Chapter 13: Treasure Chests and Sweat

Li Hang woke on his own a little before two. He hadn’t been very sleepy; his nap was more a brief rest with his eyes closed. He climbed down and splashed cold water on his face, waking up properly.

At 2:10, he knocked on each roommate’s bed frame. “Up, guys. Training soon.”

Shi Xiao rolled over with a pained groan, like someone had stepped on his tail. Qiao Chuan sat up promptly, though his half-open eyes made him look like a sleepwalker. Xu Haodong was quickest: he climbed down, took sunscreen from a drawer, and began applying it.

“Want some?” He held the bottle out to Shi and Qiao. “It’s only the first day and the back of my neck is already red. At this rate, I’ll look like Natasha in two weeks.”

That woke Shi immediately. He grabbed the bottle and smeared sunscreen over his face. Qiao took some too. The three slathered it on in front of the mirror as though it cost nothing.

Downstairs, they parted ways. The three went to the assembly point, Li Hang to the shaded area east of the field. Qin Fang arrived two minutes after he sat down, dropped beside him, and sighed.

“How’s your ankle?” Li Hang asked.

“Same as before. I can’t stand long, but sitting’s fine.” Qin moved it without changing expression.

At 2:30, Instructor Wang blew his whistle and the exempt students settled into their places. Phones weren’t allowed; they simply sat. After a while, Li Hang’s backside went numb and his thoughts wandered. Exemption sounded easy, but sitting there doing nothing was its own form of torture.

Then he remembered his unused Shock Points. “System, open a Bronze Treasure Chest.”

[Ding! 500 Shock Points spent. Opening Bronze Treasure Chest.]
[Congratulations, Host! You have acquired Guitar Mastery.]

Li Hang raised an eyebrow. Another musical skill. The system seemed determined to package him as a music idol. Fine. With singing and guitar, once he’d lost weight he could take the stage and perform; surely Shock Points would pour in like a waterfall. How often did people see a 300-jin man who could sing well?

As he imagined it, another thought struck him. He had a hundred million yuan, but for now he could hardly spend it. He could buy a car, but he didn’t have a license. There was no point buying a home; first-years couldn’t live off campus, or Xu Haodong would already have moved out. He couldn’t eat or play as he pleased. What use was all that money sitting in his account as a string of numbers?

His body was holding him back. He needed to lose weight and increase his stamina so it could support a fuller life. What he lacked wasn’t money, but the ability to spend it.

Having reached that conclusion, he acted. “System, exchange eighty million yuan for Shock Points.”

[80 million yuan spent. 8,000 Shock Points acquired.]

“Exchange 6,000 Shock Points for six attribute points and put them all into stamina.”

He moved his limbs and felt a difference. His fat seemed less heavy, and his joints moved more easily. He tried standing and sitting five times in a row and barely became breathless. Before, standing once meant leaning against a wall to recover. He was now a nimble fat man—though still far behind ordinary people, and nowhere near the students running and jumping on the field. At least he’d progressed from gasping three times every two steps to gasping once. He still had a long way to go.

Around four, he approached Instructor Wang. “Could I exercise a little around the exemption area? Just slow walking. I won’t leave this area.”

“Has a doctor approved it?”

“I haven’t seen one, but my fitness coach says this intensity is fine. I’ve already been doing it.”

Wang considered. “All right. Stay nearby, and stop immediately if you feel unwell.”

“Thank you.”

“No need. It’s good that you want to exercise.” Wang patted his shoulder. “Want me to find equipment? There are steps over there you could hold onto for squats.”

“No, thanks. I’ll take it slowly.”

Li Hang began walking on the nearby track. The sun was descending, but the ground was still hot and the air had barely cooled. Sweat ran from his forehead down his cheeks, quickly dampening his shirt.

The six extra stamina points made a real difference. Before, his legs had ached after ten minutes. Now he walked half an hour, sweating and breathing hard but still able to keep going; each step no longer felt like carrying a mountain.

After roughly thirty minutes, he found a wall and did three thirty-second wall sits. He followed them with sets of diaphragmatic breathing, feeling his belly rise and fall. Finally, he mimed seated resistance-band exercises without a band, practicing the muscle movements empty-handed.

The whole session lasted over an hour. When he stopped by the track, there wasn’t a dry patch on him. His clothes clung to his body and sweat dripped down his trouser legs.

[Ding! One jin lost. Assets +100 million yuan.]

Li Hang leaned against a tree, chest heaving, grinning from ear to ear. A hundred million for a jin: now that was making money. If people who trained for ages without losing half a jin knew how efficient he was, they’d probably cry.

At 5:30, the dismissal whistle sounded. When Li Hang returned to the exemption area soaked through, the students looked over.

“Whoa, he’s sweating that much?”

“You could wring water out of his clothes.”

“How long did he train?”

Instructor Wang came over, looked him up and down, and gave a thumbs-up. “Li Hang, impressive. Over an hour without stopping?”

“I rested a few times,” he said between breaths.

Qin Fang patted his shoulder, getting a handful of sweat, but didn’t mind. “With that much sweat and your diet, I bet you’ll see a noticeable change in a month—no, two weeks.”

“I hope you’re right.”

The others regarded Li Hang differently now. Before, he’d been the guy over 300 jin; now he was the guy working desperately to lose weight. Curiosity and scrutiny had become respect and goodwill.

[Shock Points +4]
[Shock Points +3]
[Shock Points +2]

He wiped off his sweat, collected dinner, and went upstairs. The meal was sole, cold okra salad, and lettuce, with no staple food, plus a small box of cherry tomatoes for a snack. He ate every bite.

Honestly, on this diet he could lose weight even lying still in the dorm all day, just more slowly. With over an hour of exercise daily, the scale was bound to move. He cleaned up the boxes and leaned back, touching his belly and appreciating the subtle feeling of being only half full. It felt good.