Flesh Reconstruction (2)
Using the Healing Potion from the Shop to treat the injection sites, Kang Seojun quickly finished lunch with Jin Serin and headed straight for the training hall.
It was time to use the newly acquired trait to grow his body.
Kang Seojun let out a small gasp as he stepped into the training hall.
The design he had replayed countless times in games felt completely different now that he was seeing it with his own eyes.
This was no ordinary fitness club. The hyper-technology that defied comparison with modern facilities had him feeling like he had stepped inside an SF spaceship.
Looking at the cutting-edge futuristic equipment and mana-engineered designs, he could almost convince himself he had entered another world generations ahead of modern civilization.
Seojun couldn’t help but admire the sheer luxury.
Even Jin Serin, the heiress of a chaebol competing for the top two spots in Korea’s business world, let out an astonished breath.
After all, this was the Hunter world at the very center of all industries.
And the welfare system designed to nurture its future heroes was nothing short of extraordinary.
‘It looks incredibly delicious,’ Seojun thought, his eyes taking in the beautifully arranged banquet of advanced equipment.
Every single one of those top-tier machines was going to become his bones and muscles.
“Let’s start with squats,” he muttered, his mouth watering as he moved straight toward the squat machine.
“Wait!” Jin Serin followed right behind him like an excited puppy, tail wagging. “Before that, let’s do some warm-up stretches. I’ll help you stretch.”
“Sure. Thanks,” Seojun replied calmly.
They both laid out a mat in front of the full-length mirror and settled down.
“Lie down. I’ll loosen your legs first,” Jin Serin instructed.
“Okay.”
In his past lives he had never even stretched properly, yet here he was receiving a professional massage from a game heroine.
Following her directions, Seojun carefully lowered his body onto the mat.
Because of his curved spine, he couldn’t lie flat and had to settle on his side instead.
“I’ll alternate right and left. If it hurts, tell me, okay?”
“Got it.”
With a soft thud of her forearm, Jin Serin pressed down on his thigh and began massaging.
“Ah…!”
A sharp spark of pain shot through his nerves and flashed before his eyes.
“This spot is really knotted up~”
“Ouch…!”
Every time she pressed her full weight, sparks exploded in front of his eyes, but Seojun gritted his teeth and endured.
The XP for every physical stat was rising just from receiving a proper stretch and massage.
“This area hurts a bit.”
“Hugguh!”
Jin Serin poured her hard-earned massage knowledge from world-class trainers into Seojun without holding back.
She even channeled mana at the exact spots that needed it, her technique already rivaling that of top professionals.
After about three minutes,
“Huh? What?!”
Jin Serin suddenly let out a shrill scream.
Seojun turned his head slightly to look at her.
“What’s wrong?”
“S-Seojun! Your calf! Are you okay?!”
“Hmm?”
Seojun lifted his head a little more to check his own calf.
“Cramp…!”
The calf muscle was twitching like a wave.
It looked like a genuine charley horse.
“I-I’ll fix it right away!”
Jin Serin panicked, thinking she had accidentally caused the cramp.
Seojun casually pulled his leg away and said calmly, “It’s fine. Finish the other spots you were supposed to do too.”
“It can’t be…!”
“Not a single spot hurts. I’m telling you, it’s true.”
Jin Serin was confused.
The twitching wasn’t because of a cramp…
…but because his experience had been stolen.
Thanks to Park Sinhu’s tireless training for Seojun, the calf was growing on its own.
Jin Serin carefully examined Seojun’s face.
There wasn’t even a trace of pain on his expression, exactly as he had said.
Her heart ached at the sight.
Was this pain nothing compared to the suffering he had already endured in countless regressions…?
After all the pain he had overcome, how could he treat the agony of his muscles like it was nothing…?
Just how many hardships had he overcome for her sake…?
Jin Serin’s eyes filled with tears.
She poured even more care into her hands as she massaged his muscles.
After another five minutes or so, the gazes of the surrounding students began to gather.
“Hey, look over there. It’s Jin Serin!”
“Yeah, but who’s the guy lying down?”
“Can’t tell because of the hoodie and mask… Wait, that’s Seojun!”
“Seojun? Oh no, that monster?”
The murmuring cadets gathered around the hooded figure of Seojun.
Through the hood and mask, the reddened skin could be faintly seen.
“That appearance is really hard to get used to.”
“But what is Serin doing with him?”
“Helping him, of course. Poor guy.”
“Serin is really kind. It’s like she’s been hypnotized.”
“Exactly. He’s wasting her time.”
“Helping him is useless anyway. He’ll be wiped out soon.”
“Hmph!!!”
At that moment, Jin Serin let out a loud, satisfied sigh.
Even Seojun’s shoulders twitched from the sound.
The scrolling conversation above his head suddenly froze.
Seojun glanced sideways at Jin Serin.
She was scanning the training hall with furious eyes.
The murmuring cadets quickly scattered to their own equipment.
“Haa…”
Jin Serin exhaled deeply, then massaged his glutes with firm strokes. “Don’t mind them. They’re really dumb….”
Seojun smiled silently.
“I don’t care. Thank you.”
Jin Serin pouted with sad eyes.
Her heart ached again because of his indifferent expression.
Anyone else would have exploded with anger after being openly mocked by so many people, yet the pain from countless regressions had simply dulled his emotions…
“…!”
Her hands tightened on their own.
‘This time, I absolutely will not let Seojun sacrifice himself again…!’
“Hey…”
“Huh?”
Seojun looked at her with an embarrassed face.
Jin Serin blinked in confusion, then immediately understood and her shoulders jerked.
“Ah!”
She hurriedly released the hands she had been gripping his glutes with.
“I-I’m sorry! No! Misunderstanding! It’s a misunderstanding!”
Jin Serin coughed awkwardly, her face burning red, and announced that the stretching was over.
They tidied up the mat and stood in front of the power rack holding the barbell.
The weight Seojun planned to squat with was a mere 20 kg — the bare bar without plates.
To a normal cadet it was nothing more than a light warm-up, but for Seojun it was a truly challenging load.
Of course he could lift 20 kg, but squatting with it was an entirely different story.
Squats required not only raw strength but also balance, full-body coordination, and repetition.
With a metallic clang, Seojun gripped the bar and prepared to lift.
“Hm…”
His bent back and twisted arms made the bar slip out of his grip, and his posture looked extremely unstable.
Normally he would have found a better exercise, but he had chosen squats for a reason.
‘The fastest growth in physical stats comes from training the largest muscles.’
The largest muscles in the human body were the pectoralis major of the chest, the trapezius and latissimus dorsi of the back, and the quadriceps and hamstrings of the thighs.
Among them, he was focusing on the quads — the largest of all — to quickly remove his hunchback, knock-knees, and twisted arms.
“I’ll help you spot from behind! If it gets too hard, just let go!”
Jin Serin stood almost pressed against his back.
She understood the reason he chose squats, but didn’t ask why he was pushing himself so hard.
She would simply support him with all her strength so he wouldn’t get injured during the movement.
All preparations for the squat were complete.
With another clang, Seojun lifted the bar and took two steps back.
“Huff… huff!”
Just holding the 20 kg bar made his legs tremble, and the barbell swayed dangerously, threatening to fall at any moment.
Jin Serin pressed even closer, supporting his balance.
Normally, the soft curve of his back would have made her eyes widen, but in this situation, if he slipped, his waist could snap under the weight.
He focused only on the exercise.
“Good. Let’s begin.”
This was the first step toward discarding this grotesque and pitiful body and becoming the most beautiful physique in human history.
The moment the great first step began.