Crossing the Newbie Wall in a Day

Huang Chong's first reaction upon seeing the system's new notification was to freeze in surprise.

"Set ideal body weight?"

"What does that mean?"

"Could the system let me skip the painful process of losing weight and directly reach my target weight?"

In his previous life, he had actually lost weight before and had plenty of experience with it. He knew very well that the key to weight loss was strictly controlling the difference between daily caloric intake and expenditure.

That process was anything but pleasant.

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After all, an adult man naturally burned around 2,000 calories a day. To achieve noticeable weight loss, he could only consume around 800 to 1,000 calories daily.

And those calories had to be split across three meals, meaning only two or three hundred calories per proper meal. That basically ruled out high-sugar, high-fat foods, as well as alcohol and other calorie-dense items.

That was why everything he had bought at the supermarket was extremely low in calories, high in water content, and filling.

Without hesitation, he silently set an ideal target weight in his mind.

"60 kilograms!"

He had given this number serious thought. At his height of 178 centimeters, weighing 60 kilograms would make him look practically skeletal. But for a GC climber, only by reducing his weight to that level could he maximize his power-to-weight ratio.

His current power was 170W. If he successfully cut down to 60 kilograms, his power-to-weight ratio would instantly reach 2.83W/kg.

That was still far from a professional rider's level, but it would be enough for him to maintain an average speed of around 30 km/h when riding alone. He would shed the label of a complete beginner with weak legs and officially join the ranks of amateur cycling enthusiasts.

Road cyclists, mountain bikers, and sprinters were fundamentally different. The first group primarily faced mountain climbs and fought against gravity. The lighter their body weight and the stricter their body-fat control, the faster they could climb.

[You have set your ideal body weight to: 60 kg. A phased mission has been activated.]

[During the upcoming fat-loss process, every successful loss of 5 kg will reward you with 5 Beginner Optimization Points and 1 Fat-Burning Muscle-Preserving Pill. There are three stages in total.]

[Fat-Burning Muscle-Preserving Pill: When taken during exercise while losing fat, this supplementary medicine can accelerate fat burning and lower body-fat percentage. At the same time, it preserves existing muscle and enhances muscle strength.]

After reading all the system notifications, Huang Chong felt that it fell somewhat short of the one-step solution he had imagined. Still, when he saw the new medicine and understood its exact effects, he was ecstatic.

That was because people losing fat normally also lost part of their existing muscle mass in the process.

So after shedding excess fat, many people who wanted to build strength had to supplement high-quality protein—beef, nuts, protein powder, skim milk, and so on—to start rebuilding muscle.

But with this Fat-Burning Muscle-Preserving Pill, he was naturally spared the tedious process of cutting first and bulking afterward.

Not only could he preserve his existing muscle while losing fat, he could even strengthen it. That still counted as a weaker version of getting everything done in one go.

"Seriously, Old Huang, I'm really curious. Eating like this every day, grazing like a sheep—how long can you keep it up?"

Although they had not gone to the night market, Du Wei had still bought a pile of ready-to-eat braised snacks at the supermarket. He ate them with Budweiser, savoring every bite as he teased Huang Chong again.

After all, he had no plans for body management.

If you were alive, you should eat well, drink well, and do whatever you wanted. Why become a professional cyclist and make life hard for yourself?

Huang Chong shot Du Wei an irritated glare.

This guy was a genuinely great person, but in certain ways, he also had a rather wicked sense of humor.

For example, he knew Huang Chong was trying to lose weight, yet he deliberately ate and drank delicious things right in front of him to see whether he could resist temptation.

But that was how real friendship between men had always worked. When there was trouble, they truly helped each other. When there was fun to be had, they would never let the other guy off easily.

"Old Du, if you think this tiny bit of temptation can make me break, then you're seriously underestimating my determination to become a professional cyclist."

Huang Chong chuckled. After quickly finishing his fat-loss meal, he went to wash up and get ready for bed.

The best way to resist delicious food was not to face it in the first place.

Before falling asleep, though, he lay in bed and carefully felt out his physical condition, especially his thighs. After taking the Beginner Training Recovery Energy Gel, he felt as if he had not exercised at all that day. There was not even the slightest weakness from lactic acid buildup. He finally had some understanding of the supplementary medicines the system rewarded him with.

He had to admit, a cheat-powered life really was different.

"I wonder how much this Heart-Lung Strengthening Pill will improve my cardiopulmonary capacity after I take it."

Huang Chong took a grayish-brown pill with a strong medicinal smell from his storage space. He had no intention of keeping system rewards hidden away for a long time or hesitating to use them.

After all, he had only just started cycling. Rapidly improving his strength was the top priority, and he could not afford to waste time.

To become a professional rider, even if he only joined a domestic continental team, his power-to-weight ratio would need to reach at least around 5.0W/kg.

At his ideal weight, his FTP would have to reach at least 300W. He still had a huge gap to close and absolutely no time to develop slowly.

Without another word, he swallowed the pill in one gulp, shut his eyes, and went to sleep.

As someone trying to lose fat, he had no time to wait for the medicine to take effect and carefully feel the changes. If he lay in bed playing on his phone for a while longer, his stomach would start feeling hungry.

If hunger kept him awake in the middle of the night, that would be a disaster.

So he slept straight through until morning. Only after getting up the next day did he carefully assess the changes in his cardiopulmonary condition. He found no discomfort and no abnormalities.

Instead, when he took deep breaths, they seemed easier and smoother than before, while his heartbeat had become especially vigorous and powerful.

He knew that this so-called Heart-Lung Strengthening Pill had quietly enhanced his cardiopulmonary capacity over the course of a single night's sleep.

But Huang Chong truly felt the specific changes to his heart and lungs after a busy day of work. When he rode out to train on his Ninth-Generation TCR, now fitted with a new wheelset, and saw his real-time heart rate and power displayed on the system bike computer, he finally understood how powerful the system's supplementary medicines were.

Yesterday, when he rode at an average speed of 25 km/h, his heart rate had quickly climbed past 170. But today, as he sped along at the same pace, his heart rate had dropped dramatically and remained rock steady between 130 and 140.

There was no doubt that this heart-rate range was only his Zone 2 aerobic range, the best zone for long-distance endurance training.

"This pill is fucking insane. With the system's blessing, it's like I've directly skipped at least two months of long-distance endurance training, from newbie to beginner level. This is too damn broken!"

Today, Huang Chong wore proper clipless cycling shoes and cycling kit as he raced alone down the cycling greenway, feeling utterly refreshed.

He had thought that even with the system, it would take him at least a week to cross the Newbie Wall.

But he had never expected that after just one night's sleep, a single pill would make his cardiopulmonary function improve by leaps and bounds.

This was such an incredible surprise!