ALL NOVEL Chapter 3: The Talking Cat
After a quick word with the security guard, Xue Jing entered the residential complex and headed to his own building. He took the elevator to the ninth floor and pulled out his keys to unlock the door.
Once inside, he tossed his backpack onto the sofa and stretched his limbs before heading into his 'gym.'
Calling it a gym was a bit of a stretch; it had originally been a storage room. But once his skill panel awakened, Xue Jing had cleared out the clutter and invested in several pieces of workout equipment, transforming it into a small-scale gym. For this, he had nearly drained all his monthly savings.
Fortunately, in this life, he didn’t end up as one of the children in the Heaven’s Orphanage. Instead, he had both parents and a sister who had just started university last year. Though the family wasn’t wealthy, they were content.
The only issue was that his parents were extremely busy and often away on business trips, and his sister Xue Wan had been studying out of town since last year. This left Xue Jing mostly living alone.
Starting with a set of stretches, Xue Jing then stepped onto the treadmill, set the pace to 12 km/h, and intended to run at this speed for ten minutes to warm up.
As he ran, he began to ponder,
"During the physical test at noon, running a thousand meters earned me 10 more experience points than usual..."
"This suggests that participating in 'specific events' is the key to quickly gaining experience, doesn’t it?"
Agreeing to join the school sports meet at the request of his homeroom teacher, Du Shiwei, was Xue Jing’s way of testing this theory.
If this method guaranteed more experience, then even an ordinary routine test could boost his experience gain. Competing in an official event should raise it even more.
....
An hour later, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, Xue Jing unscrewed a bottle of 500ml mineral water and downed it in one go.
He opened the panel.
“You’ve completed an intense workout, Fitness Experience +98.”
“Fitness Lv2.”
He took a moment to catch his breath, sensing the changes in his body.
Hmm, just going off pure sensation, it wasn't easy to detect anything different.
But he knew his physical abilities had been enhanced once more.
The feedback from skill experience was instant, not something that only reflected during upgrades.
“Spending dedicated time to train on this fitness skill feels a bit inefficient,” Xue Jing reflected.
Through his recent observations, he learned that the “Fitness” skill could comprehensively enhance all aspects of his physical prowess, making it an exceedingly useful skill. It was also his main focus for grinding experience.
However, he realized that he didn't need to focus exclusively on gym training for this skill.
According to his observations, the skill's experience increased through ‘anything that could physically train the body’.
For instance, when he ran, he not only gained “Running” experience but also some “Fitness” experience.
Given this, engaging in other activities that trained his body could also boost his “Fitness” experience without specifically dedicating time to using gym equipment.
Like... practicing martial arts.
In this world, martial arts were far more advanced than in his previous life.
Xue Jing vividly remembers watching online martial arts competition videos, where martial artists could send their opponents flying several meters away with a single kick, striking the wall and leaving a human-shaped impression.
The swiftness of their movements was beyond belief.
He wanted to delve into martial arts himself, but... he didn't know where to start.
After awakening to his panel not long ago, he diligently followed videos and manuals online, practicing carefully. However, until now, the panel showed no change.
Activating skills wasn't something that could be achieved carelessly; it required genuine knowledge. Otherwise, he would already have amassed a multitude of skills by now.
Although there were a few martial arts dojos in Sunny City, their fees were exorbitantly high. He could not afford them, nor did he dare ask his parents for the money as it was just too expensive.
"If only I could get started, with my unrivaled talent and extraordinary wisdom, mastering a set of powerful and domineering legendary techniques would surely be a breeze."
However, regardless of his immense talent and high intelligence, without a master to guide him, it was like trying to cook a meal without any rice.
Xue Jing rested for a while before heading to the bathroom.
…
After washing his hair and thoroughly rinsing his body, he filled the bathtub and soaked for fifteen minutes. All his fatigue melted away, except for some lingering muscle soreness.
In the bathroom, Xue Jing glanced in the mirror.
His reflection revealed a refined countenance—intellectual yet restrained.
When expressionless, it appeared aloof, but a slight curl of his lips transformed it into a warm winter sun: not overly intense, just a subtle warmth, yet enough to deeply touch one's heart.
His slender frame appeared lean but not emaciated; through recent skill training, fittingly shaped muscles began to emerge. Given that skill-enhancing effects on physical attributes were comprehensive, these muscles formed perfectly in harmony, growing in the most ideal manner.
He glanced down... Hmm, a bit of a pot belly.
Fiddling with his medium-length black hair that didn't quite reach his eyes, Xue Jing put on his clothes and left the bathroom, ready to go out and restock on groceries and household supplies.
After changing his shoes, he stepped out of his home, exited his residential area, and headed to the nearest supermarket.
It was now half-past seven in the evening, and the sky had darkened. Most people had already finished dinner, and the streets were bustling with pedestrians.
While waiting for a traffic light at the intersection, Xue Jing suddenly heard some sharp screams nearby.
Curious, he looked in the direction of the commotion.
Across the street, an old man with a bald crown and classic sleeveless white tank top was maneuvering a wheelchair with his hands, quickly wheeling between the passersby.
Was he... drifting?
Amazingly, despite using a manual wheelchair, the old man demonstrated exceptional skill, gracefully weaving and turning, drifting around several drainage curves with a fluidity akin to a professional figure skater, silky smooth.
As the wheelchair breezed past, it stirred up a wind that lifted the skirts of female students wearing short skirts, triggering a series of shrieks. The old man even found time to whistle at a girl, drawing angry exclamations and playful scolds.
Watching the old man drift away with an air of nonchalance, Xue Jing fell into contemplation.
If wheelchair drifting were a skill, this old man would surely rank at Lv10.
An amusing encounter indeed.
Shaking his head as the green light turned on, Xue Jing crossed the road and entered the supermarket.
Xue Jing bought some beef and pork, vegetables, eggs, sausages, dried noodles, and spices like onions, ginger, and garlic, along with some condiments that were either used up or running out, as well as some snacks and fruit. After paying at the checkout, he walked out of the supermarket carrying a large bag.
As Xue Jing retraced his route home, he suddenly paused when he passed by a dim alleyway.
“Hmm?”
A small black cat with four white-pawed feet jumped out from somewhere and blocked his path.
The cat had no collar, but there was a platinum metal ring around the tip of its tail. It was unclear whether this was an adornment from a pet owner or a prank forcibly put on by a passerby.
Its coat was dirty and disheveled, with bald patches, likely from fights with other cats. Some congealed blood stains spotted its fur, a testament to its hardships.
The cat wobbled over to Xue Jing after jumping down, looked at him with its emerald slit eyes, then collapsed onto its side.
“Trying to scam me?”
Xue Jing chuckled.
However, the cat appeared pitiful, and feeling a sense of fate, he crouched down, intending to feed it some sausage.
Just then, the collapsed cat opened its mouth in a daze, astonishingly speaking, "I never imagined... the life of a stray cat... would be so cruel, ugh."
Having mumbled this, it closed its eyes and fainted.
…