6:20 PM.
The sunset painted the horizon in layered waves, blending from deep orange to light blue and draping the entire city in a hazy veil.
CLICK—!
As he walked out of his company's doors, Lin Shen decisively pressed the shutter button, capturing the beautiful scenery before him with his phone.
'So the sunset was always this beautiful?'
Lin Shen was filled with emotion.
After quitting, he didn't feel the ecstatic joy he had imagined, only a pleasant and carefree sense of relief.
So carefree, in fact, that he even felt a little lost.
'What should I do from now on?'
'Should I leave the dazzling city of Modu and go back to my hometown to just chill?'
'Or should I travel the world?'
Lin Shen pondered this question all the way home, making sure to pass by the Red Points displayed on his GoGo Maps.
[Acquired 10,000 in Industry Funds!]
[Acquired 10,000 in Industry Funds!]
...
Eventually, Lin Shen arrived at a basketball court in a residential community near his apartment.
Most of the players on the court were high school students, with a few older men occasionally showing off their skills with a hook shot from the three-point line.
The people standing off the court, however, were all adults.
Some were parents accompanying their children, while others were office workers who had just clocked out.
They were dressed in business attire, jackets draped over their arms. Their eyes were filled with envy and admiration, but a phone call would make them turn and hurry away.
On the court was the dream; off the court was reality.
Lin Shen had been on his department's basketball team back in college, but he hadn't touched a ball since he started working.
Now, he found his hands were starting to itch for a game.
"Just got off work, man?"
Just then, a middle-aged man in a sharp suit approached Lin Shen, offering him a cigarette as he struck up a conversation.
"How about we join in? I see that game is short two players."
"Sure. I don't smoke, though. Thanks."
Lin Shen waved away the man's cigarette. Then, the two of them casually ambled over to the court like passersby, picked up a ball that had bounced off the rim, and just sort of fell into the line of people taking practice shots.
Guys are a strange species like that.
You don't say a word, I don't say a word. No one even knows anyone else's name.
But once there are enough guys, all it takes is for someone to yell, "Playin' a game?" and everyone is in.
"Yeah."
"Alright, Curry, you, big guy, skinny guy, and me on one team. The old-timer, pretty boy, and these two students on the other. Sound good?"
"Yeah, I'm kinda rusty. Go easy on me."
"No worries, man. None of us are any good. We're just playing for fun."
'Playing for fun?'
Lin Shen thought he'd stumbled into a casual game, but it turned out everyone had a trick up their sleeve.
Some guys' three-pointers were unbelievably accurate, while others drove to the basket with lightning speed. It was all pretty awkward for him.
At first, Lin Shen was a bit reserved. He mostly stuck to passing and moving outside the three-point line, setting screens for others to create scoring opportunities.
The middle-aged man who'd first spoken to him, on the other hand, was very aggressive. Though his business attire was restrictive, you could tell from his various crossover dribbles that he must have been a hell of a player back in the day.
It was just that life and the years had worn down his edges.
"Take a shot, man."
The middle-aged man passed the ball to Lin Shen and motioned for the others to clear out, letting him go one-on-one.
"Don't just pass. Give it a shot."
...
Lin Shen hesitated. After all, he hadn't touched a ball in a long time; his skills were bound to be rusty.
But the moves etched deep in his muscle memory still came out subconsciously.
Lin Shen took the ball, lowered his center of gravity, and faked left to throw off his defender. Then, he went behind his back, moved right, and drove hard to the basket.
Just as the defender caught up, he hit him with a crossover into a pull-up jumper.
The ball swished cleanly through the net.
"Nice shot!"
The middle-aged man couldn't help but applaud.
"Not bad, kid! You've been holding out on us!"
"Thanks."
Lin Shen gave a humble smile and subconsciously clenched his fists.
He truly hadn't expected one week of exercise to have such an amazing effect!
Lin Shen felt like he was back in his carefree college days, able to rely on his physical condition to keep up with these high school kids.
He even got caught up in the moment on the last play and went straight for a dunk!
CLANG—!
Unfortunately, the ball hit the rim and bounced out.
"Holy shit!"
Seeing Lin Shen, in his shirt and slacks, actually touch the rim, everyone couldn't help but look shocked.
'Is this dude a sandbagger?'
But that clearly wasn't the case.
Even Lin Shen himself was surprised. His vertical leap was even higher than it had been in college!
He was ecstatic.
The 50% boost to his workout effectiveness wasn't just helping him lose weight—it was even improving his physical conditioning!
'This Sports Health ability really is something else!'
"Hey, man! That was incredible!"
As the sun went down and the players began to disperse, the middle-aged man found Lin Shen, handed him a bottle of water, and introduced himself with a smile.
"I'm Zhang Guodong. What's your name?"
"Lin Shen."
"We should play again sometime when you're free."
Zhang Guodong waved to Lin Shen.
"Something came up, so I've gotta run. See you around!"
"Alright."
Lin Shen watched Zhang Guodong walk away, already on the phone, and let out a long, satisfying breath.
'I can't believe the first thing I did after quitting my job was play basketball!'
'But man, that felt amazing!'
'No more financial pressure. I can do whatever I want!'
"Wahoo!"
Lin Shen spread his arms and let out another cheer. No amount of shouting could possibly describe the incredibly exhilarating sense of freedom he felt in that moment.
'This is the life!'
After getting home, Lin Shen took a shower, then boiled two ears of corn for dinner.
He sat at his computer desk, gnawing on the corn, and moved all his old work files into a single folder for backup.
Finally, Lin Shen left all the miscellaneous work-related group chats on his messaging app, bidding a final farewell to his life as a wage slave.
"It's finally over!"
Lin Shen stretched. Just then, a friend request from Xu Lei popped up.
After accepting it, he casually clicked on the profile of his glasses-wearing colleague and his eyes lit up.
It was filled with all sorts of polished lifestyle photos. Her glamorous fashion made her look like a completely different person from the woman at the office.
Black pantyhose, long legs, atmospheric side profiles, luxurious dinners.
She had the whole socialite vibe down.
'What a contrast,'
The corner of Lin Shen's mouth curled up. Just as he was about to close the app, a message from Xu Lei came through.
[Xu Lei: Shen! Can you share your secret to losing weight? I can see you've lost so much, and I'm so envious!]
[Lin Shen: You're not even fat.]
[Xu Lei: What do you mean I'm not fat? Look!]
[Xu Lei: photo.jpg]
Lin Shen froze. Xu Lei had sent a photo of her leg, her fingers pinching her thigh through her black pantyhose.
Her full thigh looked incredibly sexy wrapped in the black material.
Lin Shen had definitely not expected this.
'Sending a photo like this right after I added her?'
'This Xu Lei is no amateur...'
Lin Shen typed out a reply.
[Lin Shen: Eat fewer carbs and exercise more. The most important thing is consistency.]
[Xu Lei: Thanks for the advice, Shen! I'm pretty lazy, so I need someone to keep me on track. Want to work out together next time?]
[Lin Shen: Sure.]
Lin Shen typed a casual reply. It looked like a verbal agreement, but in reality, the ball was still in his court.
'Think you can get me on the hook that easily?'
Heh.
After being betrayed by his ex-girlfriend, Lin Shen no longer believed in "pure love."
Now, he just wanted to be a player who never initiated, but never refused, either.