Chapter 13: Hope van Dyne (Edited)

"Chinese Kung Fu" was the third BGM awakened by Clark. That day, in the alley, Clark fought alone against ten robbers. When he was injured and his vision blurred by blood, he finally understood what Nalan Long meant by "integrating kung fu into every aspect of daily life."

Enlightened and blood-eyed, he achieved a profound understanding! At that moment, his mindset matched the conditions to unlock two BGMs, which had not awakened for a long time, resulting in the simultaneous awakening of both.

One of them was "Men Should Strengthen Themselves," which made him turn the tide of the battle like a grandmaster possessed. The other was this "Chinese Kung Fu"! "Chinese Kung Fu" enhances practice, while "Men Should Strengthen Themselves" strengthens combat technique.

In nearly half a month, with the aid of these two new BGMs, Clark seemed to have had an epiphany. Each practice session brought distinct insights, and his understanding and application of the Shaolin Twelve-Step Tan Leg soared as if on a rocket.

Even Elder Nalan Long lavished praise on Clark's transformation, describing it with the somewhat exaggerated term "having an epiphany." He even personally took some time to instruct Clark in martial arts, seemingly intent on teaching him the true essence.

Now, Clark's strength was incomparably greater than it had been half a month ago. If he were to face those street thugs again, even without activating any BGM, he could easily beat them senseless.

Time flies in fulfilling days, and in the blink of an eye, another school year began. Clark entered the school gates for his second year of high school with a cheerful heart.

As expected, his entrance into the classroom caused a stir among his classmates.

"Who is that?"

"So handsome!"

"So strong!"

Various exclamations filled the air, and Clark harvested a large wave of impression points, amounting to hundreds.

Now, Clark weighed 75 kilograms again, but the weight he regained was not fat but muscle transformed from his previous excess fat. This made him appear even more muscular than before he started practicing martial arts. While he was not as professional-looking as a bodybuilder like the governor, he was no less impressive than the Marvel trinity.

From a chubby teenager to a muscular man over a summer, such a dramatic transformation in front of their eyes left few indifferent.

If this had happened in Clark's previous life in an ancient Eastern country, people might have been surprised internally but wouldn't have shown it openly.

But remember, this is America.

Modesty? Nonexistent! Following the principle of "integrating martial arts into the minutiae of life," Clark smiled amiably at his classmates before swiftly returning to his seat, his movements as swift as the wind and as stable as a bell.

Even then, everyone's gaze lingered on the muscular Eastern handsome young man, but soon, the boys returned to their conversations, more interested in the continuation of "Battle Through the Heavens" than Clark's transformation story.

Only the girls in the class seemed more interested in Clark than in "Battle Through the Heavens," occasionally glancing his way. And then...

"Clark?" After Clark had settled down for a while, his neighbor Dave still seemed unsure and ventured to ask.

Clark turned his head: "What's up, Dave? Is something wrong?"

"Is it really you!?" Dave could hardly believe his eyes: "I knew you were working on getting fit and losing weight, but I never imagined you could achieve this in a month!"

Receiving +166 impression points from Dave Lazarsky!

Such a significant increase in impression points from him... Could it be...

After another glance at Dave, still the familiar figure, still the "a pot of tea, a cup of wine" type of nerd. How could such a person provide him with a three-digit impression value so simply?

Before, among the people Clark had interacted with, only Marcus had ever provided him with more than 10 points at once, with everyone else being as stingy as gorillas, never providing more than two digits of impression points in one go.

Yet here was Dave, merely shocked for a moment, and that was enough to generate so many impression points! Could it be that his destiny weight...

Wait a minute!

Dave Lazarsky! This name seemed to belong to a character from a storyline.

Looking again at Dave's appearance, could it be that this guy was the legendary weakest superhero, Kick-Ass?

"Clark?" Seeing Clark staring blankly, Dave couldn't help but wonder: "Is there something dirty on me?"

Clark snapped back to reality: "I was just thinking about something. As for my weight loss...," he paused, then shrugged, "Nothing special, just effort."

Dave, buoyed by Clark's humble brag, his eyes lit up, ready to follow up: "Clark, I heard you learned Chinese kung fu over the summer. Where did you learn it? Can you introduce me so I can learn too?"

"No problem." Clark felt quite fond of Dave, so he agreed readily: "After school starts, the martial arts school only has classes on weekends in the afternoon. If you're interested, come find me this Saturday noon. I'll treat you to lunch, and we'll go together."

As the classroom quieted down, the teacher, Ms. Kara, entered with a tall girl beside her, appearing about the same age as Clark and wearing the school uniform. Her looks fit the Western beauty standard—tall, large-framed, square-faced, and thick-lipped—not exactly Clark's type.

"Hello, everyone." As Clark observed the new girl, Ms. Kara began, "Welcome back on the first day of school. Today we have a new student, Hope, standing next to me. Now, let's give Hope a chance to introduce herself."

As the boys hooted, it was clear Hope's appearance met their aesthetic standards.

"Hi, my name is Hope van Dyne, from New Jersey. Starting today, I'm also a member of this class. I hope we can get along well."