Hiroki's eyes widened.
The [Muscle Growth Manager.sys] file really opened!
And inside wasn't the jumble of garbled text he'd expected, but...
Code with Chinese comments?
No, more precisely, the code's logical structure was almost identical to the programming languages he'd known in his previous life, but its overall design and commenting style were closer to Chinese, as if it had been specially designed to make it easier for Hiroki to understand.
//---- Code ---- // Muscle Regulator.sys File size: approximately 38 MB //============ L1 Layer: Cerebral Cortex Motor Command ============ enum BasicMovementIntent { MoveForward, MoveBackward, TurnLeft, TurnRight, ExtendUpperLimbs, ContractUpperLimbs, ExtendLowerLimbs, FlexLowerLimbs, StabilizeTorso, ...(approximately 100 basic movement intents omitted) }; class CerebralCortexInterface { IssueMotorCommand(intent: BasicMovementIntent, intensity: Float){ movementPacket={ intentType=intent, desiredIntensity=intensity, timestamp=currentTime(), priority=calculate_command_priority(intent) }; // Pass to the spinal cord for processing Spinal Neuron Pool.receiveCommand(movementPacket); } } ---- Code Break ---- "Th-this is the body's motor control system?" Hiroki murmured, rapidly scrolling through the code with his finger in the mental space. The architecture of the entire file was so clear that it astonished him. The L1 layer was the cerebral cortex, responsible only for issuing about a hundred basic movement intents; the L2 layer was the spinal neuron pool, responsible for breaking those intents down into corresponding motor primitives; and the L3 layer was the peripheral reflex system, which handled all the details of execution. "What a genius design!" Hiroki couldn't help exclaiming. "The brain doesn't need to micromanage every muscle. It only needs to tell the spinal cord, 'I want to walk forward,' and everything else gets handled automatically. This is ten thousand times more efficient than I imagined!" That meant all he had to do was find the relevant section and make a few simple changes to create an automated muscle-growth script! At the same time, did this also mean that once he had enough time, or his brain's processing power became strong enough, he could write an efficient enough program to control each individual muscle separately? He continued scrolling and quickly found the section he cared about most: ---- Code Break ---- //============ L3 Layer: Peripheral Reflex System ============ class PeripheralReflexSystem { AutomaticFatigueManagement(muscleGroup: TargetMuscleGroup){ if (muscleGroup.fatigueLevel> 80%){ automatically_reduce_contraction_intensity(); automatically_recruit_reserve_fibers(); if (fatigueLevel> 95%){ force_protective_shutdown(); } } } CheckMuscleGrowth(){ for (muscleGroup in allBodyMuscleGroups){ if (muscleGroup.averageFatigueLevel> 60%&& muscleGroup.averageFatigueLevel 85%&& proteinReservegrowthThreshold&& ATPReserve>energyThreshold&&//Assume the L3 layer already includes an ATP reserve check timeSinceLastActivation>restPeriodThreshold){ trigger_adaptive_growth(muscleGroup); } } } TriggerAdaptiveGrowth(muscleGroup: TargetMuscleGroup){ growthAmount=calculate_growth_increment(muscleGroup.accumulatedFatigue); proteinConsumed=growthAmount_conversion_efficiency; if (proteinReserve>=proteinConsumed){ muscleGroup.fiberDiameter+=growthAmount; muscleGroup.forceOutput=recalculate(muscleGroup); proteinReserve-=proteinConsumed; } } } ---- Code ---- "Found it!" Hiroki's eyes lit up. The key was the [trigger_adaptive_growth] function! The current logic was that growth only occurred when the muscles had experienced moderate fatigue (60%–85%), and there was enough protein, sufficient energy reserves, and adequate rest. This matched the real-world growth mechanism of "exercise → damage → overcompensation." But... "What if I can modify this conditional check?" Hiroki thought quickly. "In the real world, muscles need a fatigue stimulus to grow because that's a protective mechanism formed through evolution." The body wouldn't waste energy building muscle for no reason. It had to sense a signal that it "needed greater strength" before it would grow. "But if I modify this check... or simply delete it..." Hiroki's fingers began locating the key points in the code. He soon found where to make the changes. He created a new document named [Muscle_Passive_Growth_Patch_v0.1.txt] and began writing up his proposed modifications: ---- Code ---- // Passive Muscle Growth Patch v0.1 // Goal: Achieve automatic muscle growth without exercise // Plan 1: Modify the growth trigger condition Code: if (muscleGroup.averageFatigueLevel> 60%&& muscleGroup.averageFatigueLevel 85%&& proteinReservegrowthThreshold&& ATPReserve>energyThreshold&&//Keep consistent with the L3 layer check timeSinceLastActivation>restPeriodThreshold) Modify to: if (proteinReserve>growthThreshold&& ATPReserve>consumptionThreshold&& (muscleGroup.averageFatigueLevel> 60%||Forced Growth Mode== true)) //New: Forced Growth Mode switch Global variable Forced Growth Mode: Boolean= false; //New: Function to activate forced growth function start_forced_muscle_growth(duration: Integer){ Forced Growth Mode= true; //Simulate fatigue signals to fool the growth detection system for (muscleGroup in allBodyMuscleGroups){ muscleGroup.simulatedFatigueLevel= 70%;//Set to the optimal fatigue level for growth } setTimer(duration, function(){ Forced Growth Mode= false; clear_simulatedFatigue_for_all_muscleGroups();//Clear all simulated fatigue states }); } --Code-- That way, the fatigue check would no longer be needed, and the muscles could grow automatically! Hiroki took a deep breath, unable to keep the corners of his mouth from turning up. But then, his brow furrowed. "Still, this is risky. Growth consumes a lot of protein and ATP. If I let the muscles grow unchecked, it might drain the body. I need to add stricter safety checks." He continued revising his plan: //Safe version of forced growth function safe_forced_muscle_growth(targetMuscleGroup: String, growthIncrement: Float){ //Safety check 1: Overall nutritional status if (proteinReserve<totalReserve 0.3){ return "Insufficient protein reserves. Growth canceled."; } //Safety check 2: Energy status if (ATPReserve<totalReserve 0.4){ return "Insufficient energy reserves. Growth canceled."; } //Safety check 3: Limit for each growth session if (growthIncrement>maximumSafeGrowthAmount){ growthIncrement=maximumSafeGrowthAmount; log("Warning: Growth increment exceeds safety limit. Automatically adjusted to the maximum safe amount."); } //Begin growth target=getMuscleGroup(targetMuscleGroup); //Temporarily set simulated fatigue to fool the detection system target.temporaryFatigueLevel= 70%; //Force a muscle growth check execute_muscle_growth_check(); var actualGrowthAmount=calculate_growth_for_this_session(targetMuscleGroup);//Assume this function retrieves the actual growth amount //Clear temporary setting target.temporaryFatigueLevel= 0%; log("Forced growth complete:"+targetMuscleGroup+",growth amount:"+actualGrowthAmount); }
Hiroki looked at the code he'd written, feeling a strange thrill.
"In theory, this should work," he muttered to himself. "The key is finding the right balance. I need to build muscle without exercising, but I can't overtax the body's resources."
He thought of his experience with games. Many games had an "AFK auto-leveling" feature. What he had to do now was essentially "AFK muscle training"—make the system think his muscles were working out, so they would start getting stronger, while Hiroki could do whatever he wanted.
"And..." Hiroki suddenly realized there might be even more to it. "If this method works, then I won't just be able to control my own muscle growth! I'll be able to make other people's muscles suddenly fatigue, too!" Of course, that would also require complex permission bypasses and physical contact. Besides, he already had Brain Overload Attack, so this was merely a potential extension of his abilities and wasn't a priority for now.
At the thought, Hiroki's heart began to race.
But he quickly calmed himself down.
"One step at a time," he reminded himself. "First, I'll check whether the muscle-growth modification works. Then I can think about anything else."
As he always said, don't pop the champagne too early. What if there was a bug?
Hiroki saved the proposed modifications, then began planning how to put them into practice.
"First, I need a test subject." Hiroki glanced at his arm. "Experimenting on myself is definitely a bad idea."
If something dangerous happened, he might not have time to regret it.
If only he could find a living person... No, even for a living person, this would be extremely dangerous.
Hiroki pondered. Perhaps he should go catch some mice first?
He also needed to control the length of the experiment. It would be best to use a small animal, so any muscle growth would be more obvious.
"Finally..." Hiroki took a deep breath. "If this really works, I'll have to figure out how to share the technique with Kushina. After all, I promised to make her stronger."
Then, off to the forest to catch a couple of mice!
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