Chapter 43

Zhang Guan gazed at the golden icon in the system, and from the skill description, it was clear that this was a god-like skill. The ability to increase the speed and level of tissue damage recovery could be considered an extremely powerful cheat.

For this skill, Zhang Guan had been waiting since September last year, spending over ten months to complete the task and obtain this skill. At this moment, Zhang Guan felt a great sense of relief.

Just as Zhang Guan was still rejoicing over completing the task, a new task appeared.

"As an athlete, physical condition and competitive state are both very important. Through the system, you can check your physical condition and competitive state."

After the system prompt, a red and a blue bar appeared at the top of the system.

"What are these, health and mana bars? What's going on? Will I die if I run out of health?" Zhang Guan immediately looked over and found that the red bar represented his physical condition, while the blue bar represented his competitive state.

The full bar for physical condition was 100, and Zhang Guan's current reading was 68.

After all, Zhang Guan had just finished a competition, so his physical condition was definitely depleted, and it was not at full capacity.

The full bar for competitive state was also 100, and Zhang Guan's current reading was only 51, just over half.

The system immediately provided relevant prompts.

"Physical condition can be restored through rest, and the recovery status is directly linked to the rest condition. For example, sleeping will restore more physical condition than sitting for a while. Adverse competition environments will also increase the rate of physical condition consumption. For instance, competing in a hot environment will consume more physical condition than in a normal temperature. A normal physical condition is 80. When physical condition exceeds 80, it enters a state of abundance, increasing strength and speed. A physical condition between 60 and 80 allows for normal activities. A physical condition between 40 and 60 enters a state of fatigue. A physical condition between 20 and 40 enters a state of exhaustion. A physical condition between 0 and 20 will affect normal actions. If the physical condition is 0, you will lose consciousness and enter a state of shock, commonly known as 'fainting from exhaustion.'"

"Competitive state needs to be improved by the athlete based on actual conditions. A competitive state above 80 is an excited state, allowing for super-level performance in competitions. A competitive state between 60 and 80 allows for normal performance in competitions. A competitive state between 40 and 60 results in subpar performance. A competitive state between 20 and 40 results in frequent unforced errors. A competitive state below 20 starts to reduce the effectiveness of all skills. A competitive state of 0 makes all skill effects ineffective."

Zhang Guan immediately understood that his current competitive state was only 51, which meant he was in a subpar performance state. He needed to raise his competitive state to above 60 to perform at his normal level in competitions.

The system immediately popped up the next dialog box.

"Is there a way to quickly improve physical condition and competitive state?"

Zhang Guan felt that this sentence gave him a familiar feeling, as if it were a common advertising slogan. But he immediately associated it with the fact that this tone was definitely a prelude to selling something.

"Of course, there is a way to quickly improve physical condition and competitive state. You can exchange skill points for physical condition recovery potions and competitive state recovery potions to restore your physical condition and competitive state."

"Task Prompt: Restore your physical condition and competitive state to 100."

After the system prompt, a shop icon appeared in the system.

"Sure enough! Even a game store! I knew that sentence was to sell something. And it's a task, forcing you to buy those physical condition recovery potions and competitive state recovery potions. This is just like those money-sucking online games... Well, let's see how these potions are priced!" Zhang Guan thought to himself.

Zhang Guan immediately entered the shop and found that there were eight items available for purchase.

"Small Physical Condition Recovery Potion, restores 10 points of physical condition, 10 potions for one skill point; Medium Physical Condition Recovery Potion, restores 20 points of physical condition, 6 potions for one skill point! If you calculate it, one skill point can restore 100 points with small potions, and 120 points with medium potions, so medium potions are more cost-effective. Are large potions even more cost-effective?"

Zhang Guan continued to look down.

"Large Physical Condition Recovery Potion, restores 50 points of physical condition, 3 potions for one skill point! This means one skill point can restore 150 points of physical condition, which is more cost-effective than the previous two. Let's see below, Large Physical Condition Recovery Potion Set, 10 potions for three skill points, plus 10 for 1, which means spending three skill points can buy 11 potions, restoring 550 points, which is 183 points per skill point, the most cost-effective!"

The other section sold competitive state recovery potions.

"Small Competitive State Recovery Potion, restores 5 points of competitive state, how so little, 10 potions for one skill point, the price is the same, but the effect is only half of the physical condition potion. Medium Competitive State Recovery Potion, restores 10 points of competitive state, 6 potions for one skill point. Large Competitive State Recovery Potion, restores 25 points of competitive state, 3 potions for one skill point. Large Competitive State Recovery Potion Set, 10 potions for three skill points, plus 10 for 1."

Zhang Guan did a quick calculation and found that buying the large potion set was definitely the most cost-effective, but the high price of three skill points made him hesitate. Additionally, the effect of competitive state recovery potions was only half that of physical condition recovery potions. Zhang Guan guessed that this was because restoring physical condition was easier than restoring competitive state, so physical condition recovery potions were cheaper.

According to Zhang Guan's understanding of typical online games, consumable items were the most expensive part of a game. Now that consumable items had appeared in this all-around athlete system, the demand for skill points would inevitably increase rapidly in the future.

...

After the award ceremony, Zhang Guan received two more skill points.

This competition was not only the National Track and Field Grand Prix but also the Chinese Track and Field Open. Therefore, Zhang Guan won two championships in one competition, earning two national champion honor rewards and two skill points.

Adding the one skill point he had left over, Zhang Guan now had three skill points. However, Zhang Guan did not rush to complete the task and restore his state. Good steel should be used on the blade. Instead of completing the task now, it would be better to wait until before a major competition, when he could restore his state to full, both completing the task and achieving a good result. Besides, for states that could be restored through normal methods, Zhang Guan was absolutely unwilling to spend valuable skill points on potions.

The next day, the news of Zhang Guan breaking the Asian record again quickly spread throughout the country. The General Administration of Sport immediately sent a congratulatory telegram and hoped that Zhang Guan would continue to maintain his good form and bring it to the Olympics. Additionally, he was awarded a 300,000 yuan bonus.

...

The Olympics are undoubtedly a feast for global betting companies.

Ladbrokes, the world's largest betting company, has odds that can reflect the level of participating teams or athletes. The reference value of its rankings is more attention-grabbing than the analysis of major news agencies. Ladbrokes' information collection and data analysis are also the most advanced globally, with over 60,000 employees, most of whom are information collectors and data analysts, excluding betting station staff and basic administrative and logistics personnel.

The most prominent national athlete in track and field is undoubtedly Liu Fei, for whom Ladbrokes has set a 3-to-1 odds for winning the championship, second only to the 1.57 odds for American veteran Allen Johnson.

Compared to the 110-meter hurdles, the 100-meter dash is undoubtedly more attention-grabbing. For the 100-meter dash at this Olympics, Ladbrokes has set odds for all athletes who have met the Olympic A standard.

Zhang Guan is naturally one of them.

On the day the competition ended, the news of Zhang Guan breaking the Asian 100-meter record again had already reached Ladbrokes' data analysts.

Williams, the head of data analysis for the Olympic track and field events, walked out of his office and said to the staff outside, "Gentlemen, I just received news that the Asian 100-meter record has been broken again. The new record holder is China's Zhang, who has improved by 0.01 seconds from last year."

"What is the Asian record, how much?" Someone immediately checked on the computer and said, "Only 9.99 seconds. Even with a 0.01-second improvement, it's only 9.98 seconds. Boss, should we change the odds?"

"9.98 seconds is possible to enter the Olympic final, but winning a medal is clearly impossible." Williams then asked, "What are the current odds for Zhang to enter the final?"

"1 to 4!" Someone immediately answered.

"Change it to 1 to 3. If there are many bets, lower it appropriately. We can't lose money. Also, cancel the odds for him to enter the semi-finals." Williams said.

"What about the odds for Zhang to win a medal or the championship?" a young man asked.

"Oh, my God! Tommy, are you kidding? Do you think a Chinese athlete can win a medal in the Olympic 100-meter dash, let alone the championship?" Williams laughed as he spoke.

"Alright, Tommy, although 9.98 seconds is a good time, it's still far from an Olympic championship. You should focus on the odds for Jamaican Powell..."

In the Olympics, running under 10 seconds in the 100-meter semi-finals is relatively safe for entering the final. If the time is over 10 seconds, entering the final depends on luck.

To safely enter the semi-finals, a time of around 10.10 seconds is needed. Running 10.15 seconds will generally allow entry into the semi-finals unless the luck is particularly bad. A time over 10.15 seconds also depends on luck to enter the semi-finals.

Zhang Guan ran under 10 seconds twice within a month, so according to the betting company's prediction, running 10.15 seconds or better in the Olympics should not be a problem for Zhang Guan. With a good performance, he could even run under 10 seconds and enter the final.

As Ladbrokes adjusted the odds for Zhang Guan to enter the final, other European betting companies quickly followed, lowering the odds for Zhang Guan to enter the final. However, the odds for Zhang Guan to win the championship remained unchanged. Clearly, no one believed that Zhang Guan could win the Olympic championship.

————————————

Here is the first chapter for today. Although some words are not sensitive, I still replaced them for safety. Regarding the cheat system, the initial concept was a complete game system, but when actually written into the plot, the effect was not good, so it was simplified. A rough framework is enough, occasionally used to connect the plot, so you don't need to pay attention to the numbers in the cheat system. The focus is still on the competition and the plot itself. One last thing, I will be running naked next week, so I beg all the greats to give me strong support with your recommendations next week!

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends