Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Gym Rivalry and Misfortune Diary
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Heading to the gym.
I chatted while walking.
[Choi A-young: I have an interview with an entertainment company tomorrow~]
[Choi A-young: I looked it up, and if you sign with an entertainment agency, they provide a studio and computer~]
[Choi A-young: Of course, you have to split the profits with them~]
[Choi A-young: Jin-seong oppa, you'll watch my streams, right?]
[Choi A-young: Emoticon]
Choi A-young seemed to have made up her mind to start streaming.
She must be short on cash, so she's planning to go through an agency.
[Me: That's great. Congrats^^]
[Me: Streams? Of course. I'll watch whenever I have time.]
[Me: I want you to do well, A-young. I hope you make it big.]
Thirty seconds later, a reply came.
[Choi A-young: Hehe, thanks for the congrats, Jin-seong oppa ><]
[Choi A-young: If I make it big, I'll buy you lots of tasty food~]
[Choi A-young: Have you gotten off work yet?]
[Me: Yeah, I'm off. Heading to the gym.]
[Me: You?]
[Me: At your part-time job?]
[Choi A-young: ㅜㅜ Very sadly]
[Choi A-young: ㅠㅠ Yeah, at my part-time job~]
[Choi A-young: I wanna call oppa]
[Choi A-young: But I'm working so I can't~]
[Choi A-young: Gotta go, I'm busy. Bye~]
[Choi A-young: Fighting!!! Fighting!!!]
[Choi A-young: Emoticon]
[Choi A-young: Emoticon]
[Me: Okay, hang in there^___^]
[Me: Emoticon]
I also chatted with Hong Jae-gu.
[Me: Jae-gu hyung, I have a friend who's signing with an entertainment agency to start streaming. Got any tips?]
[Hong Jae-gu: Huh? Tips? Streaming's simple. Be pretty, charismatic, or good at games. That's it.]
[Hong Jae-gu: Huh? An agency? Why go through one? Do it solo. Agencies suck. If you sign with a shady one, they suck you dry, and viewers hate agencies too.]
[Me: Ah? Really? Got it.]
I arrived at the gym while chatting with Hong Jae-gu.
[Me: Thanks. Your advice helped a ton.^^]
[Me: I'll buy you a meal sometime as thanks.]
[Me: Just got to the gym. Gonna go quiet for a bit.]
I checked my weight.
'73kg.'
Thanks to my hard training.
Another steady drop today.
I started with stretching before the workout.
As thoroughly as possible.
I loosened up my joints nice and slow.
'Hm?'
I glanced back.
'Lim Jun-ho?'
Our eyes met.
Lim Jun-ho's face, his eyes, were full of smugness aimed at me.
[Inner Thoughts: Pfft, here comes the 170cm loser.]
[Inner Thoughts: Loser punk, this body's heading to 210 soon.]
[Inner Thoughts: You loser trash, you think Ha-yeon noona will see you as a man no matter how hard you try? Dream on!]
[Inner Thoughts: I'll build an awesome body and snag Ha-yeon noona.]
Lim Jun-ho's inner thoughts.
Made my eyes go ice cold.
'This scrawny bastard... looks like a petty little shit...'
Anger boiled up.
'This dog-fucker's begging to die... can't even hit 200 himself and talks big...'
I clenched my fist.
'I'll... I'll... build muscle faster than that scrawny fucker. Overwhelmingly faster.'
I bit my lip hard.
We glared at each other for a long time.
'I won't let this slide.'
[Inner Thoughts: You're done. Repeat after me.]
I got on the treadmill.
Beep.
I hit start. The machine whirred to life. I started walking slowly.
Beep.
A start button beep from next to me.
I glanced over casually.
And couldn't help but freeze for a second.
'Lim Jun-ho.'
The guy on the treadmill next to mine.
Lim Jun-ho.
He flashed a smug grin.
[Inner Thoughts: I'll show you how superior I am.]
I wondered.
Superior in what?
'Sigh.'
Guess I'd find out soon enough.
I alternated walking and running every three minutes: walk -> run -> walk -> run.
When I walked, he walked. When I ran, he ran. When I took a light sip of water, he did too.
Lim Jun-ho, mimicking my every move.
'What?'
Then it hit me. His game.
'Scrawny bastard... copying my workout exactly.'
By imitating me.
He planned to prove his specs were way better.
'Hah, what a joke... unbelievable...'
It was absurd.
Utterly childish.
'You bastard, wanna play like that?'
Fire lit up in my eyes.
[Inner Thoughts: How far can a weak loser run?]
[Inner Thoughts: Heh, my biggest strength is running.]
Lim Jun-ho looked utterly relaxed.
Handling the run with ease.
30 minutes passed.
[Inner Thoughts: Oh? Not bad?]
Lim Jun-ho was still relaxed.
40 minutes passed.
[Inner Thoughts: Running a while, huh? How long you planning to go?]
Lim Jun-ho's breathing got a bit ragged.
50 minutes passed.
[Inner Thoughts: Aiming for a full hour?]
His breathing grew rougher.
1 hour passed.
I stopped the treadmill.
Stopped running.
"Haa... haa..."
My breathing was pretty steady.
Lim Jun-ho's, on the other hand.
"Huu... haa..."
Was a total mess.
I started push-ups.
[Inner Thoughts: Push-ups? Easy.]
Lim Jun-ho started push-ups next to me.
30 reps.
No sweat.
[Inner Thoughts: Burpees? Easy.]
[Inner Thoughts: Maybe 100?]
Big mistake.
He started burpees with a light heart at first.
100 would be a breeze, he thought.
"Huk, huk, heuk, heuk..."
99 reps.
"Huk, heuk, huk, huuk..."
100 reps.
[Inner Thoughts: Finally over!]
100 was plenty. I figured he'd stop. Had to. No doubt.
But he freaked.
[Inner Thoughts: C-crazy bastard?! More?! 100 wasn't the end?!]
[Inner Thoughts: Ugh, can't lose. Not to a loser like you.]
Burpees continued.
Passed 150.
[Inner Thoughts: S-save me. P-please. Stop! No more burpees! Burpees are the devil! Burpees are hell!!]
Passed 200.
[Inner Thoughts: Please, just end it. Kyaak?! N-no! Not ending?! Crazy fuck!!!]
Passed 250.
[Inner Thoughts: Crazy bastard... crazy bastard...]
His eyes glazed over.
Lim Jun-ho's face beet red. Breathing like he might keel over.
Looked like he was dying.
Hit 300.
[Inner Thoughts: ........]
Lim Jun-ho was out of it. Looked ready to pass out.
Too late for regrets. Shouldn't have followed me. Got wrecked by his own pride.
He collapsed with a thud.
"Here."
I handed him a paper cup of lukewarm water.
Pride said no, but his throat was parched.
He took it.
"Crazy... fucking crazy bastard..."
Only "praise" he could muster watching me jump rope.
Total defeat.
A crushing one.
'Thought he was just a 170cm loser... stamina's insane...'
'Tough.'
Workout done.
'Gonna die.'
I was beat.
'Did it.'
Finished the grueling session, felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment.
Achievement high was no joke.
'Great job, Jin-seong. You worked hard. Amazing. Good work.'
Praised myself. Acknowledged it. Comforted. Encouraged.
'Heh, beat Lim Jun-ho. Crushed his smug ass.'
Felt great. Lucky I won.
Losing would've wrecked my pride.
Showered.
'Now, buy items in the bathroom, then meet Ha-yeon.'
Sat on the toilet.
Bought 6 Handsome Boosters, 1 Hair Growth, 1 Lucky Cookie, 1 Small Happiness Random Box, 1 Vitamin.
Consumed the items.
Satisfied with the changes.
Opened the Small Happiness Random Box.
'Gacha time.'
An item appeared.
My face hardened instantly.
A very ominous, filthy, blood-soaked vibe, dark red book.
'Gotta check it out.'
Misfortune Diary shows my or others' unfortunate futures.
I opened the Misfortune Diary.
Checked the contents.
[Page 1]
[Hyung Myung-ho collapsed from overwork. Luckily no life threat, but sadly, the project he was leading fell through.]
[Page 2]
[A-young cried in my arms. Her face and body bore the marks of violence. I regretted it. If I'd paid attention, helped her, lent money, she wouldn't have signed with that thug agency.]
[Page 3]
[Snowy evening. Oh Mi-yeon, who hated and despised me, passed away. She took the extreme way out. Seeing her portrait, my heart felt heavy. Bittersweet.]
I read the Misfortune Diary over and over.
Shocked hard.
Stared blankly into space.
Snapped out of it soon enough.
Grabbed my phone.
First, messaged Lee Myung-ho.
[Me: Myung-ho hyung, work's important, but your health comes first.]
[Me: Don't push too hard. Take it easy. Overdo it and your health suffers.]
[Me: Sent you a gift card.]
Gifted Lee Myung-ho a red ginseng set.
[Me: Take the ginseng and power through!]
[Me: Stay healthy while working ^^]
Sent the chat.
Lee Myung-ho checked soon.
[Lee Myung-ho: Thanks for the kind words ^^ I'll enjoy the ginseng set. lol]
[Lee Myung-ho: Your words woke me up.]
[Lee Myung-ho: Condition management is priority one, but I've been too busy lately.]
[Lee Myung-ho: Gonna head home early today and crash.]
Lee Myung-ho sent thanks.
'Nice!'
I pumped my fist.
Misfortune Diary page 1 deleted. Blocked Lee Myung-ho's misfortune.
Next, Choi A-young.
[Me: A-young.]
[Me: I thought it over, and you should rethink signing with that agency.]
[Me: Tons of shady trash agencies out there. Mess up and your life's hell.]
[Me: I'll lend you the money instead. Deposit for a monthly rental and computer funds. Stream hard and pay me back bit by bit.]
Odd feeling. Sent the chat, but uneasy. Something nagging inside.
'Not good enough.'
Gotta go to A-young.
Persuade her in person.
Heading home after work.
"Tch..."
Park Ha-yeon pouted.
"Dummy... said he'd come... I was waiting..."
Waited with anticipation for me.
He never showed.
Thought about texting.
"Annoying."
Pride stopped her.
"Ha-yeon."
She turned around.
Her face lit up.