Chapter 4: A Flawless Body

“I’ll call it a day here.”

The fiery red sun was setting, and on the opposite side, a bluish sun was rising.

Whatever kind of world it was, Pangea had two suns and one moon.

And when the second sun was overhead, it would be time for the next shuttle to arrive.

I had already stayed for nearly half a day, so it was about time to head back.

[I’m kinda sad it’s over…]

The grateful viewer, Lena-nim, who had watched the broadcast until the very end, expressed her disappointment.

It was because I hadn’t been able to provide much dopamine after the fight with the Chain Wolf.

This was due to the ‘Anyway, humans are sorry’ issue that Lena-nim had mentioned.

Since R Point was a place frequented by countless adventurers, there were few monsters left alive nearby.

As a result, most of today’s broadcast was dedicated to exploring the continent.

I enjoyed it, but for Lena, who was probably a seasoned stream viewer, it must have been a rather boring time.
She likely already knew everything she was seeing.

“Still, thank you for watching until now. I’ll be more prepared for the next broadcast and stream for longer.”

This time was just a light taste since it was my first.

Now that I had successfully taken my first step, I was thinking of bringing camping gear in earnest next time.

“So… you have to come again, okay?”

[O_O]

“You’ll come, right?”

[We’ll see.]

“No. You have to come. Absolutely.”

[;;;]

“If you don’t, I’ll come find you?”

[F*ck lol.]

“Give me a definite answer, quick. I’ll keep pestering you until you do.”

[OK OK, I’ll come again.]

Only after hearing Lena’s answer could I let out a sigh of relief.

It would be too sad if I prepared a full-on broadcast and no one showed up.

“Ah, please subscribe and turn on notifications too. That way you can come as soon as I start streaming.”

[Hey… this is getting kinda scary. I’m not into being obsessed over.]

“Hurry.”

[lol]

Until Lena pressed it.
Until the number of subscribers and notifications changed from 1 to 2.

I endlessly refreshed the page.

“Hurry!”

[I did it.]

“If I check and you haven’t, you’re in for it from me?”

[lol]

Fortunately, it wasn’t a lie.
The number had actually increased.

[Subscribers: 2]

‘Wow…!’
To double my subscriber count on my first broadcast.
Maybe I had a talent for streaming after all.

“Thank you, Lena-nim. I’ll make the next broadcast really fun for you.”

[If not, I’m unsubscribing, cya.]

“That’s a bit much.”

[?]

“Anyway, I’ll wrap it up here. See you next time.”

[bye bye bye]

I ended the broadcast by tapping the skin next to my eye.

‘The lens is definitely worth the money.’
No wonder so many streamers used it.

My choice to buy the best one while I was at it was excellent.
Though I did end up spending almost all my money because of it.

“Hey, anyone know the terrain around Raincal well? I think I need to go there.”
“I dunno… but why? Did you run out of content already?”
“No, ugh… I told you yesterday. The bet with the viewer…”

Many adventurers had already gathered at R Point.
They were all probably waiting for the shuttle.

I sat a little distance away from them.

I didn’t know any of the adventurers.
Because of my new birth, my previous relationships were completely reset.

In fact, that was a lucky excuse.
I wasn’t very sociable to begin with, so I had almost no one I could call a friend.

That was one of the reasons I chose to stream.
The dark desire to communicate with people and be acknowledged…

“…What am I saying.”

It was a meaningless thought.

I shook my head from side to side and then slapped both my cheeks, hard! to get a grip.

Soon, the sound of an engine, completely out of place with the scenery of Pangea, filled the surroundings.

Shuttles began to descend through the hole one by one, and I boarded one of them.

It was almost midnight by the time I got home.

The place I was currently living in was a city located near ‘Pan’.

The desire of adventurers who wanted to easily access Pangea, and the desire of people who wanted to make money off of them.

The perfect alignment of these two desires created this place, ‘Pantonia’.

It was as large as the capitals of other developed countries, and as such, had a considerable floating population.

“Let’s see…”

I was rummaging through my closet.
It was to go to the gym.

A strong mind resides in a strong body.
And a knight must always hone their body to its peak condition.

Based on that belief, I started exercising, something I had never done in my life.

“Hup.”

First, I changed out of my underwear, which was soaked with sweat from the adventure.

The closet was stocked with everything from cute types to underwear that made one gasp in admiration just by looking at it.

Of course, I hadn’t bought them myself.
I didn’t have that much courage yet.

Anyway, my choice was always the same.

Sports underwear.
Mostly plain, solid colors, and I really liked their elasticity.

It was because a heavy lump had formed in my chest.

The weight was one thing, but the pain transmitted whenever it shook was considerable.

Since my profession involved a lot of physical movement anyway, sports underwear was not a choice but a necessity.

“This is hmm…”

Next, my eyes fell on a pair of leggings.
I had only considered them so far and had never actually worn them.

“I should at least try them on.”

Though I felt a bit uncertain, I slipped my foot into the small opening.

“Hmm…”

It felt like the stretchy material was clinging tightly to my lower body.
What should I say.
It felt like I had gained a second skin.

Now that I had them on, I stood in front of the mirror to check how they looked.

“Oh…”

Since I was missing what a man would have, the fit was quite natural and to my liking.

The tightness on my lower body was subtly bothersome, but the overall comfort was on the convenient side.

“It’s a bit… lewd.”

But still, I didn’t feel like I wanted to go to the gym wearing this.

Sometimes on SNS, I saw women working out in this exact outfit…

‘Aren’t they embarrassed?’

Since only my body had changed to a woman’s for now, it was still nearly impossible for me to empathize with their psychology.

In the end, I changed the leggings for a pair of ordinary sweatpants, and wore a t-shirt on top.

The color was, of course, a dark shade.
I didn’t want my underwear to show through.

I pulled a cap down low and even put on a mask.

The appearances of adventurers affected by mana often changed.
It was to the point where people jokingly said that hair colors had diversified… or rather, normalized.

Even so, my silver hair and purple eyes were a rare combination.
And my appearance itself was enough to draw people’s attention.

Because so many eyes were on me, I had no choice but to cover up as much as possible.
Going to the gym at such a late hour was also for that reason.

-Shwoooosh! Shwoooosh!

But for some reason, the gym was quite crowded.

If I hadn’t been wearing earphones, the sound of them using the machines might have given me a headache.

‘Why though?’
It was usually almost empty, which was nice.

As I was trying to figure out the reason, a flyer caught my eye.

The flyers plastered all over the desk area were all exaggerating the same phrase.

[3-Month Special Discount!]

It seemed a few people had been lured in by the usual, obvious promotion.

‘Ah, I wanted to go hard on the weights today.’

But I couldn’t.
The three major lifts that everyone knew were occupied by a group that seemed to be friends.

I clicked my tongue in disappointment and headed to a corner.

Since the entrance wasn’t visible, I could see patches of peeling wallpaper here and there.
An unidentifiable whining sound occasionally came from the LED lights on the ceiling.

The dumbbells lined up in a row boasted their might, but they looked neglected, so few people used them.

Even now, there was no one but me.

‘Let’s see….’

I went straight to the very end and picked up a dumbbell in each hand.
They were the heaviest ones, with ’50KG’ written prominently in the center.

‘Not bad.’

The load on my muscles wasn’t satisfying, but I figured it would still have some training effect.

In fact, mana only works in Pangea.

Swordsmanship, magic, or physical enhancement, etc.
The abilities adventurers could use in Pangea couldn’t be used on the surface.

No matter how strong an adventurer was, they were just an ordinary person here.

But I was a little different.
I couldn’t use mana on the surface either, but my current body was a bit special.

Should I say it was flawless?
It was a body with no superfluous parts, and its inherent strength was also transcendent.

Being able to jump into Pangea without a parachute.
And being able to be a knight was also partly thanks to this body.

“Phew… phew…”

Between my increasingly hot breaths, beads of sweat flowed down my cheeks.

A sense of pleasure gradually welled up, and the satisfaction of living diligently soaked me.

But that was only for a moment.

“Wow… what’s that. I should at least say something…”
“No, seriously…”

Through the mirror, I could see the people standing behind me.
Their gazes were fleetingly directed towards me.

Was it because of the weight I was lifting?
Or was it because my clothes were clinging to me, emphasizing my figure?

Whatever the reason, I didn’t like it very much.

In the end, finding it burdensome, I quickly finished my workout and left the gym.

‘Should I start looking for a new gym?’
The one I was going to was the best…

Or, should I just set up a home gym?
It was a viable option to consider once I started making a lot of money.

As I was heading home, I logged into the site where I streamed on my smartphone.

It was because I remembered Lena-nim’s words about doing market research.

Of course, I was going to make the kind of broadcast I wanted to make, but I decided to at least get a feel for what the top-ranked streamers were doing.

–Tatatadak!

I moved my fingers and entered the broadcast at the very top.

“Ughhh…”

But I turned it off quickly.
It wasn’t particularly fun, and it was a broadcast that was sorely lacking in romance.

So I couldn’t help but leave a comment in the chat.

[That’s not how you do it.]