Chapter 45 - Fitness

Zhuoyue Middle School, during the break between classes.

Li Cheng sat at his desk, twirling a pen unconsciously between his fingers, looking as if his mind were a million miles away.

Seven days had passed since he first undertook a killing field mission, and he had been exceptionally busy during this period, only sleeping four to five hours a day, bolstered entirely by coffee and Energizing Potions.

His bustling activities included, but were not limited to, honing himself with an outcome-oriented approach, analyzing big data to review past successful cases, focusing on pain points, expanding the range of his strengths, swapping resources with organizations in the same field, and finally ensuring the smooth implementation of projects.

In layman’s terms, this meant practicing Shooting, firearms maintenance, Vehicle Driving, Fighting, and other Basic Skills,

consulting a large number of mission logs shared by other players,

selling the ruined Quality “Painful Golden Arrow of the Furious Hunting Legion” to Zhangsun Yao for a sum of money, and then using this money to purchase necessary Weapons, Equipment, and advanced versions of gene suppressants, temporarily alleviating the problem of Genetic Hunger.

Additionally, he invested the free attribute points he earned from leveling up into Perception and learned the Fog Concealment Skill.

He could proudly declare that he was no longer an Ordinary soldier, but a noble Spellcaster.

Fog Concealment Skill is also a Spell!

“What’s wrong with you, looking so empty as if you’ve overindulged in gaming?”

Han Letian, seated in the row behind, curiously peered over at the scribbled papers on Li Cheng’s desk and asked, “What’s this?

Are you planning to go to the gym lately?”

Those papers were prominently marked with the words “Fitness Plan.”

“Yeah.”

Li Cheng nodded, “I’ve drawn up a few schemes, the first of which is a deluxe nine-dragon supreme set consisting of Kang Lilon, a bunch of anabolic steroids like Oxymetholone, Oxygen Dragon, Methandienone, Oxymetholone, Metenolone, Recovery Dragon, along with other varieties of Nandrolone and such.”

“Pfft, are you trying to become Captain America, a new type of human who can lead the Earth to victory against extraterrestrial civilizations with a Perfect body?!”

Han Letian’s eyes twitched.

These ‘dragons’ were all actually steroids.

Kang Lilon enabled one to increase Strength and muscle explosiveness without gaining weight or bulking up, also drying out subcutaneous water – often used as a banned drug in fields like athletics and fighting.

Equally amazing among steroids, Oxymetholone not only builds muscle and burns fat but also increases nutrient absorption.

Last century it was used to rapidly increase the lean mass of livestock before slaughter.

Now, it’s widely abused in bodybuilding, sports, and fighting fields.

The other steroidal ‘dragons’ also had their respective strengths, and combined, they made for an exhilaratingly complete sensation.

After taking the full course, one could almost say goodbye to being an Ordinary human.

“That’s why I scrapped that plan.

The damage to the body is too great, it’s just not worth it,” said Li Cheng nonchalantly.

In fact, many novice players, eager to rapidly boost their physical Attributes, abuse various drugs.

They bombard their systems with muscle-building, fat-reducing, Strength-increasing drugs, transforming into muscle monsters within a month or two.

Such behavior – sacrificing the future for the present – has become all too common within the player community.

Companies like Gen-Sys Biotech are afraid their employees aren’t taking potent enough drugs and actively develop new ones, capable of catalyzing untrained Ordinary people into muscle tanks within just a week or two.

Compared to them, the Special Affairs Bureau is practically benign—they do distribute drugs to new employees, but they are nutritional supplements to improve sleep efficiency and sharpen thinking.

This actually reflects a difference in philosophy.

Gen-Sys Biotech is a multinational corporation where everything is aligned with profits; if an employee dies, they simply hire another.

The Special Affairs Bureau…

in a sense is like a guaranteed job for life.

“The new fitness plan is this.”

Li Cheng pulled a new sheet of paper out from under his textbook, on which a long list of words was densely packed, “For warm-up, use Xiangtan Stalls, three sets, one betel nut each set; Flavour King, four sets, three betel nuts each set; Old Xiangtan, four sets, three betel nuts each set; Woozi Drunk, four sets, four betel nuts each set; in the end, combine with Supreme World, five betel nuts each set until exhaustion.

Remember to focus on peak muscle contraction, rest 30 seconds between sets.”

Han Letian’s brow twitched wildly, retorting, “Wait, aren’t these all betel nut brands?

Are you trying to cultivate oral cancer by eating this much in a day?

Lao Cheng, get a grip, I don’t want to be visiting you at the cancer ward every day.”

“Good kids shouldn’t eat betel nuts.”

Sitting in the front row, Mu Yulu heard the two bantering and turned around to say, “Apart from the risk of oral cancer, your jaw muscles could also become enlarged, turning into a tender-faced pentagon like Hollywood actor Robert Pattinson.”

“Then forget it.”

Li Cheng quickly shook his head, “His new Batman is alright, but it’s still not as good as Christian Bale’s older version.”

“Uh, why?”

Han Letian hadn’t watched that movie and asked subconsciously, “Is his acting no good?”

“It’s not that, it’s just that I admire Christian Bale’s professionalism more.”

Li Cheng explained, “To perfectly play his movie roles, he can control his weight to swing dramatically.

In 2013, he played a steel mill worker in ‘Escape from the Melting Furnace,’ losing about 20 kg.

And in the same year’s ‘American Hustle,’ he played a pot-bellied scam artist, putting on an extra 34 kg.

This year’s ‘Dune 2’ is even more shocking, he broke the Guinness World Record by gaining 5000 tons, playing the role of a sandworm, delivering the best performance of his career.”

Han Letian was full of question marks, “I almost believed you until that 5000-ton part came up.”

“Eh, you believed it?” Li Cheng was surprised, “Then I have to recommend a spring festival box office hit, an inspirational comedy masterpiece ‘Spicy Roll…'”

Han Letian hastily interjected, “Stop, stop, stop!

Don’t say any more; don’t get a brother cyberbullied, okay?”

The trio chatted and joked as usual when suddenly, several exclamations came from the front row of the class.

“Wow, where did this video come from?

It’s so disgusting.”

“I’m gonna throw up, bleh.

Zhan Xinyu, you’re too twisted.”

“This has got to be AI-generated…”

Li Cheng and his friends curiously looked up, only to see Zhan Xinyu holding a phone and playing a video, surrounded by a circle of classmates, all of them wearing expressions mixed with disgust, shock, and a slight fear.

The video’s content was quite fuzzy, with about 480p resolution, and it could vaguely be seen that it was a surveillance viewpoint of a large office in a foreign building.

The office workers, both Caucasian and African Americans, were working normally, when suddenly a black and red rift appeared out of thin air in the office.

Some black mist seeped out from the crack, whipping up fierce winds.

The surveillance footage began to stutter, drop frames, and display a snowy screen; when the image stabilized, all the office workers had been “stuffed” into the nearest container to them.

Whether it was an office desk drawer, a water cooler bottle, or a plastic trash bin.

The employees’ bones were compressed, their skin dissolved, and their limbs fused together, but all of them were still breathing.