Hope?Vane?Dane

Chapter 13: Hope Van Dyne

"Chinese Kung Fu" was the third BGM awakened by Li Congxin.

That day, Li Congxin had fought ten robbers alone in an alley. When his forehead was injured and blood blurred his vision, he finally understood the meaning of Nalan Long's words: "Integrate martial arts into every detail of daily life."

Blood stained his pupils; in that instant, enlightenment struck!

At that moment, his state of mind simultaneously met the activation conditions for two BGMs, so that the ability which had not awakened for a long time suddenly awakened two at once.

One of them was "A Man Should Better Himself," which made him feel like a grandmaster possessed, turning defeat into victory in an instant; the other was this "Chinese Kung Fu"!

"Chinese Kung Fu" amplified training methods; "A Man Should Better Himself" strengthened combat techniques.

In the past half month, with the assistance of the two new BGMs, Li Congxin seemed to have had a breakthrough. Every time he practiced, he gained completely different insights. His understanding and application of the Shaolin Twelve Road Tan Leg soared like a rocket.

Even Old Master Nalan Long praised Li Congxin's changes profusely, using slightly exaggerated words like "had a breakthrough" to describe his transformation. He even took time out to personally guide his martial arts, as if he intended to teach him real skills.

Now, Li Congxin's strength was incomparable to what it had been half a month ago. If he were to face those street thugs from that day again, even without activating any BGM, he could easily beat them until they couldn't find their teeth.

Time flew by in fulfilling days. In the blink of an eye, another school year began. Li Congxin stepped through the school gates with a cheerful mood, starting his second year of high school.

When he walked into the classroom, as expected, it caused an uproar among the entire class.

"Who is that?"

"So handsome!"

"So strong!"

All kinds of exclamations came one after another. In this process, Li Congxin harvested a wave of Impression Points, several hundred in total.

Now, Li Congxin's weight had risen back to 75 kilograms, but what had grown again was not fat; instead, all the excess fat had been converted into muscle. This made him look even more robust than before he started martial arts training. Although he still couldn't compare to professional bodybuilders like the Governor, he was no worse than the Big Three of Marvel.

From a round, chubby fat guy to a muscular hunk in just one summer vacation—when such a dramatic change appeared right before their eyes, it was hard for anyone to remain indifferent.

If this had happened in the Eastern Ancient Country before Li Congxin's transmigration, people might only be surprised inwardly without showing it.

But don't forget, this was America.

Reserved? Not a chance!

Following the principle of "integrating martial arts into every detail of life," Li Congxin gave his classmates a friendly smile, then quickly returned to his seat and sat down steadily!

Walk like the wind, sit like a bell!

Until then, everyone's eyes were still fixed on the handsome Eastern young man with a fit physique. But after a moment, the boys looked away and started chatting among themselves. Compared to Li Congxin's weight loss and fitness success, they were more concerned about how the plot of "Doupo Cangqiong" would develop next.

Only the girls in the class were more interested in Li Congxin than in "Doupo Cangqiong," sneaking glances at him from time to time. Besides that, there was also...

"Clark?" After Li Congxin had been sitting for a while, Dave, who sat next to him, asked tentatively.

Li Congxin turned his head: "What's up, Dave? Something wrong?"

"It really is you!?" Dave could hardly believe his eyes: "I knew you were working out to lose weight before, but I never thought you could achieve this in just one month!"

Received from Dave Lizewski: Impression Points +166!

He gave me so many Impression Points all at once! Could this guy be...

Li Congxin took another look at the guy in front of him. Same familiar look, still that "a pot of tea, a cup of wine" otaku. How could such a guy easily give him three-digit Impression Points?

Before this, among the people Li Congxin had interacted with, only Marcus had given him more than 10 points at once. The rest were like Gorilla—none had ever given him double-digit Impression Points in one go.

And this loser otaku was only slightly shocked, and that alone produced so many Impression Points!

Could it be this guy's fate weight...

Wait!

Dave Lizewski!

That name seemed to be a character from a story too.

Li Congxin looked at the guy's face again. Could this guy be the weakest superhero ever, the one and only Kick-Ass?

"Clark?" Seeing Li Congxin staring blankly at him, Dave couldn't help but ask in confusion: "Is there something dirty on me?"

Li Congxin snapped back to reality: "I was just thinking about something. As for my weight loss results..." He paused slightly, then shrugged: "Nothing special, just hard work."

Dave was hit by Li Congxin's words and his eyes lit up. He seized the opportunity: "Clark, I heard that during summer vacation, besides working out to lose weight, you also learned Chinese Kung Fu. Where did you learn it? Can you introduce me so I can learn too?"

"No problem." Li Congxin had some goodwill toward Dave, so he readily agreed: "After school starts, the martial arts gym only holds classes on weekend afternoons. If you want to learn, you can find me this Saturday at noon. I'll treat you to lunch, and we'll go together in the afternoon."

Just then, the classroom suddenly fell silent as the homeroom teacher, Kara, walked in holding a lesson plan.

Behind her followed a tall girl, about the same age as Li Congxin and the others. She wore the standard school uniform and had a face that fit Western aesthetics well—tall frame, large build, square face, thick lips... In short, it was a look that completely didn't match Li Congxin's aesthetic preferences.

"Hello, everyone." While Li Congxin was observing the unfamiliar girl, the homeroom teacher Kara had already begun speaking: "Today is the first day of school. Welcome back, everyone. We have a new classmate joining us today—the beautiful Hope standing beside me. Now, let's invite Hope to introduce herself."

Hearing this, the boys in the class immediately let out a cheer-like roar, showing that this Hope's appearance was very much in line with these wolves' aesthetic standards.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Hope Van Dyne, from New Jersey. From today on, I am also a member of this class. I hope we can all get along well."