Eleven in the morning. A corner of West City Municipal Gymnasium.
Lu Ren felt like a crumpled-up piece of scrap paper that had been smoothed out, only to be crumpled up again.
"Hold it steady. Don't shake." Kiyosawa Mashiba's voice came from above. She was holding a stopwatch. "Thirty seconds left."
Lu Ren was supporting himself on his hands and toes, doing a plank. Sweat dripped from the tip of his nose onto the floor, quickly spreading into a small puddle. His core muscles were sounding the alarm. His abs felt like they were on fire, and his triceps ached as though they'd just been pickled in aged vinegar.
"I can't do this... The server's about to disconnect..." Lu Ren gritted his teeth, squeezing out the words. "Lady, I'm a mage, not a berserker... This build is against the rules..."
"If you want to beat the boss, even a mage needs to put points into stamina." Mashiba remained unmoved. She even reached out a finger and lightly poked Lu Ren's trembling lower back. "Your back's sagging. Lift it."
"Ah—!" Lu Ren cried out, forcing his back straight. "This is murder! I'm reporting you to the game developers!"
"Ten seconds left. Nine, eight..."
For Lu Ren, those ten seconds dragged on like a whole century. When Mashiba finally called, "Stop," he collapsed onto the floor like a puddle of mud, too exhausted to even roll over.
The morning's training routine had been a picture of hell. First, four sets of fifty crunches, then push-ups, followed by all sorts of inhuman stretches. Lu Ren felt like every muscle in his body was trying to abandon him. His inner thighs especially ached so badly he wanted to cry.
"Get up. Let's go eat." Mashiba nudged his calf with the tip of her shoe.
"I'm not going..." Lu Ren's face was pressed against the floor, his voice muffled. "I'm going home. I want my bed. I want to save and log off."
"Your aunt gave me two thousand yen for lunch today." Mashiba waved the bills in her hand. "If you don't come, I'll go eat something delicious by myself, then go back and tell your aunt you didn't feel like eating. I'll gladly keep the money."
Lu Ren's ears perked up.
"And," Mashiba added leisurely, "we've got receiving footwork drills this afternoon. You need high-calorie carbs to keep your vital signs going. If you don't eat, you might pass out from low blood sugar this afternoon. Then I'll have no choice but to drag you to the infirmary for a shot."
Two seconds later, the "corpse" on the floor sprang back to life.
"Let's go! I want meat!"
Twenty minutes later, at the family restaurant "Sunday."
It was the lunch rush, and the restaurant was buzzing with people. Lu Ren and Mashiba had finally managed to find a table for two in the corner.
In front of Lu Ren was an extra-large serving of curry Pork Cutlet Bowl. The cutlet was thick as a brick, and the curry sauce was rich and golden. He shoveled food into his mouth with absolutely no regard for appearances, as if it were the elixir of life.
Mashiba ate much more gracefully. She had an omelet rice with a soft-cooked egg in front of her. She cut into the egg with her spoon, watched the golden yolk spill out, and narrowed her eyes in satisfaction.
"Can't you eat a little slower?" Mashiba watched Lu Ren wolfing down his food and couldn't help commenting. "Nobody's going to steal it."
"I'm regenerating HP," Lu Ren mumbled, his cheeks bulging like a hamster's. "We've got that crazy training this afternoon. If I don't fuel up now, I'm gonna crash later."
Just then, a chime rang from the restaurant entrance.
Facing the door, Lu Ren instinctively glanced at the newly spawned NPCs. At the sight of them, he nearly dropped the pork cutlet from his mouth.
The two people who'd just come in looked familiar.
The boy was dressed casually, with a sturdy build, neat short hair, and that unmistakably dependable smile. The girl also had short hair. She wasn't very tall and seemed a little shy.
Sawamura Daichi.
Lu Ren stopped chewing at once, his fish-like eyes lighting up with the glow of gossip. He hunched deeper into the corner and nudged Mashiba across the table with his elbow.
"Hey, look at those coordinates." Lu Ren lowered his voice. "Isn't that our captain?"
Mashiba was about to put a spoonful of omelet rice into her mouth. She turned to look when she heard him.
"That's Daichi-senpai." Mashiba looked a little surprised. "Who's the girl with him?"
Lu Ren quickly swallowed his food and switched on "Player Observation Mode."
"She looks familiar... I feel like I've seen her somewhere." Lu Ren narrowed his eyes. "That hairstyle, that vibe... I remember now. She's in the girls' volleyball club. The one who often talks to Kiyomi-senpai."
"Domiya Musubi-senpai?" Mashiba caught on quickly. "The girls' team captain."
"Oh—" Lu Ren drew out the word, grinning mischievously. "So that's what's going on. What kind of hidden quest is this? 'The Dependable Captain's Weekend Rendezvous'? Or 'The Volleyball Club Mixer Side Quest'?"
Sawamura Daichi hadn't noticed the two "peeping toms" in the corner. He and Domiya Musubi found a table by the window and sat down. They seemed very familiar with each other. Sawamura was smiling as he said something, while Domiya listened and nodded, occasionally breaking into a shy smile.
"Who would've guessed?" Lu Ren prodded the pork cutlet on his plate with his spoon. "Our captain always acts like some serious old bureaucrat, but apparently he's pretty good at flirting. Look at her expression. Tsk, tsk. She's completely fallen for him."
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