A Lesson Learned with Ribs (1)
A Lesson Learned with Ribs (1)
Chaos. Utter chaos.
How on earth did things end up like this?
I wondered as I endured my slowly suffocating breath.
Still, my time scraping the bottom of the garbage landfill hadn't been for nothing.
I could still think coldly even in such a desperate moment.
I forced myself to be calm.
First, I frantically tapped the shoulder of the 'someone' holding onto my torso.
If this were the URFC (Ultimate Real-Fighting Championship) arena they show on broadcasts, no matter how vicious the opponent, they couldn't have ignored my tap.
Regrettably, this was no arena, and there was no referee to stop the fight upon seeing my pathetic tapping.
It was filled only with beasts hungry for blood and flesh.
My breathing grew continuously ragged.
Along with it, my consciousness kept fading.
At that moment.
'...I can't, I can't die like this...!'
In this extreme life-threatening situation, adrenaline naturally flooded my entire body.
"Slurp..."
"...Nnng!"
But.
I couldn't overcome the women who were armed to the teeth with the latest cyberware and bioware—and had completely lost all reason.
Every single day of my life flashed through my mind like a panorama.
The first day I fell into the game, I was flustered by the unreal sight of the garbage landfill mounds. The day I started mercenary work, a rookie broker scammed me out of all my credits. Things got a bit better after I met Andrea and Drex. After that, I saved Natasha's life at a charity party; met the Chairman of Monolith in a completely unexpected place and got a bodyguard request. In the final request tied to a tactical nuclear bomb, just as I was about to let everything go out of depression, a single, lightly-held feeling of sympathy made me save Eve. Then, in a game I played because of homesickness, I met Julia. And Maya, who had been a deep-rooted regret in my heart, returned to normal, letting me rest easy.
All those countless moments passed by so fast I couldn't even register them.
I didn't even know what I was thinking.
That's how quickly the life montage vanished.
But one fact was crystal clear.
No matter what.
At the very least, I can't die from 'kissing'...!
If things went down like that, I wouldn't even be able to close my eyes in peace at the funeral. Even in death, I might wander the wronged spirits' realm out of sheer injustice.
My heart pounded with that level of urgency.
A tongue slithered in like a snake, gradually invading past my lips. Fingers grasping my chest slowly dug deeper into my clothes.
It was extremely rude to put it this way, but bodies heavier than mine—thanks to cyberware—were fully pressing me down.
My vision was pitch black from the many shadows.
At least it was certain that the number of people piled on top of me was more than one or two.
I swung back and forth between heaven and hell every few seconds.
Yeah...
Happiness and misfortune.
In the end, those two were just as closely connected as this.
Oh yes, indeed they are...
.......
It was starting to get truly dangerous now.
All sorts of weird thoughts were starting to creep in.
But there was absolutely nothing I could do here.
I tried desperately tapping out with my hand, but before I knew it, someone's fingers had interlaced with mine. Even attempting to shout, my mouth was continuously blocked by someone else's lips.
Is this really where my life ends?
That was when that thought crossed my mind.
- Udeuk.
"Ah."
Thank you, fairy of the ribs.
My rib had sacrificed itself and saved me.
32. Lesson Learned from Ribs (1)
For roughly that reason, the 'enhancement of my physical body' had become more urgent than anything else.
My housemates, having regained their sanity, couldn't hide their guilt—every single one of them—but in the end, the cause of this whole incident was my weak 'body'.
"So, you all really don't have to be that sorry. It's okay. Everyone already knew my body is weak anyway. This isn't some one-off thing."
I meant it.
If my body had been strong, I could have easily held my breath and endured for about 30 minutes.
Of course, if the situation had ended peacefully with those words, it would have been a happy ending that put everyone at ease.
"Cough."
When I coughed slightly, my saliva had turned a very deep shade of red.
Because of that, I was grabbed by Dr. Tera and had to personally experience just how well-made the 'Monolith Emergency System' was.
Anyway, digressions aside.
After receiving swift treatment and returning, I couldn't help but secretly worry.
This time, I had at least managed to calm down the rampaging women thanks to my rib's sacrifice, but there was no guarantee the same thing wouldn't happen again today.
"Kkeueu-euk-."
"Come on, one more!"
That was why I thought:
How could I 'enhance' my body?
I chose the simplest method first.
Using the 'facility' I had registered with last year.
I kept shaking my head side to side while steadying the breath that had climbed up to my chin. Since words wouldn't come out, I expressed my intentions through body language.
But the trainer, who was standing uncomfortably close, simply wouldn't allow it.
"Truly the last one!"
"...No, sir. You said that last time too."
"You still have energy to talk!"
I kept muttering the F-word (fuck) internally and gritted my teeth.
That's right.
I was at the gym.
I moved my arms, which were trembling like a newborn goat, and lifted the barbell.
No, I mean, shouldn't it be standard to start with something like a treadmill to build basic stamina first?
I couldn't understand why they started me on dumbbell exercises right away.
When I finally summoned every last ounce of strength I had and lifted the dumbbell, only then did I hear the trainer's satisfied voice.
"Good, that's it!"
"Puhaa...!"
I'm seriously dying here, dying.
This had to be the hardest thing I'd done recently.
For someone like me who gets out of breath just lightly going up and down a flight of stairs, this was way too hard of a training regimen.
"Here, good work."
"...Yeah."
I accepted the ion drink handed over by the lump of muscle who styled himself as a trainer.
Normally, I tended not to accept drinks from others because I worried about the ingredients, but at this very moment, I had no choice.
This was nothing short of an oasis in the desert.
I cooled my overheated body with the refreshing drink.
Thankfully, there must have been no special ingredients in the drink, as I didn't feel any changes in my body.
The 'Weakness to Drugs' trait was more sensitive than I'd thought, so even a single sip usually gave me a rough idea. It was information I never wanted to know, either.
I let out a rough breath and lifted my head to look around.
Everywhere I looked, lumps of muscle that looked like they'd reek of sweat were working out, groaning in all sorts of ways.
Honestly, I couldn't understand it.
I asked the trainer a question.
"...There aren't any people here with cyberware installed, right?"
"Absolutely none, except for joints."
Well, there was no point working out while having cyberware equipped.
Since it would never increase physical ability.
"Machine chunks in a sacred gymnasium? Please. Our gym especially, we check everything at the entrance before letting anyone in, so you can bet your life there's absolutely none."
So that beeping and scanning thing at the entrance was for that.
But if they hate cyberware that much, I wasn't sure why cyberware for joints was okay. But this was a topic tantamount to touching a sore spot for many gym rats. So I deliberately didn't bring it up to the trainer.
The trainer was a dwarf—his eye level was similar to mine while I was seated on the exercise machine. He was particularly short, which maybe made him look wider sideways too...
"Anyway, your last recorded entry was the end of last year. Why'd you suddenly come back?"
"...Ah."
That's a brutally honest question.
Well, I haven't confessed this, but I was forcibly kissed by the girlfriend(s) I somehow ended up with, lost my breath, broke a rib, so I figured I'd try to build up some stamina, you see.
Of course, I couldn't say that, so I naturally answered with a lie.
"Well, there are so many people walking around packed with cyberware these days, aren't there? Still, if you're human, you should train your natural body. Something along those—"
"Now that's what I'm talking about!"
Whoa, you surprised me.
At the trainer's sudden outburst, I stared at him as if he were a madman.
I wasn't sure which part of my words moved him so much, but the trainer nodded his head so vigorously his short beard kept shaking.
"That's the problem with people these days. Nobody knows how messed up it is to have scrap metal stuck in you."
"...Do you happen to sympathize with the Neo-Luddites?"
"Don't talk nonsense."
Right.
The trainer continued lightheartedly.
"Anyway, it's great to see. Effort never betrays you, especially when it comes to working out."
"...Uh, certainly, I do tend to only install cyberware up to a certain extent, myself."
The truth was, it was because of my garbage-tier physical stats, but I just decided to answer like that.
Still, working out for the first time in a long while.
Even though my body was clearly completely exhausted, my mood was very refreshed.
I'd have to come regularly a few times a week now.
It wasn't even that far from home.
I wiped the beads of sweat off my forehead with a towel. I slowly got up and looked down at the trainer, who was just standing there blankly.
"I'll be going now."
"Sure, but..."
It seemed like he still had something left to say.
"Watching you move, it looks like this is your first time working out. Am I right?"
"That's right."
"Then what kind of gear are you gonna use?"
"?"
What was this out-of-the-blue question?
Ah, he must be talking about protein supplements, I thought.
"These days, the synthetic steroids from LAD are pretty cost-effective and usable, but if you're gonna train properly, you gotta use Vitalitech products."
"......"
"If you're gonna buy some, let me know. Using a referral code gives us both extra benefits."
Weren't you the one who just said effort never betrays anyone?
I guess cyberpunk gyms are just built different.
Using steroids was just the baseline.
.......
* * *
And so.
The gym was excluded from my physical enhancement plan.
A mage weak to drugs in various hard-to-explain aspects was just too much, really.