Chapter 60: Monday''s Interlude |
As Yan Huan shifted his curious gaze toward certain words in the illusory text, those terms flashed with a golden light, bursting forth with a more detailed explanation.
"When exercise efficiency is massively increased, the speed at which muscle fibers tear and rebuild will also be massively increased. This will result in more intense pain, higher nutritional requirements, and so on."
Looking at the text, Yan Huan roughly understood what this effect meant.
Normally, the principle behind muscle growth through fitness was to cause microscopic tears in the muscle fibers during workouts. As they rebuilt themselves, they would become tougher and stronger, thus promoting muscle growth.
Now, the efficiency of this process had been accelerated, which naturally meant that the pain of those fibers tearing would be far more intense than usual.
On top of that, it was compounded by a curse that doubled the pain.
Yan Huan swallowed hard, a drop of cold sweat unknowingly sliding down his cheek.
''This is probably going to hurt a bit.jpg''
Moreover, this combination actually worked hand in hand. After all, accelerating the tearing and rebuilding of muscle fibers could easily lead to severe bodily harm if the muscle strength wasn''t sufficient to handle it.
As long as he took off his clothes to train, his physical attributes would receive a 100% bonus to keep up with the efficiency. It was actually quite considerate.
"Meow?"
Beside him, Myau-chan cast a confused glance at Yan Huan, seemingly noticing his hesitation.
But soon, Yan Huan made up his mind.
"This curse will get weaker and weaker as the muscles grow. After all, muscles can''t expand infinitely; there will always be a limit. I just have to suffer a bit in the early stages, and it''ll be fine later," he muttered.
He stood up, pulled off his shirt, and walked over to the mirror in the bathroom.
In truth, his physique wasn''t considered skinny. After all, he frequently worked physical part-time jobs and exercised, plus he had no bad habits.
Of course, he couldn''t be called muscular, either.
Yan Huan pinched his somewhat soft muscles, almost as if he could hear an eager yearning from within them to "grow bigger and stronger."
"..."
Thus, he pulled his pajama pants down and walked back to the bed.
Choosing this would not only make his body healthier but also enhance his strength, endurance, and overall fitness.
He couldn''t guarantee it would definitely help resolve the Modifier, but making himself stronger and more robust was never a bad thing.
And speaking of resolving the Modifier, the remaining two skills...
"Flexible Fingering" and "Demon Chef".
The former was purely a joke, and he had no earthly idea what the hell that buff was supposed to be useful for.
Aside from maybe unlocking a few extra Battle Defeat CGs, Yan Huan couldn''t think of a single other use for it at the moment.
Yan Huan actually had some interest in Demon Chef. He wasn''t exactly a master of the culinary arts, but who goes through life without having to cook a meal?
Why not jump at the chance to make his food taste better?
It was just that minor curse...
Eating three meals a day, if he cooked every meal himself, that would mean accumulating three curses a day, or nine curses in three days.
Then, by continuously eating and accumulating, the curses would endlessly multiply inside his body for generations to come.
Thinking of this, Yan Huan finally selected the third reward.
"Buzz!"
As the black orb shattered and fully surged into his body, Yan Huan initially felt a sudden soreness in his legs, which had previously felt perfectly fine.
He furrowed his brow, quickly piecing together the reason.
"No way... just because I walked around all day today, it counts as leg day?"
It made sense.
But soon enough, he vaguely felt his body become slightly lighter, and stretching his fingers filled him with a surging sense of power.
"..."
Ah, so that was it.
Yan Huan looked at the short sleeves and shorts of his pajamas, quickly realizing something.
As long as the uncovered portion of his body exceeded a certain percentage, the "Bare-Chested" effect would activate.
What if he took off even more?
With that thought, Yan Huan immediately began an experiment. He stripped off the rest of his pajamas and tossed them behind him.
The clothing landed on the bed, covering Myau-chan, who had been sitting gracefully on the mattress, causing the cat to struggle underneath and let out a muffled "Meow."
"Sorry, Myau-chan. I''m just experimenting with the effect of this ''Bare-Chested'' skill."
He stretched his palms out, but still feeling unsatisfied, he proceeded to take off the remaining garments.
"Meow~"
Behind him, Myau-chan had just crawled out of the tangled pajamas when it saw something it shouldn''t have seen. Its tail instantly shot straight up, and it shrank back into the fabric.
"Holy crap, this feeling is truly fierce."
Yan Huan swung his fists a few times in intense excitement. Mid-air, his punches brought about the sound of slicing wind, whooshing loudly.
And it wasn''t just strength; his endurance, vitality, and other attributes were equally enhanced.
Yan Huan now had a strong urge to run wildly on the beach like Sun Wukong.
He couldn''t even imagine how exaggerated this enhancement effect would be after a period of training, once the muscles on his body actually grew bigger and stronger.
Yan Huan swallowed hard, and after testing it out for a bit, he put his underwear back on.
The exact moment the fabric touched his body, that incredibly weightless state instantly fizzled out by a considerable margin.
"?"
Yan Huan opened his mouth in shock and carefully felt out the changes. Just that one piece of clothing had dropped his buff by roughly 30%.
The problem was, he was a briefs guy, not a boxers guy.
How much fabric could there possibly be? How much skin did it actually cover?
And it dropped the buff that much?
So this thing wasn''t calculated based on the amount of fabric!?
"..."
In sheer disbelief, Yan Huan took them off again. In a flash, the final piece of the terrifying bonus puzzle was restored.
His brain, freshly boosted by the intelligence fragments, raced rapidly. Soon, as if infected by Tong Yingying, his eyes lit up in the exact same manner she often displayed.
"Hey, I have an idea!"
He hurriedly ran to the edge of the bed, opened the nightstand, took out a face mask, and strapped it over his face.
This covered more than half of his face, making it basically impossible to recognize him.
"Poof!"
Another 30% of the buff vanished.
"..."
Yan Huan silently pulled the face mask off again, his expression having thoroughly darkened.
Fine, fine, fine...
So that''s how we''re playing, huh?
Yan Huan let out a heavy sigh and put his clothes and pants back on one by one.
Calculating it this way, unless he was completely alone, this bare-chested effect could basically never be maxed out, and the drop-off penalty was incredibly steep.
Outside, unless he was at a swimming pool, a water park, or some other special venue, he could at most expose his upper body—and before he built some decent muscle, walking around shirtless would be extremely unsightly.
Being bare-chested along with a pair of sports shorts that didn''t go past his knees... an outfit like that could probably net him around a 55% physical attribute bonus.
Only after thoroughly testing all of this did Yan Huan pick up the discarded pajamas from the bed, revealing Myau-chan underneath.
"Meow?"
"..."
Looking at the adorable Myau-chan below, Yan Huan, who was just about to lose his temper over the skill''s ridiculous restrictions, suddenly remembered that it was Myau-chan who helped him plug in the USB drive today and deliver the earbuds to Bai Yi...
''Wait, where are my earbuds?''
''Hasn''t Bai Yi returned them to me yet?''
Yan Huan slapped his forehead, only then realizing that the Bluetooth earbuds he bought on a group discount app were gone once again.
Last weekend, he had lent his school uniform to Ye Shiyu, and she only returned it on Friday, with a terrifying "You have been marked" symbol added to it.
This week, his earbuds were gone, and God only knew when Bai Yi would return them...
"Forget it... I already asked her to join the Study Group next week anyway. If worse comes to worst, I''ll just ask her directly," he muttered.
Helpless, Yan Huan lay down on the bed and switched off the lights.
In his arms, the warm and cozy furball snuggled up again, blinking its clear green eyes at him.
Yan Huan looked back at it, then gently rubbed its head and whispered,
"Good night, Myau-chan."
Myau-chan tilted its head before revealing a cute expression.
"Meow~"
And so, another week passed just like that.
"Morning, President." Monday morning, on the school bus from the South Ward to Far Moon Academy.
Yan Huan glanced at Yabashi Ki beside him, noticing the dark circles under his eyes, and asked,
"Didn''t sleep well last night?"
Yabashi Ki nodded listlessly and replied,
"After I got back last night, I searched online for some exorcism rituals and ways to accumulate good karma, and tried a few. Then I played the new galgame I bought at the anime convention yesterday, ''Loli Step-Sister Moe Love'', hehe. The female lead is super cute, I love it."
"..."
''Yabashi, I feel like whatever tiny bit of karma you managed to accumulate with your rituals was completely erased the moment you started playing that game, and you probably even owe some now.''
However, Yabashi Ki was completely oblivious to the earnest, admonishing gaze coming from Yan Huan beside him.
He was just about to put on his Bluetooth earbuds to tend to his digital bonsai when he turned his head and saw Yan Huan watching a beginner''s fitness tutorial on a video platform.
He glanced at Yan Huan, who wasn''t wearing earbuds and was simply reading the subtitles on mute, and asked curiously,
"President, why are you suddenly starting to work out? Are you not as busy lately?"
"Ah, I might be cutting back on my part-time work a bit, so I''m thinking of finding something else to do."
"I see..."
Hearing this, Yabashi Ki hurriedly closed the bishoujo game he had just opened, brought up Plane, and said to Yan Huan,
"Speaking of which, if you want to work out, President, let me recommend Teacher Jiao Tan''s Plane contact to you. He has quite a bit of a reputation in the fitness community. Having him guide you might make things much easier."
"Oh right, I completely forgot you mentioned yesterday that he was also a fitness blogger."
Yan Huan recalled Teacher Jiao Tan from yesterday, covered in bulging tendons and muscles. One look was all it took to know it was the result of years of relentless training.
Since he had the Modifier as a cheat, achieving that level in a short time was impossible, but losing fat and building some lean muscle along the way was highly plausible.
"Send me his contact, I''ll chat with him later."
"OK, I''ll give him a heads-up first."
Not long after, Yabashi Ki forwarded a user whose avatar was a piece of charcoal.
His Plane name matched his stage name: Jiao Tan.
Yan Huan sent a friend request, but it wasn''t approved yet. It was still quite early, so the other party probably hadn''t even woken up.
Today, because Yan Huan was fully awake, no other girls stealthily slipped him any gifts. They simply bumped and swayed along the road until they reached the school.
The school gate was bustling with activity. The new teaching building under construction next to it had reached its final stages and would likely be finished in a week or two.
"Ah, it''s finally almost done. It''s been annoyingly loud. Especially when going to the club in the afternoon; the club building is close to that spot, and even with earbuds in while gaming, all you hear is the sound of power drills."
Yabashi Ki glared at the building, speaking with a heart full of resentment.
Don''t be fooled by Yabashi Ki''s heavy two-dimensional otaku aura; he was actually in the Computer Club.
The atmosphere at Far Moon Academy was rather strange. The anime clubs were basically entirely populated by normies, while the true two-dimensional enthusiasts were all hidden dragons and crouching tigers, lurking in places like the Computer Club and the Math Club.
Yabashi Ki stared darkly at the construction site and pushed up his glasses.
"If our Computer Club wins the Club War this time, I''m going to have the Principal bulldoze that building."
"Are you saying that because you already know the Computer Club has no chance of winning?"
Yan Huan smiled faintly. Just as he was about to say something more, a chorus of melodious, chirping female voices rang out from behind him.
"President Yan~"
"President~"
Yan Huan turned around and saw several beautiful girls walking over with bright smiles.
Even though the one leading them was still just a student, her face carried a maturity and charm that completely defied her age.
Her black hair cascaded down her back, bringing waves of a pleasant fragrance as it outlined her curvaceous, graceful figure.
Seeing her, Yan Huan quickly greeted,
"Senior Mitsuki, good morning."
"Oh my, why didn''t the great President Yan reply to any of our messages last week?"
Takatsukasa Mitsuki, President of the Far Moon Academy Mahjong Club.
"Yeah, yeah, the President didn''t come to the club to play Mahjong last week, leaving our hands itching to death."
The two following behind Senior Takatsukasa Mitsuki were the two vice presidents of the Mahjong Club, Long Ting and Yasaka Otonashi.
"I had a few things to take care of last week, so..."
Before Yan Huan''s next words could leave his mouth, Takatsukasa Mitsuki smiled slightly and interrupted,
"Then just come to the club to play cards today! We have three players, we''re just missing one."
"We''re just missing you, President. You absolutely must come today~"
The remaining vice president seemed to be smiling and wanting to add something, but out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly spotted something.
Her expression, along with those of the several big sisters of the Mahjong Club, slightly shifted. Then, without even waiting for Yan Huan to decline, she waved her hand and hurried toward the teaching building.
"Then it''s settled, President!"
''Mahjong, huh...''
Hiss... not going to lie, after going a whole holiday without playing, he really did have a slight urge to go.
It had absolutely nothing to do with hanging around big sisters or anything; it was mainly that he was itching to lay down a riichi stick.
Yabashi Ki watched the group of departing older girls with a cheeky grin and nudged the President with his shoulder.
"President, are we going to play Mahjong this afternoon?"
"Hmm, I''ll think about it."
"Eh, could it be because of Vice President Sakuramiya?"
"What do you mean by that?"
Yan Huan raised an eyebrow, turning to look at Yabashi Ki beside him as he spoke.
"Heh, everyone knows that Mahjong Club President Takatsukasa Mitsuki and Vice President Sakuramiya don''t get along. They both hail from Sakura Country, and word has it they''re old acquaintances. Rumors are flying that it''s a proxy war for the Sakuramiya and Takatsukasa families wrestling for power overseas. But President, I have inside information."
"Inside information?"
"Right. At its core, the Takatsukasa family is no match for the Sakuramiya family, and their personal feud has nothing to do with any corporate family struggles. There''s only one real reason..."
Yan Huan was indeed a bit curious. After all, Sakuramiya Hitomi rarely brought up her family matters, and he only knew roughly what her family did and how much influence they wielded.
"Uh-huh?"
So when Yabashi Ki acted in such earnest as he brought it up, Yan Huan naturally felt intrigued.
But just as he turned his head with deep curiosity to look at Yabashi Ki, he suddenly caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye.
His expression shifted. He was just about to open his mouth to warn Yabashi Ki, but it was already too late.
"Yaba—"
"It''s their figures, President! Their figures!! Senior Takatsukasa''s figure is top-tier and absolutely stacked! On the other hand, our Vice President Sakuramiya... tsk tsk, that''s truly a tragedy. I heard that at a banquet in Sakura Country, it was..."
Yabashi Ki was enthusiastically sharing the gossip he had dug up from God-knows-where, but at this exact moment, the meager karma he had painstakingly accumulated seemed to totter precariously like a candle in the wind.
Simply because from behind him, a bone-chilling cold was creeping over.
"Yabashi-kun."
"..."
Yabashi Ki''s excited expression froze bit by bit, and he slowly, mechanically turned his head around.
There, standing right behind him, was Ashley, dressed in her Disciplinary Committee uniform with a red armband pinned to her sleeve.
Beside her stood Sakuramiya Hitomi, wearing a black western dress with a serene smile on her face.
Just as Yabashi Ki had pointed out, Sakuramiya Hitomi''s figure was petite and utterly flat.
"Oh my, to think that a student who loves spreading rumors this much would actually be from our Student Council. How distressing. There''s no helping it, we can only have Yabashi-kun go to the Disciplinary Committee office to properly reflect on his actions."
However, at this moment, terrifying, oppressive shadows were emanating from that petite frame, making Yabashi Ki increasingly certain...
It was a demon!
A literal demon must be hiding inside Vice President Sakuramiya''s body!
Ashley rubbed her brow, turned to the several Disciplinary Committee members flanking her, and made a "take him down" gesture.
Yabashi Ki hurriedly whipped his head back to Yan Huan, wanting to beg him for help.
"Pres—"
But as he turned his head, he realized that Yan Huan had somehow already retreated quite a distance away, looking back at him with a face full of deep sympathy.
''You''re on your own, Yabashi.''
"Eek!"
The very next second, the tearful Yabashi Ki was pinned by the shoulders by two Disciplinary Committee members and mercilessly dragged away from the scene under Ashley''s lead.
Thus, on this Monday morning by the teaching building, the conspicuously attractive pair of the male and female student who always stood together were once again the only ones left.
Sakuramiya Hitomi amiably smoothed her long black hair, walked over to Yan Huan''s side, and said,
"Good morning, President."
"Ah, morning, Sakuramiya."
But right at that moment, a pleasant female voice chimed in from Yan Huan''s other side.
"Morning, Yan Huan."
Sakuramiya Hitomi and Yan Huan both froze for a moment, turning their heads to look.
Entering their vision was a beautiful girl wearing a face mask, her eyes curved in a smile that seemingly sparkled with starlight.
It was Bai Yi.