Swish swish swish!

Inside a fully equipped, spacious, brightly lit gym, a figure was sweating profusely as he trained with all his might.

He first threw a punch with his left hand, accompanied by the sound of air tearing, then followed with a spinning kick. The entire sequence flowed like drifting clouds and running water, forcibly turning what should have been a murderous martial technique into something as pleasing to the eye as a dance.

Bang bang!

Several lead balls shot in from all directions were struck down with pinpoint precision, slamming heavily onto the ground with dull thuds that echoed throughout the training hall.

“Hoo… I’m exhausted.”

After repeating the entire set of techniques hundreds of times and finally completing his training quota, Li Chen stretched lazily, panting as he looked toward the flickering screen in front of him.

[Calculating this training score…]

Ding!

[Congratulations, respected Mr. Li Chen. Your score has reached a new personal high. According to system evaluation, your basic movement rating is: AAA, surpassing 99.99% of users.]

‘Looks like persistence really does pay off.’

Li Chen smugly glanced at the numbers on the screen, the corners of his mouth lifting with a sense of accomplishment.

‘With second-tier strength and an AAA rating, maybe I’m the only case in the entire Hive City.’

Generally speaking, martial realms were closely tied to a warrior’s tier, but there were always a handful of geniuses who could break through physiological limits and grasp deeper martial mysteries before reaching higher tiers.

Drip drip.

After such an intense workout, Li Chen was drenched in sweat, beads of it sliding down his body.

‘A bit hot.’

Feeling sticky, Li Chen simply unfastened his top and went bare-chested, exposing his muscular upper body to the air.

‘Hoo, that’s much better. Heh, now I’ll have more confidence going to Thunder Martial Arts Hall.’

As a top-tier martial arts hall renowned across the Hive City, Thunder Martial Arts Hall was very different from other halls where money alone bought one-on-one personal instruction. Even if you paid a fortune to secure a trainee slot there, if your talent was mediocre, you could at best train fundamentals under ordinary instructors, with no chance to touch the most elite techniques.

Even so, Thunder Martial Arts Hall still attracted countless ambitious warriors who flocked to it in droves.

It wasn’t because people enjoyed suffering the stricter the rules were.

On the contrary, compared to other consortiums that controlled every aspect of the Hive City, Thunder Martial Arts Hall—which gave ordinary people even the faintest chance, however slim—was already the most “inclusive” and “unconcerned with background.”

That said, compared to scions of consortium families who had undergone generations of genetic optimization, were born with peerless aptitude and had inherited top-tier martial arts, commoners were still at an enormous disadvantage.

Even if they were extremely talented and managed to advance to high-tier martial artists, without supreme martial inheritances or vast resources, they often had to sign brutally harsh contracts with consortiums just for opportunities that noble heirs wouldn’t even spare a glance at.

‘So… I have to treasure the chance Xiao Wei gave me.’

Clutching the Thunder Martial Arts Hall “Platinum Member” card his fiancée had bought for him, Li Chen silently steeled his resolve.

‘Even if my aptitude is average, martial talent isn’t just about physical qualities. Understanding martial intent is just as important.’

Li Chen analyzed carefully.

‘And if I remember right, that old hag in the game did develop a technique in the later stages that didn’t require much physical strength but demanded absurd levels of martial comprehension. Though for players that technique was pretty useless, for me right now… what was it called again? Supreme Freedom Art?’

Fire blazed in Li Chen’s eyes as he stared resolutely at the constantly flashing screen beside him.

[Today’s intel: Thunder Martial Arts Hall senior researcher, former Titan Military Operations Director Dr. Lisa, is encountering a bottleneck in her research on new martial techniques. Due to years without results, she is currently facing issues such as sponsors pulling out.]

[Today’s intel: Three-star mercenary group <Midnight Aurora> has returned from a pre-civilization ruin. Due to heavy losses, they are selling pre-civilization relics at an auction in the Upper Hive central commercial district, including a portion of Eternal Gold.]

[Today’s intel: City Hall senior adjudicator Laura has been bought off by the Montmorency Consortium and is preparing to issue a ruling favorable to the Montmorency family in the pre-civilization singularity technology patent lawsuit between the Solares Consortium and the Montmorency Consortium.]

[Current intel weight: 4.]

‘Dr. Lisa?’

Li Chen nodded thoughtfully.

‘Right, I remember the character card did say that old hag came from Thunder Martial Arts Hall. Back then I didn’t think much of it—after all, high-tier martial artists were either noble heirs or corporate lackeys. The very few commoners who made it big mostly came out of Thunder Martial Arts Hall.’

Still, although this side quest carried no life-threatening danger, the difficulty and the sheer grind it demanded were absolutely not something normal people could endure.

Even players who claimed they wanted to try everything only did it if they were obsessive completionists willing to be tortured day in and day out by that martial-arts-maniac woman.

As for the other intel…

Looking at the dazzling array of information in the player log, Li Chen’s imagination ran wild and he almost wanted to dive into it immediately. But soon, he recalled the worried, fearful look in his fiancée’s eyes last night.

‘Honestly, having such a possessive fiancée is really a headache~’

The corners of Li Chen’s mouth curled slightly as he decided to ignore the last piece of intel—clearly extremely dangerous despite its potentially massive payoff.

‘As for the second one, that Eternal Gold might be worth checking out. The central commercial district is a mixed bag, but it’s still in the Upper Hive, so basic personal safety should be guaranteed.’

Li Chen stroked his chin, thinking of the genius cybernetic expert Luna he had just met yesterday, as well as the blueprint he’d handed to her.

‘If I remember correctly, how pre-civilization civilizations used Eternal Gold to forge items is still an unsolved mystery…’

Thanks to its unique pre-civilization cultural background, extreme rarity and incredible hardness, Eternal Gold was a favorite precious metal among Upper Hive tycoons. But after its true purpose—being able to forge myth-grade equipment—was discovered, it became a strategic reserve even major consortiums coveted.

‘So with my current status and credentials, buying some of this metal in the commercial district won’t attract unnecessary danger.’

Since he had promised Bai Wei not to make her worry, Li Chen naturally had to prioritize safety.

‘There are far too many accidents in this world, so…’

After thinking it over for a long while, Li Chen finally made his decision.

‘I’ll just go take a look. Make sure it won’t involve personal danger, then see if I can get my hands on some. Though I’ll probably bleed money again.’

Thinking of how his fiancée had gone off to work herself to exhaustion early in the morning, while he stayed home not earning anything and was even about to spend a huge sum…

‘But once Xiao Wei turns in the chip Sister Liu Yu gave her, heh, let’s see who dares keep ordering my wife around then.’

Li Chen moved with light steps, preparing to head to Thunder Martial Arts Hall to meet that special quest that had once driven countless players to misery, even to the point of deleting their accounts just to break the binding.

‘Oh right, I should tidy up the gym equipment. Huh? Where are my clothes?’

Just as Li Chen reached out to grab the shirt he had taken off earlier, he realized the chair back where it should have been hanging was now completely empty.

“Big brother, you…”

Before he could search carefully, a soft, sweet voice sounded beside him. He looked up to see a blushing young girl in a white camisole, her proud figure fully on display, staring at him in a daze.

“Uh, miss, sorry.”

Seeing the girl clutching his shirt tightly with her fair hands, Li Chen—having encountered countless similar situations since transmigrating—said smoothly, “Could you please return my clothes to me…”

“I—I’m not!”

Realizing Li Chen had misunderstood, the girl shuddered and shook her head vigorously, her tied ponytail wagging like a puppy’s tail.

“I just happened to see your shirt fall on the floor…”

She rubbed her hands together, looking aggrieved.

‘Ah, that…’

Seeing the girl, only sixteen or seventeen, youthful and bright, Li Chen realized he was at fault and apologized briskly.

“Ah, then thank you so much, little sister.”

He leaned slightly closer, introducing himself sincerely.

“I’m a resident of District C14. May I ask, little sister, you are?”

Gulp.

The girl, who had still been a little indignant, went momentarily blank when Li Chen showed a friendly smile.

‘So handsome… and those abs… So someone this perfect really exists? Even the celebrities she usually saw on TV weren’t this handsome.’

“I—I’m a resident of District A11. My name is Lu Mingming.”

She puffed her cheeks, asking a bit unwillingly,

“And big brother, isn’t your apology a bit insincere? You didn’t even tell me your name.”

“Alright, alright.”

Though he felt the girl had ulterior motives, Li Chen had been in the wrong first and could only comply.

“Nice to meet you. Li Chen.”

‘Li Chen… even the name is special. I’ve decided!’

“Big brother, have you ever thought about entering the entertainment industry? I’m an intern at Starry Sky Entertainment…”

‘Starry Sky Entertainment? Great, another Solares subsidiary. Truly haunting. Wait, what did this girl say her name was again? Lu Mingming?’

Li Chen reexamined the girl, his thoughts starting to run wild.

That future super-genius hacker who single-handedly cracked consortium super–artificial intelligence firewalls, exposed countless classified secrets… and even became the head of counterintelligence opposing the criminal organization Utopia?

‘Probably just a namesake.’

Beep beep.

Just as Li Chen was about to casually say something to send the girl away, a communication screen popped up before him.

“Xiao Wei?”

Seeing his fiancée—even though they’d only spoken a few hours earlier—Li Chen still greeted her with obvious joy.

“Xiao Chen, miss me? I’ve already properly handled the chip data. In a few months, there should be results.”

Bai Wei was about to proudly show off her competence when she noticed that, after only a few hours apart, another cute young girl had somehow appeared beside Li Chen.

“Xiao Chen and this… little sister is? Which district does she live in? What do her parents do?”

“Hello, big sister.”

Just as Bai Wei was about to interrogate them, the girl spoke up gracefully.

“I’m a resident of District A11. My mother is the vice president of Starry Sky Entertainment. Nice to meet you.”

Fixing her gaze on the gleaming Public Security Bureau medal on Bai Wei’s chest, Lu Mingming’s eyes were filled with admiration.

“You’re the supervisor of the Public Security Bureau’s Special Operations Unit, right? Wow, big sister, you’re amazing. No wonder you have such a wonderful fiancé—you two are such a perfect match.”

‘Huh? Looking closer, this girl was actually quite cute.’

Bai Wei, who had been deeply troubled by Li Chen’s tendency to attract attention, instantly broke into a dazzling smile at the girl’s respectful gaze.

“Oh my, little sister, you really know how to flatter people~”

She shot Li Chen a warning look, then said in the gentlest tone possible—words that nonetheless made Li Chen’s heart pound in fear.

“Well then, little sister Lu Mingming, you see it too, right? My husband is a bit of a fool. In the future, if you see him around the complex, remember to help big sister keep an eye on him, okay?”

“Keep an eye on him?”

Lu Mingming blinked in confusion.

“Mhm… monitoring target behavior is basic Public Security Bureau training, you know.”

“Oh! I understand. Understood!”

Lu Mingming snapped her fingers together and gave a salute.