Maybe it was because he had broken free of yesterday's daze and was about to welcome a whole new work life.
On the way to the talent apartments, Chen Jue thought about a lot of things.
Given his current circumstances, he could live fairly comfortably in Hang City on a 20K salary.
But as he got older, continuing to spend his youth working for someone else wasn't a solution.
That is, unless the job offered plenty of room for advancement, enough to let him climb all the way to the top of the company and earn dividends.
But Chen Jue knew what he was like. He was socially anxious and introverted, and he didn't know how to flatter people. If he couldn't handle workplace relationships, then he had little hope of getting promoted.
As for making a living with the professional-level [Darts] skill he'd just learned, earning money by winning prize money in competitions, he'd first have to get a foot in the door.
Chen Jue was still completely unfamiliar with both the rules of the darts industry and the process for signing up for competitions.
Moreover, he had no idea whether he was good enough to win medals and prizes, or even whether he could get into a competition at all.
After all, sports competitions were notoriously brutal.
There were no fewer unspoken rules in sports than in the workplace. Having skill and ability didn't guarantee that you'd get to compete.
Take men's soccer, for example. Do you believe that, out of 722 million people, they couldn't find eleven who knew how to play?
In Chen Jue's view, he couldn't give up all the workplace experience he'd accumulated just because he saw a glimmer of hope, then throw himself headfirst into a darts career.
What was that, if not quitting his job to go into business and then betting everything on a startup?
As a technical specialist in risk control and data, he had to keep a clear head in the face of such high risks.
He'd keep working for a while and see if he could raise [Darts] above Lv4.
It wouldn't be too late to make a move once he was completely confident.
As he mulled things over, he arrived at Hengtong's Talent Building.
It was a commercial-residential building beside an upscale residential complex. Hengtong Group had leased it long-term and converted it into employee housing.
It had twenty floors, with more than a dozen rooms on each floor, and was fully equipped.
A park and a large shopping mall were right next to the apartments, and there was a commercial district just outside. It was an extremely convenient place to live.
Since he had already checked the place out that morning, Chen Jue borrowed a flatbed trolley from the front desk and gradually moved his belongings into his room.
After unpacking, he looked around and saw that the place was indeed much better than his rental in Changhe Residential District.
The room was about forty square meters, with a bedroom and a living room. It was furnished like a comfortable hotel room costing three or four hundred yuan a night. For a single, entry-level employee, it was top-tier accommodation.
After making the bed and hanging up his clothes, Chen Jue took a shower, then went downstairs to get something to eat.
He'd been busy moving and it was already past nine in the evening. His stomach had been growling for ages.
He wandered around the nearby commercial district and found a noodle shop. He ordered Pian'erchuan noodles, then added fried pork ribs and a fried egg when he realized that wouldn't be enough.
His activity level had increased over the past week, and his constitution had risen to 1.00. Chen Jue noticed that his appetite had clearly improved.
According to Li Chaoqun, that was normal after exercising.
Chen Jue was still just a beginner, so he could replenish most of what he needed through food.
If he ever trained until he was a muscle-bound monster like a fitness coach, though, he'd probably have to buy whey protein online.
After eating his fill, Chen Jue returned to the apartment and stretched out. He glanced at his Attribute Panel:
Name: Chen Jue
Strength: 0.82+
Constitution: 1.00+
Spirit: 1.08+
Skills: [Stone Skipping (Mastered)] [Darts Lv4 (12/5000)+] [Twelve Taiji Forms Lv1 (85/200)+]
Free attribute points available: 0.01
(Character evaluation: A workplace drone who has come to his senses. Though your body has escaped suboptimal health, some underlying problems remain. It is recommended that you seek targeted treatment to avoid letting your condition worsen through neglect.)
"My Constitution and Spirit have both passed 1."
"Now I just need to build up my Strength."
"I wonder if the evaluation will change once all three stats reach 1." Chen Jue thought to himself.
As for the panel's recommendation to see a doctor, Chen Jue planned to visit a nearby major hospital the next day.
He still had a few days before he started work, so he could take a short break and adjust.
He opened his phone and scrolled through his social feed, first liking a family photo posted by that fool Jiang Zhe.
Then he went on Douyin and Bilibili to watch short videos about darts, fitness, and things like that.
Lin Ling had mentioned "trick darts" that afternoon, so Chen Jue focused on watching more difficult dart techniques.
The panel still showed a restriction, and ordinary needle-style dart practice no longer raised his stats.
But the internet really had everything.
Especially with big-data recommendation algorithms, the videos that came up were all things he liked.
From throwing knives and daggers to nails and all kinds of other strange household objects.
Short videos had become popular over the past few years, and all kinds of talented hobbyists had attracted thousands upon thousands of fans with clips only a few seconds long.
Their shops were all full of promoted products with over 999 sales.
Just from advertising commissions, those uploaders and short-video influencers were already raking in the cash.
After looking around, Chen Jue felt that he could probably give it a try too.
He didn't necessarily have to show his face. He could set up his phone, wear a mask, or just film himself from behind. He could even demonstrate his darts or Stone Skipping skills without showing his face.
"Bilibili and Douyin both have creator incentive programs these days."
"Once your views go up, the income can be pretty good."
"It could actually work as a side gig!"
Once the idea took hold, Chen Jue no longer felt like going to sleep.
On impulse, he bought a phone tripod on Taobao and ordered two large power banks.
Then he decided that showing his face would risk being recognized by someone he knew and dying of embarrassment, so he searched for masks. He picked a resin demon-like battle mask, the kind worn by generals on ancient battlefields.
It had plenty of character. You'd never forget it after seeing it once!
It would also save him the trouble of blurring his face in post-production.
Of course, to have performance material for his videos, Chen Jue also specifically ordered 500 clay flower-shaped skipping stones. It was cheaper to buy them in bulk.
He tried to buy some throwing knives too, but a warning page popped up.
"Strictly prohibited?"
"So they're contraband!"
Chen Jue's hand trembled, and he hurriedly canceled the search, switching to martial arts darts instead.
This time, he got results.
He asked the seller and learned that the metal darts were all unsharpened and weren't restricted, so he ordered a set of the popular Short Sword Darts.
They were made of stainless steel and could be reused as long as he didn't throw them into water.
As for the accounts he'd use to post his videos, Chen Jue already had them.
He was a longtime Bilibili user with a Lv6 account, and he'd been lurking for over ten years. His profile was completely empty except for a few giveaway reposts.
He cleared those out, bought a premium membership, and changed his username to Master of Unique Skills.
He chose the same name on Douyin. It sounded similar to his own name, and it was catchy and easy to remember.
These days, if you didn't have some special skill, it was hard to attract attention on video sites like these.
Of course, all those initial preparations had cost very little, less than a thousand yuan in total.
If he wasn't willing to spend even that much to make good-looking videos, then he'd just have to keep picking up stones in the park.
The new place was more comfortable, and it didn't have the dampness of his old first-floor apartment in Changhe Residential District. Chen Jue's sleep steadily improved that night.
He didn't trigger [Deep Sleep] like he had the previous time, but when he got up the next day, he felt full of energy and remarkably invigorated.
He checked his phone and saw that it was only six thirty in the morning.
"I'm getting up earlier and earlier!" Chen Jue couldn't help exclaiming.
He decided to head to a nearby park and practice the [Twelve Taiji Forms] for a while.
After changing into his workout clothes, he jogged out of the Talent Building.
By the time he reached the park, quite a few people had gathered there for their morning exercise.
Some were running, cycling, or playing table tennis; others were doing street workouts on the parallel bars or cracking whips to spin tops. There was all sorts of activity, and the park was bustling.
Compared with the park near his old rental in Changhe Residential District, this one definitely had a much stronger exercise culture.
After looking around, he spotted a group practicing Taiji.
It was a national treasure, and you could find fellow enthusiasts just about anywhere.
But this time, Chen Jue couldn't join them. The middle-aged man leading the group had a head of glossy black hair and a ruddy complexion. He was clearly teaching a class.
They all wore matching practice outfits, and the Taiji they were doing wasn't the simplified Twelve Forms.
With no other choice, Chen Jue found an empty spot and practiced by himself.
He didn't run into some passing expert old man who gave him a few pointers, either. That sort of thing was just made up by online authors. It was an old trope, meant to fool people.
There weren't that many mysterious masters in real life!
He practiced alone for more than an hour, until he was sweating and felt completely refreshed. Then the panel gave him a notification:
[ Ding~]
[Proficiency has reached 100%. Skill level increased.]
[Twelve Taiji Forms Lv2 (200/200) → Lv3 (1/2000)]
[After a period of effort, you have become very familiar with the movements of the Twelve Taiji Forms, and it's now extremely difficult for you to make a mistake.]
[ Ding~]
[Completed one qualifying aerobic exercise session.]
[Free attribute points +0.01]
"This simplified Taiji routine levels up fast!" Chen Jue exclaimed.
There were only twelve movements, and they weren't very difficult.
It was just like when he practiced [Stone Skipping]. There were only a few movements, so it was naturally much easier to build up proficiency.
Based on Chen Jue's estimate, the [Twelve Taiji Forms] were so simple that they would probably be mastered by Lv4.
But seeing that his free attribute points had accumulated by another little bit, Chen Jue smiled. He felt that he'd gotten a decent amount out of the morning.
He was about to head back for breakfast when he spotted an old man with white hair on the other side of the park, practicing a rare martial arts routine with a bright-eyed young woman.
He held a rope in each hand, with a dart resembling the head of a spear attached to one of them. It whistled through the air as he swung it, and when he threw it, it struck a wooden board several meters away dead center.
His movements were forceful and powerful, and the routine was a pleasure to watch.
But most of all, the young woman wielding the dart had an exceptional presence.
Her hair was tied in a ponytail, and her features were striking and spirited. Her well-rounded figure was tightly wrapped in a sweat-soaked, dark-colored martial arts uniform.
The eyes of a group of old men playing chess nearby nearly popped out of their heads!
If they stared for much longer, they'd probably have to take heart pills before being rushed to the ICU.
Of course, faced with a scene as picturesque as this one, the secretly lecherous Chen Jue couldn't tear himself away either. He wondered, Is that some kind of Rope Dart?
That's so difficult! It looks like a real challenge!
Practicing that should raise my [Darts] proficiency too, right?
Before you continue