Another sunny weekend.
For the countless students of this city, these are the golden forty-eight hours of bubble tea, movies, and awkward dates.
The sun spreads like melted butter, lazily coating every street, and the air is thick with the sour scent of romance.
But inside the "Strength and Beauty 24-Hour Self-Service Gym," Xiang Lie sensed a different, more sacred, more pure "scent"—the rusty smell of barbells, the sweet aroma of protein powder, and the sweat of hard work blended into a fragrant blend.
"I love my trapezius muscles, and my trapezius muscles love me..." Xiang Lie hummed his self-composed, severely off-key version of "The Hymn of the Throne," peeking out half his head from the equipment area.
His eyes, which usually shone with philosophical brilliance, now darted around the gym like a thief.
Good. The front desk girl was wearing headphones, engrossed in a show, smiling like an idiot. A few college students who had just signed up were sweating it out on the treadmills, completely disinterested in the sacred realm of the weightlifting area. Most importantly...
Gao Fei wasn't there.
That guy who always disrupted his moments of enlightenment with mundane questions like "clothing coordination" and "cervical curvature" was probably out watching a movie with his girlfriend today.
The gym owner, that middle-aged man with a goatee who always said he trained too "strangely," was also nowhere to be seen.
"Heavenly timing, favorable location, and harmonious people!"
Xiang Lie clenched his fist excitedly, feeling his biceps cheer for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Today, he was going to do something big. Something he had been planning for a long time but had been repeatedly obstructed.
His trapezius muscles, his "throne," had not felt that tearing sensation of breaking through limits in a long time. Regular weights were like scratching an itch through a shoe for him. He needed stronger stimulation, more extreme pressure, to elevate the foundation of his soul once again!
His gaze swept past row after row of dumbbells, finally locking onto the deepest corner of the strength zone—that sacred, shrine-like place.
There, two massive circular iron discs lay quietly.
They were entirely black, their surfaces slightly weathered by time, with a row of intimidating white letters engraved along the edges—"200KG."
These were not ordinary weight plates. They were the gym's prized possession, the legendary props the owner once used to show off his strength in his youth, now reduced to unmovable "decorations."
In Xiang Lie's eyes, they were not decorations.
They were the key to the higher tiers of the "Throne," the sacred artifacts he must conquer on his path of cultivation!
"Hehehe..." Xiang Lie let out a low, villainous laugh, rubbing his hands together as he strode toward the two "sacred artifacts."
He could feel the air in the entire gym seeming to freeze. Everything around him turned into a black-and-white backdrop, except for those two 200-kilogram iron discs, which shone with a golden glow in his eyes.
Gao Fei, you can't stop me! Boss, you can't stop me either! Today, no one will stop me from becoming one with my throne!
He put on the specially made weighted headgear, dragged over a sufficiently high bench press bench from the side, stepped onto it, and faced his challenge with a superior posture.
He took a deep breath and carefully hooked the chains on both sides of the headgear onto the handles of one of the iron discs.
Ready.
"Huff..." He exhaled a breath of stale air, closed his eyes, and began a sacred communion with his muscles.
"Left, right, my left arm and right arm, my most loyal guardians, do you feel this power? Do you feel this heavy expectation?"
He could "hear" the trapezius muscles on both sides of his neck buzzing with excitement.
"Good!" Xiang Lie encouraged them in his heart, "Today is the day we break through our shackles and crown ourselves kings! Rise!!"
With a low growl, Xiang Lie exerted all his strength!
The veins on his neck bulged instantly, and every muscle in his body tensed to the extreme! That two-hundred-kilogram iron disc was forcibly lifted off the ground by a tiny crack, using his head, his neck, and those two proud "thrones" he boasted of!
"Clang!"
The iron disc trembled slightly, emitting a dull sound.
However, that tiny gap seemed to have drained most of his strength. The iron disc remained motionless, firmly stuck to the ground, as if mocking his overconfidence.
"Hm?" Xiang Lie furrowed his brows, "Azuo, you're being a bit mischievous today, aren't you? Did you not sleep well last night?"
He adjusted his breathing and tried again.
"Stop fooling around, Azuo! Be good! Look how well-behaved Ayou is! Ayou, let's cheer for Azuo together! One, two, three! Lift!!"
He exerted all his strength, his face flushed red, his entire body trembling slightly. The massive iron disc was finally lifted inch by inch from the ground by him!
Five centimeters... ten centimeters...
Success was within reach! The dawn of victory was already shining upon his throne!
Just at that crucial moment, a piercing scream, loud enough to shatter eardrums, erupted unexpectedly in the gym!
"Ah—! Boss! Someone come quickly! There's... there's a monster trying to hang himself!!"
The scream came from a nearby area, where a college student who had just signed up for a membership was using the squat rack to work on her glutes.
She had merely glanced curiously at this corner, only to see a man standing on a stool, bare-chested, with an iron chain around his neck, the other end of the chain attached to a massive iron disc, his face contorted in a grotesque expression, his entire body trembling.
This scene was simply too shocking for a normal human being. All that flashed through her mind were the bizarre suicide scenes from horror movies.
"Monster... suicide?"
Xiang Lie was in a state of perfect union with the iron disc, but the scream was like a thunderclap, violently snapping his consciousness out of his "throne."
He instinctively diverted his attention and turned his head toward the source of the sound.
This momentary distraction was fatal for the control of power in an extreme state.
"Ah!"
He felt an excruciating pain in his neck, as if the foundation of the "throne" had been struck by a sledgehammer. The gathered force dissipated instantly!
"Clang——!!"
The 200-kilogram iron disc plummeted to the ground in free fall. The entire gym shook, the sound ten times louder than during Xiang Lie's usual training sessions.
Xiang Lie himself collapsed from the bench, as if all his bones had been pulled out, and lay motionless on the ground.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?"
"What was that sound?"
The boss rushed out of the office, the front desk girl took off her headphones, several muscle-bound weightlifters gathered around, and of course, there was the terrified college student.
Then, everyone witnessed a scene they would never forget.
Xiang Lie, the "trapezius legend" of the gym, was lying on the ground with his arms and legs spread out, his eyes vacant as he stared at the ceiling. His face bore an expression of despair and humiliation, as if he had been repeatedly violated by a hundred men.
His lips trembled slightly, and a single tear trickled down his rugged facial features.
"Azuo... Ayu... I'm sorry..."
His voice was filled with sorrow and self-blame, like a last emperor who had lost his kingdom.
"It's my fault... I didn't protect you... For a whole month... I couldn't train you anymore! I let you down! I'm sorry to my throne! Wuwuwu..."
He grew increasingly distraught, eventually curling up like a two-hundred-pound child, covering his face, and emitting suppressed, agonized sobs.
The onlookers exchanged glances. The female university student's face had gone pale; she seemed to realize she might have interrupted… a very, very sacred ritual?
The boss covered his forehead and let out a long, helpless sigh: "Xiang Lie! It's you again! Ambulance! Call an ambulance! Damn it, I knew this 200-kilogram discus would eventually cause trouble because of you!"...
Night fell.
In the hospital ward, the smell of disinfectant filled the air.
Xiang Lie lay on the hospital bed, wearing a ridiculous white neck brace, feeling as though his life had lost all color. The doctor said it was an acute neck muscle strain combined with soft tissue contusion, requiring a month of bed rest and strict prohibition of any strenuous activity.
A month…
This was more unbearable than death for him.
Under the influence of painkillers, he drifted in and out of consciousness.
In a daze, he seemed to hear a voice. The voice belonged to no one, cold and mechanical, as if it were echoing directly in his mind.
[Detected that the host possesses an extraordinary faith and obsession toward the "trapezius muscle"…]
[Assessing obsession intensity… Assessment level: Fanatic.]
[Meets the activation conditions for the "Muscle God System"…]
[System activated… 10%... 50%... 100%... Activation successful.]
[Newbie bonus granted: Activated "Infinite Muscle Fiber Repair" permission. Beginning repair of damaged areas...]
"What the hell... Muscle God... Repair..."
Xiang Lie mumbled incoherently, thinking it was a hallucination caused by the painkillers, rolled over, and fell into a deep sleep.
...
The next morning, the first rays of sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating Xiang Lie's face.
He slowly opened his eyes, the hangover-like headache causing him to furrow his brows. He instinctively moved his neck, preparing for the familiar, tearing pain.
Huh?
There was no pain as he had imagined.
He cautiously turned his head again.
Left side... smooth.
Right side… smooth.
Looking down… looking up…
No pain at all!
Not only was there no pain, but he even felt an unprecedented vitality in his neck. The two trapezius muscles felt as though they had had a good night's sleep, refreshed and full of strength!
"Aaah—!!!"
Xiang Lie suddenly let out a loud, piercing roar from the hospital bed, as if declaring the return of a king!
"Holy crap!"
The roar startled Gao Fei, who had been dozing off on the chair by the bed, sending him tumbling off the chair and onto the floor.
However, Xiang Lie had no time to spare for him.
He ripped off the neck brace around his neck, like a lion breaking free from its chains, and sprang up from the hospital bed, landing steadily on the ground!
He clenched his fists, feeling the surging power within him, and let out a loud roar, his face filled with unbridled passion and devotion:
"Thank you, God of the Trapezius Muscle! Thank you for the protection of the Throne! My injuries are completely healed!"
He turned around, his eyes gleaming with a newfound understanding of life and death, and fixed his gaze on Gao Fei, who had just climbed to his feet, looking completely bewildered.
"Gao Fei!" Xiang Lie's voice was solemn and sacred, "The gods have given me enlightenment! This injury was not a punishment, but a test! It was a trial sent down to grant me a stronger throne!"
"To repay this divine grace…" He paused, his eyes blazing with intense fire, "I have decided! From today onward, my trapezius muscle training will be doubled!"
Gao Fei stared blankly at him, still holding the apple he had bought for him last night, which he hadn't finished eating.
He opened his mouth, then looked at Xiang Lie's agile neck, then at the neck brace lying on the ground, and his mind completely shut down.
Yesterday... yesterday he was crying like a child who had his lollipop stolen.
Today, how could he... just get back up and even double his training?
This is... is it a last burst of energy before death, or has he truly lost his mind?