125: Chapter 125 Wooden Dummy, Activated

Hu Gualing tossed and turned on his bed, waiting for the wall clock in the hospital to reach 12 o'clock so he could enter the game to leave the village, fight a BOSS, and grind for loot. However, distracted by his excitement, time felt unbearable, and he didn't even have the mood to critique his usual favorite beauty videos.

Bored out of his mind, he casually opened the chat group: "Yo, so many messages. Looks like everyone's having a lively chat."

Upon clicking in, he saw that Text Jianghu had updated with a new scene: [ Training Room ].

Since he had nothing better to do, Hu Gualing opened Text Jianghu, which he had neglected for a few days. Entering the game, he found the newly added [ Training Room ] in the martial arts gym.

With a tap of his finger, the text-based scene on the screen transformed into a beautifully rendered image.

Inside the Training Room, on the left was a wooden dummy labeled [ Practice Martial Arts ], and on the right was a stage covered in red cloth that looked both ancient and somewhat festive, labeled [ Sparring ].

Having played a 100% immersive holographic online game over the past few days, Hu Gualing considered himself a man of the world, so he didn't pay much attention to this minor update. He casually tapped on the wooden dummy, only to see a prompt pop up on the screen:

[ Character data detected... Consume 1 fantasy points / 1 hour to activate the Training Room? ]

Hu Gualing was about to click [ Yes ] when he suddenly realized something was off. He pulled his finger back and rubbed his cheek while thinking.

fantasy points? Isn't that the special currency in Fantasy Jianghu? How did it end up in Text Jianghu? Could these two games have a crossover?

Hu Gualing couldn't quite figure it out. He first clicked [ No ] to close the prompt, then tapped on the stage next to it, only for the same prompt to pop up again.

[ Consume 1 fantasy points / 1 hour to activate the Training Room? ]

No, no, no! Hu Gualing tapped the 'x' without hesitation.

What a joke. You only get five or six fantasy points at fixed times each day, and 1 fantasy points can be exchanged for 1 tael of silver. They are incredibly precious; how could he possibly waste them on this mobile mini-game?

Hu Gualing shook his head, switched his phone back to the chat group page, and looked at what others were saying about the Training Room.

Domestic Superman: [ Same here, it says no character data available. ]

Dont Call Me Wife: [ +1 ]

Deep-feeling Boy: [ Same for me. Looks like this Training Room is just an empty shell. What a letdown. ]

Hu Gualing: "Why is what they're saying different from mine? 'No character data available'... Could it be the character data from Fantasy Jianghu? Except for me and Xiao Niao, none of them have entered Fantasy Jianghu to create a character yet, which is why they're getting this prompt?"

"Yes, that must be it!"

Hu Gualing felt he was simply too smart to have figured that out. He quickly looked for Xiao Niao in the group to confirm.

Hu Gualing: [ @Xiao Niao Niao Niao, quickly check the new Training Room. Does it require fantasy points to activate? ]

Dont Call Me Wife: [ What fantasy points? Is Gualing talking nonsense again? ]

Domestic Superman: [ Isn't the holographic online game they're playing called Fantasy Jianghu? fantasy points—judging by the name, it should be the currency from there, right? ]

Rich Villa Lu Xiongwei: [ That makes a lot of sense. I almost believed it. ]

[ ... ]

Soon, Xiao Niao appeared in the group: [ Yeah, mine shows 1 fantasy points / 1 hour. Is that the same price on your end? ]

Hu Gualing: [ Yeah, yeah, it's the same price here. ] After this message, Hu Gualing attached a screenshot showing the prompt asking whether to activate the Training Room.

Seeing this screenshot, the other group members were shocked and started posting screenshots from their own phones. Upon comparison, they realized everyone was like Lu Xiongwei—getting the [ No character data available ] prompt when clicking into the Training Room. Only Hu Gualing and Xiao Niao's were different.

Dont Call Me Wife: [ We wronged Gualing. Turns out Gualing wasn't talking nonsense this time. But... why is Gualing's game prompt different from ours? ]

Domestic Superman: [ Unfair! Did you two use cheats?! (/angry.jpg) ]

Rich Villa Lu Xiongwei: [ It is indeed strange. This update was a hotfix. If there were issues, they should affect all players. This situation shouldn't be happening. ]

Drunk Carefree: [ This is simple. I saw what was going on at a glance! Clearly, the group owner added a pay-to-win feature. We didn't pay, so of course we can't unlock it. As for Gualing and Xiao Niao, those two shills don't need to pay to experience it. Once they experience the new feature and show it off in the group, they can trick you guys into spending money. Tsk tsk tsk... ]

Rich Villa Lu Xiongwei: [ Seems... reasonable. ]

Dont Call Me Wife: [ Shivering, the group owner's heart is so sinister. ]

Deep-feeling Boy: [ Gualing and Xiao Niao aren't good people either. ]

Xiao Niao: [ o(╯□╰)o ]

Hu Gualing: [ Nonsense! Can't be bothered with you, hmph! ]

Hu Gualing: [ @Xiao Niao By the way, Xiao Niao, are you planning to activate the Training Room? ]

Xiao Niao: [ Yeah, I'm planning to activate it now. ]

Hu Gualing: [ !! That's 1 fantasy points! And I don't even know what effect it has. I can't bear to spend it... ]

Xiao Niao: [ Although I don't know what effect the Training Room has either, my intuition tells me this thing is definitely not simple. I suggest you try it too. ]

Hu Gualing: [ Emmm... Alright, let me see. ]

Hu Gualing and Xiao Niao discussed it as if no one else was around, and the other group members couldn't get a word in. It wasn't until they finished discussing that the others in the group typed out their comments:

[ That's such a hard sell. ]

[ Poor acting. ]

[ Terrible double act. ]

[ ... ]

Hu Gualing, however, didn't know how the group members were evaluating him, or rather, even if he did, he wouldn't care.

He had already switched to the game page and was looking at the deduction prompt for the Training Room, feeling hesitant.

One hour costs 1 fantasy points. If he activated the Training Room and nothing happened, that 1 fantasy points would be wasted for nothing...

But if he didn't try, he was truly burning with curiosity.

Forget it. Even if nothing happens, just consider it satisfying this damn curiosity of his.

Hu Gualing thought it over, gritted his teeth, and tapped [ Yes ]. A prompt notifying him of the fantasy points deduction flashed through his mind like an electric current, giving him a jolt.

When he came to his senses, the wooden dummy in the Training Room had been activated.

He saw a small black figure appear next to the wooden dummy. The figure was composed of a few simple lines, with no facial features, no hair, and no gender characteristics—it was just a stick figure, as simple as could be.

As soon as the figure appeared, it agilely rolled on the ground to close the distance to the wooden dummy. After standing up, it began to work on the wooden dummy.

Hu Gualing's eyes lit up!