Let's Do It Together
"That was delicious."
After finishing the pasta and preparing to part ways with Park Naeun, she tugged on my arm, clearly not done exploring yet. This time she insisted it was her treat and tried to drag me toward a dessert café when a loud noise erupted from the arcade nearby.
Bang—
Someone was hammering the punching machine out front. The boy in the baseball cap clearly knew what he was doing. He planted his feet, twisted his torso fully, and slammed his fist forward with real power. The thunderous impact drew every eye in the area. Park Naeun glanced over too.
“Ugh, why is he here?”
She wasn’t joking around. Her frown was the genuine expression of someone who’d just spotted a person she never wanted to see again.
The boy at the punching machine noticed her too. He immediately sprinted in our direction.
“Naeun!”
Tall and light on his feet from training, he had decent looks. Yet Park Naeun sighed like she’d stepped in something unpleasant.
“You dyed your hair. Yellow suits you.”
“Why are you here?”
“What do you mean, why? I got accepted to the university here too, obviously.”
The baseball-cap boy smiled brightly and bragged that he’d been accepted into the sports and physical education department.
“Oh, really? Congratulations. Anyway, we’re leaving. Let’s go, oppa.”
Her icy tone left the boy flustered. He reached out to stop her, only to finally notice me standing beside her. His eyes narrowed into a glare.
What’s this guy’s problem?
Perhaps he likes Miss Park Naeun? Having a man next to the person he likes appears to have triggered jealousy.
This baby-chick-looking kid?
Tastes differ for everyone.
She wasn’t the type to make hearts race at first glance, but her cuteness definitely had an audience. He was clearly one of the guys who followed her around. Seria’s guess seemed spot on; he was openly showing his affection without any filter.
Apparently uncomfortable with the girl he liked standing next to an unknown man, he asked bluntly.
“Who’s that next to you?”
“My boyfriend. Got a problem with that?”
“What?”
Park Naeun, clearly annoyed by him, introduced me as her boyfriend and linked her arm through mine. It was obviously meant to shake off the pest, but the guy’s eyes practically shot sparks.
“A scrawny-looking guy like that is your actual boyfriend?”
“Who are you calling scrawny? My oppa is insanely strong, you know?”
“There’s still one attempt left on that machine. Want to try it?”
I’d been quietly observing, but suddenly I was the one being challenged. The boy in the baseball cap pointed at the punching machine with a cocky go ahead if you dare attitude.
“Oppa, teach this guy a lesson! My sister told me you’re really, really strong.”
Park Naeun asked me in the same tone one might use to request the removal of an annoying fly. With no way out, I decided to grant her request and loosened up my shoulders.
As I stepped up to the punching machine, the guy snorted. My padded jacket hid every muscle I had, and my face didn’t exactly scream “athlete.” Convinced of his victory, he proudly showed me the scoreboard.
“See this score? I just hit 6234 points. Get over six thousand and I’ll acknowledge you.”
I had no idea what he thought he was “acknowledging,” but I decided to show some strength for Park Naeun’s sake. There was no need to use Sex Power on a simple punching machine. Using it would probably shatter the thing.
I carefully controlled my muscle fibers, channeling as much power as possible. Gathering the explosive force inside my body, I concentrated it into my right arm. Then I unleashed it all in one strike.
“Ha, that’s not how you’re supposed to—”
The correct technique for a punching machine is to use your core and waist rotation. Since I’d thrown a straight punch from a stationary position without any wind-up, the guy started to sneer—until the impact sound hit him.
Booom—!
The noise was like a bomb going off. The boy couldn’t believe his ears and immediately checked the scoreboard.
9425 POINTS
NEW HIGH SCORE
“Kyaa! Oppa, you’re incredible!”
Park Naeun cheered and clapped at the top score, but the boy—who actually understood how high that number was—kept blinking, completely stunned. His face screamed disbelief.
The machine announced a new record and offered another attempt.
“Want to go again?”
“N-no…”
If the scores had been close he might have tried again, but the overwhelming gap drained every ounce of his earlier arrogance. He tucked his tail and backed down.
“Are you a former athlete by any chance?”
“I just worked out a little. I’m pretty confident in my raw strength.”
Even without Sex Power, no human possessed a more overwhelming physique than my current body. In technical fields I might lose, but in pure strength contests I was confident I wouldn’t lose to anyone.
The boy clenched his fist so tightly it shook with frustration. Having been crushed so completely, however, he offered no further resistance. Instead he changed the subject.
“On my way here I saw a female YouTuber running an arm-wrestling event. Since you’re so confident in your strength, why not enter? Winner gets the latest Apple Phone, apparently.”
Since he couldn’t beat me himself, he was trying to use someone else to humiliate me. For all his decent looks, the guy was surprisingly petty.
“I’ll pass…”
“Oppa, hurry! It’s an Apple Phone! An Apple Phone!”
I was about to refuse—I didn’t want my face all over the internet—but Park Naeun clearly had other plans. The moment she heard “Apple Phone,” she started bouncing excitedly as if I had already won and practically shoved me toward the event.
The boy smirked, certain I was about to be embarrassed.
She was a female fitness YouTuber with a hundred thousand subscribers named Han Gaeul. Honestly, I’d never heard of her before. Even though it was break period, a pretty big crowd had gathered. The reason was obvious.
She wore navy tights that clung to every curve and a beige tank top. Her waist was slim with zero excess fat, and her apple hips—perfectly ripe and round—were on full display in real time. No wonder so many men had flocked to watch.
The arm-wrestling rules were simple. Pay a ten-thousand-won entry fee, beat the resident arm-wrestler, and you won an iPhone. A sign announced that if no one won within the time limit, all entry fees plus the phone would be donated to charity.
In the center of the stage the female YouTuber was serving as MC, while a man in a short-sleeved shirt sat at the table showing off his impressive arm muscles. Both were dressed far too lightly for the weather, yet they ran the event with great enthusiasm.
“Oppa, fighting!”
Cheered on by Park Naeun, I decided to join the competition.
“Mind if I borrow this for a second?”
“Huh? Uh…”
Obviously I didn’t want my face broadcast everywhere, so I pulled the boy’s baseball cap low over my eyes and stepped up. Most people seemed to think entering late was advantageous; there weren’t many participants yet. I wrote down my name and phone number on the entry sheet and waited. Soon it was my turn.
As I climbed onto the stage, a beautifully perked backside immediately caught my attention.
“Hello! Could you tell us how long you’ve been working out and give a brief self-introduction?”
“Yes, I’m a student at Gukhan University. I’ve been training for about ten years.”
“I see. Are you confident you can win?”
“Hmm… I’ll do my best.”
My short, businesslike answers must have seemed boring to the YouTuber MC, because she quickly moved the event along.
Since it was a live YouTube stream, the screen showed both the MC and the arm-wrestling table in real time. The camera mounted on the table focused on the arms rather than the faces.
When I sat down at the table, an arm easily twice the thickness of mine gripped my hand in a vise-like hold.
“Ten years of training, you said? Wow, you must be doing it wrong.”
I had planned to win quickly and leave, but my opponent decided to provoke me first.
Most people think arm-wrestling is purely about strength, but technique matters just as much. Proper wrist control alone is enough to defeat ordinary people who know nothing about the sport.
That was why Nam Seokjin, a ranked Korean arm-wrestler, hadn’t thought much of the request when his close junior from the gym asked for this favor. Of course an actual pro would make things difficult, but since this was framed as a charity event, he figured no serious athlete would participate unless they wanted to be criticized.
As expected, the event had gone smoothly with almost no one who actually knew proper technique. Still, winning too easily would look suspicious, so he made sure to act like he was struggling just enough.
Finally the next opponent arrived. Hearing the guy had “ten years of training,” Nam Seokjin watched tensely—only to see an ordinary-looking college student sit down across from him.
What? I got nervous for nothing. Maybe he does breathing exercises or something?
Even when their hands locked, there were no calluses or signs of serious weight training.
“Ten years of training, you said? Wow, you must be doing it wrong.”
He flexed his pumped-up forearm and delivered a light taunt as payback for being mocked. Planning to recover his stamina and drag things out before winning, he locked his arm in place and waited for the opponent to push.
But no power came. After a while he spoke.
“We’ve started. You can apply force now.”
“You can apply yours too.”
This little—
He had been planning to go easy, but the guy didn’t know his place and actually counter-provoked. Nam Seokjin stopped holding back. He poured every ounce of power into his arm muscles and clamped down with a grip strong enough to make most people scream.
Yet the opponent sat there completely calm, as if nothing had happened.
What the hell? This is weird. He’s actually resisting?
Despite the full-power grip, the arm wouldn’t budge. The hand in his grasp felt like solid steel. Even when he used every technique he knew in addition to raw power, the arm refused to move, as if it had been nailed to the table.
His face turned red as he poured out maximum strength. Instead of the arm moving, his own began to tremble violently and cold sweat broke out across his skin.
This is impossible!
The opponent didn’t even seem to be trying hard, yet Nam Seokjin was the one being pushed back. Slowly, his arm began to tilt toward the other side. He fought desperately to stop it, but once it started moving he couldn’t halt the motion. The ranked arm-wrestler couldn’t hold out against a random college student. His arm was driven all the way down.
At the unbelievable sight, the YouTube live chat exploded.
Han Gaeul’s expression—the YouTuber and the gym junior who had asked for this favor—froze solid in an instant.