Extravagant and Flamboyant Card-Throwing Techniques

“Interesting!”
“This is way more fun than playing computer solitaire!”
Chen Jue watched the proficiency +1 prompt pop up on his panel, a faint smile curling his lips.
His talent apartment was too small for powerful throwing darts or nails; it would be hard to practice without affecting the recovery of his left hand.
But throwing playing cards had just the right intensity. He could do it indoors, using only his right forearm, wrist, and fingers, without needing full-body force.
Though the proficiency gain was modest, every bit counted, no matter how small.
Besides, it was his first time throwing cards; he hadn’t yet mastered the true technique.
With his Lv5 “Hidden Weapon Throwing” skill, he sensed that his dart-throwing method had plenty of room for improvement.
...
After hanging the parcel box on the hook behind his door, Chen Jue settled at the windowsill.
He picked up a playing card, flicked his right hand, and the spinning card zipped across three or four meters, embedding itself into the parcel box.
This time, he put more force into his wrist and fingers, and unexpectedly received a proficiency +3 prompt!
The front half of the card was buried in the box, clearly more powerful than his previous attempts.
“Is the technique about exerting force with the forearm, wrist, and tightly pressed fingers at the same time?”
“It seems the upper arm and shoulder aren’t as crucial.” Chen Jue pondered, adjusted his posture, and threw another card.
With a thud, the card struck the box again.
This time, its power was markedly greater—over half the card sank into the box.
It was worth noting that these parcel boxes were made from triple-layer corrugated cardboard, offering good cushioning and hardness.
Ordinary people would struggle to tear open such a box bare-handed without a knife.
Let alone slicing into it with a playing card!
“Who’d have thought a playing card could be so sharp?”
“It wouldn’t hurt to carry a deck around. Practicing whenever I have spare time could be a good way to keep occupied,” Chen Jue muttered as he examined the cards he’d bought at the convenience store and searched online for their material.
Playing cards on the market are usually distinguished by material and weight: gray core, white core, blue core, black core, and PVC cards. The more expensive the card, the harder and heavier it is.
Chen Jue’s deck was the common blue core—a great value, perfect for practicing card throwing.
“This big data is pretty amazing!”
No sooner had Chen Jue searched for card materials than several video apps began recommending videos on card tricks, casinos, and card throwing.
He checked a few out and found that some online creators had remarkable skills.
Not only could they pierce cardboard with cards, but they could also slice cucumbers, pierce watermelons, pop balloons, and cut soda cans—a dazzling variety, just as fascinating as skipping stones or throwing darts, which Chen Jue had previously enjoyed.
Card throwing also had many techniques—besides wrist flicks, there were finger snaps and other methods, each surprisingly powerful.
Most importantly, card throwing could be combined with fancy shuffling and cutting, making it visually much more flamboyant than simple dart throwing.
“You influencers really know how to play!”
“If the God of Gamblers had your card-throwing skills, he wouldn’t need Long Wu for protection—who could stand in his way?” Chen Jue was truly impressed by the card-throwing videos.
His own master-level “Hidden Weapon Throwing” skills were clearly on a higher tier.

By analogy, after a few tries, he quickly mastered all the card-throwing techniques shown in the videos.
He moved from the windowsill to the bed, throwing cards and correcting his posture—snapping, flicking—watching the proficiency prompts for “Hidden Weapon Throwing” float by: +2, +3, even +5. The rainy night no longer felt so dull.
...
After about an hour, his right hand was slightly sore, and the fifty-four cards had been repeatedly recycled.
His card-throwing skills grew more refined, and he also mastered one-handed fancy shuffling and cutting.
He’d only seen such tricks in movies before, but after training “Hidden Weapon Throwing,” his hand dexterity improved dramatically, making card tricks easy and enjoyable to relearn.
However, the blue core cards weren’t very durable; after a few throws at the parcel box, their edges began to wrinkle and fray, losing their sharpness.
Sometimes, when thrown at the box, the cards would bounce back.
“A ten-yuan investment earned me over 1,200 proficiency points.”
“My right hand got exercised, and I gained 0.01 in strength.”
“That ten yuan was well spent—cheaper than the gas for a trip outdoors!”
Chen Jue gathered the worn cards, planning to stock up online.
Searching prices, he found ten packs of blue core cards for 9.9 yuan, shipped free.
Recalling the ten-yuan deck he’d bought at the convenience store downstairs, Chen Jue felt that Hangzhou’s prices were truly ahead of their time, outpacing smaller cities by several versions!
With more rainy days likely ahead, and the prospect of practicing card throwing indoors, he ordered a hundred blue core decks and one durable PVC deck online.
It cost barely sixty yuan—cheaper than his skipping stones—almost as cost-effective as three-inch nails from the hardware store.
“When the weather clears, I’ll film a card-throwing stunt at the park.”
“It’s about time to update my ‘Stunt Master’ account.”
After a night of card-throwing videos, Chen Jue’s creative itch was sparked.
He planned to come up with a good idea to keep building his side gig as a video creator.
...
Lying in bed brainstorming, he gradually drifted off.
Upon waking the next day, he found his left hand’s soreness had eased and he could move it, thanks to the hospital meds and his improved constitution.
Looking out at the persistent rain, unable to bask in the morning sun, Chen Jue turned to his computer and played a simulated red light therapy video.
He cranked the screen brightness to maximum, letting the light shine while using his right hand to perform eye exercises.
Surprisingly, this spontaneous idea worked!
After half an hour, the panel prompted: “Vision improved, constitution +0.01.” Chen Jue was delighted.
But he knew that the attribute gained from training was different from the points added by spending “free attributes.”
For example, any improvement in his body, no matter the area, would be unified into the “constitution” attribute on the panel.
Simply put, the panel’s constitution value was a composite of all bodily data.
Training increased constitution only for the specific region exercised.

Improving the eyes by 0.01 didn’t mean all organs improved at once.
But using “free attributes” to boost constitution affected the whole body, though the effect was diluted—spread thin across all regions, making the increase very slight.
...
With rain still falling, unable to go out for morning exercise, Chen Jue continued practicing card throwing in his room.
Even though the deck was worn and couldn’t cut the parcel box anymore, aiming at targets still earned proficiency.
From his understanding, the panel judged proficiency gain by dividing it between the exercise process and the outcome—maybe seventy-thirty or eighty-twenty.
One didn’t need perfect results to gain proficiency.
As long as the movements were correct and effective, proficiency would increase.
After two hours in the morning, he gained another 1,600 points in “Hidden Weapon Throwing,” bringing his progress bar to (6,724/20,000).
Bit by bit, he was closing in on the next level, which put him in a good mood; after breakfast he drove to Hengtong.
As usual, he timed his arrival, climbed the stairs, and settled at his desk.
It was Friday, and the risk control office’s atmosphere was noticeably more lively than earlier in the week.
Some discussed dinner plans or weekend outings, everyone seeking ways to unwind after five days of work—the only two days not owned by their capitalist bosses.
Chen Jue’s fifth group had prearranged plans, so everyone was acting together, making their chatter livelier than other risk control teams.
His neighbor, the chubby Shen Shikun, had been researching recipes in the group chat since morning—more enthusiastic than he was about reviewing clients!
...
From morning idling to evening, Chen Jue gained 0.03 in attribute value.
0.01 in strength from squeezing a hand gripper with his right hand; the remaining 0.02 in free attributes came from climbing stairs and practicing horse stance.
Additionally, after several days of training, both “Horse Stance” and “Perineal Exercise” leveled up.
——————
[Ding~]
[Proficiency reached 100%. Skill level increased.]
[Horse Stance Lv0 → Lv1]
[After a period of horse stance training, you have deepened your impression of this fundamental martial arts stance. You no longer easily make mistakes in posture; your lower back and leg muscles have been strengthened, and issues like pelvic tilt and lumbar disc herniation have improved.]
——————
[Ding~]
[Proficiency reached 100%. Skill level increased.]
[Perineal Exercise Lv0 → Lv1]
[After sustained perineal training, your control over the muscles around the anus (such as the internal and external sphincters, puborectalis, etc.) has improved slightly; your concentration has increased, and you have begun to sense stimulation at the tailbone nerve endings; your mixed hemorrhoids have improved slightly.]