Chapter 3: Bodybuilding intro
Despite the fact that the nutrition drink was expensive, Feng had no choice but to bite the bullet and purchase a D rank nutritional fluid. A higher grade of nutritional fluid is currently out of his price range. Furthermore, it was unnecessary for him because his body was too weak to benefit fully.
At the time, a D rank was enough to give him a head start he had never had before.
Feng hopes to train his body to the middle stage of body foundation in the year before God's Art begins.
He is now at the early stages of body and sense refinement due to his previous life experience. He believes he can train his body and sense refinement up to the middle stages once his body foundation reaches the middle stages.
The stages of Body Training are as follows:
The first stage is Body Foundation, which consists of the development of one muscle. When a person reaches the pinnacle of this stage, they are referred to as earth experts.
The second stage is Body Refinement, which is the practice of controlling one's own body. It is said that such experts can control all of their body's strength to a single point. At their pinnacle, they are referred to as soul experts.
The final stage is Sense Refinement, which allows one to train the sensitivity of their five senses to perceive their surroundings better. They are referred to as heaven experts at the pinnacle.
Each stage is further subdivided into Early, Mid, Late, and Peak.
The training to the peak of the body foundation is the simplest of the three stages. People who have progressed to the early stages of body and sense refinement are uncommon. Even after 20 years, the number of Soul experts on the planet has not surpassed 1,000, while heaven experts are only about half that number.
Technically, one should build their body (body foundation), then learn to control and finesse their body (body refining), and finally learn to control their environment (body refining) (sense refinement).
Even 20 years in the future, it is a fact that the body foundation is where most ordinary people get stuck, as the other body and sense refinement requires numerous battles to refine.
Anyone capable of using Body Refinement is regarded as an expert or a master. Anyone who can refine their senses is considered an expert among experts or a grandmaster. On the other hand, Lin Feng's learning process is muddled due to his prior life experience.
Lin Feng retains his previous life memories and experiences even after returning in time. As a result of repeatedly molding his senses in God's Art, his body and sense refinement were near the middle stages' peak in his previous life.
The battle experience remains ingrained in his body even after reincarnation. Despite his weak body, his level of body and sense refinement had degraded to the early stages.
With the concept of body and sense refinement being so new in this era, he could be regarded as a rare expert with his early stage of body and sense refinement.
Lin Feng's scrawny body draws a lot of attention as he walks into the gym. Lin Feng walked up to the treadmill and began his 10km run, ignoring all the stares. It is simple to lay the groundwork for his Body. It's all about exercise... exercise and more exercise.
Lin Feng had to force himself to run as much as he could to build up his stamina, despite the fact that his body and lungs could not handle it. Lin Feng had run out of stamina and was struggling at the 2km mark... 4km… 5km… he clocked his miles slowly but steadily.
During this time, the gazes in the gym had returned to Lin Feng's treadmill section. This time, however, it is at a lady two treadmills away from Lin Feng.
"Wow, look at that girl! Her body and face are divine!" A man murmured with his companion.
"Omfg! Those yoga pants on those perky butts... How can anyone withstand that!?" Another man murmured to himself.
"Shit! I need to go to the toilet… Uhmm, I urgently need to erm... pee!" A student ran after saying that.
"Tsk, do you guys want to die? That's Sun Bing, the mayor's only daughter!" A man whispered, and those who heard it widened their eyes in surprise before scattering.
Unfortunately, Lin Feng is too tired to notice who this lady is because he is jogging and struggling on his 7th km. Even 20 years after her debut as a solo player, she was well-known in Gods Art.
Without the support of a guild, she could easily rank among the world's top ten on a global scale. One could only imagine how strong her gaming sense was.
————————————————————
Lin Feng took a shower after completing his workout and before returning home. Tomorrow is the first day of his senior year of high school. When he got home, he got a text from Fatty Zai. [Brother Feng, I have good news! I managed to persuade my father and mother to lend me 55,000 credit, which I added to my 5000 credits; I have transferred you 60,000. So, good luck with your 'girlfriend,' and I hope everything works out for you!]
'Damn you, fatty... I am so grateful to have you as my brother.' Feng smiled gratefully. After that, he took out his phone and checked to make sure the credits were still in his account.
Reincarnation is more difficult than he anticipated. In his previous life, he had gotten to the point where he didn't have to scrimp on credits, but now he's back in the shithole.
Feng spent the rest of the night creating his one-year plan and making a list of quests and skills he must obtain once the game begins. Feng went to bed determined to change his life after downing his own packet of free F-rank nutrients from the government.
---------------------
*Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep…*
4 am, Henan Province
Feng awoke on his old desktop. His to-do list includes opening and logging into an investment account before placing an order for stocks in Abstergo Reality, the company behind Gods Art.
VR has been around for a while, but Abstergo is a new guy on the block. Despite the fact that Gods Art is their first game, they managed to achieve 85 percent synchronization at launch, compared to the market average of 60 percent currently.
By the time the game reached its peak in five years, they had achieved 99.9 percent synchronization with the human mind.
Nobody knows how the company was able to create such a realistic game at this time. After all, it is implausible that a new company in the market could develop such a system in such a short period of time.
God Art would be released a year later, on January 1, 2110, and the company had been founded in 2108, just two years before the launch. As a result, Abstergo was able to complete the game in just two years.
Nobody knows who the company's true backer is. Nonetheless, there are rumors that the world government supports Abstergo Reality. For the past 20 years, such theories have been widely circulated. However, neither party has confirmed this theory as of yet.
However, even after 20 years, it is still just a theory, and nothing can be confirmed. Perhaps Feng had not reached a high enough level to discover the information. However, if one thinks clearly, no new company could develop such technology without substantial funding.
In any case, Feng's main task is to buy as much stock as possible at the current price of 35 credits per stock. The stock had reached a high price of 1800+ credit, implying that any stock he purchased now would earn him a profit of 1750 credit.
That is if he could keep it, which is impossible because he would have to cash out some early to repay Fatty's loan as well as for his own use. Even so, it is preferable to begin as soon as possible.
He had 70,000 credits with Fat's credit loan of 60,000 and 10,000 of his own money after setting aside 9,000 as floating cash. This meant he could buy two lots of 1,000 shares. He only had to hold and wait with this.
After that, Feng went for his morning 10km run.
"Huff, huff... Dammit!" Lin Feng panted as he leaned against his room's wall. He cursed as he tried to recover before heading to the shower, "This body is damn frail." Feng went to school after taking a shower.
His school was only a 15-minute walk from his house, but it had never been a favorite of Feng's.
"Lin Feng!" exclaimed Fatty Zai.
"Fat Bro!!!" Feng responded cheerfully, hearing Fatty's voice, as he owes him a big favor this time, "Thanks for the help with the credits. I will repay you with interest as soon as possible." Lin Feng spoke calmly, especially when mentioning the interest portion.
The only way he can repay this friend is to use his future knowledge to create a better life for them both.
"No need to be concerned. We will always be brothers. I have enough faith in you. Anyway, it's our final year of school, so let's just enjoy it and sneak a peek at the girls' changing room later." Fatty responded with his trademark horny grin.
"... erm, no thanks, Fatty," Feng shuddered at the prospect. They had done this in a previous life and had been caught. The punishment was humiliating, as they were caned together on stage.
Feng's face lit up unconsciously as he remembered the crazy things the two had done when they were younger.
"What are you two losers talking about?" yelled a voice from behind. Gao Xiong was the owner of the voice. Gao Xiong, who is tall and built like a bear, was the school's top fighter and is preparing to compete in the regional fight competition. The school is hoping that he will be able to place in the top three and compete in the Nationals.
He pushed his way past the two of them.
'Same old shit I have to go through,' Feng thought as he sighed. 'Oh well, I am technically an adult, so it's pointless for me to get into a fight with some kid.' He added in his mind as he and Fatty Zai entered the classroom.