A Master's Image That Doesn't Quite Match

Leaving the park at 8:30, Chen Jue took his time eating breakfast at a roadside shop.

Watching the traffic on the road outside gradually thicken, he knew he was about to face the morning rush hour, yet Chen Jue didn't feel the slightest bit of panic.

This was because Team Leader Li Mo had told him yesterday that his work schedule for this week was purely for adaptation; he wouldn't be responsible for any risk control duties, and would only be assigned a few clients in the afternoon to practice on.

Even if he were late in the morning, the most he would lose was a few hundred yuan in perfect attendance bonuses. For a corporate slacker pulling a 20K salary, he couldn't care less about that pittance.

Furthermore, Chen Jue discovered that the closer it got to 9:00, the less congested the roads became.

The peak traffic period had already passed, and those remaining on the road were either bosses or people with the same mindset as Chen Jue: "I'm already late anyway, why be in such a rush?"

The result was a miraculous scene!

By the time Chen Jue drove smoothly to Hengtong Building, he managed to clock in at the base of the building at exactly 8:59.

The drive only took seven minutes, which was even more efficient than leaving half an hour earlier like he did yesterday.

After parking the car, he shouldered his small bag and began climbing the stairs.

This time, the exhaust fans in the stairwell had been turned on, humming as they blew fresh air into the corridor.

It didn't smell as stifling as yesterday, making Chen Jue's climb feel a bit more comfortable.

Having experienced it once already, Chen Jue began trying to distribute his physical exertion more reasonably.

He didn't charge too hard at the beginning, opting to climb the stairs at a steady pace.

Once he reached the 8th floor, he began using both hands and feet, using one hand to pull on the railing for support while his legs moved in a rhythmic cadence. He didn't stop to rest even once, climbing straight to the 17th floor in one go.

Standing at the entrance of the Risk Control Department, he checked the time; it had only taken him 9 minutes, a massive improvement over yesterday!

At this moment, the panel popped up with a notification:

[Ding~]

[Proficiency reached 100%]

[Climbing Lv0 (100/100) → Lv1 (1/200)]

[You have gained a preliminary understanding of the sport of climbing, learning how to distribute your stamina, improve your athletic posture, and coordinate your sense of balance and direction.]

[Ding~]

[Completed a high-intensity aerobic workout. Your leg muscles have been exercised, your cardiopulmonary function has improved, and your muscular endurance has increased slightly.]

[Free Attribute +0.01]

Although it didn't trigger a critical hit like yesterday, Chen Jue was still very happy to see the attribute gain.

In particular, the level-up in [Climbing] had granted him unfamiliar muscle memory.

He believed that if he climbed again tomorrow morning, he would definitely be able to shave even more time off his ascent to the 17th floor.

Under the surprised gazes of his new colleagues, Chen Jue strolled slowly to his workstation.

Team Leader Li Mo, sitting in the distance, glanced at the time. He frowned for a moment before sending a message to Chen Jue: "Don't be late tomorrow!"

"Team Leader, I wasn't late (grinning). The elevator queue took a while." Chen Jue replied instantly, attaching his clock-in record for good measure.

Seeing Chen Jue's "just-in-time" clock-in, Li Mo recalled that this guy had apparently been brought in through the back door by one of the vice presidents. His connections were significant enough that even General Manager Luo had personally inquired about him. Thinking this over, he replied: "As long as you weren't late. Try to arrive earlier next time; it doesn't look good."

"(OjbK)" Chen Jue replied with an emoji and headed to the restroom to change his clothes.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the restroom, he saw the chubby Shen Shikun walking out with a flushed face, clearly having spent his first moments after arriving at work fighting a long battle in the stalls.

The two veteran slackers exchanged a smile without a word and brushed past each other.

Judging by the way Shen Shikun was limping, he had clearly been squatting until his legs went numb.

Chen Jue suffered from hemorrhoids himself and had frequently dealt with constipation back when he worked at Taisheng Finance.

Because of the long hours spent sitting at a desk, once you sat for too long, intestinal peristalsis decreased, and almost everyone eventually faced the unspeakable hurdle of constipation.

However, ever since he awakened this panel, increased his exercise, and regulated his sleep schedule, Chen Jue had basically been able to resolve his morning bowel movements right after finishing his eye exercises.

Drinking plenty of water before going to the restroom lubricated his intestines, making the process very smooth; he could basically finish everything in one minute. This was an unexpected gain, aside from the improvement in his eyesight.

As for the hemorrhoids, Chen Jue had looked up some information over the past few days to get a rough understanding.

This thing belonged to a category of special conditions where the pathogenesis hadn't been fully clarified yet. Much like hair loss or baldness, it was temporarily unsolvable. Some said it was caused by varicose veins in the anal cushion leading to thrombosis, while others claimed it was caused by the downward displacement of the anal cushion.

The mainstream treatment method was surgical removal or conservative auxiliary medication.

Chen Jue had been applying hemorrhoid cream ever since his physical exam, but the effect wasn't great. He planned to take advantage of his work hours to try the "anal contraction exercises" he had read about online.

Whether it actually worked or not was something he would have to find out for himself.

After changing into his clothes and sitting at his workstation, Chen Jue first glanced at Shen Shikun next to him.

This chubby, pale man had returned from the restroom and, contrary to his previously flushed and strained appearance, was now nodding off with a deathly pale complexion!

His head bobbed every now and then like a chicken pecking at rice; it was clear he hadn't slept much last night.

"Getting paid to use the restroom, and now catching a nap."

This guy's slacking skills are way better than mine! Chen Jue muttered to himself, then feigned productivity by opening his computer and picking up his Grip Strengthener to start squeezing.

He had to stick to this 30-minute grip training session twice a day.

Since his Strength attribute was still weak, Chen Jue planned to use his office hours to bolster it.

Unexpectedly, just as he finished that 30-minute round and saw a +0.01 Strength gain, the phone on his desk rang.

When he picked it up, he was stunned to hear it was the group's front desk, saying two police officers were there to see him.

What did I do this time?

Chen Jue couldn't figure out the situation and, assuming it was still related to the incident where he killed the dog to save someone, he gave Li Mo a heads-up and headed down to the first-floor reception room.

Inside the reception room, Officer Liu and the auxiliary officer, Li, were sipping hot tea served by the receptionist, both feeling bewildered—damn, these finance guys sure know how to live!

By day, they were elite professionals in suits and ties, but by night, they transformed into urban hunters, seeking out rats in trash heaps to slaughter, indulging in the thrill of hunting wild animals.

To track down Chen Jue, their "suspect," the mentor and apprentice had spent the entire night combing through the surveillance footage from the university town area.

Because it was so dark and Chen Jue had chosen blind spots in the surveillance, they eventually locked onto Chen Jue's black domestic SUV with temporary plates, then traced it back to the vehicle registration information at Hengtong Group.

As soon as office hours began, the two went out on a field assignment to Hengtong to pull employee records, intending to catch him red-handed and bring him in.

But the moment they saw Chen Jue and asked a few questions, both Officer Liu and the auxiliary officer were dumbfounded!

"You didn't use a homemade crossbow or an air gun?"

"You just threw nails with your bare hands?"

Auxiliary Officer Li, who was taking Chen Jue's statement, raised his voice, eyeing Chen Jue with suspicion.

In his eyes, the refined-looking finance professional before him—aside from having sharper eyes than most—didn't look like a martial arts expert from head to toe.

A guy like this could kill rats with nails?

"That's right, just bare hands. None of those crossbows or homemade air guns you mentioned." Chen Jue spread his hands, looking innocent.

So this was all trouble caused by his own pest control!

"Mr. Chen, can you describe the scene where you threw the nails?"

"The surveillance footage wasn't very clear, so we made this trip specifically to confirm it with you," Officer Liu asked from the side, still finding it hard to believe.

After all, the way those twenty-plus rats had died last night was too consistent; every single one was killed by a single nail.

Unless there was a specialized nail launcher, he couldn't imagine anyone having the lethality to throw nails by hand!

"I just found the right angle, stood about 10 meters away, and when the rats stopped moving, I threw them..." Chen Jue scratched his head.

"10 meters??? Are you sure!"

Auxiliary Officer Li's hand trembled as he took notes; he felt like he'd run into a supernatural being.

Having recently graduated from the police academy, Li vaguely remembered that he had barely managed to pass his 15-meter pistol qualification.

At a distance of ten meters, let alone using nails, even with a firearm, it wouldn't be easy to hit a small, moving target like a rat with such precision.

"Forget it, I'll just demonstrate it for you. I happen to have nails in my car."

Chen Jue had wanted to explain with words, but he suddenly realized that his Lv5 [Hidden Weapon Throwing] skill was indeed a bit absurd.

He had no choice but to lead the skeptical officers down to the basement garage and retrieve a box of nails from his trunk.

Officer Liu watched vigilantly as he checked Chen Jue's trunk, confirming there were no prohibited weapons.

As for Chen Jue, he grabbed a bottle of mineral water from his car and placed it in the basement corridor.

He retreated about ten meters, whipped his arm out with a whoosh, and instantly pierced the water bottle, sending water spraying everywhere.

The impact of the nail even sent the bottle rolling across the floor.

Seeing such a shocking sight, Officer Liu and Auxiliary Officer Li, who was recording the whole thing on his body camera, were left completely stunned, finally convinced that Chen Jue had been telling the truth.

With the misunderstanding cleared up, the two officers left Hengtong Building, their minds filled with shock.

On the way back, Officer Liu, who was checking Chen Jue's identity information, saw the dart-related records and the recent case file pop up on his screen. He burst into a laugh: "So this guy is the civilian expert who took down that dog last week! No wonder his nail-throwing is so impressive!"

"If he can easily nail a rat from over 10 meters away, killing a dog with a dart really isn't that hard."

"Huh? What did you say, Chief? That Pit Bull from last week was taken down by this Chen Jue?" The auxiliary officer driving the car exclaimed in surprise.

The incident with the vicious dog last week had caused quite a stir in Hang City.

Although the public's attention had been drawn to Teacher Wu, the colleagues at their station would discuss it whenever they had free time.

Beyond analyzing it as a case study, Officer Li and his colleagues had privately speculated about the true strength of that mysterious, unseen dart expert.

Never did I expect that a simple field assignment would lead me to run into a real master so unexpectedly.

But the moment the image of Chen Jue—that ordinary, run-of-the-mill office worker—crossed his mind, half of Xiao Li's fantasies about that dart-throwing expert instantly collapsed.

"Master, since Chen Jue is so incredibly skilled, why doesn't he go out and become an internet celebrity or a star?"

"Being an influencer pays way more than a nine-to-five!" Xiao Li muttered to himself.

Officer Liu, standing to the side, patted him on the shoulder to signal him to focus on driving, while earnestly advising, "You're still too young; stop letting your imagination run wild!"

"There are always people in this world with strange temperaments. Not everyone is willing to lower themselves to seek fame and expose their faces to the public."

Second update~

A bit late, but I finally finished writing it.

Continuing tomorrow!

By the way, I'm asking for recommendation votes and monthly tickets. It's almost November, and the stats for this new book aren't great, so I hope you gentlemen can show some support.

Especially the recommendation votes—I update every day, and since you're going to vote for someone anyway, why not leave them for Pianfeng? (Kowtows)