Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Don't Worry, Just Do Jump Squats!!! This Old Man Will Handle the Barbell Weight!!!!
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‘He did a jump squat... with a barbell?!’
Kuma couldn’t believe her own eyes.
How could she?
Doing jump squats with weights on was something she’d never even heard of...!
‘And with a full ton on top of that...! Jumping that high......!!!’
It wasn’t just a little hop either.
Even by eye, it had to be at least five meters.
“Hey? He’s coming this way!!”
“Dodge, dodge!!”
The student council members assisting Kuma shouted out.
Kim Taeyang, mid-jump, was somehow descending right toward Kuma.
“Vice President!! Get out of—!”
“?”
Kuma, stunned into paralysis, realized it far too late.
She couldn’t even take a single step.
BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!
“Guh!”
Kuma was sent tumbling by the impact.
Kim Taeyang’s landing carved a massive crater into the floor.
‘This is...!’
Kuma came back to her senses.
Looking up at the towering male figure before her, only one thought filled her mind.
‘An asteroid......!!’
This man was an asteroid.
A massive rock hurtling in from some unknown corner of outer space.
A lone entity powerful enough to shake the earth...!
The unidentified object growled coldly.
“Hey. Steroid sow. You got more in you?”
“......”
Gulp—
She swallowed dryly, endlessly.
Backing down here would bruise her pride as a powerlifter...
‘But if I try to copy that, I might actually die!’
To her expert eye, this was far too dangerous a challenge.
The world record squat was 910kg to begin with.
Jump squatting with a full ton—way heavier—was utterly impossible.
The problem was the clueless onlookers.
“Kuma. Kuma...”
“Kuma. Kuma. Kuma...!”
“?”
The student council members started chanting her name.
The ones who’d lost in the first and second rooms,
The ones who’d come to assist Kuma,
Even the ones who’d just dropped by out of boredom...!
Their eyes burned with fervent conviction.
“You can do it, Vice President!”
“Yeah! There’s no way you can’t outdo some punk like that!”
“You’re the best, Vice President!!”
‘I can’t, you crazy bastards!!!!!’
The words nearly flew off her tongue, but Kuma swallowed them back down.
“Kuma! Kuma!! Kuma!!!”
“Kuma!!! Kuma!!! Kuma!!!!”
“Kuma!!!!! Kuma!!!!”
“The Vice President is Ark’s legend!!!!”
“The strongest woman in the world... no, the strongest human is our Vice President!!!”
“Kuma!! Kuma!!! KumaAAAAAA!!!!!”
“WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH-!!!!!!”
The student council’s infinite trust.
In that moment.
One woman’s face flashed through Kuma’s mind.
‘President...’
Student Council President Seol Ha-jeong.
She’d recently said this to Kuma.
-Kuma. I hope you do well. I really want that guy.
‘I have to repay the President!!!’
Kuma shot to her feet.
She marched toward the rack with grim determination.
“Ooh! She’s going for it!!”
“H-Hey, hey...! Don’t make a big deal out of nothing...!”
Kuma’s voice trembled slightly.
But no one noticed.
The overheated crowd was swept up, placing their firm faith in Kuma.
Except for Kim Taeyang.
“Kukukuk. Hey, hey. What if you push too hard and shatter your body?”
“Hah?! What do you take me for?!! I’m Kuma Rodriguez, the powerhouse who vied for first in the World Hero Powerlifting Championships!!!!”
Kuma bellowed louder on purpose, refusing to show weakness.
The student council was the same.
“The Vice President is on a whole other level from a thug like you! She could jump squat even heavier weights!”
The students added plates to the barbell with solemn faces.
‘Stop it, you crazy bastards!!!!!’
The total weight reached 1,010kg.
Kuma pressed her shoulders against the barbell.
The feel of it in her hands was more unstable than ever before.
Then, a buzzing voice echoed in her ear.
―Kuma. I’ll lend you my strength. ‘My Constellation...!’
Kuma’s Constellation had no form.
It was so taciturn she couldn’t even tell if it was by her side or wandering elsewhere.
Fortunately, it was watching over her.
―I’ll grant you a new Stigma. Shhh—
A chilling presence prickled her skin.
As if countless ghosts had surrounded Kuma.
‘Th-This is...!’
She instinctively sensed the Stigma.
‘Ancestral God’s Blessing’.
A Stigma that summoned the actual ancestral gods of heroes to lend their power.
Voices began whispering in her ears.
🗣️ ANCESTRAL VOICES 🗣️ ―This is my descendant...? ―Tch! How can a woman cut her hair that short! ‘These bastards?!’
The ancestral gods complaining about Kuma’s looks.
But the complainers were few and far between.
🗣️ ANCESTRAL VOICES 🗣️ ―My genes are impressive as ever. Turned my granddaughter into a muscle hog too. ―I’m old and weak now... but I can’t just sit by while my descendant gets humiliated! —Don’t Worry, Just Do Jump Squats!!! This Old Man Will Handle the Barbell Weight!!!!
The sensation in her hands changed.
She wasn’t sure exactly how much weight the ancestral gods were taking, but confidence surged within Kuma now.
‘I can lift it!!’
Clank!
Kuma unracked the barbell.
Far heavier than her usual training weight, but not beyond her.
‘Here I go...! Squat!!!’
Smoothly, she bent her knees and hips.
“GRRRRAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”
She focused every nerve and muscle in her body.
She felt her muscles twitch.
Blood vessels burst; her vision went red.
Even so.
Her entire body felt like one perfect mass.
“Jump!!!!!”
BANGGGGG!!!!!
Kuma kicked off the ground and leaped.
‘Got it!’
Airborne now.
Time seemed to slow.
The student council cheering her on.
The sows with shocked faces.
Even Kim Taeyang, grinning slyly.
Kuma took in all their faces...
‘I... can’t see...?’
And blacked out in an instant.
*
Bodybuilder Kuma.
That nickname had been her slur since childhood.
She was cursed with bulging muscles even without training.
Being teased at school was inevitable.
Especially by the boys.
She’d beat them up in rage sometimes, but petty revenge couldn’t heal the scars.
The pattern continued through middle school.
‘I want to be pretty and cool too.... Someone admired, not mocked.... Like...’
Her classmate newly elected as student council president, Seol Ha-jeong, for example.
The popular girl who drew everyone’s attention, Seol Ha-jeong.
Kuma secretly admired her, but Seol Ha-jeong probably didn’t even know she existed.
They’d never been in the same class.
As time passed, Kuma grew more twisted.
She started hanging with delinquents who knew how to fight, beating up the kids who teased her.
She never stole money or bullied the weak.
She was just called to fights.
Win against kids from other schools, and word spread—another challenger would show up.
Fighting was Kuma’s only outlet.
‘I just wanted to fight, not hang with those guys...’
She came to and realized she was tangled with organized thugs.
She’d tried helping a fighter friend and fallen into a trap.
Back then, escaping their threats was beyond young Kuma.
Still, she had to break free.
―I’m quitting the gang life now.
―Oh yeah? Pay up your exit fee then.
―...?
From then on, Kuma had no choice.
The gangsters turned feral in an instant, handling her roughly.
―Let go, you fucking dogs!!
―You thought you could come and go as you please? Time to learn how scary the world is!!
That day, Kuma felt the world crumble in terror for the first time.
Right before the rape, her savior appeared: Seol Ha-jeong.
―Stop.
―Huh? A friend? Perfect. You can join her...
―Summon.
―GRAAAAAHHH—!!
Seol Ha-jeong, a hero who’d already proven herself in middle school.
She summoned undead and wiped out the gang in seconds.
―You okay?
―Y-You... how did you...?
―Helping a classmate in crisis. That’s the student council president’s job.
Seol Ha-jeong extended her hand.
Kuma hesitated to take it.
―Why bother with a thug like me...?
―I know you’re a good student. You just went astray from the bullying.
What Seol Ha-jeong did next was shocking.
She bowed deeply in apology.
―I’m really sorry. I should’ve stepped in sooner when you were bullied. I lacked the courage.
―Wh-Why are you apologizing? We weren’t even in the same class...?
―Kuma Rodriguez.
―You... know my name?
―Of course. I’ve always been watching because you have such an amazing body.
―...!
Your body is amazing.
Seol Ha-jeong was the first to say that.
And the girl Kuma admired, no less.
‘She’s noble by nature...’
The emotion Kuma felt was indescribably hot.
―Oh? Your leg’s hurt? I’ll carry you.
―W-Wait...!
Without hesitation, Seol Ha-jeong scooped Kuma up princess-style.
In that moment, a fierce longing bloomed in Kuma.
‘I want to help this woman...!’
The woman who embraced her.
For her, Kuma would do anything.
Like a child, Kuma gazed endlessly at Seol Ha-jeong’s face in her arms.
An angelic face she could stare at all day without tiring.
As if repaying her, Seol Ha-jeong smiled dazzlingly and said,
“Hey, steroid sow. You okay?”
“?”
Seol Ha-jeong’s face suddenly twisted.
Then it morphed into a monstrous, scary man’s face.
“K-Kim Taeyang?! You bastard...! You’re holding me?!! Put me down right now!!!!”
“Hah?”
Kim Taeyang immediately dropped her.
Kuma hit the ground butt-first.
“Hey! If it weren’t for me, you’d be dead!!”
“Wh-What...?”
Kuma sat up and scanned her surroundings.
The students covering their mouths, hiding their shock.
Their eyes toward her held ‘worry’.
‘I passed out...?!’
Memories returned.
During the jump squat, Kuma had blacked out mid-air.
“Don’t space out, it’s annoying!! You didn’t let go of the barbell on the way down, nearly causing a disaster!!! If I hadn’t caught you, that tough body of yours would’ve ended up unable to even get pregnant—game over!!!!”
“......”
By the situation, it seemed true.
Kim Taeyang.
This man had saved her.
Bowing her head, Kuma murmured,
“How... did you get so strong...?”
“Kukukuk. Only now you’re curious? Unlike you, I’m all natural~”
“...No way you get that strong just from not using drugs. Logically, drugs should make you stronger.”
“Hey.”
His voice pressed on her eardrums like a weight.
“If you wanna know the secret to muscle growth, come to my dorm~ Kukukuk.”
Lick lick!
He flicked his tongue between his V-sign fingers.
‘A trap...?’
Kim Taeyang was infamous for stealing Constellations.
Currently public enemy number one for the student council.
She couldn’t help but suspect him—
‘But I’m curious...! The secret to ton jump squats......!!!’
Kuma’s passion for training burned hotter than anyone else’s at Ark.