40 4.2 (2/2)

Although Jin Jia would naturally get its share of punishment, everyone else's involvement in ruining the original owner was somewhat vague.

Even the protagonist wasn't necessarily guilty. After all, the fact that Murong Wen hadn't warned Jin Yongguang about Jin Zhong's ploy suggested that he'd intended to comply, but it didn't guarantee it—Murong Wen could reasonably claim to have hesitated to hurt his good buddy's feelings by exposing how his parents had tried to ambush him, feared that his good buddy wouldn't believe him, so on and so forth.

And what, if anything, Murong Wen had done to Hou Jia? That was irrelevant to Chen Yu.

Narrowing his eyes, Chen Yu considered just destroying every borderline character, but he had to admit that the clean-up would be too troublesome.

Considering that he had plenty of time to spare with the quarterly assessment about a month away, fine, the first thing he'd focus on would be achieving the body's goal of perfect mecha control.

Actually, Chen Yu tended not to care about the original owner's final regrets, he wasn't a wish-fulfilling, fairy-godmother sort of person. What endeavors he made were solely for the sake of staying in character. Nevertheless, since he found Jin Yongguang quite interesting, he didn't mind putting some effort in for the boy.

Having settled on his course of action, Chen Yu logged off from the virtual work and sat up in the pod.

Controlling mecha was a strenuous activity, and many operators failed to advance because their physique wasn't durable enough for protracted battles. Often, in competitions between two well-matched opponents, the victor would be determined by who could last longer. The importance of endurance, therefore, was widely acknowledged.

Chen Yu, however, recalled that besides stamina, the highest level of mecha control required characteristics like incredibly fast and precise hands as well as sharp vision that could accurately track movements at high speeds. So to truly create the best body for mecha control, he would have to enhance various parts.

While the easiest way to meet the objective would be to use his golden finger, he wasn't sure that it would accommodate a broad goal like ”optimize physique for mecha operation.” And...unsurprisingly, when he tried, his body in the mirror's reflection didn't bulk up or grow taller, nor did he feel any different.

Chen Yu shrugged, preparing to head to the fitness room. He hadn't sincerely expected the system to be so generous anyway, he could handle it himself.

In order to become the future support of the Federation, students at the academy had to both develop impeccable mecha control virtually and boost their builds with exercise in the physical world. To this end, the academy supplied every dorm building with a lavish gym, which was open for use throughout the day.

So, when Chen Yu entered the fitness room, a great deal of machines had already been taken, along with most of the spaces. Looking at the crowd of hardworking little brats, Chen Yu could only click his tongue. To beat out all these overachievers, did that mean he would have to exert that much effort?

Chen Yu grimaced. It would be boring, but since he'd chosen to go through with this task, he resolutely walked into the last empty training room to stretch, then began going through some of the original owner's favorite exercise routines. Curiously, when he pushed the limits on Jin Yongguang's body, he discovered that its statistics had improved very much from when he'd sparred with Murong Wen that afternoon.

Had the system granted his wish after all?

Studying his upgraded body, Chen Yu raised his eyebrows. This feeling was pretty good. His last life, he'd mostly spent lazing around, so this boundless energy was an entertaining change.

Thus, he continuously ran through all the offense and defense sequences he could think of, flying around the room for hours.

---

Because the academy encouraged students to learn from each other, the training rooms each had a large window, through which anyone who wanted to could observe the person inside. A beat after Chen Yu entered his room, another student had approached his room.

Earlier, Hou Yi had received a call from his father, warning him to be on the lookout for irregular movements among his peers and teachers. The military's files had been hacked, the traces leading to the academy, but there were no further clues. Although Jin Yongguang was the most questionable suspect based on his relationship with Jin Zhong, his bright, candid personality was difficult to doubt, nor were there any other indications that he was colluding with his parents.

Still, Hou Yi was cautioned to stay on guard against the boy. Hou Yi, who was somewhat amused, decided that he would like to see what such a simple child could do.

Chen Yu didn't share Yongguang's one-track mind, so he'd noticed Hou Yi's intense gaze from the start. It was only that since he didn't want to bother with him, he hadn't reacted. When there was no sign that the boy planned to leave even after several hours had passed, however, Chen Yu paused, considering whether to deal with this fellow cannon fodder character.

Just as he was about to make a move, a regular student approached Hou Yi to ask for pointers. Smiling at this interruption to his view, Hou Yi leisurely shifted his gaze and walked toward another training room.

But as he left, without any reason, he looked back at Jin Yongguang's flickering figure. Sweat flowed down from that inky hair, the form executed exquisite attacks, the tanned skin glistened like bronze. Simply moving, he caused everyone else to dim.

A moment later, Hou Yi shook his head, laughing at his nonsensical rambling, and turned away.