Monster Newcomer at the Gym

The glass doors of the community gym were fogged over. The moment Lin Mo pushed them open, he smelled sweat mixed with disinfectant. Deafening rock music blasted from battered speakers, pounding against his eardrums. Lin Mo stood at the entrance, holding a brand-new monthly pass. The edge of the plastic card was a little sharp against his fingers—it had cost him thirty dollars yesterday. According to Ted, the gym owner used to be a weightlifter. The equipment was old, but sturdy enough.

"New here?" The chubby girl at the front desk chewed gum and pointed at the lockers without looking up. "Grab your own key. We don't compensate for lost stuff." Her eyes landed on Lin Mo, then suddenly lit up. "Are you the guy who helped Aunt May get her eggs back?"

Lin Mo froze for a moment, then nodded. "That's me."

"My mom was there that day too. She said you moved like lightning." The chubby girl smiled, revealing two little canine teeth. "I'm Lily. Ask me if there's anything you don't understand."

"Thanks." Lin Mo picked up a key and headed for the lockers. The changing room was thick with a damp, moldy smell. Several shirtless muscular men were showing off their muscles to one another. One bearded man had arms thicker than Lin Mo's thighs and was practicing poses in front of the mirror, sweat trickling down the grooves of his chest.

Lin Mo quickly lowered his head and changed into his workout clothes. He wore a loose gray hoodie and deliberately chose stretchy athletic pants—during his test jumps in the basement last time, ordinary pants had nearly torn apart. The wristband clung to his wrist, and he could feel its faint warmth even through the fabric. Its sync rate had risen to 20%, and a small checkmark had appeared beside the Dynamic Vision skill, displaying [Activated].

When he reached the equipment area, Lin Mo's attention was immediately caught by a bench press rack in the corner. The machine looked older than he was. Its steel supports were covered in rust, and most of the paint had peeled off the weight plates, exposing dull silver-gray metal beneath. A sign beside it read, "Maximum Load: 200 kg," but judging by how rickety it looked, Lin Mo doubted it could even handle 100 kilograms.

"New guy, first time using it?" A trainer in a black tank top walked over. A soaring eagle was tattooed on his arm, and his pecs were as solid as slabs of stone. "I'm Jason. Need some guidance?"

"No, thanks. I'll try it myself." Lin Mo smiled and declined. He did not dare let a trainer guide him. If he lost control of his strength and sent someone flying, that would be trouble.

Jason raised an eyebrow but did not insist. He turned to help an elderly woman lifting dumbbells, though his eyes kept flicking back toward Lin Mo. The kid looked thin and weak, his arms like bamboo poles, yet he dared challenge the bench press rack. He probably had no idea what that machine could do. Last week, some cocky college student had insisted on benching eighty kilograms. The barbell had dropped onto his chest, and he had nearly stopped breathing.

Lin Mo took a deep breath and stepped up to the bench press rack. He first tried lifting the empty barbell. The metal was icy cold, but it felt lighter than he had expected. Normally, he could press at most thirty kilograms. Today, he wanted to try fifty—heavy enough to test the effects of Physical Enhancement without being too outrageous.

He asked a young man nearby who was playing on his phone to help load the plates. Without looking up, the man hung a twenty-five-kilogram plate on each side. The metal struck with a sharp clang. Lin Mo lay down, gripped the barbell with both hands, and felt the rough texture against his palms.

"Ready?" The young man finally put down his phone and stood beside him with his arms folded, wearing the expression of someone waiting for a show. In his eyes, this skinny newcomer probably would not even be able to lift the barbell.

Lin Mo said nothing. He merely adjusted his breathing and pushed upward with both arms—

The instant the barbell left the rack, a familiar surge of power flooded through him, stronger than it had been in the basement yesterday. Fifty kilograms felt as light as a foam block. His arms jerked upward almost instinctively, and the barbell shot toward the ceiling with a whoosh, stopping only inches below the hanging lights before smashing back into the rack with a deafening clang.

It was as if the music throughout the gym paused for a second. Every eye turned toward him. The elderly woman lifting dumbbells trembled, and one dumbbell fell with a thud onto her toes. Yet she did not even seem to notice the pain. She only stared at Lin Mo with her mouth hanging open.

"Damn..." Lin Mo lay on the bench press rack, his heart hammering wildly. He had clearly used only thirty percent of his strength. How had it become this fierce? Could it be that as the sync rate rose, his strength had risen with it?

Jason hurried over, his face dark as he inspected the bench press rack. When he saw the crack at one of the support joints, he sucked in a sharp breath. "Easy, man! This thing's an antique. It can't take that kind of abuse!" He pointed at the crack, his voice trembling. "Do you know how much it costs to repair this? It's enough to buy ten monthly passes!"

"Sorry, sorry." Lin Mo hurriedly climbed up and apologized again and again. He had not expected that one moment of poor control would crack the equipment. If the owner found out, he might have to pay until he was broke.

"How much did you press?" Jason looked him up and down, his eyes full of disbelief. That burst of force had to be at least one hundred and fifty kilograms. This kid looked skinny, but he had hidden that much strength?

"Fifty kilograms..." Lin Mo's voice grew quieter as he scratched his head guiltily.

"Fifty kilograms cracked the rack?" Jason clearly did not believe him. He walked to the barbell and tried to lift it, immediately frowning. "These plates are fake or something. Why are they so light?" He picked up one of the twenty-five-kilogram plates and easily raised it with one hand. "Fuck! The owner's passing off this cheap garbage again!"

Lin Mo froze, then understood—not that his strength was too great, but that there was something wrong with the weight plates. These plates marked as twenty-five kilograms probably did not even weigh ten. No wonder they had felt so light. He held back a laugh as he watched Jason storm off to argue with the owner, feeling a wave of relief.

"Man, you're insane." The young man who had helped load the barbell came over and handed him a bottle of water. "I've worked out here for half a year, and nobody's ever put a crack in that bench press rack. What did you train before?"

"Nothing. I just fix things a lot, so maybe I'm a little stronger than usual." Lin Mo accepted the water, unscrewed the cap, and took a drink. The icy liquid slid down his throat, easing some of his earlier tension. Dynamic Vision had automatically activated when the barbell slammed down. He had clearly captured the trajectory of the bending support and could even see the faint vibrations of the metal molecules. This skill really was useful.

"Fixing things gives you that kind of strength?" The young man clearly did not believe him and sized him up. "I'm Mike, a PE teacher at the nearby middle school. With your talent, it'd be a shame not to train in weightlifting."

Lin Mo smiled but did not reply. His eyes fell on the treadmill nearby, and he suddenly wanted to test his speed. That treadmill looked newer than the bench press rack. The numbers still showed on its display, and its maximum speed was marked at sixteen kilometers per hour. That was already fast for ordinary people, but for him now, it might only be a warm-up.

He stepped onto the treadmill and pressed the start button, beginning at eight kilometers per hour. The belt began to move, carrying his feet forward at a steady pace. It felt as easy as taking a walk. Mike beside him kept shaking his head, probably thinking the speed was too slow.

Lin Mo took a deep breath and slowly increased the speed with his fingers—ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen... When the number reached sixteen, the treadmill began to hum, its belt spinning so quickly it became almost a blur. A muscular man jogging nearby opened his mouth in shock, dropping the towel in his hand to the floor.

"Man, are you trying to take off?" The muscular man's voice stuttered slightly. He had trained for three years and could only reach twelve kilometers per hour at most, and even then he could not last five minutes.

Lin Mo ignored him and continued increasing the speed. The wristband's sync rate began climbing rapidly: 21%, 22%, 23%... When the speed reached twenty kilometers per hour, the treadmill's frame began to shake violently, as if it might fall apart at any moment. His hair streamed backward in the wind, yet there was not a drop of sweat on his face. His breathing was as steady as if he were strolling.

Dynamic Vision allowed him to see every tooth of the belt clearly. He could even count how many rotations it made each minute. The sense of control was strange and wonderful, like riding a wild horse at full gallop—thrilling, yet reassuring.

"Enough, enough! The machine's going to explode if you go any faster!" Lily had somehow run over, clutching a fire extinguisher as she stared nervously at the treadmill. "This piece of junk only goes up to eighteen. You've gone past it!"

Only then did Lin Mo realize what was happening. He quickly lowered the speed until the treadmill came to a complete stop. He stepped off, and the moment his foot touched the ground, he heard a crack—the treadmill belt had actually been worn through, lying limp like a dead snake.

"I..." Lin Mo looked at his feet, then at the ruined treadmill, so embarrassed that he wanted to crawl into a crack in the ground. He had only been at the gym for half an hour and had already destroyed two machines. The owner was probably going to blacklist him.

"A monster..." the muscular man muttered. Then he suddenly remembered something. "Are you that guy who can walk through walls? My mom told me there's a kid in Queens who can pass through walls and has crazy strength."

Lin Mo's heart jolted. He quickly shook his head. "Not me. You've got the wrong person." He grabbed a towel and wiped sweat that did not exist, then turned to slip away.

"Wait!" Jason suddenly ran over, holding a stopwatch, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "I just talked to the owner. Those two machines are on him. You don't have to pay for them. But you have to race me—four hundred meters. What do you say?"

Lin Mo froze. Looking at Jason's eager expression, he suddenly felt tempted. Racing a professional athlete would be the perfect way to test his limits. "Sure." He nodded.

There was a small track behind the gym, paved with uneven rubber and dotted with clumps of weeds. Mike volunteered to be the referee, holding a starting pistol that supposedly had belonged to the owner from his competition days.

"On your marks—set—go!"

The instant the starting gun fired, Lin Mo felt the power inside his body erupt like a flood. He did not even see how Jason started before he had already shot forward. The rubber track squeaked beneath his feet, while the scenery on either side stretched like rubber bands and flew backward.

Dynamic Vision let him predict every rut in the track ahead of time, and his feet always landed on the most stable spots. When he crossed the finish line, he looked back and saw Jason had only reached halfway. His mouth was open as he stared at Lin Mo in utter disbelief.

"How many seconds?" Lin Mo asked Mike.

Mike held up the stopwatch, his hand still shaking. "F-four point eight seconds..."

The entire track went silent. Running four hundred meters in under five seconds—what did that even mean? It was nearly ten seconds faster than the world champion! The towel in Jason's hand fell to the ground as he muttered, "Impossible... absolutely impossible..."

Lin Mo was stunned too. He knew he was fast, but he had not expected to be this fast. Five times the speed plus Dynamic Vision could actually reach this level? He looked down at his wristband. The sync rate had reached 25%, and a new notification appeared beneath it: [Skill Unlocked: Burst Sprint (short-distance speed increased to 8 times that of an ordinary person, duration: 10 seconds)].

"You're not human..." The fire extinguisher slipped from Lily's hands with a clang. Her eyes were as wide as saucers. "You're a monster! A Monster Newcomer at the gym!"

The title "Monster Newcomer" quickly spread through the gym. Wherever Lin Mo went, people pointed and whispered. Some were curious, some envious, and some hostile—the bearded muscular man kept staring at him, his eyes filled with defiance.

"Kid, dare to compete with me in the bench press?" The bearded man walked up to him and deliberately bumped his chest against Lin Mo's. "Real weight plates. Loser pays."

Lin Mo did not want trouble and was about to refuse when Mike suddenly stepped forward. "Compete with him! I'm betting on this guy!" He patted Lin Mo on the shoulder. "Show him what real strength looks like."

The bearded man sneered and walked to another bench press rack that looked sturdier, signaling for someone nearby to load the barbell. "I'll warm up with one hundred kilograms." He lay down and easily pushed the barbell up, a smug expression appearing on his face.

When it was Lin Mo's turn, he hesitated. One hundred kilograms was no different from ten kilograms to him now, but he did not want to draw too much attention. "I'll do eighty kilograms," he said.

"Eighty kilograms? What are you, a girl?" The bearded man snorted. "If you don't dare, just say so. Stop wasting everyone's time."

Lin Mo frowned. He hated it when people spoke in that tone. "Then one hundred and fifty kilograms," he said calmly.

Everyone sucked in a breath. One hundred and fifty kilograms—even professional athletes might not be able to press that. This kid actually dared to make such a boast?

The bearded man's face instantly turned livid. "If you can lift it, I'll kneel down and kowtow to you!"

Lin Mo ignored him and had Mike load one hundred and fifty kilograms of plates. He walked to the bench press rack, took a deep breath, and activated Burst Sprint—though he was using it on his arms, it did indeed boost his strength considerably.

Gripping the barbell with both hands, he gave a light push, and the bar rose steadily. He even deliberately paused for a moment before slowly lowering it back down. The entire process was as effortless as lifting air, and not a trace of expression crossed his face.

The bearded man's face instantly went deathly pale, as though all the blood had been drained from it. He watched Lin Mo lower the barbell with ease, then suddenly turned and ran, leaving even his jacket behind.

"Coward!" Mike burst out laughing and patted Lin Mo on the shoulder. "Man, you're incredible! From now on, you're the boss of this gym!"

Lin Mo smiled, but inwardly he was delighted. With this kind of physical ability, he would no longer have to rely on phasing through walls to run away when he encountered punks! He could even picture himself sending a thug flying with one punch. He would never again have to hide behind walls, trembling in fear like before.

As he left the gym, Lily stuffed a free monthly pass into his hand. "The owner said that as long as you go easier on the equipment from now on, this card will always be free." Her cheeks were red. "Also, my mom asked me to ask you if you want to come over for dinner tomorrow. She made the roasted chicken wings you like."

Lin Mo froze for a moment, then nodded. "Sure."

When he stepped out of the gym, the sunlight was a little blinding. Lin Mo narrowed his eyes and saw Ted squatting on the steps across the street, holding binoculars and peeking over furtively. "Why are you here?"

"I came to see if you really became a monster." Ted hid the binoculars away and rubbed his hands excitedly. "Mike texted me. He said you ran four hundred meters in four point eight seconds and pressed one hundred and fifty kilograms! That's awesome, Mo!"

Lin Mo smiled and punched him lightly, controlling his strength this time. "Don't listen to them exaggerating. I just got lucky."

"You got lucky enough to snap a treadmill belt?" Ted clearly did not believe him. He pulled Lin Mo toward home. "Come on, tell me what's going on with your physical ability. Did the wristband give you some new power again?"

Lin Mo hesitated, then nodded. "Something like that." He looked around and lowered his voice. "Beast's Physical Enhancement. My strength, speed, and reflexes have all improved."

"Beast? That blue-haired one?" Ted's eyes widened like saucers. "Then are you going to grow blue hair too?" He reached out to touch Lin Mo's hair, only to have his hand slapped away.

"What are you thinking?" Lin Mo said irritably. "It's just Physical Enhancement. I'm not going to change how I look."

"That's good." Ted sighed in relief. "Blue hair would be ugly. You'd look like a monster." He paused, suddenly remembering something. "Oh, right. Aunt May said she's making dumplings tonight and wants you to come over early."

"Okay." Lin Mo nodded, warmth spreading through his heart.

On the way home, Lin Mo looked at his hands and suddenly felt grounded. Physical Enhancement had brought plenty of trouble, like destroying the gym equipment, but it brought him even more security. He was no longer the coward who could only hide behind walls. He was a Monster Newcomer capable of protecting himself and the people around him.