New Powers

"I'm not dead? Hahaha! Fate is on my side after all!" Itsuki laughed loudly, but then a feeling of discord spread through his body, causing him to clutch his head.

His eyes widened as he realized the strangeness of it all. "No, no! I'm not dead! And I didn't get hit by the meteor! That was just my alternate self, not me!" he said with certainty.

This is bad! I almost lost my own identity, replaced by my counterpart! It seems I can't use my cheat recklessly.

He shivered as the memories of his counterpart nearly overrode his own. The thought of this possibility sent chills down his spine. If that happened, technically, 'he' would die and be replaced by his counterpart in this body.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Once composed, he thought about his situation more carefully.

With this cheat, he felt a bit relieved since it gave him something to protect himself in this dangerous world that is unfriendly to men.

Even though he couldn't use his cheat freely, he was grateful for its power, especially after receiving everything from his counterpart just now.

"My body has changed… and I've gained all the strength of my counterpart," he murmured as he looked at his hands, which were now bigger and more muscular, clenching them tightly.

He closed his eyes, feeling the immense power flowing through his body, which was many times stronger than before.

He was sure that with his current strength, he could lift over 2 tons. However, he wasn't sure if his power was enough to defeat the Valkyries here.

After all, the Valkyries all have stigmata that give them a huge strength boost, allowing them to defeat creatures stronger than wild animals, namely the Honkai Beasts.

But with his newly acquired adaptation ability, he was confident he could win a fight against them. His adaptation ability wasn't just talk!

I didn't realize that my counterpart's genius was actually super intuition and not just super learning.

Itsuki thought, raising his eyebrows in surprise. It was true; his counterpart wasn't a genius who could learn things quickly just by using his brain.

Instead, he could do it thanks to his super intuition, which guided him to master things instantly.

In essence, his counterpart operated like other geniuses who, when asked, "How do you do that?" couldn't give a clear answer and would say they were just following their feelings.

With this adaptation and super intuition, maybe I can survive and defeat the Herrscher here.

He grinned, eager to face the Herrscher and evolve into the Ultimate Lifeform after the fight.

Itsuki got up and went to the bathroom to check his appearance. Sure enough, he saw that his body and appearance had drastically changed, now standing at about 190cm with a perfectly sculpted, muscular physique as if crafted by the gods themselves.

"God damn! My appearance is very handsome! I'm so jealous of my counterpart! How could he be more handsome than me?" he exclaimed, touching and examining his face, which was now more attractive than an idol's.

He then opened his tight pants and looked down, his eyes widening.

"Fuck! This is huge and long!" he exclaimed in shock, his lips twitching in disbelief that he now possessed what could be described as a third leg.

But anyway, he felt happy and proud about it. After all, what man wouldn't be pleased to have such an impressive 'thing? It's a matter of pride for men; the bigger and longer it is, the higher their pride!

"I smell so bad! I didn't smell this bad before I went to sleep. How did this happen?" Itsuki questioned himself, puzzled by his sudden intense odor and sweatiness after waking up.

Is this because of my body's transformation? If so, that makes sense.

He speculated, but regardless, he knew he needed a shower immediately.

He quickly removed his now short and tight clothes and stepped into the shower.

After his shower, he searched for clothes to wear, but unfortunately, everything was too small and short for him now, given his new, larger physique.

"It looks like I need to buy new clothes later," he said, before finding and putting on the least tight-fitting clothes he could manage.

After that, driven by curiosity and excitement, he decided to test his new abilities—adaptation and super intuition—by working out.

He started with 100 push-ups, followed by the same number of sit-ups and squats.

He completed them easily without breaking a sweat but only felt a slight increase in strength, which made him thoughtful afterward.

It seems that the improvement from a workout is minimal compared to intense fighting, or maybe to see significant gains, I need to train extremely hard until my body reaches its limits.

He concluded this by observing the memories of his counterpart's life, where he always fought until his body reached its limits.

"Maybe my workout intensity is still too light, which is why the effects are minimal. Let's try increasing the intensity."

After that, Itsuki continued his workout. Time seemed to blur as he pushed himself harder and harder. Eventually, he stopped, drenched in sweat as if he had been swimming in it.

He panted heavily, but a smile spread across his face. "It worked! I feel a 20% increase in my strength from this workout!" he exclaimed, clenching his fists.

However, his expression soon turned into a frown. "But this isn't worth it and takes too much time compared to fighting directly."

What he said was true. If he were fighting, it would only take a few minutes, certainly less than an hour, to grow stronger. The increase would be more significant, possibly doubling his strength or more, depending on the difficulty and strength of his opponent.

"It seems I can't rely on workouts to boost my strength. Well, it couldn't be helped," he sighed, knowing that his future would be filled with battles to become stronger.

"By the way, what time is it now?" he murmured to himself, realizing he hadn't checked the time since he woke up.

He looked around, searching for his phone, and found it on his desk. He quickly picked it up.

"What?! It's already Tuesday! I thought it was Monday just yesterday?" he exclaimed in shock.

His face then lit up as he thought of something. "Maybe I slept for an entire day because of my cheat? Hmm, that could be it…" he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Considering he experienced an entire lifetime of his counterpart in his dream, it made sense. Even if dreams operate on different time concepts than reality, it still must have taken a long time, perhaps even a whole day.

Will I have to go through this every time I access my other counterparts? That would be very bad, especially if I'm in a critical situation.

Sleeping for an entire day would be a huge weakness for Itsuki. In a dire situation, he wouldn't have the luxury to sleep like that.

He could end up being killed by his enemies while he was asleep. He desperately hoped that wouldn't be the case.

I need to experiment with my cheat again, but maybe later, since my intuition is telling me that doing it now would be very dangerous for me.

For now, he decided to trust his super intuition. After all, his counterpart survived and thrived thanks to this intuition.

A loud rumbling sound came from his stomach. Itsuki touched his empty belly, realizing he hadn't eaten anything for a whole day.

"Let's eat first, then shower again and go out to buy some new clothes."

He quickly went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and saw only a few ingredients left, such as eggs and some vegetables.

He sighed, "I can't complain about this. After all, in this world, I'm just an orphan and not part of a family."

He felt sad and sympathetic toward his counterpart in this world, who had never experienced happiness or parental love since birth.

This also made him grateful for having a happy family and loving parents who were still alive.

I wonder how my family is doing back there? Maybe my father and mother are very sad about my death.

He sighed sadly, hoping his parents wouldn't grieve for too long and would move on from his death.

Using his counterpart's expert cooking skills, Itsuki made his own ramen with the available ingredients, resulting in a dish that looked very delicious and tempting.

He quickly tried It, and his eyes lit up at the incredible flavor, making him devour it quickly.

He burped and patted his satisfied stomach. Although the portion was small for his large appetite, he felt content to have filled his empty stomach.

He placed the bowl In the sink, washed it, and then went to take a shower.

After showering, he changed clothes. Since none of them fit him properly, he ended up wearing tight clothes that highlighted his muscular physique.

Although he felt a bit uncomfortable, he didn't mind, as he would only wear them briefly before changing into new clothes later.

With that, he left his apartment, locked the door, and headed down the street toward the nearest clothing store.