Chapter 39: Even Running Brings Trouble

"Fuitsu-kun, you are a truly good person. In all this time, you have never used us to coerce anyone or do anything terrible!" Athena said to me.

I didn’t understand why she brought this up out of nowhere. "A person has to live by principles. I won’t use your abilities to seek personal gain, and I certainly won’t let you do anything evil!"

"Fuitsu-kun, there are far too many things in this world that are not perfect. Keeping such a kind heart is both a good thing and a bad thing for you. If you direct your kindness toward good people, there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you waste it on treacherous, petty people, it’s a complete waste. You haven’t stepped out into society yet, so you don’t know how treacherous human hearts can be. Kindness and endless tolerance won’t earn you a single thing; on the contrary, they will only make you lose more, because those people are insatiably greedy. You can see that clearly just by looking at your eldest uncle and second uncle."

"Sister, then what do you think I should do?"

"The path is yours to choose; I cannot help you with that. But I want to ask you: Are you really content to remain beneath others forever? Don’t you want to forever trample those who once looked down on you right under your feet, making them watch your every expression before they dare speak?" Athena asked, staring directly at me.

Athena’s words plunged me into deep thought, forcing me to reflect deeply on my future. It felt as though Heaven had played a cruel joke on me—giving me a flawed childhood and robbing me of the prime stage to grow and learn. Yet the arrival of Athena and the others had completely overturned the trajectory of my life, leaving me anything but ordinary.

I asked myself deep down: Which kind of life did I actually want? A plain, quiet existence filled with hardship and neglect, or a glorious, spectacular, and extraordinary life?

I thought of the disdainful glares from my eldest uncle and second uncle, the cold shoulders I endured during my school years, and the pitifully meager income my parents earned through backbreaking labor. The desire buried deep inside my heart was finally ignited to the fullest, and those self-righteous, bullshit principles of mine were completely thrown to the wind.

I want to be strong. I want to live extraordinarily!

With a loud roar, I burst into a crazy sprint, using this wild speed to vent all the unwilling resentment and grievances bottled up inside me.

I didn’t know how much time had passed, but after completely purging the bitterness accumulated in my heart for years, I finally snapped back to reality.

Seeing the spark of life return to my eyes, Athena let out a long sigh of relief, flashed a graceful smile, and stopped talking—clearly realizing I had made my choice.

Looking around, I noticed everyone in the stadium—both instructors and students—staring at me with wide eyes and open mouths. Stopping in front of a classmate, I scratched my head and asked sheepishly, "How many laps did I run? I forgot to keep count!"

He didn’t answer my question right away, merely staring at me in utter disbelief. I reached out, pulled his shirt, and shook him a little.

Snapping back to his senses, he looked at me with pure admiration and gasped, "That’s insane! Fuitsu, are you Superman?!"

"What Superman? Hurry up and answer me—if I haven’t reached ten laps, I still need to keep running!"

"Ten laps?! Man, I think you’ve already hit forty! Good grief, we’ve been watching you run for almost two full hours!"

I was thoroughly shocked by his words. Looking at the people around us, every single one of them was looking at me as if I were a monster.

"It’s not as exaggerated as he made it sound, but pretty close. It was thirty laps in total, taking one hour and forty minutes!" Instructor Jin came up to my side and patted my shoulder.

Looking at the instructor’s wry smile, I was surprised to find that this man who always kept a cold expression could actually crack a joke.

Seeing Instructor Jin talking to me, the other thirty-plus instructors stopped their training as well, running over to inspect me closely. Luckily, it was almost lunchtime, otherwise these soldier boys would have been disciplined.

Meanwhile, my classmates began bragging to the freshmen from other departments!

"Look closely! That’s our class’s Big Bro, the top-scoring freshman Fuitsu! Take a good look so you have something to flex about later!"

"I saw him at the entrance ceremony! Man, who knew this guy not only has top-tier grades, but runs like a absolute beast too?! He’s my idol from now on!"

"Wow, he’s such a stylish guy—amazing grades and an incredible physique! That’s so cool~" a young girl said in a sweet, flirty voice.

Hearing someone speak like that, a girl from our class immediately fired back: "Little sister, handsome guys are a dime a dozen, but where else are you gonna find a guy this incredible? Do you know our class’s beautiful advisor? Yesterday she was so charmed by our Fuitsu that she actively gave him a kiss!"

Blame my ears for being too sharp—hearing that made me break out in a cold sweat. Since when did I become ’her’ Fuitsu?!

"Is that for real? I don’t see what’s so special about him. Just because his grades are slightly better doesn’t mean every beauty falls for him, right? I..." a male student grumbled in jealousy, but halfway through his sentence, the furious glares from everyone in our class scared him into swallowing his words right back down.

Unable to stand the soldiers inspecting me like a machine they wanted to take apart, along with the worshipful gazes of the other students, I used the excuse of physical exhaustion to make a hasty retreat.

I ran straight to the clinic to check on the injured Ryu Yu, only to find out the kid had already returned to his dorm to rest. Seeing that it was about time for lunch, I went to the faculty cafeteria located below my dorm, bought some food, and headed over to Ryu Yu’s dormitory.

Finding his room number from the dorm supervisor on the ground floor, I hurried upstairs. Ryu Yu’s room was also on the 5th floor. Standing at the door of Room 520, I knocked, and immediately heard a flurry of movement inside, followed by Ryu Yu’s voice: "Come in, the door’s unlocked!"

Pushing the door open, I saw four bunk beds with desks built underneath, arranged two on each side. Ryu Yu was currently lying on the bed near the left window. Seeing me come in, he quickly sat up and said with a laugh, "You didn’t even say who it was—you made me think an instructor or professor had come!" As he spoke, he pulled a pair of slippers out from under his blanket and tossed them down.

"What are you doing? How did your shoes end up up there?" I asked in confusion.

"Haha, I was just surfing the web since I had nothing to do!" Ryu Yu chuckled, carefully climbing down the bed ladder.

"Is your foot alright?"

"It’s fine, just a sprain. The school doctor gave me some bone-setting liquid—it’ll heal in three or four days at most. Whoa, what smells so good?" Ryu Yu asked, sniffing the air.

"You really have a dog’s nose! Here, take this—I specifically bought it from the faculty cafeteria under my dorm. It’s way better than anywhere else!" Saying that, I handed him the packed food.

"Ah, mom and dad are great, but no one’s greater than Big Bro! Just as I was feeling miserable about starving for lunch, Big Bro shows up. Whoa, there’s so much food, how can I finish this all by myself?" Ryu Yu said dramatically.

"In your dreams! I haven’t eaten yet either—half of that is mine!"

"Haha, let’s eat together, Big Bro! Man, this is delicious! Eating from the student cafeteria makes my mouth taste so bland. By the way, Big Bro, after I went to the clinic, did you finish running those ten laps?" Ryu Yu asked.

I gave a casual hum in response and began eating together with Ryu Yu.

In just one single day, my name spread like wildfire across the entire campus of Tokyo University. It even reached the ears of several nosey reporters, who rushed over from all directions to interview me.

It annoyed me so much that I called President Takahashi directly to cry for help. President Takahashi stepped in personally to grant me leave from the instructors, exempting me from any further military training. And just like that, my military training lasted for a single, brief day.