Chapter 101
Chapter 101
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: A Fervent Devotee More Human Than Humans
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Yoo Euisul probably never imagined the physical assessment would end like this.
As a Fervent Devotee, I possess a body far tougher than any human's.
How much tougher? Well, even the thickest-skinned animals can't withstand blades.
But I can shrug off something like a blade with ease. My body is that sturdy.
It's no exaggeration to say it's at least a hundred times tougher than a human's.
A body a hundred times tougher means my muscle fibers are a hundred times stronger too.
In theory.
For a Fervent Devotee, you'd need to train with a hundred times the intensity just to see the slightest sign of muscle fiber tears.
Simply put...
They want me to never work out in my life.
Reflecting Myriad Stars, I believed in You, damn it.
You've finally bestowed Your grace upon me.
I think I get why Reflecting Myriad Stars made this body the way it is.
Don't waste time on useless stuff—focus on your duties.
Fortunately, my base stats are in the top tier for an ordinary person, just like Yoo Euisul said.
It won't be much of an inconvenience for daily life.
Though dealing with Anomalous Phenomena might be tricky.
What can you do?
Do it for me, Euisul sis.
In conclusion, that hour I spent sweating buckets...
Wasn't weight training at all. It was just pointless mental and physical torture.
"Hup, hup, hup...!"
Lost in random thoughts, I watched Yoo Euisul work out.
She told me to go home since it was her turn, but...
I was curious about a top-tier Awakener like her exercising, so I said I'd wait until she finished.
There's still plenty of time before my stream anyway.
To put it simply...
Yoo Euisul was a true gym monster.
Squat: 110.
Bench: 70.
Deadlift: 140.
Her big three totaled 320, far beyond ordinary human limits.
Yoo Euisul didn't have the bulky muscles of a bodybuilder.
In other words, she was lifting those heavy weights with battle-honed, compact muscle.
...Well, it makes sense.
Awakener like Yoo Euisul don't work out for fun or health—they do it to survive Anomalous Phenomena.
Her muscles had no choice but to form that way.
About thirty minutes later, Yoo Euisul called it quits and said it was time to go.
I headed to the changing room with her and started changing.
Or rather...
I was about to.
"I'm heading out first."
"You already chan—gyaaaaaah!"
Turning toward Yoo Euisul, I jumped in shock, squeezed my eyes shut, and screamed.
I saw it.
I saw it all.
I shook my head vigorously, trying to erase that 0.1-second glimpse from my mind, and yelled.
"What are you doing?!"
"What do you think? Getting ready for a shower."
The changing room and showers were right next to each other.
Right.
We were drenched in sweat, so changing into the Archivist robes of the Omnia Archive like this...
Would be a grave insult.
Showering right after working out was only natural.
Even so!
How do you just strip like that without warning?!
"Why are you making such a fuss? Whatever, I'm going in first. You shower and come out whenever."
"..."
I kept my eyes shut until I heard her footsteps fade away.
Figuring it was safe, I cautiously opened them.
Look around.
Look around again.
No one's here, right...?
Yeah, all clear.
The gym had only me and Yoo Euisul as women anyway.
Just have to watch out for her.
It's not like showing my body to her embarrasses me.
I already exposed it all back in the track room earlier.
Showing her my naked body is one thing.
Seeing hers is a hundred times more embarrassing.
...I have at least some conscience as a living being.
Even if my body was forcibly changed to female because of someone, my mind is still solidly male.
I'm not ready to casually face another woman's body yet.
Of course, my own body is female too, and certain parts are overly developed, but...
Seeing my own body and someone else's are totally different.
Forget it.
Too late now, but just forget it.
Shaking my head again, I quickly stripped and hurried to the showers.
And then...
"Nyaaaaah!"
"Ugh, you're so annoying. Why are you freaking out like this, you crazy girl?"
I ran into Yoo Euisul again.
This woman isn't a woman.
She's a man.
What kind of woman showers in three minutes?
Even I take at least ten to twenty minutes.
Once might've been erasable from memory, but twice...
That scene from just now will probably pop into my head sporadically until I die.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Yoo Euisul waited for Lee Jia, who still hadn't emerged from the shower after ten full minutes.
She let her thoughts drift to the girl.
Humans constantly evolve and devolve.
That's what makes them human—what makes them living beings.
Living creatures repeat evolution and devolution until death.
Exercise evolves muscles; neglect it, and they devolve.
However.
Lee Jia's race, the Fervent Devotees...
They casually ignore that basic cycle.
Assuming Lee Jia's body is a hundred times tougher than a human's, training at a hundred times the intensity might tear muscle fibers and build some mass, but...
Training that hard is nonsense from the start.
Her body might be a hundred times tougher, but her strength isn't. Increasing muscle mass will be impossible for her lifetime.
And it's not just muscles.
'She probably barely ages at all.'
Where there's evolution, there's devolution.
Evolution a hundred times harder means devolution a hundred times slower.
Her aging must be a hundred times slower than a human's.
And that's a rough estimate—even a proper check might reveal astronomical figures.
In conclusion...
Lee Jia—a Fervent Devotee—can't be seen as a mere living creature.
She's more like a 'machine pretending to be alive,' existing solely to fulfill her god's purpose.
Honestly.
The more she thought about Lee Jia's true nature...
Even Yoo Euisul, hardened by Anomalous Phenomena, felt her mind reel with an inescapable dread.
What on earth are those 'Great Beings' who call themselves gods...?
"..."
In that sense, Lee Jia's mental state is definitely abnormal.
Dividing a living being's psyche into normal or abnormal isn't wise, but...
No one could call Lee Jia normal.
She's abnormally cheerful given her situation.
Abnormally positive.
Abnormally human.
She must resolve an Anomalous Phenomenon at least once a month—or face disposal.
Register a new item on the wiki at least once a month—or face disposal.
Stream at least once a day—or her body gets pawned to the unknown 'Omnia Archive.'
It's miraculous she still maintains her humanity so smoothly.
If she were an ordinary person...
No.
Even Yoo Euisul herself would've snapped long ago.
Whether she realized it or not...
Lee Jia had already taken deep root in Yoo Euisul's life.
Yoo Euisul kept sighing with worry for her.
She'd eagerly taken on supervising this physical assessment and pushed Lee Jia to exercise precisely to prepare her against dying pointlessly to an Anomalous Phenomenon later.
...But her plans went up in smoke thanks to the Fervent Devotee racial traits.
'What can I do? I'll just have to protect her myself.'
The silver lining?
The god she believes in, 'Reflecting Myriad Stars,' is a Great Being unusually favorable to humans.
Daring to speculate...
Lee Jia maintaining her perfect humanity might be thanks to that Reflecting Myriad Stars' grace.
The world has changed.
A world without a main storyline is starting to gain one.
Great Beings, Fervent Devotees, Anomalous Phenomena.
No matter what blocks the path ahead.
If anything harms Lee Jia...
Yoo Euisul vowed to slaughter them all.
Ten years.
For the first time in ten years, Yoo Euisul—who'd never warmed to anyone—felt fondness for Lee Jia.
This mindset was only natural for her.
Her reverie ended only when Lee Jia finally emerged from the shower after a whopping twenty minutes.
Look around.
Look around frantically.
Startle.
Yoo Euisul stood lost in thought in one corner of the changing room.
Spotting her, Lee Jia yelped in surprise and quickly crossed her arms over her chest to cover herself.
...As if that size could be covered.
It's all visible anyway.
Pfft.
Watching Lee Jia blush with such an endearingly human reaction—as if mocking her own earlier grave worries and making her look foolish—Yoo Euisul's lips curved up naturally.
The more she sees her...
The more she likes this girl.