Chapter 42: Enhancing the Mount

Chen Yun watched with delight as the bicycle’s durability steadily rose, soon reaching 480! The old man hammering away grew more and more puzzled; although he was elderly, his strength was no less than that of a young man. He had struck dozens of blows, yet not even the paint had chipped. What brand was this bicycle? Its quality was extraordinary!

“All right! You don’t need to hammer anymore!” Seeing the bicycle’s durability maxed out, Chen Yun hurriedly called a stop.

The old man paused. “No need to hammer anymore?”

“No need. The bike is repaired. You hammered it forty-seven times in total. Here are five silver coins—the extra is my treat.” Chen Yun handed him the coins.

The old man stared at the money, amazed—it really was five silver coins! He had never seen money earned so easily.

Chen Yun grinned, mounted his bicycle, and waved. “Goodbye, sir. Next time my bike breaks, I’ll come to you again!” As he finished speaking, he pushed off and promptly toppled, bike and all, to the ground.

The old man was startled, rushing over to help him up. “Are you all right? I told you, you shouldn’t hammer it. What kind of bike can take so many blows and still be ridden?”

Chen Yun crawled out from under the bike, dust-covered and bewildered. He had been riding just fine before; the bike’s durability and proficiency were maxed out—why had it tipped over?

He stood the bike upright and suddenly understood.

“A one-to-one high-fidelity Trek Madone toy bicycle: Mount enhancement in progress. During enhancement, players cannot store the mount in the mount space. Enhancement progress: 1%. Enhancement paused due to lack of enhancement energy. Enhancement will resume automatically when energy is supplemented.”

In the game, there was a tiny chance for a mount to be enhanced during repairs. He hadn’t expected his first ever mount repair to trigger it. But what did “lack of enhancement energy” mean? And what would the bike turn into after enhancement?

“I’m fine,” Chen Yun said. “Sir, do you know what enhancement energy is?”

“Enhancement energy?” The old man was baffled. “What’s that?”

Clearly, the old man had no idea. Chen Yun smiled. “Never mind, sir. I’ll be on my way.” He pushed his bicycle, but it wouldn’t budge—as if rooted to the ground.

“Young man, your bike won’t move, right? I knew something would go wrong after hammering it so much. Let me see what’s up.” The old repairman squatted down and muttered as he examined the bike.

“If it won’t move, it’s probably a problem with the brakes.”

“The brake pads are fine, the cables are fine.”

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“The wheels aren’t stuck either. How odd—why won’t it move?” The old man stood and pushed the bike hard, but it didn’t even wobble. He was stunned; after so many years repairing bikes, he’d never encountered this.

“Sir, I forgot to mention, my bike isn’t like others. It’s shy—when it sees strangers, it gets scared and won’t move. Don’t let it delay your work, I’ll carry it instead.” Chen Yun, sweating profusely, explained.

Shy? The old man was incredulous. He’d lived all these years and never heard of a shy bicycle. Did Chen Yun think it was a person?

Before the old man could respond, Chen Yun hoisted the bike and tried to leave.

“Wait!” The old man, quick as a flash, grabbed the rear wheel. “Put it down. I refuse to believe a little bike can defeat me. Young man, just wait—I’ll make sure you ride this bike today.” His stubbornness kicked in, and he set about dismantling both brake assemblies.

He carefully checked everything—the brakes were intact, no deformation, no wear. Yet once reassembled, the bike still wouldn’t move. The old man was so frustrated he pulled out a few strands of hair.

“Enhancement energy detected. Mount enhancement in progress. Current progress: 2%.”

Chen Yun blinked at the system prompt, staring at the 2% progress bar above the bike in confusion.

Enhancement energy detected? Where? He didn’t see anything.

“I refuse to believe this!” The old man, seeing the bike still immobile after reassembly, gritted his teeth and began dismantling it again.

“Enhancement energy detected. Mount evolution in progress. Current progress: 3%.”

Damn! Chen Yun seemed to understand: the enhancement energy required by the mount was the repeated repairs performed by the repairman!

Such a bizarre setting—he couldn’t help but marvel at the system.

“Damn it, what a headache!”

All day, the old man, eyes bloodshot and teeth clenched, wrestled with the bicycle. He even drove away customers who came to have their bikes repaired. Again and again, he dismantled and reassembled wheels and brakes, until he eventually took the whole bike apart and put it back together. Yet the bike acted like it was haunted—it simply wouldn’t move!

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“Young man, your bike has a grudge against me. I give up, I truly do. Go elsewhere for repairs—I’m not skilled enough to handle it.” The old man, panting heavily, sat on the ground, defeated. After an entire afternoon of dismantling and reassembling, he couldn’t even find the cause of the immobility. This wasn’t just haunted—it was cursed!

Chen Yun stared at the progress bar, now at 99%, utterly frustrated. Victory was so close; if only the old man could make one more attempt, he’d succeed. He couldn’t give up now!

“Sir, it’s getting late. Where else would I find a repair stall besides yours? Just one last time, please. I promise, whether it works or not, I’ll leave immediately!”

“Really?” the old man asked.

“Really!” Chen Yun confirmed.

“All right, I’ll try one last time. If it still doesn’t work, don’t come to me again—I’m truly afraid.” The old man got up and repaired the bike once more. He watched Chen Yun push it, expecting nothing, just hoping the young man would leave soon. If he hadn’t already promised, he wouldn’t bother.

Chen Yun gently pushed the bike—and it moved perfectly!

“Level 1 mount: One-to-one high-fidelity Trek Madone toy bicycle enhancement successful. Upgraded to Level 1 mount: One-to-one high-fidelity Trek Madone toy bicycle +1.”

One-to-one high-fidelity Trek Madone toy bicycle +1: Purple-grade mount. Level 2 mount, requires Level 2 riding skill.

Additional skills:
Acceleration: Active, sustained skill. Upon use, mount speed becomes player agility x10 km/h. Can be combined with Ultimate Acceleration. Consumes 1 mana per second, no cooldown.

Ultimate Acceleration: Active skill. Upon use, mount speed doubles. Duration: 15 seconds. Mana cost: 30. Cooldown: 15 seconds.

Ride Instantly: Passive skill. With this skill, the mount is unaffected by riding proficiency.

Mount effect: Increases movement speed by 220%, durability MAX/MAX. (Bound to player Chen Yun.) Will automatically transform into an electric bike once Chen Yun learns Level 2 riding skill.

As the system prompt appeared, Chen Yun was finally able to push the bike.

He approached the stunned old man, took out ten gold coins, and pressed them into his hand. “Sir, the bike is fixed. Your skill is remarkable. Please accept this payment—I’ll be off now.”

The old man watched Chen Yun walk away with the bike, stared at the coins in his palm, and after a long while, tears streamed down his face. “My skill is remarkable? If it were, would I have to repair a bike a hundred times? Damn it! From now on, I’m done with bicycles—I’ll repair motorcycles instead!”

Pushing his newly enhanced bicycle, Chen Yun was beside himself with frustration. Enhancement was a good thing, but the system had upgraded the bike to a Level 2 mount, making it unusable until he learned the requisite skill. After wasting an entire day, all he got was a bike he couldn’t ride. Was this a joke?