"PLAYER CHEN SHI. RACK 3."
"BEGIN."
Chen Shi stepped up to the platform.
He looked at the bar.
260kg.
He sighed. A weary breath.
He rolled his shoulders, wincing as if in pain.
"Ah... my back..."
"Lady Cecilia was really rough..."
Elena rushed over with a towel.
"Chen! Be careful!"
She wiped a non-existent bead of sweat from his forehead. Her eyes full of concern.
Amy held up a water bottle.
"Big Brother! Drink first! Stay hydrated!"
Chen Shi smiled weakly.
"Thank you, girls. Without you... I couldn't do this."
He took a sip.
Then he leaned on Elena for support to get under the bar.
His legs were "trembling."
His face was pale.
[Foreign Live Stream Chat]
[LOOK AT HIM!]
[Pathetic!]
[He needs two women to help him stand up?]
[Why does the trash always get the harem?!]
[Elena is wiping his face! She never even looked at me like that!]
[Amy is treating him like a hero! He is a leech!]
[I hate him! I hate him so much!]
[Viper! Tank! Destroy him! Make him cry!]
Viper watched this scene.
His blood pressure spiked.
The jealousy was burning a hole in his stomach.
"Look at that..."
"Acting like a king..."
"While we sweat and bleed..."
He activated his Skill.
[Eye of Truth (Grade D) - ACTIVE]
[Target: Chen Shi]
[Scanning for Weak Points...]
His eyes glowed with a faint green light.
He expected to see a specific weak spot. A bad knee. A strained lower back. A torn muscle.
But...
[Scan Complete.]
[Weak Points Detected: NONE.]
Viper blinked.
What?
No weak points?
Impossible.
Every human has a weak point. Even higher level players!
Then, a twisted logic formed in his mind.
Wait.
If everything is white...
That means EVERYTHING is weak!
He is so Level 0, so fragile, that his entire existence is a weak point!
"Hah!"
Viper grinned savagely.
"He's made of glass, Tank."
"Anywhere works."
He nudged HeavyTank.
"Get ready."
"Use [Seismic Stomp (Micro)]."
"Keep it subtle. Just vibrate the floorplate under his feet."
"Don't let the Lady see."
HeavyTank nodded. Sweat dripping from his nose.
"Got it."
Rep 1.
Chen Shi unracked the bar.
WOBBLE. WOBBLE.
He looked like a baby giraffe learning to walk.
His knees knocked together.
"Hrrngh..."
He descended.
Slowly.
Painfully.
VMMMM.
HeavyTank tapped his foot on the ground.
A subtle vibration traveled through the floor.
Chen Shi stumbled slightly.
"Whoa!"
He tipped forward.
The bar dipped.
[Foreign Chat: YES! He's falling!]
But...
At the last millisecond.
He caught himself.
UP.
He ground the rep out.
Shaking violently.
"One..." He gasped.
Viper frowned.
"Lucky recovery."
"Tank. More power."
"Just a little bit more."
Rep 2.
Chen Shi went down.
VMMMMMM.
HeavyTank increased the frequency.
The floor under Chen Shi was now vibrating like a washing machine.
Chen Shi's face turned red.
"Why... is the floor... moving?"
He stalled at the bottom.
Stuck.
Viper clenched his fist.
"He's failing! He's failing!"
"Push him over the edge! Now!"
HeavyTank gritted his teeth. He channeled more Mana.
The vibration intensified.
But Chen Shi... didn't fall.
He swayed. He looked like he was about to die.
But he didn't collapse.
GRIND... GRIND... UP.
"Two..."
Viper's eye twitched.
"How?!"
"He was 99% done!"
"He just needed 1% more push!"
"Tank! Increase output to 20%!"
Rep 6.
Chen Shi was panting like a steam engine.
"I... can't..."
"So heavy..."
He went down.
HeavyTank was now sweating profusely.
Using [Seismic Stomp] continuously was draining his Mana fast.
RUMBLE.
The floor was practically shaking apart.
Chen Shi's knees buckled.
The bar tilted 30 degrees.
[Dragon Country Chat:]
[HOLD ON BROTHER CHEN!]
[Why is he shaking so much?!]
[Is it an earthquake?!]
[Someone is messing with him!]
Viper was screaming internally.
"FAIL! JUST FAIL ALREADY!"
"YOU ARE RIGHT THERE!"
"JUST DROP THE BAR!"
It was like watching a progress bar stuck at 99.9%.
It refused to hit 100%.
Chen Shi groaned.
"Annie... love... power..."
He miraculously corrected his balance.
And stood up.
"Five..."
HeavyTank gasped for air.
"Viper..."
"I'm at 50% Mana..."
"This guy... he's like a cockroach..."
"Every time I think he's dead... he just... doesn't die."
Viper slapped HeavyTank's back.
"Don't stop now!"
"We already invested half your Mana!"
"If we stop, we wasted it for nothing!"
"Just one more push! He is DEFINITELY going to fail on the next one!"
"He is at his limit! Look at him!"
Rep 9.
Chen Shi looked like he was having a seizure.
Foam was forming at his mouth (toothpaste he hid earlier).
"Last... one..."
He went down.
HeavyTank roared.
"DIE!"
He poured everything into the floor.
[Seismic Stomp: MAX OUTPUT (Stealth Mode)]
The vibration was so strong that HeavyTank's own boots cracked.
His Mana bar hit 0.
He felt dizzy. Nauseous.
Chen Shi paused at the bottom.
He looked like a statue teetering on a cliff edge.
Viper held his breath.
This is it.
The snap.
Chen Shi's eyes rolled back.
He wavered.
He shook.
And then...
WHOOSH.
He stood up.
Fast.
Wait.
Fast?
For a split second, the "trembling" vanished.
The bar moved with the speed of a hydraulic lift.
Then, just as quickly, Chen Shi slumped back into "dying mode."
CLANG.
He racked the bar.
"Ten..."
He collapsed into Elena's arms.
"I... did it..."
HeavyTank fell to his knees.
Empty. Drained.
He had used every drop of Mana to shake the floor.
And achieved... absolutely nothing.
Viper stared at Chen Shi.
His brain couldn't process it.
"He..."
"He finished?"
"We spent one monthly earning..."
"We spent 100% of Tank's Mana..."
"And he just... finished?"
Chen Shi, from the safety of Elena's embrace, opened one eye.
He looked at the exhausted HeavyTank.
He smirked.
And mouthed one word:
"Thanks for the massage."
"PLAYER CHEN SHI."
"CHALLENGE COMPLETE."
"GRADE: S (Perfect Form)."
[Dragon country gain 10% luck boost permanently]
The System Announcement boomed through the gym.
Chen Shi didn't just survive.
He got an S.
He lay on the floor, head resting comfortably on Elena's lap, sipping water from Amy's bottle.
He looked like a king on vacation.
Across from him.
Viper and HeavyTank were on their knees.
Gasping for air.
HeavyTank was trembling so hard his teeth chattered. His Mana bar was flashing red [EMPTY].
Viper was clutching his chest, his wallet lighter, his pride shattered.
They had thrown everything at him.
Report. Skills.
And he treated it like a massage.
[Foreign Live Stream Chat]
[WHAT THE F*CK JUST HAPPENED?!]
[He was shaking! He was dying! I saw it!]
[How did he lock out that last rep?! It moved like a feather!]
[Wait... look at Tank. Look at Viper.]
[Tank is passed out. Viper is crying.]
[Did... did two Level 1 Awakened just burn out trying to sabotage a Level 0... and FAIL?!]
[This is rigged! I call hacks! ADMIN!]
[Dragon Country Live Stream Chat]
[Chen was trolling them! He was literally trolling them the whole time!]
[Where is Golden_Eagle_Gambler?]
[Hey VIP! You said he would snap his knees!]
[You said he was weak!]
[Come out and pay up!]
[User 'Golden_Eagle_Gambler' (VIP):]
[...]
[User 'Golden_Eagle_Gambler' (VIP):]
[Connection Error.]
[User 'Golden_Eagle_Gambler' has gone offline.]
The chat erupted in laughter.
[HE RAGE QUIT!]
[The whale ran away!]
[Coward!]
[HAHAHAHAHA! DID YOU SEE THAT?]
[Brother Chen is an Oscar-level actor!]
["Oh no, the floor is shaking~ Oh no, I'm falling~"]
[He played them like a fiddle!]
[Those idiots actually spent Mana to give him a foot massage!]
[You really thought a man who survived the "Bedroom Marathon" would fail a squat?]
[Viper lost money, lost face, and lost a rib. Chen Shi gained points, gained a harem, and gained a massage.]