Chapter 48: Chapter 48 – Photo Session [1]
Thud!
"It hurts!!"
Max shouted loudly right after waking up, throwing his body back to the bed. His body was aching all over the place, and his legs couldn't be moved at all.
"What the fuck?" He cursed out as another round of pain attacked his body.
Nothing was wrong with it, just a simple sore muscle.
'I didn't remember the pain from muscle pain was this bad…' He hissed in pain and tried to get up slowly this time.
He managed to sit up this time and slowly moved to the edge of the bed.
Sitting upright, he hissed painfully once again and inspected his body thoroughly. There was no swollen part, and he actually made a muscle slightly. His lower body, especially his legs, looked firmer than before.
Not only that, his ribs area where his bones could be seen jutting out before were also gone. It was amazing.
"Is this the effect of yesterday's nutritional supplement and workout?"
More than amazing, Max considered the change that happened to his body as a miracle. The pain that accompanied it a day after seemed to be worth it now.
It's not like he would feel the same after a few times. Also… The first time always hurts.
Anyway, Max got used to it soon and did his morning routine and shower. It was natural for him to wash his body every morning and evening as he sweated easily from moving around a lot. Besides, it refreshed him and helped him think easier.
After showering, he put on easy-to-move pants and a sweatshirt before exiting his apartment for a morning jog. The sun was just peeking from the horizon, casting a soft light over Lime City.
Unfortunately, Max's apartment was in a rather dense city and didn't get much light from the morning sun.
However, he had found a perfect spot to run yesterday and went to that park. When he arrived, the park was still empty, perfect to concentrate on his own business.
So he started immediately after warming up and opened a hologram screen using his smartwatch to catch up on everything he missed yesterday.
First of all, he found some threads about him and people talking about how the newest route discovered by Breeze would be the most effective for speedrun.
The downside was that there would be no heroines showing up, so men who wanted to enjoy the game after finishing all quests shouldn't play the new route.
All men were simple. They actually agreed that having a heroine for the post-story, which was an open-world type game, would be better.
Someone even poked fun by saying that Breeze was destined to be maidenless forever. It ticked Max slightly as he didn't want to stay that way. Naturally, he also wanted to have a girl like other normal people.
Out of irritation, he replied to the thread and told the one who poked fun at him that they would be surprised seeing how handsome he was when he revealed his face.
Naturally, no one believed him, but that didn't matter. Because Max already planned to reveal his face because of the program.
'I will have my photo session today, which will be released tomorrow. So it's the same as revealing my face to the public.'
In fact, he had already read the new email that arrived this morning. At 9 AM, he needed to take the Sky Rail to the New Eden city once again to Biozone Entertainment HQ. Mr. Taka had already prepared the ticket, just like before.
There was a warning with the invitation that the photo session might last for a whole day because there would also be a briefing. The streamers were also instructed to stay at a Biozone Hotel located near the HQ to attend a press conference that would be held after the announcement.
'Thank god I chose not to stream today.'
Max's decision was correct to announce his schedule. And now he was curious who the other five who got invited together with him were.
Once again, Max was confident with his guess that a streamer called StoneSword would definitely be invited.
'Unless there is something between them, there is no way Mr. Taka won't invite a world record holder.'
Max couldn't help but be excited. While bad ideas were fun, he also liked surprises.
His jogging became a bit slower because he thought a lot about what Biozone Entertainment had prepared for him.
At that moment, he heard a soft voice from his side.
"Hello…"
Slightly surprised, Max closed his hologram screen immediately and looked to the left. He hoped whoever it was didn't see the email he had just opened.
When he saw a rather familiar face beside him, he smiled slightly. It was the girl from yesterday who watched him trying to do a wall run for the first time using his body.
"Good morning." He greeted her back without saying anything more.
The girl nodded at him and stayed silent afterward. They kept running, circling around the park in silence.
Max was confused about what had just happened but thought nothing more than the girl only greeted him out of politeness.
Sighing internally, Max continued jogging before he finally stopped after feeling slightly tired. Sweat had covered his body and wetted his sweatshirt. Because he didn't bring a towel, which was a mistake, he could only use his drenched shirt to wipe sweat off his face.
At that moment…
"Here, use this."
The girl from before spoke to him once again and held a towel in her hand.
Max looked at the girl in confusion and tilted his head slightly. Why was she trying to hand him a towel?
"I brought two. Use this." She added after seeing his reluctant expression. "Don't worry. It's new. I always use a new towel."
"Well…" Max wasn't sure what to say. It was just too sudden and strange. However, he took the towel nonetheless, as he didn't want to waste her gesture. "Thank you. Umm…"
He paused.
When he thought about it again, he introduced himself to the girl yesterday, but she hadn't introduced herself yet.
Once again, noticing him not saying anything again, the girl nodded and spoke.
"I am Lily." She said simply with a flat expression as she wiped her sweat. "Lily Spencer. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too." He nodded in acknowledgment. "I am Max Charles."
"Un, Max." She nodded back at him, "You can call me Lily."
"Alright."
After that, both of them stood in silence under the shade of trees on the edge of the park. No one said anything, and the atmosphere turned awkward. They didn't know what to say or speak about as it was just their second meeting, coincidentally.
'It's so awkward.' Max thought as he tried his best to maintain his smile. 'But still…'
Max stole a glance at Lily. Her long eyelashes fluttered as her small lips exhaled a heavy breath.
'She's beautiful. Are all the girls in this world as beautiful as her? Nina is also beautiful in her own way.' He mused in his mind.
Thinking it was rude, he immediately looked away at his smartwatch. His eyes widened when he saw the time shown in it. It was already 8 AM.
"Shoot!" Max cursed loudly and quickly packed his stuff. "Sorry, Lily. But I need to go right now. I will return the towel if we meet again!"
"There is no need…" Lily answered Max and raised her head. However, when she looked to her left, he was already away from her, running in a hurry.
Seeing that she answered an air and not Breeze, her cheek inflated like a bun, and she pouted.
"He didn't even hear my reply..." She muttered in disappointment.
Beep beep beep!
At that moment, the alarm she had set with her smartwatch rang loudly. She deactivated it quickly as she frowned as if she found the alarm to be something troublesome.
The words 'Photo Session' were floating with the alarm's notification. She swiped it away with her hand, and it disappeared.
"I also need to go."