September 12th, Wednesday.
At the “Suffering Travel” Special Training Base.
The department heads stood in a row before the massive simulated landscape rock wall nearly 20 meters tall in the facility, their faces filled with miserable expressions.
It was so unfair!
Hu Xianbin and Huang Sibo had been dragged here since last Wednesday, while the other department heads had been “apprehended and brought to justice” successively last Friday or this Monday.
Excluding weekend rest days, they had already spent three to five days at this special training base.
Bao Xu was relatively merciful, keeping in mind Tenda’s spirit of “no overtime on weekends.” He hadn’t gone insane by arranging training tasks on Saturday and Sunday, but instead had released these people to reunite with their families.
After all, he wasn’t worried they would run away.
But this limited mercy was clearly insufficient to offset the pain of training.
These department heads had never experienced such hardship. They were furious but didn’t dare speak out, their faces contorted as if constipated.
The daily schedule at the special training base was relatively scientific:
6:30 AM: Wake up and eat breakfast;
7:00 AM to 8:00 AM: Wilderness survival knowledge study;
8:00 AM to 9:00 AM: Jogging warm-up;
9:00 AM to 10:30 AM: Rock climbing and rappelling training;
10:30 AM to 12:00 PM: Physical fitness training;
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM: Lunch;
1:00 PM to 2:00 PM: One hour rest period;
2:00 PM to 5:00 PM: Simulated wilderness training, such as frog jumps, weighted squats, single-leg balance, archery, and other activities;
5:00 PM to 7:00 PM: Wilderness living skills specialized training, such as pitching tents, building shelters, killing and plucking chickens, killing and scaling fish, etc.;
7:00 PM: Dinner, followed by a brief wilderness survival knowledge study, then officially resting around 9:00 PM.
Although sufficient sleep time was guaranteed and the nutritional value of the food wasn’t a problem, this experience was still torturous.
On one hand, the training volume was enormous—everyone was exhausted like a dog after each day’s training. On the other hand, the accommodation and food conditions weren’t particularly good.
To adapt to wilderness survival conditions, everyone had to sleep in tents and sleeping bags. The food, while nutritionally adequate, necessarily included certain amounts of not-so-tasty emergency foods like compressed biscuits, canned goods, and jerky—all of which had to be finished completely.
But this suffering was curiously maintained at a level that was bearable—something that could be overcome with a bit of effort.
After all, it was only for a month; they could grit their teeth and get through it.
Bao Xu, with a serious expression, paced back and forth in front of everyone.
“After these past few days of training, everyone has mastered the basic rock climbing techniques.”
“Today, you’ll all attempt to climb this 20-meter simulated rock wall for the first time.”
“The person who climbs the highest within the time limit will receive a reward—during the rest period from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM, you can use your phone!”
The previously dejected group instantly perked up upon hearing this.
Because they hadn’t touched their phones for three days!
Who knew what kind of torture that was.
Although they could only use their phones for one hour, this was already an enormous temptation.
Bao Xu was very satisfied with everyone’s reaction: “Alright, remember the key points you’ve learned previously, ensure safety measures are in place, and begin climbing!”
At his command, the department heads quickly donned their protective gear.
Since they had already done jogging warm-ups and stretching beforehand, there was no need for additional preparation activities.
Regarding protective gear, the specially hired instructor Sa Ziran had already explained that it shouldn’t be too tight or too loose—maintaining a distance of one index finger’s width from the legs was ideal.
After thoroughly checking safety harnesses, helmets, fall arresters, and other equipment, the belayers carefully inspected everything and provided one-on-one protection before rock climbing could begin.
At Bao Xu’s whistle, the department heads immediately began climbing the simulated landscape rock wall using both hands and feet.
Bao Xu revealed a satisfied smile.
Ah, this job was truly too joyful and pleasant!
Watching the department heads slowly and laboriously ascending the rock wall one by one, Bao Xu felt this was even more enjoyable and captivating than playing games.
As expected, Guo Licheng took the lead.
Among these department heads, Guo Licheng—with his professional fitness trainer background—was absolutely devastating compared to the others, dominating most physical training exercises.
But uniquely in rock climbing, he couldn’t establish too great an advantage.
Because rock climbing is a sport that battles against gravity, requiring considerable finger strength. Unlike other major muscle groups in the body, finger strength is difficult to improve, with very obvious limits to strength growth.
In this scenario, excessive muscle and excess fat have the same effect in rock climbing—they only increase body weight and become burdens.
Moreover, overdeveloped muscles might affect the flexibility of certain movements. Rock climbing particularly emphasizes flexibility and agility. Some muscular individuals find it difficult to fully cross their arms or legs due to their large muscle mass, decreasing both flexibility and endurance.
Guo Licheng happened to be one of these demonic muscle men with extremely developed muscles throughout his body. His muscles were all very thick, and his weight exceeded 100 kilograms, so he actually had no obvious advantage in rock climbing.
Hu Xianbin followed closely behind, using both hands and feet, seemingly trying hard to surpass him.
“Hmm? Hu Xianbin seems quite motivated, very good indeed.” Bao Xu nodded approvingly.
These Tenda department heads all had fitness plans at Tuoguan Fitness centers. Although they couldn’t develop bodies like Guo Licheng’s, their physical conditions were all acceptable. Hu Xianbin was among the younger ones, with relatively excellent physical fitness, so he climbed quickly.
Rock climbing is indeed a physically demanding sport. After a short while, some department heads were already panting heavily. After persisting briefly, they gave up and rappelled down using the rope.
Sa Ziran silently recorded each person’s climbing height.
Hu Xianbin gritted his teeth and persisted until the end, successfully surpassing Guo Licheng. It wasn’t clear whether this was due to his genuine ability or if he had secretly made some under-the-table deal with Guo Licheng to let him win.
However, seeing Hu Xianbin’s determined effort, Bao Xu turned a blind eye and tacitly approved.
After rock climbing and rappelling training, they rested briefly before immediately beginning physical fitness training.
The morning physical training was standard fitness training, so the department heads could only be utterly dominated by Guo Licheng.
Hu Xianbin was no exception. Having consumed too much energy during rock climbing, he completely surrendered during the physical training segment.
Even by lunchtime, Hu Xianbin’s hands were still shaking, making it somewhat difficult to hold his food.
Finally reaching the rest period, Hu Xianbin practically snatched his phone from Bao Xu’s hands and retreated to his tent.
“Quick, quick… how’s ‘Eternal Cycle’ doing…”
Hu Xianbin urgently browsed the web.
Last weekend, he had discovered that “Eternal Cycle” had already updated some content, but hadn’t updated the combat system, which had triggered enormous controversy online.
Hu Xianbin completely failed to understand what Meng Chang and Yu Fei were doing. After all, he had already gone traveling last month and still hadn’t had the chance to meet with Yu Fei to clarify things.
Now, three more days had passed—three days during which he had been completely isolated from the outside world. He was extremely eager to know about “Eternal Cycle’s” recent situation.
“They released an announcement?”
“Huh? They’re going to update the combat system ahead of schedule?”
“This…”
Hu Xianbin scratched his head.
He felt this approach wasn’t very appropriate, but he could only worry without being able to help.
Previously, as Tenda Games’ lead designer, he could directly consult Mr. Pei whenever problems arose. Although there were occasional setbacks, the final results were always good.
Most importantly, he had always remained within Tenda, and even if he couldn’t fully grasp Mr. Pei’s deeper intentions, at least he felt secure.
But now, Hu Xianbin knew nothing about the internal situation at Tenda Games, naturally filling him with concern.
From player feedback, it was evident that this announcement had somewhat pacified the players’ original disputes, but had also triggered new debates.
“Work errors caused them to miss their expected results? That’s too vague—what specific errors occurred? And what were the expected results?”
“Can a game company like Tenda really make mistakes? That’s truly rare.”
“It must be the game experience issues many people have been complaining about! I’ve been saying that ‘Eternal Cycle’s’ current gameplay experience has major problems, yet some people kept arguing with me, saying it’s because I’m unskilled! Look now, Tenda has admitted their mistake, so stop defending them!”
“I think the problem was caused by splitting the updates. If they had updated everything at once, it probably wouldn’t be like this now.”
“Regardless, the combat system is being updated early, which is good news.”
“No one is a saint; who can be without fault? Tenda isn’t just Mr. Pei alone. Even if Mr. Pei’s plan was perfect, problems can inevitably arise when his subordinates implement it. This issue isn’t worth dwelling on; it’s not a fundamental error, so there’s no need to keep fixating on it.”
“Ah, I feel this is a bad omen. Does this indicate some internal management issues have arisen?”
“This might truly mark the beginning of Tenda’s fall from grace!”
Player discussions were diverse. Although there were still sporadic arguments, most people had focused their attention on this Friday’s update.
If “Eternal Cycle” updated its combat system and significantly improved the overall game experience, then this matter would be forgotten. If the game experience remained unchanged, then the game would be in trouble.
Hu Xianbin silently sighed.
In the current situation, he could only worry without being able to help.
“I hope this special training ends quickly. I’m really desperate to get back to work!”
“Well, looking on the bright side, once I endure this month of special training, I should be free.”
“There are so many department heads at Tenda, they can assemble at least two more groups for special training.”
“And there are even more core employees in each department.”
“In other words, the sooner I suffer, the sooner I’ll be free. As long as I endure this month of special training, I probably won’t have to come back and suffer for the next half year.”
“Hmm, thinking about it this way, life is still full of hope.”
Hu Xianbin felt like a prisoner locked up, almost wanting to carve tally marks on the wall each day to record exactly how many days remained in his sentence.
The thought that barely a week had passed of his month-long sentence filled him with profound despair.
Ah, how he regretted arranging for Bao Xu along with the others back then!