Stuck in a Chinese novel

Wei Jun came out of the shower and dried himself. He was a bit tired but that was no excuse to skip the gym session up next. Also, he wanted to see Xia Lu for some reason as well. But since there were still some minutes left, he decided to check the reward he had received for the quest.

[An outstanding achievement]

[You have completed the quest by 100% and surpassed the result]

[The amount of fear and pain felt by the quest target was 2.4 times the maximum limit]

[Reward would be enhanced]

[Passing grade S]

[Enhanced grade SS]

[Level up x3]

[You have received 10 Qi replenishment pills]

[Due to the enhanced effect, the above 10 pills would have no time limit]

[You have received skill 'Terror']

[Terror (E) Lv1]

[Effect:

You can instill fear in your opponents. The higher the level, the stronger and longer the effect.

>The skill has a 100% chance of working on opponents lower than the user's level

>The skill has a 50% chance of working on opponents with the same as the user's level

>The skill has a 25% chance of working on opponents higher than the user's level

>The skill chance isn't affected by the level of the skill]

[Duration: 2 seconds]

[Cooldown: 5 minutes]

[Cost: 10 QP]

Wei Jun felt no difference since his level of empowerment was reserved for the novel content unlock. He was now level 22 and he could now read the final volume of this novel. He decided not to use the rest and save them for the next novel.

As for the Qi replenishment potions, since he hadn't used them before, he didn't know what the time limit between each potion consumption was but since a health potion had a ten-minute cooldown, he didn't know about the rest.

He made sure to test about it later. For now, he focused on the last reward, the skill, his first skill.

'What's QP?' Wei Jun asked the system as he left his room in gym attire and made his way to the gym. It was a term related to the system but he hadn't seen it before.

[It's short for Qi power]

[It isn't in the status panel because you haven't awakened Qi yet]

'I see.' Wei Jun replied. The skill was currently useless but it wasn't unwelcome. There were skills in the shop as well but their prices were outrageous and even Wei Jun was hesitant to buy them.

He then entered the gym after he was finished with everything and found himself to be the last one to enter. The rest were already in the gym with the four youngsters whispering amongst each other while Xia Lu was frantically lifting weights with a frustrated expression on her face.

Wei Jun chuckled and coughed. The four youngsters stopped and stood at attention but Xia Lu dismissed him after giving him a short glance.

"Do the usual exercise. Don't slack." Wei Jun halfheartedly ordered them and made his way to Xia Lu who was pushing weights on the bench. The weights were about twenty kilograms with the bar included.

Wei Jun hadn't made anyone do bench lift yet so Xia Lu was struggling a little even though she could lift more weight using dumbbells. Her form was terrible and Wei Jun was tempted to fix it using his hands and get her even more flustered, however, he decided to hold back because it also fell into the realm of se*ual harassment.

"You're doing it wrong." Wei Jun said.

"Go away." She replied curtly and lifted the bar with an exhale again.

"You will ruin your shoulders and joints like that." Wei Jun persisted instead of saying anything.

"What are you gonna do about it?" She again curtly said and continued her lifting. Wei Jun smiled and stepped forward, he slowly reached forward and took the metal bar, easily snatching it out of her hands.

"You may think that I only care about the contract but I also care about the people I work with. I'm not emotionless." Wei Jun lied. He didn't care about any of the people he worked with. He needed them of course so he kept them happy but that didn't mean they weren't expendables to him. Everyone always was.

Except today.

He cared about Xia Lu for reasons unknown even to himself. So he said, "Let me help you. Please." Wei Jun wasn't lying when he said that and was very much sincere. It was that sincerity that compelled her to not say anything and just lie back down. Wei Jun smiled and moved to the back of the bench just before her head.

He slowly made her grab the metal bar and straightened her arms along with her back and posture.

Once he had shown her the correct way, Xia Lu lifted the weight with much less difficulty though she was still new to it. Once he was done, he stepped back a bit and let her do it on her own while he placed his hands just below the metal bar to show her the height she needed to lower the bar to while also acting as a spotter.

As Xia Lu continued, Wei Jun just kept looking at her focused expression which also made him smile.

It seemed like every action of Xia Lu was making him smile unconsciously. Wei Jun shook his head and focused on her. Although he would have liked to keep admiring her, he couldn't also distract himself which could lead to a mistake.

Xia Lu soon reached her limit so Wei Jun took the bar and settled it away. She breathed in and out as she stood up, although with the support of the bench and once she was up, she didn't look at him but just said, "Thanks."

Wei Jun smiled but didn't say anything else, he simply stepped forward until her close enough to her by her side and whispered in her ear, "Anytime."

His breath in his ear sent shivers down her spine but she didn't move away. She liked it, she wanted more of it. His existence closer to him but she took a deep breath and began to walk out of the gym with her head lowered. Since her hair was in a ponytail, Wei Jun could see her face from the side which was beet red.

Wei Jun smiled and let it go. He turned to the rest of the actors who were out of breath and looking at him judgmentally. Wei Jun's smile disappeared which brought an ominous feeling to the team.

"I think you guys are at the stage where it is fine to take it one step ahead." Wei Jun said with a straight, expressionless face without any hint of anything on his face.

'Protest', was what the team wanted to do but then they remembered the face Wei Jun would make when they denied his decisions, the smile that was enchanting but worse than the devil's because Wei Jun would then show them someplace worse than hell right then and there in the gym.

And the training continued. They did whatever they could even when their bones were being crushed. However, they vowed to do one thing for the rest of their lives and that was to never judge Wei Jun.

======

At the breakfast table, Wei Jun elegantly drank his tea and commented, "What a bunch of wimps."

Lao Chen looked at the four sprawled-out youngsters who were deflated like someone had sucked the air out of them. He couldn't imagine what they were being put through for them to be acting like that. But one thing he did admit was that their pain was real but all he could do was offer his condolences.

Xia Lu on the other hand happily ate her breakfast and didn't even care to console her juniors. Wei Jun let the four of them feel the pain of broken muscles and didn't give them the stamina pill and planned to give it to them once they arrived at work.

"I can do it." Xia Lu insisted. She was talking about the scene from yesterday and she wanted to film it again today because she was sure she would be able to do it today.

The crew looked at her skeptically. Currently, Wei Jun wasn't present among the actors as he was preparing the set. Some crew members were explaining the equipment use to the concerned parties. Even they were looking at her like she wouldn't be able to do it.

"Sister Xia," Quan Kui called out to her. Xia Lu turned to her to meet Quan Kui's calm expression who said, "If I show you something and you don't blush, we will believe you."

Xia Lu thought it would be easy whatever it was and readily agreed. Quan Kui pulled out her phone and opened her gallery. She clicked on a photo and it shoved it in Xia Lu's face. Xia Lu stood stunned when she saw the picture of Wei Jun and soon, her face turned into a silly smile.

'We have a problem on our hands.' Everyone present thought at the same time.