Ethan lingered for a while longer, his eyes scanning the area. No sign of Blade Syndicate, not even a scout.
Everything was already in place, with Skyblade and the others handling things. Ethan didn't need to concern himself further.
He left the area alone, planning to find a spot to farm monsters and grind out so experience. More importantly, he needed to clear his red-nad status. Opening his stats panel, his eyes locked on the Sin Value section, which now displayed a glaring "Max!"
"What the hell does that even an?" Ethan muttered, baffled.
Was it maxed out? How long would it take to clear this? For a brief mont, despair crept into his heart.
He glanced at the ti, it was already past six in the morning.
Frustrated by the thought of grinding for hours, Ethan logged out of the ga. It was ti to work out anyway.
Leaving the villa, Ethan began jogging down the quiet streets of Eastwood Manor.
It didn't take long before he spotted a gym just a few blocks away. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, he noticed a surprising number of people already working out, even this early in the morning.
By 2024, fitness had beco a national trend in Arica. For the past three years, practically everyone had embraced exercise as part of their daily lives. High schools had added physical training to their curriculum, and by the ti students graduated, physical fitness scores carried significant weight in college admissions.
In universities, martial arts and combat techniques were mandatory courses, carrying more credit weight than academic subjects. Without passing these courses, you couldn't even graduate.
This boom in fitness culture had turned gyms, martial arts schools, and combat academies into thriving businesses. Ten years ago, gyms were rare, and combat schools were practically nonexistent in urban areas. But now, almost every neighborhood had multiple gyms competing for mbers, and at least one martial arts or combat studio on every street.
With advances in technology reducing work hours, people had more free ti, and hitting the gym beca the go-to pasti. Knowing a few combat moves wasn't just trendy, it earned you respect.
For young n, showing off so martial skills made socializing, especially with won, much easier. And for those looking to et soone, gyms were often filled with stunningly fit individuals, making them ideal spots.
In his previous life, Ethan never had the chance to set foot in such places. Although they were widespread, mberships were ridiculously expensive.
Before Ethereal's launch, he had been a struggling orphan, barely able to scrape together two als a day. His frail body had always held him back in school fitness courses, let alone in high-end gyms where he would've been out of place and humiliated.
When Ethereal launched, he had a brief taste of glory. But within six months, it all crumbled. His legs were taken from him in a cruel betrayal, plunging him into a deeper abyss. Self-care beca a daily struggle, and by the ti of his rebirth, he had survived solely by earning a ager living through Ethereal.
Now, standing in front of the gym, Ethan paused, realization dawning. He hadn't tested his strength in ages.
Approaching the gym entrance, he noticed a small sign taped to the door: "For Sale." He shrugged it off. For sale didn't an closed. He pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The interior was impressive, with state-of-the-art equipnt neatly arranged. It was far better equipped than anything he'd seen at his old school.
"Two hours, please," Ethan said, pulling out a hundred dollars and placing it on the front counter.
He hadn't even glanced at the person behind the desk, his eyes busy taking in the gym's impressive layout.
"Ethan?"
Hearing soone call his na, he turned toward the counter, his brow furrowing.
The woman standing there stared at him with a mix of surprise and smugness. For a mont, Ethan couldn't place her. But then, recognition flickered in his mind.
"Jade Taylor?" Ethan ventured hesitantly, unsure. The heavy makeup made it difficult to be certain, but the face seed familiar.
Her exaggerated expression morphed into a teasing smirk. "Oh, so now you're pretending we just happened to bump into each other?" she sneered, crossing her arms and leaning forward.
Jade Taylor, Ethan's old high school classmate. She had always been sowhat attractive, with smooth cheeks, long eyeliner flicking up at the corners, and delicately arched brows. Her eyes, in particular, were srizing.
If she didn't speak and people didn't know her true nature, many would be captivated by her at first glance.
Back in high school, she was even called the school's second-most beautiful girl.
But adding Ethan's previous life to his current one, he was now effectively five years older than her.
His perspective had naturally shifted. If it ca to makeup, Jade didn't hold a candle to Ivy. And without makeup, she was leagues away from Lyla.
Lyla was effortlessly stunning, the kind of beauty who could outshine everyone even in a massive university. Compared to her, the title of 'second most beautiful girl' in a small high school seed utterly insignificant.
After high school, Ethan had heard Jade didn't go to college but jumped straight into the workforce.
It wasn't surprising, given her behavior during high school. She had spent most of her ti hanging out with thugs, skipping class, or outright ditching school. Getting into college would've been a pipe dream for her.
The only reason she even graduated high school was because her family had money. Rumor had it her parents had bribed the principal to keep her enrolled.
But right before the college entrance exams, her family went bankrupt. After that, she disappeared from school entirely.
"I said, give two hours," Ethan repeated, his tone cold as his eyes flicked over Jade.
He hadn't expected to find her working here, of all places. He genuinely disliked her. Ethan rarely hated people outright, but Jade might have been the exception.
Even Zachary and Ivy, he didn't hate them; he resented them. But Jade? She was different.
That hatred stemd from sothing that happened years ago, during his first year of high school.
At the ti, Ethan had developed a crush on a quiet, studious Asian girl nad Rainie Chen. There was sothing about her reserved deanor that reminded him of Lyla.
Like any teenager with a newfound infatuation, Ethan had written a love letter. But before he could summon the courage to give it to her, the letter, tucked away in his desk, sohow ended up in Jade's hands.
The timing was painfully ironic, Jade had been sitting a row behind Rainie in class, and soone had mistakenly assud the letter was ant for her, despite the fact that Ethan had started it with, "Rain…" which he felt was quite a poetic opening, as it matched Rainie's na.
Jade, however, took the letter and went around telling everyone that Ethan had a crush on her.
Worse, she made a huge scene, publicly "rejecting" him in the most humiliating way possible. She had mocked him relentlessly, calling him a parentless stray and saying he was like a dog, biting more than he could chew.
That incident left a scar on Ethan, one he carried through all three years of high school. He couldn't shake the embarrassnt, and it showed in his grades, which remained diocre throughout.
Thankfully, Ethan still managed to scrape into college. Jade, however, vanished after their graduation.
Ethan had tried to find her a few tis, but not out of any sense of closure. It was because she had stolen sothing precious from him.
A bracelet, a simple one that Ethan always carried. It had been too small for his wrist, so he usually kept it in his pocket.
One day, he left his jacket in the classroom to use the bathroom. When he returned, the bracelet was gone.
So classmates said they'd seen Jade rummaging through his things.
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