Upon hearing the news about his father, Jason Luo was overjoyed and quickly nodded. "Thank you, Mr.Miao. I'll bring it over tomorrow. You've already gone to so much trouble. Let me treat you to a meal! If you have time, let's set it for tomorrow evening."
Mr. Miao smiled. "Let's wait until your father is discharged from the hospital first. I never imagined you'd be a boxer—that's no easy path. You've really worked hard, Jay… But I also enjoy watching boxing. Keep at it! Strive to make a name for yourself. If you ever have a match, let me know. I'll definitely be there to support you."
"You like boxing too? That's great! But I only just signed my contract, and my skills are still pretty basic. I'm afraid you'll laugh at me if you watch me fight..."
"How could I? You're young and have plenty of chances ahead. Just remember to let me know. After all, I'm a doctor—maybe I can help out... Oh, sorry, of course I hope you won't need me!" David Miao realized he had said the wrong thing and looked embarrassed.
Jason Luo, however, felt the warmth behind his words. "Alright, I'll definitely let you know in advance if there's a match."
"That's the right attitude, Jay. Here in America, we need to stick together and support one another. No need to be overly polite. If you ever run into difficulties in life, just tell me. If I can't help, there are always community associations. When the time comes, I'll introduce you—joining could bring a lot of benefits."
"Got it. Thank you so much. I'll head back now."
"Alright. Just leave the items at the pharmacy. I often stop by there."
After saying goodbye to Dr. Miao, Jason Luo's spirits lifted. With the help of a psychologist, perhaps his father could finally let go of his burdens. That would truly be something worth celebrating.
His father was the heaviest weight on his heart. At that moment, it felt as though the world had become bright and light. Jason Luo felt like singing out loud, but as soon as he opened his mouth, a sharp pain shot through his chest and abdomen, forcing him to gasp.Fine—better head back and put on some medicine first.
Based on today's sparring, he estimated that Kamman's Rear heavy punch carried at least a Strength of 10, possibly even 11. And Kamman weighed less than him—only 70.3 kilograms, a junior middleweight. Judging from that, if Jason wanted to reach top-tier heavy punch power in the amateur middleweight division, he'd need at least 13 or 14 in Strength.
And that was just among amateurs. What would the limit be for professional fighters?
...
The next day, following his coach's instructions, Jason Luo woke up at 6 a.m. sharp. He went for a long run, did push-ups, squats, and jump rope—taking each exercise seriously—then rode his bike to the training gym.
When he arrived at 7:40, the coach wasn't there yet, so he started training on his own, using the resistance machine to strengthen his arms. That would help boost the power of his heavy punches.
When Coach Pedro arrived, he nodded slightly at the sight of Jason already training. "The excitement of starting out fades quickly. Only those who persevere have a chance at success."
"Now we'll begin formal training. Since you're preparing for a boxing tournament, we need to speed things up. But before that, the priority is to identify a boxing style that suits your strengths. That's crucial. So, for the next two days, we'll focus mainly on assessments. First, I want you to hit the sandbag with heavy punches as quickly as you can for one minute. Make sure every strike is a heavy punch. That way we can measure your explosiveness and punching speed."
Jason was eager to see his results, especially to compare them with the system's data.
In one minute, he threw 63 punches, but the last six were judged invalid by the coach, leaving him with 57.
Coach Pedro explained, "For an offensive fighter, that's barely passing. But to qualify as a technical fighter, you'd need at least 75 punches."
Next came shadowboxing, punch accuracy, heavy punch power testing, and endurance tests...
The heavy punch power test was the one Jason cared about most. His front-hand punch peaked at 275 kilograms, and his Rear heavy punch reached 378 kilograms—a result that satisfied Coach Pedro.
Through his calculations, Jason also gained a clearer understanding of the system's data: the gap between his front and rear punches was 4 attribute points, which translated to a 100-kilogram difference in real force. In other words, each point of Strength equaled about 25 kilograms of heavy punch power.
After the tests, Pedro said, "Right now, only your rear heavy punch is up to standard. Everything else needs urgent improvement. You've got three months before the tournament. If you don't make the most of this time, you won't have any certainty of making it through the preliminaries..."
Jason frowned. "Coach, why didn't you test my Toughness? I think I'd meet the standard there too."
Pedro looked up from his notebook. "Toughness isn't reliable. That's why I don't want you focusing on becoming an offensive fighter."
Seeing Jason still confused, Pedro suddenly kicked him in the butt. "Does that hurt?"
The kick left Jason dazed, but since it was his coach, he couldn't complain. He muttered, "No, it doesn't hurt."
But that wasn't the end of it. Pedro flicked him hard on the forehead with his finger. This time Jason really felt pain and had no idea what the coach was getting at.
"Hurts, doesn't it? That's the point. A kick carries more force than a finger, but both can cause pain in different ways. In real fights, every body has weak points. If your opponent finds them and lands a heavy blow, no matter how much Toughness you have, you'll still go down! The same punch, if it lands on fat versus soft tissue, has completely different effects. That's why I keep stressing the accuracy of your Boxing Technique."
Now Jason understood. Even with a Toughness of 9, a punch to the eye would still be agonizing.
Pedro then pointed at his abs. "Focus all your energy on training. Don't waste time on useless things. Do you know why most boxers don't train their abs? Because pure muscle absorbs less impact than fat. The standards of bodybuilding don't apply in boxing."
"What?" Jason was stunned. "So I actually need to gain weight?"
"No, not at all. Just stick to a normal diet. But stop those pointless exercises immediately. Your top three priorities now are Punch Speed, rhythm, and dodging. I'm giving you at most two weeks. I want to see clear progress. Understood?"
Jason felt frustrated. He had never even trained his abs deliberately—they just developed naturally. But if he told the coach that, the old man wouldn't believe him. So he just nodded and said, "Understood."
...
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