Li Wei, You Stay Behind

"Let me do it," Li Wei said. "I might be able to move it inside."

"Oh, come on, honey," Emma teased the young man before her. "I know you've got muscles, but three grown men couldn't budge this thing."

Li Wei stepped forward, crouched in front of the crate, and gave it a careful look.

This was a wooden crate that barely fit through the boutique's front door. It wasn't particularly large, reaching about to his waist, but the sides were reinforced with iron bars, giving it a sturdy appearance.

"How heavy is this?" Li Wei pondered, turning to look at the delivery workers. "300 kilograms? 400?"

The delivery man was a burly white guy. After hearing the exchange between Li Wei and Emma, he looked him up and down, a flash of disdain crossing his eyes.

"At least 300 kilograms," he replied. "This thing is solid."

Li Wei caught the sarcasm in his eyes, but he didn't react just yet.

He made a quick calculation. His current strength of 1.2 allowed him to push a 125-kilogram barbell. He had estimated on his way here that every 0.1 increase in strength boosted his lifting capacity by 20 to 40 kilograms.

If he used Berserk to double his strength in a short burst, could he pull it off?

"What kind of art is inside?" Li Wei asked, returning to Emma's side. "Do I need to handle it with care?"

"Of course you need to handle it with care! If I remember correctly, it's a sculpture," Emma rolled her eyes at him. "Can you even call it art if it isn't expensive?"

"What if I can lift it and move it inside? What do you say then?"

Hearing Li Wei's bold claim, Emma looked him up and down again and said:

"You might be a little young, but I'm into your type. If you want to ask me out, just say so."

"I don't," Li Wei pointed to a high-end steak buffet outside. "If I can move it in, will you treat me to a meal there?"

"Hiss... you sure know how to pick. Lunch there is 150 dollars a person..." Emma's mouth twitched, and she said jokingly, "Fine, but if you can't move it in, you treat me. Deal?"

Li Wei nodded, set his small bag aside, walked up to the crate, and took a deep breath.

The delivery man saw the beautiful Emma taking the initiative to flirt with a yellow-skinned kid, and a flash of annoyance crossed his eyes.

"Be careful, kid, don't throw out your back," he said, half-sarcastic and half-admonishing. "This isn't one of the little dumbbells you have at home—"

Berserk activated!

An unprecedented, scorching torrent pumped from his heart, rushing into every muscle fiber like a bursting dam.

[Strength 1.2] — [Strength 2.4]

[Agility 1.1] — [Agility 2.2]

[Constitution 1.1] — [Constitution 2.2]

In an instant, Li Wei felt the world truly slow down. His pupils contracted, and the chattering voices around him drifted away, becoming blurred and indistinct.

The only thing clear was the roaring power within his body.

He crouched down and hooked his hands under the reinforced iron bars at the bottom of the crate.

He tightened his waist and back, his latissimus dorsi locking in like two iron gates, and his thighs acting like hydraulic jacks. The wooden crate, weighing over 300 kilograms and leaving three strong men helpless, was lifted off the ground—steadily, and even with a hint of ease.

The veins on Li Wei's arms bulged like coiled dragons, but his face wasn't twisted in agony as everyone had expected; he was merely panting slightly.

"My God..." Emma couldn't help but cover her mouth, the "watch your back" she had meant to use for teasing stuck in her throat.

Li Wei carried the crate one step, two steps, three steps, and then, under the astonished gazes of the crowd, placed it steadily in the corner.

He even carefully avoided bumping into the glass door, clearly showing that 300 kilograms was nowhere near his limit.

"Strange..." Li Wei muttered. "Wasn't this packed properly? Why does it feel like it isn't full inside..."

After he set the crate down, everyone stared at the unassuming, handsome Asian part-timer like he was a monster.

That was 300 kilograms! And unlike a barbell, it didn't have a bar to grip or a balanced center of gravity; this was half a ton of irregular mass!

The delivery man who had warned him earlier rubbed his eyes, walked over in disbelief, and tried to nudge the crate, only to find it didn't budge an inch.

"It's pretty light, actually," Li Wei patted him on the shoulder. "I didn't expect someone with muscles as big as yours to have so little strength."

The man turned his head, his face flushed red. He wanted to say something, but couldn't get a word out. Like a fish gasping for air, he had to swallow Li Wei's sarcasm.

The delivery truck had barely left when a Bentley Bentayga pulled up in front of the boutique.

Mrs. Dolores was a few minutes late, which was rare, but she maintained her usual elegance and composure.

"Why did they leave?" she asked. "Emma, didn't you tell me the sculpture I bought was stuck at the door?"

"That was the case, Mrs. Dolores," Emma glanced at Li Wei. "But Li Wei moved it inside by himself."

For the first time, Li Wei saw a flicker of doubt and shock on Mrs. Dolores's face.

"You opened it?" she asked. "Otherwise, how could you have moved it alone?"

"Maybe I'm just naturally strong," Li Wei shrugged. "Or maybe those movers were just too weak, too many steroids."

Mrs. Dolores walked to the corner and inspected the seals on the crate.

Seeing the expression on her face, Li Wei knew his task was likely complete.

Sure enough, a second later, a task completion dialog box popped up in his vision:

[Task: Helping Others is a Knight's Virtue completed]

[Reward Issued: Free Attribute Point +0.1]

Yes!

Li Wei clenched his fist in secret. He silently added the attribute point to his constitution.

[Constitution 1.1] — [Constitution 1.2]

Li Wei suddenly took a deep, quiet breath.

It was a long, deep inhale. He could feel his alveoli expanding with unprecedented efficiency, squeezing every bit of oxygen from the air, followed by his powerful heart pumping blood to deliver energy to his fingertips and hair tips.

He felt that if he wanted to, he could maintain a four-minute-per-kilometer pace and run all the way from the Upper East Side back to Sunset Park. One of the features of increased constitution was a massive boost in stamina.

However, before he could savor the changes in his body, Mrs. Dolores called all four sales associates over and said sternly:

"I'll be away on business for the next few days," she looked at Li Wei and the others. "Everything is to continue as usual while I'm gone."

Her gaze suddenly settled on Li Wei: "The rest of you can go back to work. Li Wei, you stay behind."