By the time he arrived at Dolores's boutique, it was already 9:00 AM.
The mysterious Lady Delores was not in the store. Under the guidance of another sales associate, Li Wei changed into the expensive Dior suit, spritzed on some unnamed cologne that was so expensive he didn't even want to look at the price tag, and started his part-time job for the morning.
Lady Delores seemed to be a very mysterious person. Her boutique, located in a prime spot on Madison Avenue, didn't seem to make its money from selling clothes—at least, that's what Li Wei thought.
After all, this was his second day working part-time, but by the time his shift was ending around noon, he had only seen his second customer since he started.
But after seeing this customer buy a $4,000 handbag as casually as if it were a bottle of Coca-Cola, Li Wei decided to curb his curiosity. He would just continue to coast along at this shop and play the part of a salary thief.
$20 an hour, a 2% commission, plus tips. He only had to work three hours a day and serve one customer to earn $102 after taxes. Where else could he find a job this good?
If he brought this up with Lady Delores, she might do the math, realize 'Oh, right, this business isn't making any money,' and fire him on the spot. Then he'd have nowhere to complain.
After changing out of his clothes, Li Wei consciously avoided stepping into any of the expensive-looking restaurants—he'd seen signs on the street advertising a sandwich or a salad bowl for over $70.
He first took the subway to Times Square to transfer, then spent $13 at a street-side hot dog cart on a large hot dog slathered in Thousand Island and barbecue sauce, which he counted as his lunch.
Around 2:00 PM, Li Wei returned to the basement. Seeing no sign of Don Quixote's return, he thought for a moment and decided to go to the gym to see if he could trigger any new quests.
The gym was much less crowded in the afternoon than on his last visit. There were only a few people scattered about, doing their workouts.
Li Wei once again turned down the muscular white guy at the front desk who was pushing personal training sessions. After changing, he got on the treadmill first, planning to test how much his constitution had improved.
During the basement flood a couple of days ago, he had put 0.1 attribute points into Constitution. He hadn't yet tested the athletic ability that a 1.0 Constitution represented.
'800 meters... 900 meters... 1000 meters!'
After running 1000 meters at a 5:30 pace, Li Wei was pleasantly surprised to find he still had plenty of stamina. Both his heart rate and the feeling of muscle fatigue were much better than when his Constitution was only 0.9.
A Constitution of 1.0 was the standard for a 20-year-old adult. At the same pace, it allowed him to run a full 3 kilometers before he finally stepped off the treadmill, panting for breath.
"Hey, man," a voice called out. "You go to Franklin K. Lane High School?"
Li Wei, who was helping himself to the gym's free bottled water, turned his head warily and saw that the speaker was a Black guy around his age.
"I'm Michael," the Black guy said, politely extending his hand, looking rather cheerful. "I saw you at school the other day. I'm a senior at Franklin."
Li Wei looked Michael up and down before extending his own hand and shaking it lightly.
"Did you come here with your dad?" Michael asked. "Why'd you want to go to Franklin? I haven't seen many Asian people go to school there."
"Don Quixote is my cousin-uncle," Li Wei said with a shrug. "I came to the United States of America to live with him."
"Oh! So that's how it is," Michael seemed excited to have made an Asian classmate. "What are you training today? Let's work out together."
Li Wei felt a little wary, looking at Michael, who had been a complete stranger five minutes ago and was now acting so familiar.
He had heard plenty of stories from Don Quixote about teenage drug dealers.
To put it simply, public high schools in the United States of America more or less all had some students connected to gangs—unofficial members who sold drugs to other students.
The person in front of him was highly suspicious, both in his skin color and his behavior.
Just as he was about to refuse, he heard the system's notification sound:
[Quest Triggered: Knight's Spirit]
[Adventurer Li Wei, you have encountered a fellow Apprentice Knight of noble character in the training grounds. Complete a training session with him to receive the quest reward.]
[Quest Reward: Strength +0.1]
'He's not so ordinary after all,' Li Wei thought to himself. 'For the system to evaluate his character as being as noble as mine...'
'Could he be an Oreo? (Black skin, a pure heart.)'
With the system's endorsement, Li Wei nodded.
"Alright, let's work out together," he said. "I think I'm doing chest and shoulders today."
Logically, Li Wei's 0.9 Strength should have been slightly higher than that of a teenager like Michael who was still growing.
But during their actual workout, he discovered that with about a year of training experience, Michael's strength level was surprisingly on par with his own.
A 60 kg bench press was an excellent number for a normal high school student who was still developing. If Li Wei hadn't already added 0.1 attribute points to his Strength when he first arrived in New York, he might not have even been able to keep up with Michael's pace.
Chatting between sets, Li Wei discovered that Michael was what you would call a "good kid" from a Black family in the United States of America.
He didn't do drugs or join gangs, and on top of that, he was an honors student in the AP program at Franklin High School. This meant he and Li Wei would be classmates in the future.
Although he had a younger brother who was in a gang and used drugs, he always hoped to save up enough money to send him to a rehab center and help him leave the gang.
According to Michael himself, he was from the Bronx District in Brooklyn, the most chaotic and violent neighborhood in the borough.
Growing up, at least half of the classmates and friends around him had ended up in prison or been shot to death.
"I don't want my brother to go down that path," he said solemnly after helping Li Wei re-rack the bar. "I want to be a doctor, change my family's social class starting with my generation. I'm going to buy a big house for my parents and my brother."
As they finished their third set of barbell bench presses, a voice popped into Li Wei's mind:
[Quest: Knight's Spirit Complete]
[You and Michael have successfully completed a standard training session.]
[Quest Reward: Strength +0.1]
[Strength 0.9] -> [Strength 1.0]
His Strength attribute had reached the standard.
A familiar warm current once again exploded along his spine. This time, it was far more swift and explosive than when his Constitution was enhanced.
If the improvement to his Constitution was a gentle stream nourishing a dry riverbed, remodeling his body to give him continuous recovery, then the boost in Strength was like molten iron being poured into his muscle fibers.
Li Wei felt the soreness in his pecs and anterior deltoids wash away completely, replaced by a more solid and condensed strength.
"Hey, Li Wei, you good?" Michael asked, seeing Li Wei spacing out on the bench press. He thought he was exhausted. "I was about to give out on those last few reps myself. Should we call it a day?"
Li Wei looked up, feeling his body, which had become slightly more muscular again. He looked at Michael, eager to try something. "Michael, do me a favor."
He stood up and walked over to the barbell rack. "Add another 20 kilograms for me."
"80 kilograms?" Michael rejected Li Wei's proposal. "Bro, fitness is a gradual process. You can't rush it."