WHACK!
Tang Wen threw a stone.
FLUTTER FLUTTER.
A red-beaked bird flapped its wings and took flight.
...
He threw all the stones he had gathered, but he hadn't hit a single bird.
The birds were nimble, and Tang Wen had no aim to speak of. It was normal for him to miss.
HUFF!
His weak body heaved, and he gasped for breath.
His expression was grave, his brows furrowed.
'How on earth can I learn a new Skill?'
Indeed, his attempt to hit birds with stones was just a form of deliberate practice.
But after throwing 23 stones in a row, the Experience Panel had shown no reaction whatsoever.
'What's the reason?'
'Haven't I learned how to throw stones yet?'
Once he had rested enough, Tang Wen bent down and picked up the stones he had thrown, one by one.
Before he could gather them all, his vision went black, and a wave of panic washed over him.
'Low blood sugar!'
'Damn it! How long has this body been starving? Why does it still have this problem? Was today's exercise too much?'
Not daring to wander outside any longer, he dragged his heavy feet back to the camp, his whole body feeling numb.
It wasn't until a bowl of rice water was in his stomach that he finally felt alive again.
After he drank the rice water, his skinny little sister, Tangtang, picked up their two porridge bowls—which were cleaner than water bowls—and rinsed them a few times.
Then, SPLASH! From about a meter away, she skillfully and accurately tossed the rinse water into a broken basin by the door.
'Huh?'
Tang Wen stared at the scene, dazed.
'When I was throwing at the birds, I don't think I hit them even once?'
With food in his stomach, his brain started working again.
The original owner's Farming Skill was gained after years of working in the fields with his parents and successfully harvesting crops many times.
In other words, the original owner had succeeded at farming.
'But when I was trying to hit the birds, I didn't even touch a single feather.'
'If that's the case...'
Tang Wen slowly sat up, walked outside, and used a stone to draw a small, irregular circle on the dirt ground.
He squatted inside the hut and pulled a stone from his shirt.
WHACK!
It missed the circle.
HISS... He took a deep breath.
Holding his breath, he aimed.
WHACK!
The stone landed inside the circle drawn on the ground.
The light distorted slightly, and the Experience Panel flashed for a moment.
'There's a reaction!'
Tang Wen's eyes lit up.
WHACK! In his excitement, his hand trembled, and the throw went wide.
HUFF!
He steadied his breathing and threw again: WHACK, WHACK, WHACK.
He threw three times in a row, and all of them landed inside the circle.
It wasn't that his aim was particularly good, but the target was only two paces away. Once he got the feel for it, it was quite easy to land a shot.
The light shifted:
[Name: Tang Wen]
[Age: 14 years, 9 months]
[Body: 0.3]
[Essence: 0.7]
[Skill: Farming Mastery (719/1000)]
[Stone Throwing Beginner (0/500)]
Tang Wen smiled. 'A new Skill—stone throwing!'
WHACK! Another one landed inside the circle.
[Stone Throwing Beginner (0→1/500)]
WHACK, WHACK. Two failures. The number didn't change.
A hit.
Beginner (1→2/500)
Another hit. Beginner (2→3/500)
The Experience Panel was stingy, only granting 1 Experience Point for each success.
But Tang Wen was content. Any progress was good, even if it was just 1 point at a time.
Inside the hut, the stick-thin girl watched her younger brother throw stones. Her dark eyes, first filled with confusion, gradually began to show worry.
'He's done it so many times?'
'What is he doing?'
'He'll get hungry so easily like this!'
The girl curled up, pulling herself closer to the stove. She was already hungry.
A hit. Beginner (300/500)
Another hit. Beginner (300/500)
...
By the time the sky had turned completely dark, Tang Wen had found his rhythm. He could land about two out of every three throws.
But his greatest fear came to pass: once his Experience Points reached 300, they stopped increasing.
Shaking his sore and numb right hand, he went back inside and lay down on the hay.
RUSTLE RUSTLE.
Tangtang wasn't asleep. She moved closer and reached out a small hand to massage her brother's arm.
Two small arms: one was like a stick of firewood, the other wasn't even that substantial.
His wrist ached and throbbed. Tang Wen tossed and turned for a long while before finally falling asleep.
「The next day.」
Before the morning mist had even dissipated, Tang Wen had already drunk his porridge and walked out of the camp.
He didn't go far, stopping when he reached a secluded spot and found a large rock taller than a person.
He took out a piece of charcoal and drew a small circle on the rock, then a larger circle around it, then an even larger one...
After a few more, he had something that vaguely resembled a target.
He took a few steps back and drew a line at his feet with a branch.
Standing behind the line, he began to throw stones.
WHACK!
The 7-ring!
The stone bounced off.
The transparent gray screen flickered.
[Skill: Stone Throwing Beginner (300→302/500)]
It had gone up by two Experience Points.
"It really works!"
This was the solution Tang Wen had thought of last night: to treat stone throwing like a competitive sport.
There had to be a target, a way to compare good results from bad, and most importantly, a certain level of difficulty!
Last night's stone-tossing game had been too simple; it had lost its challenge toward the end.
WHACK!
The 6-ring!
The stone bounced off.
[Skill: Stone Throwing Beginner (302→303/500)]
...
Tang Wen focused his energy and threw more than ten times in a row.
[Skill: Stone Throwing Beginner (357/500)]
HUFF!
He gasped for air, leaning against a bare tree. His right arm was so sore he couldn't lift it, and he didn't dare force himself to continue.
Throw for five minutes, rest for half an hour.
This was different from yesterday's throwing. The force behind yesterday's throws probably couldn't have even killed a large ant.
But today, he was putting his full strength into every throw.
If he hit a rabbit's leg, he could definitely break it.
He sat under the tree to rest and relax his arm. Haste makes waste.
Given his current physical condition, if he dared to throw with full force for half an hour straight, he would likely cause irreversible damage to his arm!
He took a long rest.
Tang Wen stood up again and resumed his target practice.
Stone Throwing: Beginner (357→359/500)
(359→361/500)
The experience gradually increased.
For the entire morning, it was rest and practice, rest-rest and practice, rest-rest-rest and practice...
At noon, his stamina completely drained, Tang Wen could no longer hold on and returned to the camp once more.
His older sister Tangtang had just returned with water. The camp had a water tower, so the residents could drink clean water for free.
The brother and sister exchanged a glance. Tang Wen lowered his head, staring at his cloth shoes with his toes peeking out, not knowing what to say.
Tangtang struggled to carry the water jug into the hut. A few minutes later, smoke began to rise from the chimney.
"Who's eating a meal at noon?" someone passing by the door mumbled.
In the camp, those who could afford it ate two meals a day. Those who couldn't had to make do with one.
Tang Wen gulped down the rice water. The feeling of starvation was too difficult to bear.
His sister Tangtang said nothing, cupping her own watery soup in both hands and sipping it delicately.
Her cautious manner was like that of a little squirrel that had found a pinecone but couldn't bear to eat it, content to just smell its fragrance.
After finishing his soup, Tang Wen lay down on the hay, planning to take a nap.
Tangtang came over and began to massage her brother's arm.
In the afternoon, it was back to stone target practice.
After resting and replenishing some energy, his practice efficiency improved.
[Skill: Stone Throwing Beginner (495→497/500)]
[... (497→499/500)]
WHACK!
The stone hit the bullseye.
The Skill broke through!
[Skill: Stone Throwing Master (0/1000)]