This Stone Skipping Is a Bit Addictive

"Cycling is aerobic exercise?"

Three lines of pixel-style text scrolled across his vision.

As Chen Jue gasped for air with his mouth agape, he cast a glance at the Attribute Panel.

He discovered that this Attribute Panel, which resembled a MUD text game, had undergone several changes compared to before.

Character: Chen Jue

Strength: 0.76+

Physique: 0.89+

Spirit: 1.05+

Skill: [Stone Skipping Lv0 (11/100)+]

Allocatable Free Attribute Points: 0.01↑

(Character Evaluation: A mediocre corporate wage slave; your body is in a state of severe sub-health.)

First, a conspicuous "+" sign had appeared behind his three-dimensional attributes and the skill bar.

According to the panel's prompts, Chen Jue could add points using his free attribute points.

The conversion ratio for adding points to attributes was 1:1.

The other was that attribute points converted to skill proficiency at a rate of 0.01:10.

These rules for adding points were revealed to Chen Jue when he focused his mind on the "+" signs.

The rules were simple, just like adding stats to a character in a mini-game.

However, Chen Jue had no idea what the consequences would be once these free attribute points were added, and the panel provided no specific hints.

Furthermore, his base attributes were extremely low; aside from Spirit, the other two were below a whole integer.

"What standard is this Attribute Panel using to determine these values?"

"An average adult?"

"Or the human data of an athlete?"

Chen Jue worked in risk control data, dealing with various client metrics every day, so he was naturally extremely sensitive to numbers.

He didn't recklessly add points immediately; instead, he began to think and analyze the underlying logic of this Attribute Panel.

Beyond that, the [Stone Skipping] skill also looked very wrong in his eyes.

Stone Skipping was just a fun, casual activity in the eyes of an ordinary person, nothing more than a bit of amusement—what possible significance could it have?

Yet, this Attribute Panel had singled it out and solidified it into a skill.

Even if this crappy skill reached level eighty or a hundred, it's still just skipping stones! What's the point of adding points to this? Chen Jue couldn't figure it out, nor could he understand it.

The mere fact that this Attribute Panel had appeared in the real world was already absurd.

Trying to analyze something that was inherently absurd was like absurdity opening the door for absurdity—it was absurd to the extreme.

"Forget it! Enough overthinking!"

"I'll try adding points to the three-dimensional attributes first!"

He spent a moment resting and adjusting his mindset before attempting to focus his attention on the "+" signs behind Strength, Physique, and Spirit.

"Which attribute should I add to first?" Chen Jue hesitated.

After all, it was his first time, and he had no experience; anyone would have a hard time choosing.

If it were like the many web novels he'd read, where adding a point would trigger a marrow-cleansing transformation and leave him unconscious for days, Chen Jue would definitely have returned to his rental apartment to lie down comfortably before trying it.

Just like when he audited loans for clients at work, he would usually reject loans for clients with poor credit, demand additional collateral, raise interest rates, or at worst, refer them to other small companies to shift the risk.

Right now, he was in the unfamiliar White Horse Lake Park, miles from anywhere.

If something went wrong after adding points recklessly, there would be no one to cover for him.

Moreover, he had just cycled for nearly half an hour and was as exhausted as a dead dog just to earn 0.01 free attribute points; the return on investment was quite low.

After hesitating for a moment, he looked at the "sub-health" character evaluation once more.

Chen Jue's remaining rationality was overwhelmed by impulse.

"Screw it! I'm almost 30, and I'm still being this indecisive—no wonder I'm stuck working for others!"

"I'm choosing Physique, add the points!"

Chen Jue patted his sweat-streaked cheeks, threw caution to the wind, and went all in.

The free attribute points reset to zero, the 0.89 Physique on the panel flickered and changed to 0.90, and the remaining "+" signs vanished.

A moment later, an inexplicable wave of heat flowed from his chest throughout his entire body. His skin felt slightly hot, but the sensation vanished instantly as the cool breeze in the park blew over him.

"That's it?"

"There's no change at all!" Chen Jue couldn't help but complain.

However, upon closer inspection, he noticed that the soreness in his legs after cycling seemed to have eased slightly.

Although it was very faint, it was indeed a tiny bit faster than the normal recovery rate.

Chen Jue analyzed that it was because the attributes added were too few, having a minimal impact on his overall body, which was why there was no major change.

"Forget it, better than nothing!"

"As long as there are no obvious side effects, it's fine." Chen Jue muttered to himself, parked the shared bike, and slipped into the White Horse Lake Park in front of him.

At night, the park was lit by sparse, scattered lights.

The green trees on both banks swayed in the wind. In the distance, there was an antique-style bridge spanning the river. Under the lights, one could vaguely see several uniquely designed modern venues, as well as a striking high tower on the opposite bank.

Since it was Friday night, many families from Hang City had come here to relax. Tents and canopies could be seen everywhere on the park's lawns.

Further away, there was even a stage resembling a concert venue, with spotlights flashing and an unknown singer performing soft folk songs on stage.

"A park music festival?"

"I didn't expect this place to be so lively." Chen Jue strolled around the paved walkway.

He felt that in the two years he had lived in this neighborhood, he had truly been too much of a shut-in, wasting such a beautiful natural environment.

With the company set to dissolve in ten days or so, he didn't know if he would have the chance to visit this park again in the future.

"Time to get down to business!"

Chen Jue put away his sentimental thoughts and began searching for stones on the lawn along the river with his phone in hand.

Since this was an ecological wetland park, natural stones were everywhere. After walking along the river for over ten minutes, Chen Jue picked up more than twenty suitable ones.

To make Stone Skipping easier, he specifically cleared out the small messenger bag he used for work, leaving a dedicated compartment to hold the stones.

Finding a secluded corner, he placed his bag on the ground and took out a flat stone to weigh it in his hand.

Then, recalling the movements he made in the small garden on the rooftop of the office building that afternoon, he swung his right arm and flicked his wrist. The stone left his hand and skipped across the water surface with a series of splashes.

[Ding~]
[Action meets requirements]
[Stone Skipping skill proficiency +1]

Watching the familiar notification scroll across his Attribute Panel, Chen Jue smiled knowingly.

"Not bad!"

"It's about the same as skipping in the pool, and this place has a wider water surface, so I don't have to hold back my strength." Chen Jue recalled the timid way he had acted on the rooftop that afternoon.

Although the top floor of the building was spacious enough, Chen Jue didn't dare to use his full strength to skip stones.

If he accidentally threw a stone off the building, falling 28 stories, the consequences of hitting a car or a person were something Chen Jue couldn't afford to bear.

This wetland park was different; the river was hundreds of meters wide at its widest point, so he could throw as hard as he wanted without worrying about hurting anyone.

Therefore, after standing and skipping a few times to grind some proficiency points, Chen Jue began to grow bolder, incorporating a running start into his throw.

"Splash~"

Watching the stone skip dozens of meters across the river, chaining together over a dozen skips, Chen Jue's mouth curled into a grin involuntarily.

Fun!

It was addictive!

After one skip, he wanted to do it again, wanting to see if he could make it go further and skip more times the next time.

A man's joy is often just this simple and unadorned!

However, what Chen Jue didn't expect was that this running throw actually caused the panel notification to change.

[Ding~]
[Action meets requirements, completed an excellent Stone Skipping.]
[Stone Skipping skill proficiency +2]

Second update of the day~

The new book is uploaded, I hope everyone will support it~

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If there are any typos, please help me correct them; I'm typing quite fast.