Lu Yuan sat on a black bench, holding a grey water bottle.
About twenty meters in front of him, on a thickly padded floor, stood more than thirty black punching posts, each nearly as tall as a person.
The character for "Origin" was prominently printed on each punching post, and in front of each one stood a student in a blue martial arts uniform.
The students were intensely striking the punching posts, their shouts to build momentum accompanying their movements.
Their voices rose and fell, creating an incredibly lively atmosphere in the hall.
Lu Yuan gazed steadily at this bustling scene, appearing very calm amidst the noise.
It wasn't until a voice shouted, "Class dismissed!" that he snapped out of his reverie.
He stood up and proactively approached a figure weaving through the crowd, running swiftly towards him.
"Lu Yuan!"
Before Lu Yuan stood a teenager about his own age with slightly darker skin.
The youth had extremely thick eyebrows and wavy hair plastered to his forehead with sweat; his body radiated the heat of intense physical activity.
"Well? Our martial arts hall has a great atmosphere, right?"
The youth began to unwind the hand wraps from his palms.
"Practicing martial arts helps with self-defense too. It's way more useful than badminton or swimming, like you were talking about."
Lu Yuan hesitated for a moment, offered the water bottle, and said, "I need to discuss this with my parents."
Seeing Lu Yuan was tempted, the boy quickly said, "No worries, I'll call your father later. I guarantee he'll agree to let you join. Then we can attend classes together and keep each other company. Look how skinny you are! You should learn some fighting techniques so you don't get bullied."
The boy lightly bumped Lu Yuan's shoulder with his fist, then took the water bottle, unscrewed the cap, and started gulping it down.
After finishing more than half the bottle in one go, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and continued, "Besides, our martial arts hall is running a promotion. If you enroll now, it's much cheaper than usual."
"Mm," Lu Yuan grunted in acknowledgment and said nothing more.
The boy didn't press further, just saying, "I'm going to take a shower. Wait for me in the lobby," before hurrying off.
Lu Yuan watched the boy recede into the distance, then picked up his backpack from the bench and headed towards the hall's exit.
The boy's name was Cheng Peng. He was Lu Yuan's classmate and best friend, a die-hard fan of combat sports. When Cheng Peng heard Lu Yuan was looking for an extracurricular class to build up his physique, he'd insisted on dragging him to the martial arts hall where he usually trained to "observe," tirelessly trying to persuade him to sign up on the spot.
Lu Yuan reached the entrance of the martial arts hall and stopped on the steps.
Above him hung a large Signboard of Ancient Source Characters.
Origin Martial Arts Hall.
A recruitment poster was plastered on the wall by the entrance.
Words like "Ancient Martial Arts," "Body Strengthening," "Combat," "Summer Enrollment Early Bird," and "Special Discount" were written on it.
Lu Yuan stared at the pricing information on the poster for a long while before finally turning his head away.
People streamed past him—men and women, all of them exuding confidence and flamboyance.
Compared to them, the slender Lu Yuan seemed to have no presence at all.
Lu Yuan watched these people with a touch of envy.
Honestly, he was quite tempted by Cheng Peng's suggestion.
The body he'd transmigrated into was weak and scrawny from a long-term lack of exercise.
Calling it "skinny as a stick" wouldn't be an exaggeration.
This was also why he was so eager for a change.
Practicing martial arts, and learning fighting techniques along the way, seemed like an excellent option.
But the high fees made Lu Yuan hesitate.
Given our family's current situation, they probably won't agree to me enrolling in this martial arts class. The price is way beyond what my parents would expect... Lu Yuan thought.
"Goodbye, Coach."
Cheng Peng's voice reached him, making Lu Yuan turn his head.
He saw Cheng Peng, showered and changed, standing by the entrance of the martial arts hall. He was waving goodbye to a man in his thirties of medium build.
As if noticing Lu Yuan's gaze, the man glanced casually in his direction.
Meeting those eyes, Lu Yuan suddenly felt a shiver crawl up his spine. It was as if he were being stared down by some ferocious beast; the hairs on the back of his hands practically stood on end.
His heart pounded in his chest—THUMP-THUMP, THUMP-THUMP. Lu Yuan felt his heart race, and he struggled to suppress the unnerving palpitation.
When he looked again, the man who had exuded such an unprecedented, intense pressure had already turned and entered the martial arts hall.
Maintaining a calm expression, Lu Yuan casually asked Cheng Peng as he approached, "Who's that?"
"Who?" Cheng Peng followed Lu Yuan's gaze, and his face lit up with understanding. "Him? That's our martial arts hall's coach, Coach Qin. He's an incredible fighter. You have no idea, our coach can send the training posts we use flying seven or eight meters with a single punch! I'm not exaggerating one bit! He sends it flying with a single punch. I saw it with my own eyes. That scene, tsk tsk..."
Admiration and awe were written all over Cheng Peng's face as he spoke, leaving Lu Yuan somewhat dumbfounded.
He had just seen the training posts Cheng Peng and the others used for practice; he estimated they weighed around a hundred kilograms each.
A single punch sending something weighing a hundred kilograms flying seven or eight meters away?
What kind of punching power would that take?
Even a boxing champion from his previous life might not have been able to do that.
Although Lu Yuan wasn't sure how much of Cheng Peng's "not exaggerating at all" was hot air, he couldn't help but feel a stronger surge of motivation.
However, this surge of motivation quickly turned into even greater despair.
"...Coach Qin is a Direct Disciple of the Hall Master; that's why he's so strong. I heard he even won an award in the provincial fighting championships."
"Sigh, if only I could become the Hall Master's Direct Disciple one day. No, even just becoming Coach Qin's official disciple would be enough. I'd be unstoppable at school then, wouldn't I?..."
Cheng Peng was still rambling, but Lu Yuan had no mind to listen further.
He hitched his backpack higher on his shoulder and started walking towards the distant bus stop.
"I'm heading home."
"Huh..." Cheng Peng's chatter cut off abruptly. He watched Lu Yuan's retreating back, a little anxiously. "You're not coming to the internet cafe with me? Didn't we say we'd rank up together?"
"Who agreed to that? I'm going home to eat."
"Damn it! You're bailing on me again!" Cheng Peng shook his fist at Lu Yuan's retreating figure.
「Ten minutes later.」
Lu Yuan was on a bus.
I have six hundred thirty-eight dollars and fifty cents in my mobile wallet. Adding the prize money from the last two monthly test progress awards, I have less than two thousand dollars in total. It's far from enough...
Lu Yuan put down his phone and sighed quietly.
His original plan was this: He'd tell his parents he was signing up for a regular sports-based extracurricular class, get the money from them, then secretly enroll in the martial arts class. He'd use his own savings to cover the difference. But a quick calculation showed this plan wouldn't work. The cheapest package at Origin Martial Arts Hall cost more than twice as much as a regular sports class. The price difference was too large; his meager savings weren't nearly enough to bridge the gap.
Although he was intensely curious about this field he'd never encountered in either of his lives, the harsh reality forced him to give up on the idea.
Lu Yuan hadn't even considered asking his parents to pay the full tuition for the martial arts class.
His grandfather had recently suffered a stroke and needed a lot of money for surgery. The family's small shop was also having financial troubles. At a time like this, he couldn't bring himself to ask. If it weren't for the unified exam requiring a sports-related specialty, he wouldn't even want to attend a regular extracurricular class. If it were just about exercising, he could just go for a run every day.
The bus television broadcast news: "...The time is 3:27 PM on June 5th, our country's third extraterrestrial base has officially been completed. The list of the first batch of personnel to go has been confirmed; it includes..."
Meanwhile, the blare of a streetside shop's loudspeaker invaded the bus: "Clearance sale! Entire store clearance! Final day, entire store clearance!"
Lu Yuan leaned against the hard bus seat, the medley of sounds washing over him as he watched the street scenes flash by, zoning out. Soon, he heard the announcement for his stop.
He got off from the rear door.
The eleven AM sun of June hit him with unexpected waves of sweltering heat.
He crossed the road, quickly ducked into the shade of a building, and continued straight along the street.
Soon, a small shop with a red sign and white characters reading "Xinghua Food Store" came into view.