Chapter 46: No.46: New Bet {1}
Knowing the best way to deal with Summer’s suspicions was to be as honest with her as possible, Bruce had decided to make her aware of his intentions regarding his Main Task.
Obviously leaving out the part related to the System itself, he’d simply given her a heads-up, just in case she wasn’t able to reach him or he became unavailable while carrying out his plan.
That way, he wouldn’t have to come back and come up with a half-assed excuse, which would only serve to fuel her suspicions about his true intentions even more.
Though he hadn’t exactly come up with a suitable excuse to fool her at the moment, he decided three days was likely enough time for him to think of one while completing the Task.
’Hopefully.’
With that, Bruce decided to enjoy his time with Summer, as it would likely be a while before he’d be able to enjoy such a luxury again.
As they did, the duo laughed amongst themselves, making jokes and teasing one another while enjoying each other’s company.
During that time, Bruce eventually received a notification informing him that he’d earned a ×40 Rebate of about 9,600 Kepto for purchasing snacks and beverages worth 240 Kepto in total.
Ignoring the notification, Bruce continued chatting with Summer until she realized it was finally time for her next shift.
A bit hesitant, she eventually parted ways with Bruce soon after and made her way back to work.
Along the way, a sudden realization struck her, causing her to stop in her tracks after having already separated from Bruce.
’I forgot to pay the bill this time!’
Having gone through multiple surprises within such a short period of time, as well as Bruce’s sudden attack on her hand resulting in an electrifying reaction that made her heart seemingly skip a few beats, Summer had completely forgotten that she’d originally intended to pay the bill.
’Fudge! Damn that annoyingly chiseled face of his! Next time I’ll make sure I’m the one covering the bill. Next time for sure!’
Steeling her resolve, Summer made up her mind, completely unaware of the similar cliché events the future had in store for her.
Meanwhile...
Reaching the gym a while after separating from Summer, Bruce was welcomed like any other guest by Jones upon arriving.
This time, however, the muscular man, whose build still appeared bulkier than Bruce’s despite his upgraded Stats, was unable to recognize him at all.
Introducing him like a first-time visitor to the gym, it wasn’t until he heard the subtle resemblance in Bruce’s voice that he became somewhat suspicious of his identity.
However, after Bruce confirmed who he was, the bodybuilding coach appeared genuinely surprised by his full-blown transformation.
"Young Bruce? Oh my! Looks like the ugly duckling has finally become a swan. Never would’ve expected you’d achieve such results in so little time. You truly are a talented young man."
Patting him on the back in admiration, Jones genuinely smiled as he congratulated Bruce on his new look.
Drawn by the commotion Jones made upon realizing it was Bruce standing before him, the others, having overheard their conversation, became even more surprised by the latter’s complete one-eighty transformation from undesirable to irresistible.
Unable to take their eyes off him, they began wondering if they too would look like that if they chose the ’Demoness Instructor’ as their trainer.
Some were even secretly planning to reserve a spot in her training program whenever she became available.
Unaware of the silent ripple he’d created, one that would soon grow into a giant wave throughout the entire gym, Bruce managed to slip out of the sea of instructors who had swarmed him upon realizing who he used to be before the transformation.
Heaving a sigh of relief after reaching his private quarters, Bruce decided to take a shower first, as usual.
Stepping out of the shower, he checked himself out in the mirror situated against the wall.
Admiring himself for a moment, he pulled out his freshly cleaned premium tracksuit, which always seemed to be washed and well taken care of whenever he returned to the gym.
Staring at the tracksuit, which still looked a bit oversized since it hadn’t yet adjusted to his new physique, Bruce smiled at his progress.
He casually put it on, causing it to adjust to his current build and further accentuate his well-defined physique.
Making his biceps, pecs, and abs even more visible, the suit easily showed off his new frame in full view.
Stepping out of his private quarters, he wasn’t surprised to find Naomi already leaning against the entrance as she took a moment to size him up.
Taking a moment to evaluate his sudden change, Naomi silently stared at him.
Already expecting him to change once more, especially since he’d mastered harnessing Mana, to an extent, in such a short time, Naomi wasn’t surprised that he’d transformed again.
Instead, what baffled her was the extent to which he had done so, as he now looked like an entirely different person.
Were it not for the fact that she’d personally overseen his transformation, watching him push himself to the brink of exhaustion time and time again, she would’ve doubted he was someone else posing as Bruce.
However, knowing how much work he’d put into changing so drastically, she decided to leave such unnecessary thoughts alone and simply congratulated him on his progress.
"Congrats on the new look. I see you’re finally taking the initiative to look the part."
Smirking slightly, she continued,
"So, what do we owe the pleasure of your visit today? After all, I’ve already taught you everything I intended to teach you before, so there isn’t really much more I can physically help you improve. Or don’t tell me you actually miss my training methods so much that you decided to drop by for more."
Shuddering slightly at the sight of her widening smirk, Bruce casually replied, a teasing smile finding its way onto his face.
"As tempting as the offer might be, sadly, I’m not into that kind of play. I just decided to swing by and exercise a bit since I’ve already paid for the membership fee. Might as well get my money’s worth while I can, right?"
Already accustomed to her torturous training methods, Bruce knew that willingly choosing to train like that was something only a true masochist would do.
He certainly had no intention of being mistaken for one.
Though now that he was already much stronger, it would take far more than before to push him to exhaustion, as his Stats had increased considerably.
Not to mention, the requirements to increase even a single Stat after surpassing the limits of normal human capability were much greater.
As such, ordinary exercise was now far less likely to increase his Stats or make him stronger unless the training exceeded what any ordinary human could endure.
Understanding his reasoning, Naomi simply replied as she took a seat on a nearby workout bench.
"Well then, I guess you’d better get to work. Though I might not be able to teach you anything new, I can still give advice on your form and point out your mistakes."
Smiling at her reply, Bruce stretched before answering,
"Wouldn’t have it any other way."