A Useless Skill?

"Huh?"

"Proficiency +2, Excellent Stone Skipping?" Chen Jue stared at the scrolling notification text, stunned.

He hadn't expected that adding a running start would trigger such a change.

He tried two more running skips; one stone skipped eight times, traveling over ten meters across the water, but the feedback remained a standard Proficiency +1.

The other skipped 11 times, flying over twenty meters, and the Attribute Panel gave an [Excellent] rating, doubling the proficiency gain.

"So... does this count as triggering a hidden condition?"

"Did I get a proficiency critical hit?"

Chen Jue analyzed the data he had gathered from his previous attempts and felt he had stumbled upon a trick for leveling up his skills on the panel.

He spent the next seven or eight minutes using up all the remaining stones in his bag with running starts, successfully raising his Stone Skipping skill proficiency to Lv0 (42/100).

Out of more than 20 stones, he only triggered the [Excellent] rating 5 times.

The rest were all standard +1 increments.

"It's fun, even a bit addictive."

"Though doing this too much is a bit hard on the hands!" Chen Jue panted, shaking out his sore and swollen right arm.

Stone skipping looks simple, but the repetitive, explosive motion of throwing the stones puts a heavy strain on wrist and arm strength.

Because Chen Jue spent his years sitting in an office with little exercise, his arm felt like it didn't want to move after only twenty-some throws.

Furthermore, Chen Jue discovered that not every throw granted +1 proficiency.

The stone had to skip at least three times on the water's surface and travel a distance of over ten meters.

Otherwise, the panel wouldn't recognize it as a qualified attempt at Stone Skipping.

Click.

The lighter flared, and Chen Jue lit a cigarette, sitting down on the grass by the riverbank.

"Hiss—hoo—"

He took a deep drag, holding the cigarette in his left hand, which he used less frequently.

His right arm and wrist were aching so badly that he didn't even want to move them.

Though his body was still, Chen Jue's mind kept racing.

He was replaying those five [Excellent] stone skipping attempts in his head.

The posture of his running start, the angle of his arm swing, the explosive force, and the way he gripped the stone—it all played back like a slideshow in his mind.

"I never imagined there was so much technique to skipping stones!"

"But this thing is really subtle... it feels even more stress-relieving than smoking..." Chen Jue sat on the grass, puffing away, marveling at the strange effect of the activity.

He didn't know how long it had been since he felt this immersed in a simple childhood game.

He had been drifting in Hang City for years, waking up in his small rental bed to nothing but work and rent. He hadn't been in a relationship, his mind entirely occupied with making money.

He couldn't even afford a house, so he didn't want to waste any young woman's time.

On weekends, he would at most grab a meal with friends or head to an internet cafe to play games.

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

He never expected that this accidentally awakened panel, combined with a niche activity that barely qualified as a sport, would fascinate him so much.

In his view, perhaps the essence of happiness was just this simple after all!

He sat on the grass, letting his thoughts wander.

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

The soreness in his right arm had eased, and he wanted to use the rest of the evening to push his [Stone Skipping] skill to level one.

Much like playing a MUD text game, the scrolling notifications of "Proficiency +1" and "+2" held a powerful, seductive quality.

It tempted Chen Jue to try the running skip again and again.

His frequent movements even attracted a group of onlookers camping nearby.

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

However, the children lacked the strength, and their stones mostly just plopped straight into the river.

It lacked the elegance and fun of Chen Jue's stones, which danced across the surface a dozen times.

"Uncle, Uncle!"

"Why do your stones jump so many times?" a little boy in camouflage gear asked, leaning in.

Seeing the curiosity in the children's eyes, Chen Jue took the opportunity to rest his arm and wrist, patiently teaching them how to skip stones.

Although his own level wasn't exactly high, teaching a few kids was no problem at all.

The parents of these children saw what was happening and curiously gathered around, bringing their own kids along to join in the fun.

"Brother, your stone skipping is impressive!"

"I've 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 had tried several times but couldn't get the stones to travel very far.

Chen Jue smiled slightly. "It's alright! Just practice makes perfect." He then took a look at the man.

The man was wearing camouflage gear with a walkie-talkie clipped to his waist.

He was likely an organizer for a nearby camping group and had a playful personality, so he started a stone-skipping competition with Chen Jue, joined by a group of children.

They planned to see who could get the most skips and whose stone could travel the furthest.

Although there were no prizes, the group of kids loved this kind of simple, wholesome competition.

Chen Jue happened to be alone and looking to grind some proficiency, feeling a bit lonely, so he joined in.

While chatting aimlessly about everything under the sun with the father, who was around his own age, he kept searching for suitable stones to skip.

After playing for nearly an hour, they had almost scoured the riverbank for every decent stone.

Finally, after Chen Jue completed a textbook-perfect skip, watching the stone slap against the water twenty times, a series of notifications scrolled across his Attribute Panel.

[Ding~]

[Completed an excellent stone skip.]

[Stone Skipping skill proficiency +3]

[Ding~]

[Proficiency reached 100%, skill level increased.]

[Stone Skipping Lv0 (100/100) → Lv1 (2/200)]

[You have gained a deeper understanding and feel for the sport of stone skipping.]

[Ding~]

[Completed a qualifying anaerobic exercise.]

[Free Attribute Point +0.01]

[Ding~]

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

[Strength attribute +0.01]

"Holy crap!"

"The upgrade notification is this intense?"

Looking at the screen full of scrolling information, Chen Jue felt like he had just killed a hidden boss in a game and triggered a lucky critical hit, causing the screen to explode with loot!

Beyond that, he discovered that his mind seemed to have gained a set of personal insights related to [Stone Skipping].

How to adjust the angle of the stone, how much force to use, the most effective run-up distance—compared to the mindless brute force of Lv0, Chen Jue now felt much more adept at the sport.

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

Having played with the group of adults and children for nearly an hour, even with breaks in between, the frequent run-ups and swinging his right arm were quite physically demanding.

Fortunately, the panel had granted him a free attribute point, so Chen Jue immediately added it to Constitution.

His Constitution attribute rose to 0.91, and immediately, a faint current of warmth 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 somewhat.

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

Once he finished his cigarette, Chen Jue stood up, accelerated into a run, and relying on the feel he had gained from the upgrade, he squeezed out the last of his energy and flung the flat stone toward the river surface.

"Splat~"

The rapidly spinning stone pulled a series of splashes across the water, sending ripples across the river under the nearby lights.

Chen Jue estimated that this one had skipped at least twenty times or more.

Moreover, the distance it traveled had jumped from the previous twenty-something meters to over thirty meters in one go.

[Ding~]

[Completed an excellent stone skip.]

[Stone Skipping proficiency +3]

The panel provided feedback once again.

"Awesome!"

"That was my best one yet!"

"It skipped more times and went further than before!" Chen Jue was so excited he nearly jumped on the spot.

Now that his [Stone Skipping] skill had reached Lv1, he was confident he could replicate that [Excellent] rating with every single throw.

This was what the Attribute Panel meant by "feel" and "personal insight."

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

Who would have thought you could have a "feel" for skipping stones?

Even the adults and children watching from the sidelines were looking at Chen Jue with expressions of admiration.

But the excitement came and went just as quickly.

Once he had burned through his last bit of energy and noticed it was already past 9 o'clock, Chen Jue said goodbye to the group of kids and walked out of White Horse Lake Park with a light step.

He didn't continue cycling.

He truly had no energy left.

He called a Didi on his phone and set the destination to his apartment complex.

Once he was in the car, watching the twinkling city lights streak past the window, Chen Jue inexplicably found himself chuckling in the backseat.

"Looks like I've mastered a completely useless skill."

"But tonight... was really fun!"

Third update~

The contract is signed, so please feel free to support the story.

During the new book phase, I'm asking for recommendations, monthly tickets, and follows. Tips are also welcome (wink).

A young sprout needs care, so I hope everyone will show their support!