Chapter 28 – Mistake or Opportunity? [1]

Max was satisfied.

After trying the gym for the day, he returned to his apartment and took a shower. They allowed one to have a day trial, so he didn't need to spend any money for membership and actually gained access even to the VR room, which was unexpected.

The gym was better than he initially thought, although he could only play co-op once because no one wanted to play with a 'newbie.' But that was enough. His goal was already achieved.

'My planned path is actually possible. I will be able to cut one or maybe even two minutes of the run with that. Also, I will probably subscribe to their membership as I quite like the place.'

Turning off the water, Max wiped his body with a towel while sighing. It was just too hard to look at his ribs sticking out.

'I need to eat more.' He thought as he got dressed.

It was now 5 PM, just an hour before his stream schedule. He only tried the VR room for an hour earlier and wasn't exhausted even when he exercised afterward. His body had gained more stamina slightly in these 5 days since his transmigration.

That was good progress, considering Max didn't push himself too much in real life. That made him wonder whether his capsule activity also affected his stamina growth.

"There is no way that's the case, right? It's just impossible, hahaha."

Training inside the capsule and the real body affected by it was impossible, as the body wouldn't move at all.

In fact, scientists have already debunked that no matter how hard the brain activity in VR was, it wouldn't affect the body at all. At least human muscle mass wouldn't change just by lying down and exerting their brain a little bit.

So Max's increased stamina was thanks to his hard work and probably the nutritious meal he had every time he didn't visit Nina's restaurant.

Having a time before his streaming, Max wondered what he should do. But then, he decided to enter the VR world and joined Knighted Lobby to hear some rumors. Who knew if there was news about him?

Even if Max wasn't an attention whore, it was great hearing himself get praised directly for his godly skill.

Unusually, the Lobby seemed to be in chaos right now, more than when the news of Breeze soloing Trouser was spread yesterday.

'What happened?'

Max, who had just arrived, wondered. People were talking with each other excitedly, and some even cursed at the others because they didn't believe him.

This was something beyond a single player who managed to do something incredible. The fever was like when Max discovered a new route. It was just that big!

And that was bad news for him, as the threads about him probably were pushed down thanks to this news.

'What's actually happening?'

Max immediately opened the community forum to check. Just as he had expected, the threads about him were pushed down by one new thread uploaded by someone named Flexy with a title [Unbelievable path!].

That name was slightly familiar to him. That person should be a streamer.

So Max went and checked the Punch. Just as he had expected, Flexy turned out to be a streamer who was focused on Knight's Journey lately. He had more than 100K followers, a rather big streamer in this age.

It roused Max's curiosity. What kind of thread was that kind of person posted? And why did he post it in the forum?

The latter was obviously to gain more traction to his livestream. But the former still made Max curious.

'Let's see…'

The thread was apparently about a co-op fort siege. When Flexy was streaming to promote a certain gym, he met with someone who made an unbelievable move.

When he read that, Max froze a little and thought of something.

'Gym… Co-op. Hahaha, could it be? The player who did a co-op with me in the VR room was killed by a barbarian 3 minutes after we entered. There is no way this Flexy is that bad.'

A clip was attached in the thread, and Max couldn't help but chuckle when he saw it. Why not? Because what he thought was the start of his stagnation was actually a great boost for him.

The video was only 5 seconds long as Flexy's sight turned black all of a sudden. But that was enough for Max to recognize himself, no, his movement.

Under the video, Flexy also put up a comment.

[Can someone help me find that person? When I exited the capsule, he's already gone.]

— Sorry, but that's too short

— How is he playing? I watched the stream, but it's only focused on you!

— That damn movement! It's inhuman!

— I think that's Breeze

 └ I think so too. I won't mistake that movement and those axes!

 └ The clip is too short, but only Breeze uses axes and he is crazy

 └ You mean crazy good, right?

— That was me, Flexy! It's me who played with you! Thank you for inviting me!

 └ Shut up, that's Breeze, okay!

 └ lolol, trying to impersonate someone!

 └ Idiot

 └ Brainless

It was both good news and bad news. The good news was Max could use this to further boost and make his name recognized.

The bad news was his strategy was leaked. He didn't think he would meet a famous streamer in Galaxy Gym's VR room.

Now, his competitors for the programs would see this move and try it. A path that saved one or two minutes in a speedrun was too valuable not to be used.

'What a mess.' Max thought, sighing in exasperation at his mistake.

However, there was still something he needed to do.

"Aaah, let's reply to this thread. Or people will try to get the credit."

That was something that Max refused to give. He was the one who found that path, so the credit should go to him.

"Hi, Flexy. That was me, Breeze… That might be too formal." He scratched the back of his head and deleted it all. "Fuck it, let's write it like this."

— That was me. I didn't know the person I invited to play co-op in the gym was you, hahaha! The way you died by getting stabbed from behind was hilarious and made me laugh.

"It's good enough." He nodded, satisfied with what he wrote.

His account name was written in the post, so everyone could recognize him. Now, he just had to wait.