"Huh?"
A brawny man in a tank top, his arms covered in elaborate tattoos that made him look like a yakuza, frowned as Shizuka Hiratsuka approached.
"What do you want?"
Shizuka Hiratsuka didn't answer immediately. Instead, she narrowed her eyes slightly, a cold glint flashing in them.
"That's my student. Before I call the police, you'd better back off. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind stretching my limbs a bit."
"Hah?"
The group of men exchanged puzzled glances, scratching their heads.
"Uh, I think you've got the wrong idea. We're not giving him any trouble."
Shizuka Hiratsuka crossed her arms and snorted.
"Still lying? Then why are you surrounding him?"
The men looked at each other awkwardly before one of them cautiously replied,
"We were just asking Ye Xing for advice on effective workout routines."
This unexpected answer made Shizuka Hiratsuka pause, her expression turning sceptical as she glanced at Ye Xing, who was sitting casually among them.
"Wait... really?"
Ye Xing yawned and grinned lazily.
"Yeah, that's right."
Shizuka Hiratsuka clearly wasn't entirely convinced. She scrutinised Ye Xing's physique, silently noting that his build was indeed well-proportioned, with clearly defined muscle tone visible on his arms.
But...
Shizuka Hiratsuka glanced at the several hulking men whose builds resembled the Hulk, thinking that Ye Xing seemed quite lacking in comparison to these giants.
Wasn't the so-called "seeking advice" stance completely reversed here?
Seeing Shizuka's silent expression, the tattooed muscleman impatiently waved his hand.
"If you've got nothing else, hurry up and leave. Don't interfere with our progress."
Then he turned to Ye Xing, his beefy face instantly transforming into an expression of reverence—one that Shizuka might even describe as fawning.
"Bro, I've been stuck at heavy weights recently. Is it my form? Or is there something wrong with my training and diet plan? Haven't seen you in ages—give me some pointers."
As the saying goes:
Moderate fitness attracts the opposite sex.
Excessive fitness attracts the same sex.
In the eyes of these musclemen, the stunningly beautiful Shizuka Hiratsuka was far less appealing than Ye Xing, who could provide them with workout plans.
"Hold on a second."
Shizuka quickly walked up to Ye Xing and asked suspiciously,
"Are you famous in this gym?"
Ye Xing casually replied while removing weight plates from the barbell,
"Of course. I'm a renowned muscle lord."
"A what?"
"Muscle lord."
Hearing this term, Shizuka's cheeks flushed red as she gritted her teeth in frustration.
"You—you—how dare you make dirty jokes with your teacher!?"
Ye Xing looked puzzled, gazing at Shizuka with innocent, clear eyes as he asked,
"What's the problem? 'Muscle lord' just means someone who's really good at fitness. But Teacher, what do you mean by 'dirty jokes'? I don't understand."
"I—this—it's not..."
This left Shizuka at a complete loss, unsure how to explain.
In the end, she could only glare fiercely at Ye Xing before turning away in a huff.
Shizuka wasn't stupid.
There was no way a boy of Ye Xing's age wouldn't know the suggestive meaning behind "muscle lord."
He was clearly teasing her on purpose!
When Shizuka returned to her seat, Mafuyu Kirisu remarked coolly,
"As a teacher, you actually got played by a student."
"Shut up!"
Her cheeks still slightly flushed, Shizuka initially wanted to leave the gym immediately. However, after reconsidering, her curiosity ultimately prevailed.
She just couldn't understand.
How could an ordinary first-year high school student—whose muscles weren't even that exaggerated—have so many people sincerely seeking his advice?
The wait wasn't long.
After chatting briefly with the musclemen and doing a few sets of bench presses, Ye Xing soon left the gym.
Seizing this opportunity, Shizuka immediately stood up.
Mafuyu didn't even need to ask to know what she was planning and said indifferently,
"Go ahead and follow him if you want. I've already wasted half an hour here with you—I'm about to catch a cold from the AC."
Shizuka smiled sheepishly.
"Got it. I'll treat you to dinner later as compensation."
With that, she stealthily made her way to the equipment area.
What Shizuka wanted to confirm was simple.
What weight was Ye Xing bench pressing?
When she saw the numbers on the plates and added them up in her head, she was stunned.
"T-two hundred kilograms?!"
This outrageous number gave Shizuka Hiratsuka a slight case of muscle-head shock.
Damn.
A first-year high school student bench pressing two hundred kilograms for reps.
Is he even human?
No wonder those burly guys had to ask Ye Xing for advice.
So that's how it was.
However, after the brief shock, a trace of concern surfaced between Shizuka Hiratsuka's brows.
If it were any other student, it wouldn't matter.
But for Ye Xing—who had a history of violence in middle school—such extraordinary physical prowess, wouldn't it lead to safety issues?
Young people are prone to impulsiveness.
And on top of that, Ye Xing had already earned a bad reputation on his very first day at school.
What if he got into a conflict with another student and didn't hold back? What then?
Thinking this, Shizuka Hiratsuka made up her mind.
She had to find a way to correct Ye Xing's temperament—at the very least, make sure he behaved himself while at school.
...
Several hours later, at 1 a.m., in a narrow Kyoto alleyway.
"Hand over the money!"
A middle-aged man with a twisted, ferocious face pressed a sharp knife against a young woman's throat.
A voice whispered incessantly in his mind.
'Kill her, kill her, kill her...'
"Shut up!"
The man clutched his head with his left hand, bloodshot veins bulging in his eyes.
Terrified by his deranged appearance, the young woman trembled so badly she accidentally dropped her wallet.
"Did you do that on purpose?!"
"N-no, I didn't..."
She stammered an explanation, but the man wasn't listening.
All he could hear was the ceaseless whispering.
The sharp blade nicked the woman's pale neck, drawing a trickle of blood. The crimson liquid reflected in the man's eyes, making the voice in his head even clearer.
'Kill her!'
Just as the man was about to lose control and plunge the knife into her throat, a voice laced with mocking amusement rang out from behind him.
"Such a low-effort robbery."
"What's that in your hand—a fruit knife?"
"Tsk. If you don't strive for excellence, how do you expect to stand out in this cutthroat industry?"