"Highly overlapping movements?"
Chen Jue was slightly taken aback as a new prompt popped up on the Attribute Panel.
He hadn't expected the panel to be so up to date. It even had a novel feature called [Skill Merge].
After seeing the prompt, Chen Jue thought carefully about the differences between [Stone Skipping] and [Darts].
He realized that both skills involved coordinating his fingers, wrist, and arm, with the movement driven by his body.
In both cases, he was throwing an object in his hand; only the object itself was different.
"If I merge the two skills, won't their proficiency and levels get merged too?"
"Then could I combine throwing darts with my left hand and skipping stones with my right?"
"Would I be able to use both hands with equal ease?"
The thought made Chen Jue eager to give it a try.
Unfortunately, he hadn't saved up 0.10 free attribute points yet.
He'd used all the attributes he'd gained so far to increase his [Constitution]. Like the meager wages most people earned, they weren't even enough for his own use, let alone for saving.
"Damn it!"
"Isn't this obviously tempting me to keep exercising?"
Chen Jue closed the panel prompt and secretly set himself a short-term goal.
He planned to round up his remaining [Constitution] and [Strength] values to the next whole numbers first, see what happened, then try putting his extra free attribute points into this new [Skill Merge] feature.
After his first attempt at throwing a dart with his right hand failed, Chen Jue tried a few more times.
He realized that he was probably used to throwing darts with his left hand. When he switched to his stronger right hand, his throws became surprisingly unsteady.
His chances of hitting the bullseye were pitifully low.
Even worse, a few times he missed the target altogether and struck the freshly whitewashed wall, leaving several tiny holes.
"Forget it. I'll just keep using my left hand."
Seeing how slowly his proficiency was increasing, Chen Jue gave up on throwing darts with his right hand.
Remembering Lin Ling's comment that he was "a left-hander who'd trained himself into it," Chen Jue wanted to see whether he could train his left hand to become as nimble and strong as his right.
As far as he was concerned, he had nothing better to do anyway.
The company boss had run off, and as an employee who hadn't even completed the paperwork to leave, he wouldn't find a suitable new job anytime soon. Why not set himself a goal and exercise with a purpose?
"Thud~"
A dart hit the bullseye and earned a [Perfect] prompt, adding +5 proficiency.
"Thud~"
Another dart flew out and hit the bullseye again, adding +5 proficiency.
Once he switched back to his left hand, Chen Jue found that his remarkable feel for the throw had returned.
He tried a few more times. His worst attempt earned +3, and the rest earned either +4 or +5. His progress was practically taking off.
"Have I developed muscle memory?"
"Or does my left hand really have a knack for repetitive, mechanical movements?" Chen Jue recalled reading "The Old Man Who Sold Oil" in his Chinese textbook back in school.
The story's lesson about practice making perfect was probably much like the muscle memory he'd developed by throwing darts repeatedly with his left hand.
Still, he was only an amateur with needle-point darts. He couldn't yet match the ridiculous accuracy of a professional, who could hit wherever he aimed.
There was still plenty of room for improvement!
Chen Jue spent two hours throwing darts at Yilian Fitness. During that time, he drank some water and rested his left hand for half an hour.
The nearly hour and a half of high-intensity practice earned him over 1,200 proficiency points.
Although [Darts] was still stuck at Lv3, the progress bar had reached (1523/2000). Chen Jue felt that his hard work that afternoon hadn't been in vain.
"If I keep at it tomorrow, I'll reach level 4!" Chen Jue thought eagerly.
Of course, the proficiency bar was just a number that gave him a clear measure of his progress.
Chen Jue noticed that the more darts he threw, the more often he began hitting the bullseye.
When he'd just reached amateur Lv3 the previous day, he'd hit the bullseye about three or four times out of ten.
After an afternoon of practice, he was hitting it five times out of ten consistently.
Chen Jue reckoned he was probably pretty good compared to other amateurs now.
On top of that, throwing darts at high intensity had prompted a notice that the muscles in his left arm had grown slightly.
That gave him +0.01 Strength and +0.01 free attribute points.
The gains were substantial, but throwing darts nonstop took a lot out of him.
When throwing, a person had to concentrate intensely. After doing it for a while, Chen Jue could feel his temples growing swollen and engorged.
It was like playing sixteen rounds of League of Legends in a row at an internet café. It was exhausting.
When he got back to his rental in Changhe Residential District, Chen Jue had meant to lie down and rest for a bit.
But the moment he lay down and closed his eyes, he fell asleep.
When he woke up, Chen Jue stretched contentedly.
He realized he hadn't slept this well in a long time. Not only had all the fatigue from his afternoon of dart practice vanished, but he also felt refreshed.
He picked up his phone and saw that it was already past ten at night.
His evening nap had lasted nearly four hours.
What surprised Chen Jue, though, was that the Attribute Panel had popped up with a delayed prompt:
[Ping~] [You completed a super-deep sleep session that met the requirements. Your brain completed a standard physiological metabolic process, your muscle fatigue eased, and the hormones secreted by your pituitary gland slightly improved your physical condition.] [Spirit attribute +0.01] [Constitution attribute +0.01] [Free attribute points available +0.01]
"Whoa! What's going on?"
"I gained three tiny attribute points just from sleeping?"
"Deep sleep? What kind of magical thing is that?"
Seeing the unfamiliar term in the prompt, Chen Jue grew curious.
If he could get this "deep sleep" every day, wouldn't his attributes go up while he just lay around?
At the thought, Chen Jue quickly tapped open his phone.
He'd initially wanted to ask Li Chaoqun, his fitness coach, since Li Chaoqun was a real professional and almost always had an answer for any question.
But then he remembered he'd already asked Li Chaoqun for help several times lately. Since he didn't plan on paying for a membership, it didn't feel right to keep asking him for free advice.
So he opened the browser and searched online himself.
The internet had all kinds of information these days. If you knew where to look, you could even find the most rigorous doctoral theses online.
"So this really is a thing?"
"Let's see... Sleep is divided into light sleep and deep sleep."
"Deep sleep is also known as [golden sleep]. It accounts for only a very short portion of total sleep time... Its benefits include restoring energy, regenerating cells, increasing the blood supply to muscles, promoting the growth and repair of tissues and bones, strengthening the immune system, and maintaining hormonal balance..."
"My goodness! Getting a good night's sleep is that important? No wonder it boosted my attributes so much!" Chen Jue was astonished by what he'd found.
He hadn't taken good care of his health before. He'd stay up late scrolling on his phone, usually not going to bed until one or two in the morning.
After doing that for so long, he'd be groggy and yawning nonstop at work during the day.
But that evening nap had let him experience just how good sleep could feel.
It was more refreshing than sleeping until noon on a weekend.
That was the benefit of keeping up with exercise.
As for the free attribute point he'd just gained, Chen Jue immediately assigned it to Constitution.
Character: Chen Jue Strength: 0.82 Constitution: 0.99 Spirit: 1.07 Skills: [Stone Skipping Lv3] [Darts Lv3] [Twelve Taiji Forms Lv1] Free attribute points available: 0.00 (Character evaluation: An office worker who's starting to see the light. Your subhealthy body has a few minor issues. It's recommended that you go to the hospital for a comprehensive medical checkup.)
A wave of warmth spread through his body, leaving him wonderfully comfortable.
Chen Jue took another look at his attributes on the panel.
He realized that after repeatedly putting points into Constitution over the past few days, he was just a tiny bit short of reaching the whole number "1."
Besides that, the new character evaluation had also given Chen Jue a timely reminder.
"A comprehensive medical checkup?"
"I'll skip work tomorrow and go!"
First update~
I was resting during the day, so this update came a little late.
I'll use the weekend to get things back on track. From Monday to Friday, I'll return to updating during the day.
Before you continue