Chapter 7

Upstairs, just to the right of the entrance is the reception counter, where a pretty young lady is seated. Beside her stands a man in a white vest, his arms bare, wiping the sweat from his face with a towel while chatting with her.

"Welcome to Shangwu Boxing Gym." Seeing Lin Yue enter, the girl smiled warmly and said, "Sir, I'm Lin Lin at the front desk. May I help you with anything?"

"Oh, I saw your gym’s sign while passing by downstairs and decided to come up and take a look." Lin Yue patted Badun’s head, signaling it to wait at the entrance and not to run around.

The girl named Lin Lin nudged the man beside her, who threw down the towel and walked out from behind the counter, extending his right hand with a smile, "I'm Liu Quan'an, the coach of the gym."

Lin Yue extended his hand and shook it, feeling the firm grip and tight skin: "I'm Lin Yue."

"Has Brother Lin practiced boxing before?"

"No."

"Oh, so you just had a sudden urge to come and experience it?"

"No, I’m just here to take a look."

Lin Yue had no interest in being a punching bag. If he agreed with the other person, they might invite him to the ring to experience it, and then what would he do—accept or decline?

Liu Quan'an seemed to read his thoughts and couldn't help but chuckle, thinking this guy was being too cautious, almost paranoid.

The gym is a business; who would drag a new, inexperienced customer into the ring and beat them up, destroying their confidence? That would be bad for business.

"By the way, do you have a device that can measure the force of a punch, like one that shows the weight in kilograms?" Lin Yue asked, looking at a boxer in the corner who was continuously hitting a punching bag.

"Yes, we do." Liu Quan'an nodded and led Lin Yue to a spot by the window. Just like how children love to play on slides, many new gym-goers want to test their strength.

Lin Yue followed him to a black punching bag hanging in the air, with a target-like object in the center and a palm-sized electronic display screen beside it.

Liu Quan'an took a boxing glove from a nearby rack and tossed it to Lin Yue, "Hit the target, and the display screen will show you the result."

He glanced at the front desk, shrugged, and smiled wryly.

Liu Quan'an had seen many newbies like Lin Yue. They usually don't exercise or pay attention to their diet, and spend long hours on computers and phones. A punch that can generate 30 kilograms of force is already quite good, but these people often compare themselves to Tyson, who could generate 300 to 400 kilograms of force in his prime, leading to a lot of disappointment when they see their results.

Lin Yue didn't notice Liu Quan'an's subtle expression. He put on the black glove, took a deep breath, and stepped forward, transferring the force from his feet through his waist and into his right arm.

Punch out.

The accumulated force hit the target.

Smack!

The punching bag swayed, and the electronic display on the side showed 53, in kilograms.

53 kilograms...

Lin Yue pursed his lips, dissatisfied with the result. He had added 4 points to his strength, expecting to generate at least 100 kilograms, but only managed half of that.

Liu Quan'an noticed the disappointment in his eyes and his expression became a bit strange, thinking that Brother Lin might have a misunderstanding about his own strength.

"Looks like Brother Lin is disappointed."

Lin Yue nodded and threw the glove back.

Liu Quan'an didn't put the glove back but put it on himself, walked to the punching bag, and hit the target.

Smack!

A loud thud, and the punching bag, which had just stopped swaying, started to move again.

It was clear he didn't hold back and used his full strength, but the electronic display read 62.

62 kilograms, only 9 kilograms more than Lin Yue as a gym coach.

Lin Yue was stunned, thinking, "What kind of gym coach is this, clearly a stuffed dummy."

"Brother Lin, do you know the average punch force of newbies over the years?"

Lin Yue shook his head.

"30 kilograms." Liu Quan'an said while taking off the glove, "I weigh more than you, and with daily training and a balanced diet, my best result is 65 kilograms."

Lin Yue stared at him, "Are you saying my result is good?"

Liu Quan'an said, "More than good, your result is outstanding among people of the same weight. With proper training, you could even participate in professional competitions."

"Professional competitions?" Lin Yue waved his hand modestly, "Don't joke with me."

"Brother Lin, have you never received any physical training before?"

"I've never even been to a gym."

Liu Quan'an suddenly felt a sense of emptiness in life.

Lin Yue looked at him with a wary eye, "Are you just flattering me to get me to join the gym?"

Liu Quan'an: "..."

This guy really has a persecution complex.

"Do you want me to pull up the past data from the computer for you to see?"

"That's not necessary."

Lin Yue walked back to the front desk, unscrewed the cap of the mineral water bottle the girl handed him, and took a sip, "How do you charge here?"

Lin Lin glanced at Liu Quan'an, "For members who don't have much time, we charge per visit. We also have a professional class that allows 24-hour training, with a monthly fee of 2000 and an annual fee of 12000."

Lin Yue really wanted to ask if they had a night rate but managed to hold back at the last moment.

Considering the complex conflicts and dangers in the movie world, training in boxing, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts could better protect him, he really had the idea of becoming a gym member.

Liu Quan'an picked up the towel from the counter and wiped the sweat from his neck, "Brother Lin, you can try a trial class first and decide whether to join the gym based on that."

Lin Yue pondered for a moment, as if suddenly remembering something urgent, "I'll think about it and get back to you."

Liu Quan'an took out a card and handed it to him, "This is my business card. If you want to come for a trial, remember to contact me."

"Sure." Lin Yue took the card and put it in his pocket, waved goodbye to the two, and left the Shangwu Boxing Gym with Badun, hailing a taxi on the opposite side of the road to return to his place.

He didn't leave the gym because of a sudden thought. Just as Liu Quan'an was speaking, the system issued a new task.

Wind in Chinatown: Detected a complaint from a lucky audience member numbered 801 in "Detective Chinatown," the original text is as follows.

"Rapidly moving second hand, continuous flow of water, the current society is riddled with problems, pay attention to my words------ Qin Feng's reasoning is not perfect, the real culprit is still at large!"

Task Objective: Enter the world of "Detective Chinatown" and find the fifth thief in the gold heist.

Basic Reward: (Unknown).

Task Difficulty: Normal.

Failure Punishment: None.

Do you accept? (Y/N).

Lin Yue didn't immediately make a choice. After returning to his room, he let Badun play in the mud and opened his laptop to search for and play "Detective Chinatown" online.

"Detective Chinatown" is a comedy film about Qin Feng, who failed to get into the police academy, traveling to Thailand to clear his mind. He coincidentally encounters his uncle Tang Ren, who is framed for killing the mastermind of the gold heist, Song Pa. The two face police pursuit and gangster attacks, solving the mystery of the gold heist and clearing their names within seven days.

After watching the movie, Lin Yue lay in bed, thinking for a while, unable to understand why the system was acting up. Qin Feng's reasoning was clearly perfect, so why did he need to go into the movie world to catch a thief?

Glancing out the window and at his wristwatch, he activated the system process and, with the thought of trying his luck, chose to accept the task.

A flash of white light, and the person sitting in the computer chair vanished.