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“Does Asuto-senpai train here every night?”
“Only occasionally.”
After finishing a hundred spikes, Akashi Asuto was still a bit unsatisfied, as if he hadn’t gotten his fill. In contrast, Nishison Tomohiko, who had been setting up the spikes for him, was already close to exhaustion.
Asuto glanced at him while thinking. ‘This kid’s stamina isn’t great, and his endurance is low. At this rate, he won’t be able to meet others’ expectations in the future!’
Perhaps sensing the deeper meaning in Asuto’s gaze, Tomohiko’s face immediately flushed red. He said, “It’s okay, Asuto-Senpai. I can keep going.”
But Asuto shook his head, saying. “No need. Let’s stop here for today.”
“But…”
“Managing your body is an important part of an athlete’s daily training. Forcing yourself isn’t necessarily a good thing.”
Before Nishison could finish, Asuto cut him off, saying, “Besides, after training for so long, I’m hungry, too. Time to head home for dinner.”
“I understand.” Nishison’s voice grew subdued.
Seeing his disappointment, Asuto thought for a moment and said, “Don’t feel down. Your sets were really good today. Thanks for your hard work. Be careful on your way home later.”
Nishison’s eyes lit up slightly, and his voice grew louder. “Yes, I understand!”
…
After saying goodbye to Tomohiko and leaving the school,
Asuto stopped by to buy some ingredients on his way home. What he had said earlier wasn’t just to comfort Nishison Tomohiko; he was genuinely a bit hungry.
The energy the System used to enhance Asuto’s physical abilities didn’t come from nowhere.
The enhancement process was more like accelerating the effects of his training. While the results were significant, the process also consumed more of the energy stored in his body.
Asuto’s family was an ordinary working-class household.
His parents were office workers and were usually very busy. At this hour, they hadn’t gotten off work yet. Unless it was a holiday, Asuto usually made dinner on his own.
After all, the original Asuto didn’t know how to cook.
For the current Asuto, however, this was a good thing because he still hadn’t figured out how to interact with his adoptive parents.
In his previous life, he had been an orphan.
He had long been used to being alone.
Not to mention, these weren’t even his biological parents. Even if Li Mingshi’s real parents had appeared back on Earth, he wasn’t sure he could have gotten along with them.
After finishing dinner and taking a shower, he returned to his bedroom. It was just a little past seven.
Asuto was lying on the bed, staring at the clock on the wall. He was momentarily stunned.
Throughout his entire middle school years, he had never gone to bed as early as seven o’clock. Now that his life had suddenly become so relaxed, he actually felt a bit at a loss.
After lying there for a while and feeling too restless to stay still, he simply got up, took a book out of his bag, and started reading.
Since his first year of university, he had forgotten most of what he had learned in junior high. The problem was that middle school education in Japan was too simple. At an average school like Sengoku Junior High, which followed a “happy education” approach, the material taught in third grade was roughly equivalent to what he had learned in first grade in his previous life.
In less than two hours, Asuto had skimmed through an entire book.
At this pace, he estimated that in less than two weeks, he would be able to start previewing high school material again.
9:00 PM.
Asuto went to bed on time.
He wasn’t very sleepy at the moment, but this was also part of self-management. Asuto had set a heavy training load for himself. Since junior high students are still developing physically, they need more energy and longer sleep to maintain recovery.
The average middle school student needs eight hours of sleep.
However, to ensure proper recovery, Asuto allocated himself nine and a half hours of sleep.
…
The next morning.
6:30 AM.
Asuto woke up right on time. As he sat up, he instinctively moved his arms, then paused slightly.
“Is this condition… the System’s assistance effect?”
After feeling his body, Asuto realized that his recovery speed was far better than he had imagined.
Originally, he thought that after impulsively increasing his training volume several times over yesterday, he would wake up sore all over this morning. But in reality, aside from a slight feeling of swelling, there was nothing unusual about his body.
Well… except that he was extremely hungry.
“That makes sense. Given the way the system operates, even the healthiest body probably couldn’t handle it under normal conditions. Having some kind of protection mechanism is only natural.”
“But if that’s the case, then maybe I can increase my training volume even more.”
Asuto’s original plan was to spend one hour, from 6:30 to 7:30, practicing some basic techniques that didn’t consume too much stamina.
However, if the system could provide a protective effect, then he felt that he could push himself harder.
For example, he could add another half hour to an hour of physical training.
After all, junior high didn’t start the first morning reading session until 8:50 a.m. Even without the System, he felt it would be a waste to have so much free time in the morning and not use it.
…
[Ding…]
[The key to daily grinding lies in the morning. Knowing how to secretly outwork others while they sleep is a requirement for being a qualified “grind king.”]
[Congratulations, Host! In daily training of Receive, you exceeded your teammates’ training volume by one time and completed a Low-Level Involution Grind.]
[Reward: Receive · Involution Grind Value +0.1]
…
[Congratulations, Host! In daily training of Receive, you exceeded your teammates’ training volume by two times and completed a Mid-Level Involution Grind.]
[Reward: Receive · Involution Grind Value +0.2]
…
[Congratulations, Host! In daily training of Jumping, you exceeded your teammates’ training volume by one times and completed a Low-Level Involution Grind.]
[Reward: Vertical Jump Value +0.1]
…
[Congratulations, Host! In daily training of Jumping, you exceeded your teammates’ training volume by two times and completed a Mid-Level Involution Grind.]
[Reward: Vertical Jump Value +0.2]
…
8:10 AM.
Asuto finished his “involution grind”… ahem, morning training. Covered in sweat, he went back to the bathroom, took a quick five-minute shower, then ate the extra-large breakfast he had prepared in advance, and packed an equally large bento for later.
8:30 AM.
Asuto left home and headed to school.
8:46 AM.
He entered the classroom, put down his bag, and went out to use the restroom.
8:49 AM.
Asuto returned to his seat and took out his book.
At the same time…
The morning reading bell of Sengoku Junior High School rang…
(End of Chapter)
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