Chapter 5: A Useless Skill?

"Huh?"

’Skill Level +2, an Excellent Stone Skim?’ Chen Jue stared blankly at the scrolling notification.

He hadn’t expected such a change to occur just by adding a running start.

He tried two more running stone skips. The first one skipped eight times, traveling over ten meters across the river, but the feedback he received was still the standard Skill Level +1.

The other skip hit 11 times and flew over twenty meters. For that one, the panel gave him an [Excellent] rating, and his Skill Level gain doubled.

’Did I... trigger some kind of hidden condition?’

’A Skill Level critical hit?’

Chen Jue analyzed the data he’d gathered from skipping stones so far and felt like he’d figured out a little trick to leveling up his Skills on the panel.

So, he spent another seven or eight minutes using a running start to skip all the remaining stones in his bag, smoothly raising his Stone Skimming Skill Level to Lv. 0 (42/100).

Out of more than 20 stones, he only triggered the [Excellent] rating five times.

The rest were just the standard +1 increases.

’It’s fun, all right. A little addictive, even.’

’But man, doing this so much really wears out your arm!’ Chen Jue panted, swinging his sore right arm.

Stone Skimming looked simple, but the frequent, mechanical bursts of power needed to throw the stones were a real test of wrist and arm strength.

Having spent years working a desk job with little exercise, Chen Jue’s arm was so tired after just twenty-something throws that he didn’t even want to lift it.

On top of that, Chen Jue discovered that not every stone skip earned him +1 Skill Level.

The thrown stone had to skip at least three times on the water’s surface, and the distance had to be over 10 meters.

Otherwise, the panel wouldn’t recognize it as a successful Stone Skim.

...

CLICK.

With a flick of his lighter, Chen Jue lit a cigarette and sat down on the grassy riverbank.

He took a long drag.

He inhaled the smoke deeply, holding the cigarette with his left hand, which he rarely used for this.

His right arm and wrist were aching so badly that he didn’t want to move at all.

But while his body was still, Chen Jue’s mind was racing.

He was reviewing the five [Excellent] stone skips he had just performed.

His posture during the run-up, the angle of his arm swing, the burst of strength, and the way he held the stone in his palm—it all replayed in his mind like a slideshow.

’I can’t believe there’s so much technique to skipping stones!’

’But there’s something subtle about it... It feels even more stress-relieving than smoking...’ Chen Jue continued to puff away on the grass, marveling at the wonderful effect of Stone Skimming.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so engrossed in a fun childhood game.

For the past few years, he’d been drifting through Hang City. Every day, from the moment he woke up in his small bed in his rented apartment, his life was all about work and rent. He wasn’t dating anyone, his mind completely consumed with making money.

He couldn’t even afford to buy a house, so he didn’t want to waste any girl’s time.

On weekends, the most he did was grab a meal with friends or go to an internet cafe for a gaming session with his crew.

But after a while, the novelty wore off, and Chen Jue felt his robotic life becoming more and more dull.

He just never expected that this unexpectedly awakened panel, combined with an obscure activity like Stone Skimming—which barely even counted as a sport—would captivate him so completely.

In his eyes, perhaps the essence of happiness had always been this simple.

...

He sat on the grass, letting his mind wander.

After resting for over half an hour, Chen Jue stubbed out his cigarette and got up to search for more suitable stones nearby.

The soreness in his right hand had eased a bit, and he wanted to take advantage of the evening to grind the [Stone Skimming] Skill up a level.

It was like playing a MUD text game; watching the scrolling "+1" and "+2" Skill Level notifications was incredibly enticing.

It tempted Chen Jue to try another running stone skip, again and again.

His frequent activity also attracted a group of curious onlookers from a nearby campsite.

Several well-dressed children gathered around after seeing Chen Jue throwing stones into the water, and they began to imitate his actions.

But the kids weren’t strong enough, and the stones they threw mostly just sank into the river with a PLOP.

Their attempts lacked the elegance and fun of Chen Jue’s, whose stones would create a dozen or more graceful splashes across the river’s surface.

"Mister, mister!"

"Why do your stones jump so many times?" a little boy in a camouflage outfit asked as he approached.

Seeing the curiosity in the children’s eyes, Chen Jue used the break to rest his arm and wrist to patiently teach them how to skip stones.

Although Chen Jue’s own skill level wasn’t amazing, it was more than enough to teach a few kids.

Seeing this, the children’s parents also came over, joining in the fun with their kids.

"Hey man, you’re pretty good at skipping stones!"

"I tried a few times, but I couldn’t even get ten skips," said the young father, who was wearing a matching outfit with the little boy. He’d tried several times but couldn’t get the stones to go far.

Chen Jue smiled slightly. "It’s alright. Practice makes perfect." He then sized up the other man.

The man was also in camouflage and had a walkie-talkie clipped to his waist.

He was probably the organizer of the nearby campsite, and a playful person by nature. He got a group of kids together to have a stone-skipping contest with Chen Jue.

The goal was to see who could get the most skips and the greatest distance.

There were no prizes, but the big group of kids loved this kind of simple, unadulterated competition.

Chen Jue had been grinding Skill Level all by himself and was feeling a bit lonely, so he joined in.

He chatted about everything under the sun with the father, who was around his age, while looking for suitable stones to skip.

They played for almost an hour, nearly digging up every suitable stone along the riverbank.

Finally, after Chen Jue executed a perfect skip and watched the stone SPLAT across the water for twenty skips, a series of notifications scrolled down from the top of his panel.

[Ding!]

[You have completed a Superb Stone Skim.]

[Stone Skimming Skill Level +3]

——————

[Ding!]

[Skill Level has reached 100%. Skill Level has increased.]

[Stone Skimming Lv. 0 (100/100) → Lv. 1 (2/200)]

[You have gained a new level of understanding and feel for the sport of Stone Skimming.]

——————

[Ding!]

[A qualifying anaerobic exercise has been completed.]

[Free Attribute Points +0.01]

——————

[Ding!]

[After a period of exercise, the muscle groups in your right hand and arm have grown slightly.]

[Strength Attribute +0.01]

——————

"Holy crap!"

’Leveling up causes this much of a stir?’

Watching the information scroll across the screen, Chen Jue felt like he’d just killed a hidden boss in a game and triggered a lucky critical hit, causing the screen to fill with loot drops!

On top of that, he found that a new set of personal insights related to [Stone Skimming] had appeared in his mind.

How to adjust the stone’s angle, how much force to use, the most effective distance for a running start—compared to the mindless brute force he used at Lv. 0, Chen Jue now felt much more adept at the sport of Stone Skimming.

...

Shaking his right hand and relaxing his arm, Chen Jue lit a cigarette and sat down to recover some energy.

He’d been playing with the group of adults and children for nearly an hour. Even with breaks, the frequent running starts and arm swings were physically exhausting.

Fortunately, the panel had also awarded him free attribute points. Chen Jue immediately allocated them to his Constitution.

His Constitution Attribute rose to 0.91, and a faint warm current spread throughout his body.

Although the warmth came and went quickly, Chen Jue noticed that the soreness in his right arm and hand seemed to have eased a bit.

While sitting and resting, he took the opportunity to find another suitable stone.

After finishing his cigarette, Chen Jue stood up, broke into a running start, and relied on the "feel" he’d gained from leveling up. Squeezing out his last bit of stamina, he forcefully flung the flat stone in his hand toward the river.

SPLAT—

The rapidly spinning stone skipped across the water, creating a long chain of splashes, and the river’s surface rippled widely under the nearby lights.

Chen Jue estimated that this time, the stone had skipped at least 20 times.

And the distance it traveled had stretched from the previous 20-odd meters to about 30 meters.

[Ding!]

[You have completed a Superb Stone Skim.]

[Stone Skimming Skill Level +3]

The panel provided feedback again.

"Awesome!"

’That was my best one yet!’

’More skips than before, and it went farther!’ Seeing this, Chen Jue was so excited he almost jumped for joy right there.

After his [Stone Skimming] Skill reached Lv. 1, he was confident he could replicate a [Superb] rating like that with every throw.

This was the so-called "feel" and "personal insight" the panel had mentioned.

Chen Jue had only ever heard of having a "feel" for playing video games or basketball.

’Having a "feel" for skipping stones... Who would’ve thought?’

Even the adults and children watching from the side were now looking at Chen Jue with admiration.

But the rush of excitement came and went quickly.

After using up the last of his energy, he checked the time and saw it was already past 9 PM. Chen Jue said goodbye to the group of kids and walked out of Baima Lake Park with a cheerful spring in his step.

He didn’t get back on his bike.

He was completely out of stamina.

He used his phone to call a Didi and set the destination to his apartment complex.

Once he was in the car, watching the scattered city lights flash by the window, Chen Jue inexplicably started to laugh in the back seat.

’Looks like I’ve mastered a pretty useless skill.’

’But tonight... was really fun!’