After leaving the carriage, Arthur walked through the streets of the city till he reached a more populated area. There, he stopped in a corner and finally logged out of the game.
A few seconds later, Arthur opened his eyes to the real world. Leaving the capsule, he stretched his limbs and looked through the window. The world was still dark outside, indicating that it was still early into the day.
“I have been playing for almost 10 hours. Ugh!” He muttered as he walked to the bathroom and washed his face. Looking into the mirror, Arthur touched his chin. “Hmm… My skin is looking clearer than before. I also look more gorgeous. Hehe, good.”
The boy felt at ease that the serum was still doing its magic, improving his body and appearance bit by bit. Arthur was starting to see his new looks and height in a new light. The serum wasn’t turning him into a monster as he expected but rather into a very uniquely pleasing person to look at. With his still short stature, he was akin to a beautiful porcelain doll rather than a human.
The muscles, the face, and the height were the main changes the serum was working on. But, even Arthur’s presence was different. As he got stronger and more handsome, his confidence was also rising, not to mention the effect of playing DO for a considerably long while, the timid Arthur was now shrouded by a more assertive Arthur.
*Crack*
“*Yawn* It’s nice to know that I’m changing for the better every single day. I will never get enough of this serum.” He muttered as he walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. Preparing a good breakfast, Arthur opened the TV and sat down to eat his food, enjoying the quiet hours of the early morning.
Some time passed and the sun finally rose and the chirping of the birds echoed across the entire island.
“123… 124… Ugh, 125…” Arthur grunted as he counted his push-ups. His body was sweating profusely while his arms struggled to keep moving. Eventually, he stopped at 126 push-ups.
“Hah… Hah… I exceeded my limit again. I’m feeling way stronger than before.” Arthur muttered as he stood up and wiped the sweat off his face. “This body is becoming more and more ridiculous as time goes by.”
The last time Arthur tried to do push-ups, he was able to do 80 without stopping. But, now he could easily reach 125 push-ups. That kind of improvement was ridiculous, bordering insanity. But, that was the magic of the serum and its effect and Arthur had already accepted it as some kind of magic concoction.
After that, he took a shower and wore his uniform before he left the apartment. At that moment, Arthur received a message on his phone.
“Hm? It’s Isla.”
[Wait for me near the platform.] She said in one single sentence with nothing else.
“… Haha, even her messages are so serious.” Arthur laughed as he shook his head before he put the device away and walked outside.
Taking his sonic board, Arthur moved toward the school along with numerous other students. Reaching the parking lot, Arthur parked his board and waited for Isla to arrive.
It didn’t take long before his friend appeared in the distance, being looked at by many students as usual. Arthur even noticed some students almost crashing when they looked at Isla, getting stunned by her jaw-dropping beauty.
‘It must be quite annoying to be that good-looking. She can’t have a break.’ Arthur thought to himself as he walked toward Isla. “Good morning.”
“Morning,” Isla replied as she parked her hoverboard. “I’m sorry for being late.”
“Hmm, that is fine. You’re on time as usual. Where are the others? I don’t see them.” Arthur replied.
“…” Isla went silent for a second before she replied. “They will be attending later. They still have some things to deal with.”
“Still?” Arthur raised an eyebrow. “Are they really fine? I’m a little worried now.”
When Arthur heard about this problem the others were facing, he was concerned but didn’t think too much about it as it could’ve been anything. But, the fact they were going to miss some lessons today too was worrying.
“Yes, they are fine. It is quite a tricky situation regarding their families. But, they will be back as usual later.” Isla nodded her head. “Don’t worry, if it was something bad, I would’ve dealt with it.”
‘… The confidence…’ Arthur smiled slightly. “Ok, if you say so.”
With that, the two started climbing the stairs, heading to the elevator.
However, the moment they stepped onto the platform, Arthur was suddenly pushed to the side as someone stumbled into him.
“Hey, watch you-”
“Ugh!”
Before Arthur could even speak, he noticed the boy that hit him being grabbed by someone else before he was dragged to the side.
“Come here, you little bastard. Where do you think you’re running?”
“P-Please spare me! I already gave you all the points I have!”
“You call this handful of change, points?”
Looking at the scene, Arthur noticed a group of students surrounding one single boy as they pushed him left and right like a toy. The other students noticed the ruckus but nobody stopped it as the group continued to harass the boy. No one wanted anything to do with those people.
“Aren’t those A-Class students?”
“Shush…”
“Don’t talk about them.”
“They will target you.”
“Unlucky for him, he became the target.”
Other students muttered as they quickly retreated, not daring to stay for a second more.
“…” Arthur stopped for a second as he stared at the scene.
“Arthur?” Isla called for her friend when she noticed him stop. Then, her eyes wandered to the ruckus and her expression turned cold.
“Please… I really have nothing else.”
“Listen here, my friend. You see, we are a very exhausted group. Being A-Class and all, we need nutrition to keep up. So, you will be the one responsible for feeding us every day from now on, got it?”
“…”
“Am I clear?”
“Y-Yes! I will!”
“Hahahaha!”
The group laughed loudly as they looked at the pathetic state the student reached. His clothes were dirty and there were red spots on his face from the kicking.
“Pfft, come on, Kai, you bullied him too much. Look, he’s about to cry.” One of the boys said mockingly.
“Hey hey, don’t make me sound like an evil person now. I was just asking him nicely to help us. I hate bullying. Hm?”
At that moment, a boy named Kai noticed that someone was standing behind him. Turning around, he found an unknown person staring directly at him from a close distance.
“Huh? What do you want?” He asked as he glared at Arthur.
“Return his points,” Arthur said coldly, not caring about the supposedly intimidating look Kai was giving him.
“…”
The group was completely stunned for a second before they exploded into laughter at the same time.
“Hahaha! What? Return his points?”
“What is this guy talking about?”
“Don’t make us sound like we stole his points. He gave them to us willingly.”
“…” Arthur didn’t move at all as he kept staring at Kai. While he also tried to start laughing, for some reason, he felt something very off from the boy in front of him. A weird feeling of unease filled his heart.
Almost as if… He was feeling fear.
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3