’s name, then took out her phone, intending to add him on WeChat.

Clearly, this beautiful girl who practiced traditional Martial Arts had taken an interest in Chen Jue.

But as they were talking, a commotion erupted from the police station behind them.

"Looks like a fight broke out!"

"That Grandmaster Liu... getting into a fight at his age," Wu Fang explained with a helpless sigh.

It turned out she knew the old man from the park; they both lived in the same nearby neighborhood.

While she was giving her statement inside, she saw the family of the old man who had fallen come storming into the police station to demand accountability.

Their elderly family member had been pushed over and sent to the hospital with several broken bones. It was only natural for the family to be furious and cause a scene.

Besides, they were all Hang City locals. Basically every family had been compensated for demolition, with net worths in the tens of millions at a minimum. With connections and resources, they weren’t people who had to worry about money.

Coming here to cause trouble for the dog owner’s family was purely to vent their anger.

As for the little boy’s family, they were probably still at the hospital with him.

When the two families met later to discuss compensation, it was eighty percent likely another fight like this would break out.

"What a mess!"

"If you want to own a dog, why not do it in the countryside or a village?" Chen Jue shrugged.

Big cities were all reinforced concrete, with everyone living in tightly packed apartment buildings.

The living space couldn’t compare to the countryside. If you kept a dog at home without good ventilation and didn’t clean diligently, the smell alone would be enough to knock out a visitor.

As a young man from a rural background, Chen Jue couldn’t understand the mindset of people who kept dogs in the city.

...

He chatted a bit with Wu Fang, they added each other on WeChat, and considered it a preliminary introduction.

Although they had common interests, Chen Jue’s current image was honestly a bit lacking.

Until he improved his image, it would probably be difficult to attract this teacher, whom all the old men in the park agreed had very high standards.

After watching her get into a taxi and leave, Chen Jue checked the time on his phone.

Seeing that it was almost dinnertime, Chen Jue went to a nearby commercial street, found a Chinese restaurant, and enjoyed a nice meal.

He returned to the talent apartment building intending to go to bed early. The afternoon’s ordeal had drained a lot of his energy, but just then, his phone rang.

It was an unknown number. He answered and found out it was the father of the boy who had been bitten.

The man had gotten Chen Jue’s number from the police and was calling specifically to thank him.

He also said that once his son’s condition stabilized and he was out of the ICU, he wanted to reward Chen Jue in person. He hoped Chen Jue could give him an address so their family could come and express their gratitude.

Hearing this, Chen Jue politely declined.

His dart was just the finishing blow. The truly crucial part was Wu Fang’s initial strikes on the dog with her Rope Dart.

So, after politely refusing the boy’s father’s offer, Chen Jue hung up.

However, when he saw the man had used his number to send a friend request on WeChat, Chen Jue felt he couldn’t refuse and accepted it.

The father was probably still busy at the hospital. He just sent a [fist salute] emoji and a word of thanks, and that was it.

’He seems like a reasonable father. I hope the little boy recovers soon!’ Chen Jue prayed silently.

He was just about to go online and buy a new set of Darts to practice with.

Unexpectedly, his phone rang again!

Chen Jue was a bit bewildered. He’d had this phone number for over ten years, and ever since graduating from college, it had been as silent as a damp firecracker.

Usually, the only calls he got were from delivery drivers, food delivery, and various telemarketers. Almost no one actually called him.

All his acquaintances would just message him on WeChat; they rarely called.

The number looked somewhat familiar. He answered, and this time, it wasn’t the little boy’s father. It was Zhu Hongbin, the man he had run into twice at the Jingtang Club!

Somehow, he had gotten wind of what happened. He said a club member had done something big that afternoon—killed a vicious dog with a single dart, saving a little boy.

Reporters from "1818 Golden Eye" had already contacted the club and sent an interview request. They wanted to interview the member, planning to run it as a trending news story to give the Darts club some positive publicity.

With the city-wide sports games going on, Zhu Hongbin, as the club’s owner, naturally took this kind of newsworthy opportunity very seriously.

After asking around, he found out that the member who had done this great deed was none other than Chen Jue, the talented prospect he had just recruited.

What a coincidence!

"Brother Chen Jue, you’re about to be famous!"

"But don’t you worry. Our club is a legitimate organization, after all. We’ll definitely protect your privacy where it’s needed."

"I’ll have a word with Director Wang at the TV station, get ’1818 Golden Eye’ to write a flattering press release, and then get some social media accounts to promote you. I guarantee you’ll gain both fame and fortune!"