Chapter 49 Fitness

Zhuoyue High School, during the break. Li Sheng sat at his desk, his fingertips spinning a pen absentmindedly as he stared into space, looking completely miles away.

Seven days had passed since his first slaughter-field mission. He had spent this period exceptionally busy, sleeping only four or five hours a day, sustained entirely by coffee and alertness potions.

His busy schedule included, but was not limited to: result-oriented self-improvement, big-data reviews of past successful cases, focusing on pain points, expanding advantageous areas, engaging in resource exchanges with organizations in the same field, and ultimately ensuring the smooth implementation of projects.

In plain human terms, this meant practicing basic skills such as firearm shooting, gun maintenance, vehicle driving, and weapon combat;

Reading through a massive pile of mission logs shared by other players;

Selling that ruined-quality [Painful Golden Arrow of the Wild Hunt] to Zhangsun Yao in exchange for a sum of money, which he then used to purchase necessary weapons and equipment as well as an advanced version of gene suppressants, temporarily resolving his genetic hunger.

In addition, he had allocated his free attribute point gained from leveling up into Perception, and learned the Mist Concealment skill. He could proudly declare that he was no longer a blank-slate warrior, but a noble spellcaster.

Mist Concealment was a spell, too!

"What's wrong with you? You look like you've hollowed yourself out from playing video games too much."

Han Letian, sitting in the back row, curiously leaned over to glance at the scribbled draft paper on Li Sheng's desk. "What's this? Are you planning to work out lately?"

The words "Workout Plan" were written in bold characters across that sheet of draft paper.

"Yeah,"

Li Sheng nodded. "I've designed a few regimens. The first one is a Nine Dragons Supreme Combo consisting of Stanozolol, Trenbolone, Oxandrolone, Methylprednisolone, Parabolin, Methenolone, Oxymetholone, Nandrolone Decanoate, Nandrolone Phenylpropionate, and Trestolone."

"Pfft, are you trying to become Captain America, a New Man, a perfect physique capable of leading Earth to victory against an alien civilization?!"

Han Letian's eye twitched. These "dragons" were actually all steroids.

Stanozolol could increase strength and muscular explosiveness without adding size or body weight, while drying out subcutaneous water. It was often used as a banned substance in track and field, combat sports, and other fields.

Trenbolone, another steroid, was even more outrageous. It could build muscle, burn fat, and increase nutrient absorption. In the previous century, it was used to rapidly increase the lean body mass of livestock destined for slaughter. Nowadays, it had also become a drug widely abused in bodybuilding, sports, and combat fields.

As for the other dragons, each had its own strengths, and combining them all together would achieve a magnificent, all-in-one synergy. Once you finished taking them all, you could basically declare yourself outside the category of normal humans.

"That's why I discarded this regimen. The damage to the body is just too severe; the losses outweigh the gains," Li Sheng said nonchalantly.

In fact, quite a few novice players abused various drugs in order to rapidly enhance their physical fitness. They aggressively slammed banned substances for muscle building, fat loss, and strength enhancement, spending a month or two transforming into muscle monsters.

This behavior of living in the present while mortgaging the future had already become commonplace within the player circle.

Take Gen-Sys Biotech, for example. Fearing that their employees wouldn't use strong enough drugs, they actively developed new pharmaceuticals that could catalyze untrained ordinary people into muscular tanks in just a week or two.

Compared to them, the Special Affairs Bureau was practically gentle—although they also distributed drugs to new employees, those were merely nutritional supplements designed to improve sleep efficiency and sharpen cognition.

This actually represented the differing philosophies of the two sides.

Gen-Sys Biotech was a multinational corporation where everything aligned with profit; if an employee died, they would simply hire another one.

The Special Affairs Bureau... was somewhat like an iron rice bowl.

"The new workout regimen is this one."

Li Sheng pulled a new sheet of draft paper from beneath his textbook, densely covered with a long string of text: "Warm up with Xiangtan Puzi, three sets, one piece per set; Kouweiwang, four sets, three pieces per set; Laoxiangtan, four sets, three pieces per set; Wuzizui, four sets, four pieces per set; and finally, Hechengtianshi super-sets, five pieces per set to failure. Pay attention to peak muscle contraction, with 30 seconds of rest between sets."

"???"

Han Letian's eyes twitched wildly as he retorted: "Wait a minute, aren't all of these betel nut brands? Are you trying to cultivate oral cancer by chewing so many in a day? Get a grip, Brother Sheng, I really don't want to visit you in the hospital's oncology department every day."

"Good kids shouldn't eat betel nuts."

Mu Yulu, sitting in the front row, overheard their banter and turned around to say: "Aside from the risk of oral cancer, your jaw muscles will also hypertrophy, turning you into a square-jawed trapezoid face like Hollywood actor Robert Pattinson."

"Forget it then."

Li Sheng quickly shook his head. "Even though his performance in the new Batman was all right, it still doesn't compare to Christian Bale's version of the old Batman."

"Uh, why?"

Han Letian hadn't watched that movie yet and asked instinctively: "Was his acting bad?"

"Not at all. It's just that I admire Christian Bale's dedication more."

Li Sheng said: "In order to play his movie roles to perfection, he can control his weight by bouncing back and forth. In 2013, he played a steel mill worker in *Out of the Furnace* and lost 40 pounds. In the same year's film *American Hustle*, he played a potbellied scam artist and gained 75 pounds. In this year's latest *Dune: Part Two*, he even broke the Guinness World Record by gaining 5,000 tons to play the role of a sandworm, delivering the best performance of his career."

"???"

Han Letian was filled with question marks. Before the number 5,000 tons came out, he had actually believed it.

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

"Whoa, where did this video come from? So gross."

"I'm going to throw up. Bleh. Zhan Xinyu, you are so perverted."

"This video must be AI-generated..."

Curious, the three of Li Sheng looked up and saw Zhan Xinyu playing a video on her phone, surrounded by a circle of classmates whose facial expressions were a mix of disgust, shock, and a hint of fear.

The video was quite blurry, with a quality of only about 480p, but one could vaguely make out the surveillance perspective of an open-plan office in a foreign high-rise building.

The white and black employees in the office were working normally when a black-red fissure suddenly appeared out of thin air inside the room. Some black mist spewed from the crack, kicking up a violent gale.

The surveillance footage began to stutter, drop frames, and show static. When the picture returned to normal, all the employees had been "stuffed" into the containers closest to them—

Whether it was an office desk drawer, a water cooler jug, or a plastic trash can.

The bones of these employees were compressed, their skin melted, and their limbs fused together, yet they were all still breathing.