Bad News from the Bodybuilding World

[Path of the Knight: Stage One, Apprentice Knight]

[Mission Description: A true knight should not make a life in the mud. As an adventurer who serves as a knight's attendant, you too must advance toward becoming a true knight.]

"Wait," Li Wei scratched his head. "When did I ever admit that I was a knight's attendant?"

[Knight's Tempering: Within 14 days, raise Strength, Agility, Constitution, and Spirit to 1.2. A strong physique and fine character are essential qualities for becoming a knight.]

[Stage Reward 1: Reach the requirement for any one attribute. Reward: Gold Coins ×3.]

[Stage Reward 2: Reach the requirement for any two attributes. Reward: Gold Coins ×7.]

[Stage Reward 3: Meet all requirements. Reward: Gold Coins ×10. You may unlock the Class Transfer Trial.]

"Fine, forget I said anything." Li Wei's eyes lit up. "I accept!"

Even setting aside this Class Transfer Trial thing, the reward of twenty gold coins alone was worth more than ten thousand dollars.

That money would be enough to get him out of the basement and rent a small apartment fit for a normal human being.

Li Wei could not help looking at his panel again.

[Name: Li Wei]

[Age: 17]

[Strength: 0.8]

[Spirit: 1.0]

[Agility: 0.9]

[Constitution: 0.9]

[Skill: Clumsy Eloquence]

[Equipment: None]

[Unassigned Attribute Points: 0.1]

Raising all his attributes to 1.2 within fourteen days did not seem particularly difficult. Li Wei thought to himself that if he went out more often and triggered some missions, he might be able to complete it.

"I wonder if working out can raise these attributes?" Li Wei looked around the empty basement. "I need to find a gym."

He acted immediately. Li Wei took several changes of clothes from his suitcase, stuffed them into a bag, and headed out.

Although night had already fallen and the crowds on New York's 8th Avenue were gradually thinning, Li Wei was still shocked by America's fitness culture when he followed Google Maps to the nearest gym.

The gym had received plenty of positive reviews on Google Maps. However, there were not many beautiful women in yoga pants inside. Instead, it was packed with tattooed Black and Latino hulks, and old, rusty equipment stood everywhere.

At ten o'clock at night in Brooklyn, New York, the gym was still bustling. Muscular men of every kind, whose arms were thicker than Li Wei's legs, sweated profusely in the iron temple.

Li Wei's arrival drew no attention. He walked up to the front desk and lightly tapped the counter.

A huge white man sat behind the desk, his neck thicker than Li Wei's thigh, listlessly watching a football game on television.

When he saw Li Wei come in, he gave him a casual glance.

"Fifteen bucks for a day pass, sixty for a monthly pass. Bring your own towel."

After saying that, he looked Li Wei up and down. "Personal training is a hundred and fifty bucks a session. First-time buyers also get a shot of topical testosterone and a shot of steroids."

"Uh... thanks, but no." Li Wei politely declined the front desk's get-strong package, handing over the money and his passport. "One monthly pass, please."

"You sure?" The white receptionist kept his head down as he registered Li Wei's passport. "You'll have a hard time seeing results training like that."

"The main thing is, it lets you break past human limits, you know?" As he spoke, he struck a front double-biceps pose. His bulging veins made Li Wei worry that they might burst one day. "Before I started coming to the gym, I was just like you, skinny as a chick. But bro, look at me now."

"Bench one-sixty kilos, squat two-seventy." He handed Li Wei forty dollars in change, along with his passport and monthly pass. "I've only been training five years. Come find me anytime you change your mind. I'll give you a discount."

Li Wei merely thanked him, asked where the showers and locker room were, then changed clothes and headed for the treadmill.

Regular training was necessary, but first he needed to test his current physical condition so he could better assess the extent of his progress.

First was his 0.8 Strength. By Li Wei's estimate, he should have been able to bench around forty-five kilograms. That ought to have been his current limit.

But reality was even worse than he had imagined. A standard Olympic bench bar weighed twenty kilograms. After putting a ten-kilogram plate on each side, Li Wei barely managed one rep at forty kilograms before he could not push it again.

His squat was slightly better than his bench press, but not by much. On the squat rack, Li Wei wobbled through one properly deep squat with fifty kilograms, after which his trembling legs told him he was already close to giving out.

Li Wei looked at the sole free attribute point he had left. After thinking it over, he decided to put it into Strength.

[Strength 0.8]--[Strength 0.9]

The moment the number flickered before his eyes, Li Wei felt every muscle in his body begin to twitch faintly. Every muscle fiber pulsed, and he could clearly sense his body undergoing an incredible transformation.

Muscle fibers that would normally take years to thicken began growing and spreading wildly throughout Li Wei's body.

While feeling the changes coursing through him, Li Wei calmly sat on the bench press bench and waited for the Strength increase to finish.

Less than a minute later, Li Wei felt as though the long-sleeved T-shirt he had worn was a little tighter.

He touched his arms, waist, and abdomen. To his surprise, the places where he could previously feel his ribs were now covered by a thin layer of muscle. His entire body had expanded slightly, almost imperceptibly to the naked eye.

When he tested his maximum strength again, Li Wei found that pressing forty kilograms was no longer nearly as strenuous.

In fact, with 0.9 Strength, he could even bench fifty kilograms, while his weighted squat jumped directly to sixty-five kilograms.

If he had needed to train for it, this progress would probably have taken four gym sessions a week, sustained for a month or even longer.

As for Constitution, his 0.9 Constitution left him gasping for breath after running one kilometer at a pace of five minutes and thirty seconds, forcing him to turn off the treadmill.

As for Agility, his 0.9 Agility gave him a 5.8-second forty-yard sprint and a fifteen-second hundred-meter dash.

After all the tests, Li Wei had gained a rough understanding of his physical condition.

With stats like these, let alone winning a national high school football championship, even making a school football team would be difficult.

Still, Li Wei was optimistic and confident. If nothing unexpected happened, his uncle's sleepwalking that night should give him another chance to trigger an interactive mission.

Just as Li Wei returned to the locker room in high spirits to change clothes, he happened to overhear two huge Black men talking outside.

"Bro, I've been using that protocol you told me about lately. My strength really has gone up a lot."

"See? I told you, I learned it from a professional bodybuilder. Five Anastrozole a week, one Cabergoline. On Monday, Trenbolone, Boldenone, and Trenbolone, five milliliters of each. Then five Anadrol-50 before training."

"How's your strength lately?"

"I can bench 150 kg now. I should have a shot at hitting a 230 kg PR on squats, right?"

"Holy shit, that's insane."

"You can increase the dosage a little too."

"But I'm worried it'll affect liver function and metabolism..."

"It's fine. You can just use testosterone replacement therapy afterward."

Without showing any reaction, Li Wei changed clothes, slung his bag over his shoulder, and walked out of the locker room. He glanced at the two Black men who had been talking.

One of them looked about Li Wei's age, yet he was more than a full size larger. His back was covered in dense acne and pimples, looking as though they could fester at any moment.

For some reason, Li Wei suddenly remembered the opening line of a blogger he used to enjoy watching:

Bad news from the bodybuilding world...

Fortunately, he had the system.