Talent

Previously, Shen Yi had saved countless food bloggers' restaurant review videos on his phone, and he randomly picked one place to visit.

During workdays, time was always tight, so he usually just grabbed quick bites.

He either ate at small restaurants downstairs or ordered takeout, mainly just to fill his stomach.

Sitting down for a proper meal was a rare occurrence.

It wasn't that he couldn't afford it; he simply didn't have the leisure time as he was always in a rush.

That's also why Shen Yi had developed a habit of playing mobile games.

Walking back home with his takeout box, he felt a bit too full and decided to take a walk to help digest.

"I ordered too much..."

When hungry, Shen Yi tended to have eyes bigger than his stomach, overestimating his appetite.

He had ordered according to the blogger's video, but unfortunately didn't have the same capacity for food.

Being frugal had become a habit, so Shen Yi decided to pack the leftovers for dinner to avoid waste.

After resting at home for a while, Shen Yi summoned his attribute panel.

He tapped on the talent card in the light screen.

"Whoosh!"

A card flew out, spinning and stopping in front of Shen Yi.

The card was about the size of a palm, with colorful light flowing around its edges, appearing quite mysterious.

This was Shen Yi's first time seeing such a thing, and he tentatively placed his hand on it.

There was a "hum" sound, like some device starting up.

The front of the card emitted a golden light, as if something was being nurtured within.

Not keeping Shen Yi waiting long, the golden light dimmed and revealed a golden character.

"Physical."

Before Shen Yi could get a clear look, the card transformed into a stream of light and entered his body.

It felt like an electric current flowing through his body, disappearing before he could fully process the sensation.

"A physical talent?"

Shen Yi stood still and flexed his hands, not feeling any dramatic changes in his body.

[Physical: Your stamina recovery speed increases tenfold, and this multiplier will grow with exercise.]

"I see, it's about recovering my stamina."

The system screen promptly explained this talent.

Without a reference point, Shen Yi didn't know if this talent he drew was good or bad.

"Better test it out first."

Thinking to act, with limited space at home, Shen Yi chose to do push-ups on the spot.

Truthfully, Shen Yi hadn't exercised in a long time. He used to have a habit of running in college, but since starting work, his most strenuous activity was occasionally carrying advertising materials and flyers.

After work, he barely had enough time to sleep, let alone exercise.

Physical strength was his weakness. Now, after just thirty to forty push-ups, he was already breathing heavily.

This was still with the added 1 point in strength; otherwise, he would have probably collapsed after twenty.

But amazingly, despite his heavy breathing, strength kept flowing into him continuously.

Despite panting, he hadn't hit his limit, and Shen Yi felt like he could keep going as long as he persisted.

With this thought, Shen Yi continued, not stopping as long as he hadn't collapsed.

He lost count of how many he'd done, sweat dripping down and stinging his eyes, forming a puddle on the floor.

Finally, Shen Yi could no longer continue and lay on the floor, his lips dry, forehead covered in sweat.

Both arms were extremely sore, but when he managed to check his phone, Shen Yi's eyes widened.

By rough estimation, he had been doing push-ups for nearly 20 minutes. Even counting conservatively at two seconds per push-up, he must have done at least six hundred.

Moreover, in the brief time he'd been checking his phone, probably about 2 minutes, his breathing had already steadied.

His arms, which he couldn't lift moments ago, seemed capable of moving again.

"This is incredible..."

Shen Yi couldn't help but marvel at this supernatural stamina recovery speed.

After completely exhausting himself, he needed only a few minutes to almost fully recover.

And this was in his untrained state.

Standing up, Shen Yi poured himself a glass of water and drank it in one go, needing to replenish after sweating so much.

After putting down the glass, Shen Yi felt almost the same as before exercising.

The continuous flow of energy made Shen Yi's eyes bright, feeling in excellent condition.

He couldn't resist dropping down to do more push-ups for further testing.

This time, he deliberately slowed his pace, not aiming to completely drain his stamina like before.

Half an hour later.

"Huff... huff..."

Though breathing heavily, Shen Yi hadn't stopped once during the entire half hour.

As he had guessed, with the slower pace, his stamina recovery could keep up with the consumption.

Standing up, Shen Yi quickly got himself two more glasses of water and drank them down.

It wasn't that he couldn't continue, but his body was still mortal, and he feared excessive exercise might cause muscle breakdown.

Besides, while his stamina recovered quickly, it wasn't appearing from nowhere.

As soon as he stopped, Shen Yi felt a burning sensation in his stomach. Despite eating less than two hours ago, he was now ravenously hungry.

He hurried to the table and opened his takeout box, wolfing down the food.

Appetite is always better after exercise, and in a whirlwind of eating, Shen Yi quickly finished the leftover lunch.

"This talent is great, but exercise still needs to be moderate..."

After eating, Shen Yi leaned back in his chair, thinking.

He had felt like he could have eaten a whole cow just moments ago.

After the simple test, Shen Yi had gathered several pieces of information.

While the physical talent's enhancement was miraculous, it wasn't without cause - all consumption needed to be replenished by his body.

The tenfold recovery rate wasn't fixed; it could increase with exercise.

Most crucially, in Shen Yi's view, the current recovery speed was based on his present physical capacity.

To use a simple analogy, Shen Yi's current stamina was like a small pool, seven meters deep.

Consumption was like water flowing out, recovery like water flowing in - no matter how fast the recovery, the pool size remained the same.

Finding ways to expand the pool was most important.

Shen Yi looked at his attribute panel, now seeing the benefit of saving attribute points.

"Being a jack of all trades means being a master of none. Better to specialize in one area first."

"Moreover, I have a physical talent, so why not invest in this direction?"

With this thought, Shen Yi allocated all 2 points to stamina, bringing it up to 9 points.

"Hmm..."

With the 2 points added to stamina, Shen Yi quickly felt a reaction, similar to when he added strength, but more intense.

Unable to make it to his bed, Shen Yi immediately lay down on the sofa.

The changes came quickly. First, Shen Yi felt an itching sensation throughout his limbs, followed by a feeling of swelling, as if someone was pumping air into his body.

Finally, a warm sensation flowed through his entire body, feeling extremely comfortable.

Shen Yi closed his eyes to experience it, feeling as if he was soaking in a hot spring, relaxed enough to drift off to sleep.

When he woke again, the sun had set, and street lights cast a yellow glow through his window.

Checking his phone, it was already 8:30 PM - he had slept for about five hours after adding the points.

Shen Yi stood up and jumped in place, feeling the changes in his body.