From today onward, elevators are no longer needed.
Staring at the new prompt that had popped up on his panel, Chen Jue was momentarily taken aback.
“Climbing stairs counts as climbing? That works!”
“Is it because it involves an upward climbing motion?”
He pondered for a moment, then glanced back at the steps he’d just ascended.
These stairs weren’t particularly steep. Though there was a handrail, Chen Jue hadn’t touched it the whole way, quickly making his way up.
But since the panel classified climbing stairs as a climbing activity, Chen Jue felt a surge of motivation for whatever climbing tasks lay ahead.
“Just arrived at this new workplace, and the opening act is climbing stairs to grind proficiency.”
“Isn’t this a blatant invitation to slack off?” Chen Jue grinned, dismissing any further doubts, and turned to continue his ascent.
The building housing Hengtong Group was a Grade A office tower, with each floor boasting a standard height of 4.2 meters.
The fire escape stairwells in such buildings were typically designed in a double-flight format—each floor’s stairs turned once, forming a pattern reminiscent of a “|z|” symbol.
Each half-floor had about fifteen steps, with a small landing at the turn for resting. After the turn, another fifteen steps led to the fire escape entrance of the next floor.
Thirty steps per floor—climbing up to the seventeenth floor meant a total of 480 steps.
On level ground or a downhill path, that number of steps could be covered in mere minutes.
But climbing stairs was genuinely exhausting.
By the time he reached the seventh floor, Chen Jue was already panting, his heartbeat quickening, sweat breaking out all over, his hand instinctively reaching for the handrail.
“This… it doesn’t look high, but climbing it is really tiring. Feels more exhausting than practicing Tai Chi,” Chen Jue slowed his pace, the sensation akin to being submerged in water.
Each time he lifted his leg, his thighs and ankles throbbed with a dull, muscular ache.
He barely managed to persist up to the twelfth floor, moving at a snail’s pace.
Every two steps, he had to take a deep breath and pause to recover.
Just as he was catching his breath for a few seconds, the panel prompted him again:
——————
[Ding~]
[You’ve completed a session of high-intensity aerobic exercise. Your leg muscles have been strengthened, and your dynamic balance has improved slightly.]
[Reminder: Your cardiopulmonary function is in full force, blood circulation accelerating, oxygen consumption increasing. Please ensure adequate oxygen intake to avoid physical harm.]
[Constitution +0.01]
[Strength +0.01]
[Free attribute +0.01]
——————
“Climbing… just climbing stairs triggered a critical hit!”
“And it only took three minutes!”
Chen Jue reached the thirteenth floor, eyeing the highlighted prompt. He hurriedly pushed open the fire escape door, stepping into the office area to gulp down fresh air.
Though climbing stairs was intense exercise, the efficiency for grinding proficiency and boosting attribute points was absurdly high. Yet the air in the stairwell was truly unpleasant.
Chen Jue guessed the building management had shut off the ventilation fans to save electricity, leaving the air stagnant.
Most likely, car exhaust from the basement had wafted up, mixed with the smell of cigarette smoke, and breathing too much was nauseating.
“As expected, property management everywhere is stingy as ever!”
“A ventilation fan—how much electricity could it possibly cost in a day?” Chen Jue couldn’t help but complain.
He’d finally found a new way to boost attributes, only to have it interrupted by such human factors.
If not for being new to the workplace and unfamiliar with the environment, Chen Jue would’ve called 96119 to report the building’s fire safety issues by now!
…
He lingered on the thirteenth floor for about seven or eight minutes, the time passing nine o’clock.
---
This was already the official start of the workday, but Chen Jue wasn’t in the least bit anxious, having already clocked in downstairs.
Late on his first day, skating the edge—he really had guts, his confidence swelling.
Of course, it was mainly a shift in mindset.
Nearly thirty years old—who still cared about that nonsense attendance?
What Chen Jue hadn’t expected was that, just after nine o’clock, the stairwell’s ventilation ducts roared to life.
He poked his head in for a sniff; the air was much more bearable. Once he’d recovered, he dragged himself up to the seventeenth floor.
He pushed open the fire escape door once more, walked slowly to the imposing entrance of Hengtong Group’s risk control department, his athletic wear drenched in sweat.
“Counting the rest stops, it took about twelve minutes in total.”
“One climb like this feels more effective than an hour at the gym!”
“No wonder, with such high floors, nobody ever climbs the stairs to work,” Chen Jue mused, glancing at his attribute panel:
——————
Character: Chen Jue
Strength: 0.87+
Constitution: 1.09+
Spirit: 1.07+
Skills: [Hidden Weapon Throwing Lv5 (24/20000)] [Climbing Lv0 (35/100)] [Tai Chi Twelve Forms (Mastered)]
Distributable Free Attribute Points: 0.01
(Character Evaluation: You are a worker with your own ideas. Though your efforts haven’t yielded 100% returns, you no longer waste your time as before. However, take care! Alongside discipline, pay attention to hidden health issues; balance work and rest, maintain health, and you’ll go further.)
——————
“Almost there!”
“A few more days of effort and all three stats should break past one.”
Chen Jue watched the panel as his character evaluation shifted again, his brow furrowing slightly. He reached for the small compartment in his backpack containing his medication.
He’d recently been to the hospital for a check-up. Most of his ailments were chronic.
Besides daily exercise, he took targeted medication after meals.
As the chief physician had recommended, he regularly took tauroursodeoxycholic acid for gallstones. The medicine was expensive, imported and not covered by insurance—over six hundred a month.
Those with a tendency to develop stones needed to stick with it, and his medication costs were higher than what he used to spend on cigarettes.
“Who knows if these pills will actually dissolve the stones.”
“If not, I’ll have to make a trip to the metropolis for specialized treatment.” Thoughts spun through his mind as he lingered at the department’s doors before heading inside.
…
He’d already completed onboarding, had his face scanned, and his workstation assigned.
The young receptionist eyed him with some curiosity, but seeing his employee information pop up on the entrance monitor, she smiled and nodded, greeting him warmly, “Good morning!”
“No wonder it’s a top company—even the receptionists in risk control are far more attractive than those at Taisheng Finance!” Chen Jue marveled, relishing the novelty of his new workplace.
He crossed the spacious office area, heading to the innermost risk control department.
It was large, nearly a hundred workstations divided into six teams; Chen Jue, as the newcomer, was assigned to Team Five.
According to the department head, Luo Lezhi, Team Five handled refinancing for existing vehicles—the common vehicle title loan.
Compared to new or used auto financing, title loans weren’t as high volume, but clients’ qualifications varied widely, and fraudulent applications abounded. It was a true test of a risk controller’s judgment.
Chen Jue had been demoted from a supervisory role and had experience in all kinds of business, so he was no stranger to title loans.
He ambled over to his workstation, where his colleagues were already busy.
Some were logging into the system, others reviewing files, still others analyzing last week’s approval data.
---
As the unfamiliar face appeared, everyone glanced over.
Chen Jue smiled and waved, “Hello, everyone! I’m Chen Jue, the new guy. We met once last week!”
He looked scholarly, glasses perched on his nose, and his stocky build with thinning hair made it clear he was a veteran in risk control. The group smiled and greeted him, a preliminary introduction.
At that moment, the team leader of Team Five, Li Mo, called out with a smile, “Chen Jue, Director Luo briefed us on your onboarding at last week’s meeting.”
“Today’s your first day—get familiar with our risk control logic and data model, then learn the front-end product’s customer categorization strategy. This afternoon, I’ll let you review a few A-class clients.”
“I’m the team leader, so I’ll oversee your work for the first week. If all goes well, you’ll take over next week. Sound good?”
“No problem!”
Chen Jue nodded, finding his first impression of his new colleagues agreeable.
None of them looked at him with prejudice or whispered about him, likely thanks to the positive atmosphere fostered by Li Mo.
…
After settling in, Chen Jue arranged his personal items, then went to the restroom to change into business attire.
Climbing seventeen floors had left him dripping with sweat—luckily, he’d brought a towel, or he’d never be comfortable slacking off at his desk.
He’d barely sat down when the heavyset man next to him leaned in.
“Hey man, I’m Shen Shikun. Nice to meet you! We’re desk neighbors now.”
“You haven’t joined the group chat yet, have you? Let me add you on WeChat and get you in.”
Shen Shikun was portly and amiable, clearly pushing two hundred pounds and not much for exercise.
“Thanks!” Chen Jue, seeing his enthusiasm, politely pulled out his phone and added him.
Joining the group chat was the first step to integrating quickly in a new workplace.
After being added to Team Five’s chat, Chen Jue went through and added all the members, then sent a two hundred yuan random red packet to get things lively.
With silly memes flooding the chat and nearby colleagues bemoaning their luck at not grabbing the biggest share, Chen Jue knew this job wouldn’t be dull.
“Looks like everyone’s easy to get along with.”
Chen Jue smiled, booted up his computer, and logged into Hengtong’s system with his employee number.
The interface was sleek, integrated with the most advanced risk control models and strategies on the market, plus a slew of paid data portals covering every aspect of vehicle financing.
From auto repair records, dealership maintenance, insurance claims, to clients’ legal status, credit liabilities, and bad records—all were consolidated in one system.
“Running just one client’s data probably costs over a hundred yuan.”
“No wonder it’s a big company—deep pockets!”
Even a cursory look made Chen Jue want to drool.
Compared to the ragtag setup at Taisheng Finance, here the company could confidently assure investors of its risk control.
If he’d had this system before, he could have handled the workload of an entire team single-handedly, with no need for extra hires.
Such was the power of integrated software!
All tasks could be completed with foolproof one-click operations.
But this wasn’t something small companies could afford. Chen Jue estimated that building the system cost tens of millions—no small-time boss or investor could shell out that kind of money.
“But that’s a good thing!”
“The stronger the risk control system, the easier my job will be.”
“More time saved for sneaky workouts—what’s not to like?”
With that thought, Chen Jue grinned, reached into his bag, and placed his grip trainer boldly on his desk.