Learning by Watching

Chen Yiming put the packed meals into the storage bag on the back of his bicycle, then hopped on and set off.

He had barely ridden out of the alley onto the main road when—

"One, two, one..."

A steady chant came from the distance. A formation of East Lake City soldiers marched toward him.

They wore dark green uniforms and each carried a rifle fitted with a long bayonet beneath the barrel. The blades gleamed a blinding white.

The design let them use their rifles as spears near a spatial passage, where the rules of the Otherworld rendered technological weapons useless.

While they were still far away, Chen Yiming rode onto the sidewalk to let them pass. Everyone around him did the same. No fool would block their path.

Outside a roadside convenience store,

a middle-aged man watched the soldiers go by and burst into tears.

"I only just rented this shop! Now I have to get ready to close it again."

He was the store's owner. Dressed in a blue work uniform, he stood rooted to the spot, tears streaming down his face.

A middle-aged woman hurried up to the store and asked,

"Could you get me three jugs of oil, ten packs of salt, and fifty pounds of loose rice?"

Anxiety showed in her eyes. Before the owner could answer, she pulled money from her pocket, as if afraid he might refuse.

A young girl followed her over, complaining as she walked.

"Mom, we still have plenty of rice at home. Why buy so much?"

The girl was the woman's daughter. She wore a long floral dress and had her hair tied in a single ponytail. She pouted in protest.

"All right, just a moment... Sorry, we're closed today."

The owner came to his senses and turned her down. He wiped the tears from his eyes, went inside, and pulled down the rolling shutter.

"Mom, that man's so strange. He said yes, then changed his mind. Who runs a business like that?" The girl stamped her foot and pursed her lips angrily.

"Come on. We need to get to the market. If we're late, there won't be anything left." The woman urged her daughter into a run, pulling her along.

"Mom, slow down! I'm wearing my new dress..."

The woman was in her forties and had lived through the war when Mutated Beasts besieged the city more than a decade ago. The moment she saw the assembled troops, she knew something serious had happened.

Once war broke out, transport routes could easily be cut off, and everyday necessities like oil, salt, firewood, and rice might run out. She had to stock up while most people had yet to hear the news.

Chen Yiming had stopped his bicycle a few feet from the store entrance and saw the whole thing.

I have to join a martial arts academy as soon as possible!

A sense of urgency rose in him. He kept reminding himself to take this seriously.

If chaos broke out, being a martial arts student would give him a measure of protection in his neighborhood and help his family deter anyone looking for trouble.

The soldiers soon disappeared down the road. The nearby pedestrians scattered, and Chen Yiming got back on his bicycle and continued along the main road.

All along the way, people hurried past as though the entire city had heard the news.

After a little more than ten minutes, he reached the downtown commercial district.

It housed the headquarters of the major martial arts academies and corporate groups. Their strength meant they had little to fear from ordinary flying Mutated Beasts, so many commercial buildings of twenty or thirty stories had been built there.

The Chen Family Restaurant mainly served ordinary employees working in the commercial district. Their wages were modest, and eating at the nearby restaurants was too expensive.

The Chen Family Restaurant charged no delivery fee, served generous portions at low prices, and had a good reputation. Business had always been brisk.

He paid one yuan to leave his bicycle in a marked, attended parking area by the road. Then, carrying seven or eight packed meals in each hand, he checked the addresses written on the boxes and took the elevator to deliver them to the customers.

It took Chen Yiming more than half an hour to finish all the deliveries.

Instead of going straight home, he rode to a venue converted from an old gymnasium.

This was the headquarters of the Praying Mantis Snake Sword Academy. As one of East Lake City's thirteen martial arts academies, it occupied its own plot in the commercial district.

Chen Yiming went to the front desk and said he was interested in enrolling as a student.

The receptionist was a young woman whose name tag read "Gu Manni."

She wore a pale yellow dress. Her large eyes were bright, her lips red, and her teeth white. Light makeup adorned her face. When she stood, she was less than half a head shorter than Chen Yiming, who was nearly six feet tall.

With her looks and figure, she could easily have become a star in his previous life. No wonder she worked at an academy headquarters.

"Hello, sir! Are you here to ask about enrollment?"

She took one look at him and seemed to lose interest. His clothes were unremarkable, and he did not look especially young. He was hardly a promising prospect. Still, company rules required her to receive him, so she smiled.

"Could you show me around over there for a while?"

Chen Yiming pointed toward several Core Disciples training in the center of the hall.

"Of course." Gu Manni smiled.

Her heels clicked as she led him over, walking a step ahead. They stopped a little more than twenty meters from the Core Disciples.

Along the way, Gu Manni followed her usual script, explaining the tuition fees, swordsmanship requirements, and other conditions for enrollment.

There were three Core Disciples in the center, two men and one woman.

The two young men were sparring with swords. Their figures flickered unpredictably, appearing in a corner one moment and returning to the center the next.

Chen Yiming kept his eyes fixed on them. He could not hear a word the beautiful saleswoman beside him said.

His inquiry about enrollment was only a pretext to learn by watching. The original owner of his body had been hopeless at the basic sword moves.

During his first month after arriving in this world, Chen Yiming had practiced the basic sword moves the way the original owner had. In that month, he gained one skill point.

In his second month, he often found chances to watch academy students train while making deliveries. He corrected a few obvious mistakes in his basic sword moves and gained another skill point in just over twenty days.

From then on, Chen Yiming knew that the original owner's grasp of the basics had been inadequate and that his training speed had not reached its full potential. Whenever he had the chance, he watched and learned at academies that taught swordsmanship.

After they had watched for more than ten minutes, Chen Yiming could find no excuse to stay longer. At Gu Manni's pointed reminder, he returned to the reception area and sat down on a sofa.

Gu Manni poured him a glass of water and sat beside him. She laid a list of contract terms on the coffee table, pointed to one of the offers, and explained,

"Mr. Chen, we're running a discount promotion. If you pay a deposit today, we can take another three thousand off the price. It's a special offer for your first visit."

Yeah, right. Chen Yiming had come to watch their training more than once. He just made sure not to visit the same academy too often. Last time, a beautiful woman named Shen Jia had received him.

He drained his glass of water and pretended to consider the offer.

"I understand the basics, but I still need to discuss it with my family. I'll be going now."

With that, he pretended not to see the disappointed look in her eyes, stood, and walked resolutely out of the academy.