Incremental Improvements

Jin double-checked to see whether there was anyone else nearby. Finally confirming that he was the only one in his place Jin called out his shadow dummy. ( A/N:- From now on I'm just gonna call this thing a dummy, pain in the ass to always call it a shadow dummy...I even typoed it as a shadow clone once...sigh)

He selected the option of Hand-to-Hand combat and distanced himself a bit from the clone. There was a hint of anticipation rising up in his heart as he looked at the clone's head, his target.

The next moment Jin twisted his upper body around and using the momentum he gained turned his whole body backwards and performed a fantastic reverse turning kick which landed right on the dummy's head.

PAP! 

His feet slapped the dummy just the way he expected but before Jin could cheer in celebration he was welcomed by a stinging pain in his hip. He had pulled his hip flexors.

"Argh!" He groaned as he massaged his upper thighs in the hope of alleviating the pain, it did not.

Jin wobbled back to his designated spot and continued on with the cleaning.

'At least it felt good...though only for a bit,' Jin placated himself.

Today's experience fired Jin up. There were so many moves which he wanted to try but he was unable to perform them. Not because he didn't know them but because he did not meet the required physical standards to perform.

'I'll increase the intensity of my working out." Jin said to himself. He also decided to start going out for a run in the morning to increase his stamina. 

With a clear goal in his mind, the execution became simpler. The next morning he woke up early and went for a run. After his body heated up a bit it was time for him to practice various moves he had in his mind.

Muay Thai, Jujutsu, boxing, Taekwondo, Kali, Wing Chun, Kalaripayattu and a lot more. Jin's head was flooded with knowledge that stemmed from all these martial arts.

What was even better was that some of these martial arts also taught fighting with melee weapons. Jin thought that he made a very good decision by not choosing to buy Knife fighting techniques from the store as what he got now was a complete package.

Jin practised various moves one after another. Since it was early morning there were very few people around so his moves which looked clumsy at first didn't attract a lot of gazes. 

His body was not yet adept with the techniques. The more he practiced the more he realized how large the gap was. It was soon time for work so he went back and got ready for his work.

When he returned home from work in the evening he shifted to lifting weights to strengthen his body then freshened up and after a hearty meal finally got to bed.

Jin followed this routine for the next two months. With time he added more and more variations to the exercises he did as his strength improved. His skin had developed a healthy glow and he no longer looked like a stick.

"Rosie, don't you think that Jin is becoming more and more handsome with each passing day?" Auntie Julie said as she looked at Jin's figure from afar who was sweeping a corner of the school ground.

Auntie Rosie, who was similar in age to Auntie Julie, adjusted her spectacles and said after staring at Jin for a few seconds, "Indeed, I would have lashed at him if I was young,"

"You hag saying such cheap things at your age," Auntie Julie rebuked.

"I'm just telling the truth though," Auntie Rosie didn't care about Aunt Julie's opinion and just shrugged her shoulders.

"It's good that he's taking care of himself now. Just how low was his earlier wage that he wasn't even able to feed himself properly," Auntie Julie shook her head a little.

"Indeed, young men should be like that. Hard-working and strong like an ox, my husband was the same back then," Auntie Rosie agreed.

Jin was unaware of the discussion that was taking place between Auntie Julie and Rosie. His mind was engrossed in new moves he would try the next day as he was sweeping the playground.

During this time his proficiency in "Hand-to-Hand combat" had already reached 49%. Jin was very proud of this achievement. With the usage of proper techniques, the rate at which the proficiency improved couldn't be compared to earlier.

The next morning Jin was about to start practicing moves in the park near his house along with his dummy. He had realized that apart from him no one else could see his dummy which was quite convenient for him.

Just like usual he was performing the moves which had grown very familiar with. In between the combination of moves, a system notification panel suddenly popped up.

Minimum Requirements Met....

Issuing First Mission...

'First Mission?' A frown appeared on Jin's face as he looked at his panel.