Chapter 9 Changes
The next morning,
Rex wakes up early in the morning just when the sky is still dark, the military routine that he used to do in the Noob Box is engraved into his daily life.
Waking early has already become a habit, the time is about five in the morning.
After waking up from the bed, he goes straight into the bathroom to freshen himself up and change into his jogging clothes.
Last night, Rex didn't forget to finish his daily quest from the system.
He went to the roof through a ladder from the back just to bathe under the moonlight, he started to take the system seriously thanks to the transformation incident.
Inside the bathroom, Rex washes his face and does his morning routine.
While brushing his teeth, his hand stopped before he gasps in surprise upon looking at his reflection in the mirror, there are some changes on his body.
Hair started to grow around his chest are,
The hair on his arms also grows longer but not long enough to make people think it's weird, and his muscle also got more toned and bigger than before.
'Is this the effect of becoming a Werewolf? I never had chest and arm hair before', he thought.
Rex plays with the hairs on his arms and chest for a moment before he then changes his clothes into sportswear deciding not to think about the changes too much.
Although he already accepts it, he still feels uncomfortable with himself.
Wearing a black sweatshirt and grey sweatpants that hug his legs tightly highlighting his muscle, Rex walks out of the bathroom feeling refreshed.
Rex can be considered a big and buff guy even when he's still in Noob Box.
Only a handful of people in the Noob Box are as big as him, that's why he's given the nickname Grumpy Brawny because of his size and his temperament when talking about the Supernatural.
While he's trying on his shoes, Rex then thought, 'Why not pass by the university while I jog'
Since he will be attending Ochyra University, he decided to jog toward the university just to check out the newly built university.
The university starts at nine in the morning, so he got plenty of time before it gets crowded.
Rex puts his phone in his sweatpants pocket and wears his wireless earphone, he plays his workout playlist as the music starts drumming in his ear before he started to jog.
The sun is still shy, and the morning street is still devoid of people.
His house is on the side of the street and it's not far from Ochyra University, the university is only about 3 miles away from his house.
Along the street, he also met some people who are also jogging.
Some of them are elderly while some of them are just like him, teens who want to keep in shape or even be in a better shape.
After making a left at a T-junction, a girl with black hair tied in a ponytail caught his eyes.
Rex looks at a girl that is tying her shoelace bending on a street bench, she wears a white tank top and black legging that boasts her tempting figure that glued any eyes that land on her.
Her hair is swayed by the morning breeze, and her fair skin makes her shine this illicit morning.
Jogging slowly while fixating his eyes on the girl, Rex notices a butterfly tattoo on her left back, the tattoo becomes even more enticing the longer he looks at it.
No man can resist her looks, all of them will at least glance at her.
While Rex is checking her out, the girl suddenly also glances at him.
Their eyes met for a couple of seconds before she suddenly started to walk in Rex's direction with a smile, this caught him off guard since he didn't expect something like this.
It's too sudden and too good to be true,
Rex's eyes widened in delight, the girl's smile stunned him in place.
The bright rosy smile can tear down the heart of the hardest men, her hand takes off the hairband on her hair before she swayed her hair left and right.
Looking at this, his throat feels dry as he gulps with a reddening face.
Rex kept his eyes on the girl as she slowly but surely approach him, just as she arrived in front of him the girl gave a seductive smile, similar to a goddess giving a blessing to him, then suddenly she leans forward and kisses Rex on his lips.
Upon feeling the tender kiss, Rex is surprised but also delighted at the same time.
The kiss brought him to the sky, he was immersed in the kissing until suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder and followed by an elderly voice, "Boy, are you okay?"
Hearing this, Rex snapped out of his daze and saw an old man on his side.
Rex then glances in the beautiful girl's direction again before his face flushed red in embarrassment, she's still by the bench tying her shoelace.
'I can't believe I daydream while looking at her! I hope it becomes true thought', he thought.
After tying her shoelace, the beautiful girl started jogging again.
The old man that is still waiting for Rex to answer then said, "Boy, you shouldn't force yourself to jog. Look at you daydreaming in the middle of the street, what if you got hit by a car?", the old man reprimanded Rex while shaking his head.
But instead of replying, "Sorry sir, I gotta get going", Rex said leaving the old man.
He's heading towards where the beautiful girl has jogged into, he heard the old man cursing him from behind but it fell on deaf ears.
'She's so beautiful, I hope she's a student at Ochyra University', Rex thought hopeful.
Rex picks up his face and saw the beautiful girl still jogging, she deliberately followed the beautiful girl, 'I'm not a stalker. I'm just curious, that's right... curious', he thought trying to justify his action to his inner self.
After following her for a moment, the beautiful girl stopped with heavy breaths.
She wipe the sweat on her forehead before she started to walk into a big majestic fence,
Looking at the girl walking inside the big majestic fence, Rex looks up at the building and realized that it's the Ochyra University building, 'She really is a student at Ochyra University! Fuck resting, I'm registering today', Rex decided in his heart.
But before registering, Rex jog around the university and can't help but be amazed.
The structure of the university's building makes it looks like an ancient England-style castle that spans as far as the eye can see, the building is so tall that Rex needs to look up to see its peak, big and wide pillars decorate the entrance of the university and a sign on top of the building that writes Ochyra University with a roaring panther symbol on its right side.
Rex needs about thirty minutes running at full speed just to go around the university.
He's still amazed at how big the university's building is, 'This university is just too big, does the war getting more intense?', he thought after he stops to rest on the side of the street.
But while resting, Rex notices something, 'I can still run for a couple of miles... Since when can I run for this much?', he thought but he then remembers that he has the system now.
Thinking about the system got Rex curious, 'If my Endurance got this good, what about my strength? I add it the most, let's try it out'
After deciding to try out his strength, Rex decided to go to the nearby park to work out.
The park is quite big and they have all kinds of workout machines just like brawn beach gym, Mrs. Greene sometimes goes here to work out.
In just a couple of minutes, Rex arrived at the park.
The sun is already peeking out of the clouds, and the sky is starting to get bright.
Rex looks at his watch and it shows 6:10 a.m., the park has become a little bit crowded.
'I still got half an hour', he thought after looking at the time.
Entering the park passing a couple of people that are getting in and out of the park, Rex went straight to the workout section and decided to test his strength by doing deadlifts.
He didn't forget to stretch his body before setting the weight plate on the bar.
Before the appearance of the system and becoming a half-Werewolf, he can only lift up to 330 pounds but this time he loads on about 400 pounds to test the water.
Standing behind the bar,
Rex gets into the position before he uses all his might to pull the weight off the ground, but surprisingly it feels light, in fact, it's too light.
'What the... 330 pounds and still no sweat? I think I can go way higher'
After realizing his current strength is way stronger than he ever did, Rex loads another two big plates on each side of the bar and started to lift it up again.
Even with the added weight, the bar got lifted off the ground with only a little bit of struggle.
His strength has exceeded his expectation!
Feeling more confident, Rex adds another two big plates on each side and this time he can still lift it up but his face started to redden.
Rex does about eight reps and each rep creates a heavy thud that spread to the surrounding.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
People's gazes started to get attracted to the heavy sound of steel clashing with the sand, and everyone started to get curious about where the sound came from.
"What the heck? That guy is freaking strong!"
"He lifts that weight without using his awakened power? How scary will he be when he's using his awakened power?"
"I never see him around here before"
"He looks young, but his muscle is bulging out of that sweatshirt"
Low whispering chatter from the crowd can be heard as Rex was doing his reps, but he still didn't notice the crowd of people that already makes a circle around him.
Rex is fully immersing in his newfound power, it's a great feeling.
After doing his last rep that feels heavy, Rex let go of the bar with a satisfied expression.
Thud!
'Woah... that feels really good, I'm going to get addicted to this', he thought in satisfaction, but when he lifts his head up he saw there was a crowd of people surrounding him.
Since he was listening to music, he didn't notice the crowd t all.
Upon seeing the crowd gathering around him, his face is flushed before he walks away under the crowd's shocked gazes.
Just as he walks out of the crowd, he saw a familiar face blocking his path.
"You look well, Rex...", a girl said with her arm foled.
Rex looks at the girl before his eyes widen,
The girl's blazing blonde hair shone brightly under the peeking sunlight, her delicate face and chubby cheeks added a cute taste to her face, but her blue eyes that gleamed under the morning light are contrasting with the cold and expresionless demeanor that she is wearing.
Without even a second, Rex recognized the girl standing in front of him, "Laura..."
"Since when did you got discharged from the hospital? Why didn't you tell me about it?", Laura asked while still wearing her cold expression.
Hearing this, Rex raises his eyebrows, "Huh? I thought you didn't want me to"
"Nevermind about that, are you also attending the Ochyra University? That's great! We can go to the university together", Rex replied excitedly while approaching her.
But his movement was stopped by Laura's hand, "Don't come near me"
Laura looks at Rex who is confused calmly and asks, "Are you worthy enough to approach me?"
"A normal person like you should get away from me. I'm just asking a question because you're injury seems to be life-threatening and here you are, showing off with that little strength you have trying to impress the crowd"
Rex was stunned upon hearing this, he's starting to sweat, "Y-You don't have to say it like that..."
Laura's harsh words completely surprised him,
"Face reality, we're on a different level. I can see that you're fine, then I will take my leave before anyone got an idea about us", she said before turning her body around.
Unknown to Rex, Laura bit her lips while lowering her head to look at the ground.
After taking a deep breath, she then walks away.
Seeing their exchange the crowd started to gossip, some pity Rex, some just shrug it off while some think that it's just how the world works.
An awakened will be destined to be a hero of humanity, while a normal person can only cheer from the sides hoping that someday they can become like them too but almost every time it will only be nothing but a dream.
Like a hump yearning for the moon, don't yearn for someone who is out of your league they say.
Rex is stunned standing still like a statue, he looks at Laura's back that is getting further away in thought, 'If not for our childhood memories, I wouldn't believe that you are that cute little girl that I used to play with',
With a sigh, Rex leave the park with his head hung low.
'Haaahh, I missed the past Laura', he thought while stretching his body after leaving the park.
While he's leaving the place and heading back home, the beautiful girl with black hair and a butterfly tattoo is watching from afar.
There's a spark in her eyes as she looks at Rex,