Reunion (2)
The day after I collapsed mid-game.
I paced circles around my room, muttering with a deadly serious look on my face.
“I can’t keep going like this.”
This wasn’t even the first time I’d keeled over. It was the second. That was a massive problem.
Playtime in Asgard was directly tied to my income. If I couldn’t game, I couldn’t climb the ranks, and making money would get a whole lot harder.
I need to exercise.
The key was basic stamina. Streaming might be a sitting job, but you still needed the endurance to stay planted in that chair for hours.
-Click.
I immediately sat down at the computer and searched for nearby gyms. A bunch within a ten-minute walk popped up. I started clicking through the cheapest ones one by one.
“First, filter out the ones with trash reviews…”
Reviews were the obvious first check. They were the easiest way to tell what a gym was actually like.
Yeah, hard pass on this gym.
“Next.”
“Ah.”
Next gym…
…Maybe sorting by cheapest price was a mistake?
They were all in the 30,000-won range. Dirt cheap, sure, but the management clearly matched the price. I freshly absorbed one of life’s great truths and shed a silent tear inside.
No matter where you go, the bottom of the barrel looks the same.
This was the deep sea of the fitness world.
“Ugh.”
Experiencing the full spectrum of human weirdness was more than enough through games alone.
I bit the bullet on a little extra spending and clicked on a big-name fitness center.
“Oh.”
Photos of the interior and all the info filled the monitor. Of course it was on a completely different level from the dumps I’d just been looking at. Even from the pictures, everything looked clean and the equipment looked brand new.
“Whoa.”
I couldn’t help the awed noise. No need to even check the reviews—this place was definitely five stars. And weirdly, it felt like fate. The second I saw it, I just knew I had to go here. First impressions really do matter.
-Scroll.
But as I scrolled down, a new problem smacked me in the face.
— Membership Fees —
1-Month Membership: 90,000 won (locker room and workout clothes extra)
“Are you kidding me.”
Was this a joke? The price just tripled overnight. Think of everything I could do with that money. Hell, how many cartons of Chocomong was that?
Plus I still owe that guy money.
DeepSeaCleaner was living the same bottom-tier life as me. I’d paid some of it back, but I was still worried about how he was scraping by. Last time he got that chicken gift card, he’d called it several days’ worth of food money…!
But that didn’t mean I wanted to set foot in those one-star hellholes. I’d rather just not go at all.
“Yeah. I don’t even need to go.”
When I thought about it, it was true.
Was I trying to become some jacked macho man? Nope.
All I needed was enough basic stamina to stream without face-planting. No way I needed to start slamming iron for that.
In the end, I chose the most primitive method of all. Something that could build endurance fast, didn’t force me to meet gym villains, and cost zero won.
“Alright. Let’s run.”
Just plain jogging.
I cut through the morning air at a run.
Right now I was weaving out of the one-room alley and pounding along the roadside.
“Ha, haah, haaaahk.”
Was my stamina for real? I’d only been going at a slightly brisk pace to manage my energy, and I was already gasping. Forced to settle for light jogging in place while I caught my breath.
“Ssssssoop, hooooo.”
Once my breathing settled, I took off again. After a few cycles of that, my body finally started to loosen up and I thought, okay, this is doable.
-Thud-thud-thud!
If I just do a lap around the neighborhood like this every day, it should be fine, right?
Pretty solid for a free-to-play rice-eater.
I was fully locked into the run when I rounded a corner. In that exact instant I caught a glimpse of a human shape coming out of the alley. At this speed, a collision was inevitable.
“W-wait—!”
But I already had serious momentum. Too late to stop. Arms flailing wildly, I just body-checked the guy full force.
-WHAM!!
A savage jolt of pain ripped through my entire body.
“Urghk!”
Fuck. This unlucky on day one of working out? On top of that the other guy’s weight class was absurd, because the next second my body went airborne. And after going airborne, of course…
-SPLAT!
Gravity slammed me back down. I landed in a spectacular ass-plant, rubbing my lower back and leaking a couple tears.
“Where the hell do you even keep your eyes?! Watch where you’re—”
I never finished the sentence. Because an extremely familiar face was staring back at me.
No—more accurately, it wasn’t the face I recognized so much as the body and overall shape.
“Uh…?”
“Hmm…?”
The other person was just as wide-eyed, not even trying to hide his shock. Thick, solid muscle and a rough face. That man was unmistakably RockSolid.
He’d taken my full-power body attack head-on and was still standing perfectly fine, looking down at me.
“Y-you… Rock…Solid?”
“…You.”
My eyes hadn’t lied.
Oh shit.
Honestly, I was pretty rattled.
RockSolid had been watching my streams lately and was acting somewhat friendly, but he clearly hadn’t forgotten the past—he still showed flashes of aggression now and then. If I had to put it into words, he was like a vicious dog that might bite at any moment. Bonus points for the time I’d previously drop-kicked him with a surprise punch.
This is awkward as hell.
Wait, same neighborhood?
If that was true, it was seriously creepy.
But panicking here was not an option. I casually dusted off my pants, stood up, and spoke in the most nonchalant tone I could muster.
“W-well then, I’ll be going?”
Yeah right, “I’ll be going,” my ass.
I couldn’t hide how flustered I was, but I slowly walked back the way I’d come. Full sprinting would only provoke him more. Right now I had to act as natural as possible… like a mafia guy protecting his cover identity.
-Step. Step.
After a few paces I glanced back.
-Stomp. Stomp.
RockSolid was walking after me at a faster clip.
“P-please wait a moment!”
Okay.
Situation fully assessed.
This bastard was definitely trying to settle the score from when I’d ambushed him. He wouldn’t let his guard down this time. Surprise attacks wouldn’t work, so if he caught me it was 100% over. Instant loss.
“Why are you following me?! Get lost already!”
Matches are always decided in a single round. That’s the golden rule.
I kept walking and only turned my head to snap at him. Might as well seize the initiative now that it was out in the open. You had to come out strong or people walked all over you.
“Ah…”
But RockSolid scratched his head with an uncharacteristically warm, good-natured smile.
“It’s a coincidence. I’m not following you—I just happened to be out for a jog in this direction myself.”
He pointed at his short training shorts. True to his word, he was dressed for a workout. The problem was that his absurd lower-body muscles made the fabric look like it was being abused. If those murderous legs ever launched a soccer kick, my face would cave in. Or I’d be in a wheelchair for life.
“O-oh, really? That’s perfect then. I’m heading this way, so…”
I turned my feet toward a completely different direction from the alley I’d originally been aiming for.
-Step. Step.
It would take me farther out of my way than planned, but whatever. Extra exercise time would only help my stamina…
-Stomp. Stomp.
RockSolid started trailing after me while keeping a weirdly careful distance.
“Why the hell are you following me?!”
This was not a coincidence anymore—anyone could see he was tailing me!
“I watched yesterday’s stream. It was good.”
…The one where I face-planted after an eight-hour marathon stream?
“So you finally show your true colors. You’re following me just to mock me about that? Don’t you have anything better to do?”
I knew it. Watching my streams all this time had been for some evil purpose.
“N-no? Mocking you? Absolutely not. If anything, it weighed on me…”
“What?”
“You’ve already collapsed twice now after overdoing your streams. So I was worried about your health…”
Tsk.
What kind of bullshit was this.
I didn’t let my guard down and kept walking as I spoke.
“Hey. Be honest. You’re still holding a grudge because I ambushed you in the park last time, right?”
“Excuse me…?”
“Don’t even try to deny it. On the outside you act all cool and even donate, but deep down you’re so salty you’re chasing me for revenge.”
“E-excuse me?”
Bullseye—he looked flustered.
And as planned, we’d finally reached a busier commercial street with lots of people.
I sucked in a huge breath and unleashed the Thunder Tiger Roar technique at full volume.
“HELP MEEEE!!! There’s some crazy human-trafficking kidnapper bastard in broad daylight!!! He’s trying to drag me awayyyyy!! Someone help!!!”