Here we go again.
The support has been amazing and we just hit 100 power stones so here's another chapter today!
Enjoy!
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What Marcus saw was a pretty big dude with a shaved head and a menacing face. He was a couple of inches shorter than him, but he could see the obvious cybernetic enhancements in his arms and chest as the door wore an open green vest.
He walked in and saw the inside was much nicer with dark red walls along with trophy cases and banners from previous accomplishments.
The area was quite big as there were four rings and dozens of exercise machines and equipment.
As he walked forward, he was interrupted by a voice calling out to him.
"Yo! John, right?" He looked over and saw a dark-skinned male with a crew cut and an awesome mustache. The dude looked pretty muscular and about a foot shorter than him.
"Yeah, that's me." Marcus smiled.
The other man reached out his hand, "I'm Darren. Heard ol' Vik, recommend ya."
Marcus reciprocated the gesture.
"He did. You a boxer here?" He asked.
"Nah, I'm a coach and just here to show you around and explain a few things." Darren waved at him to follow to which Marcus did.
"Alright, the first thing is the price. It's 500 eddies a month excluding the gym and coach cut, but it's open 24/7 for you to come and go as you please. We have cleaners so that everything is as clean as it can be. You get your own locker which I'll show you later, and the showers to use as you will. Any questions so far?" Darren smiled as he stood near the weight machines.
"What's the gym and coach cut?" He asked with confusion.
Darren was happy to explain.
"Coaches get 25% and the gym gets 10%. The coach's cut is self-explanatory, but the gym sets up and coordinates fights so all you gotta do is show up and throw punches. That preem?" The short-haired asks.
"All good with me, but I don't got a coach." Marcus thought it made sense. He'd get 65% and he didn't have to do any of the work to set that up. He had enough to do already. This was mostly just a place to work out and level up his Brawling skill.
Darren looked at him with confusion.
"Vik is your coach. He didn't tell ya? The moment he recommended you was when he became your coach."
Marcus felt a bit excited as Vik was pretty much a boxing legend without implants, so his skill was insane.
"Guess he forgot to mention that part." He answered with a sigh.
"Wouldn't put it past him." Darren laughed before he pointed to the machines next to him. "Anyway, this is the ganic section as the weights on the machines only go up to 300 to 400 pounds(136.07kg - 181.43kg), and on the other wall is the borg section, quite a few of those machines go over a thousand pounds(453.59kg)."
Marcus nodded in excitement. In his previous life, these machines capped out at around 200 - 250 pounds(90.71kg - 113.39kg). Sometimes you could add a 45-pound (20kg) plate on the front but that was about it without worrying about anything breaking.
Darren shook his head in amusement at the taller man's enthusiasm, he addressed the showpiece of the gym.
"Of course, the main attraction being the boxing rings. A couple of ground rules. You cannot spar without a coach supervising and you must wear gloves and head protection. Breaking these rules will be met with a warning and if it happens again, you're kicked out. You with me so far?" He asked.
Marcus nodded. Sounds reasonable to him.
"Preem. Next up is the locker room and we'll get you set up." Darren walked back to the front area before and moved away from the entrance to the back of the gym as there was a sign for the locker rooms.
He went in and as you can expect, a bunch of lockers and showers.
Darren walked up to an unoccupied one as it was a bit higher-tech considering it had a touch-screen with 9 numbers on it.
"This one will be yours, the password has already been reset, so just enter whatever you want up to 7 digits. I'll wait for you by the front." Darren exited.
Marcus imputed a password that he'd remember and put his boxing gloves from his inventory to the locker before shutting it.
Walking back out, he saw Darren behind a desk and monitor.
"Alright, just send over the payment and place your hand on the scanner and we're all set." Darren smiled.
He sent over the eddies and placed his hand on the touch-screen.
"Nova. Have a good workout." Darren waves.
"Thanks." Marcus was about to go straight to the machines before he spotted a strange vending machine.
As he approached, he saw that it sold the usual RealWater, but also protein drinks.
It was 20 eddies, but he decided to get it.
He can only imagine the taste of one with all the synthetic shit here, though.
Marcus didn't even know why he bothered getting one since his system would make the gains for him, but he supposed he did it out of habit from his previous life. Plus, he'd feel more full so maybe it won't be so bad.
It also came as a can, so he cracked it open and took a drink.
'I'm never getting this shit again.' Marcus thought with a bit of disgust. It's not gag-inducing, but it was pretty bad.
He wouldn't waste it, though. You shouldn't waste food or money.
As he took a look at all the machines by himself, he saw a treadmill, various weight machines, squat racks, bench presses, and even a deadlift platform.
Naturally, he chose the most gym-bro lift and picked the bench press.
He took a look at the borg section and saw that it had solid blocks for plates that didn't seem to have small increments for weights. They went up by at least a 100 each. It was more like a Smith machine in that regard, but even that would require you to load it.
First, he got into position and made sure his feet and ass stayed on the ground and bench respectively while making sure he had a small arch in his back. He wasn't going for the whole powerlifting technique. Making sure his hands were slightly wider than shoulder length, he lifted the bar with expected ease, as he was sure to have the bar touch his chest before exploding up and reracking.
Solid form in his mind.
Next, it was time to add some weight. Back in his previous life, his max was around 150 lbs (68.03kg). It wasn't great, but he wasn't really in shape to begin with.
He couldn't be any weaker than that obviously so he loaded up 1 plate on each side which equaled 45lbs(20kg) with the bar itself being the same for a total of 135lbs(61.235kg).
Using the same form, he pressed it up.
It took practically no effort. Easy as shit.
He went up another plate for a total of 225lbs(101.605kg).
Felt somewhat the same.
Another plate for 315lbs(142.882kg).
A bit heavier.
Another for 405lbs(183.705kg).
Still a little light.
Another for 495lbs(224.528kg).
This was moderately heavy but still not enough for a working set.
Now he was feeling quite surprised. He was benching five plates on each side and still felt like he could go by quite a bit which was insane. There was a saying: Weight moves Weight. This means the heavier you are the more you can lift. This isn't always the case of course, but there's a reason why people in powerlifting are pretty damn big in both musculature and body fat.
This also applies to strongman competitions too.
He went up in weight again at 585lbs(265.352kg).
Now this felt nice but not quite enough.
The thought almost made him laugh at the ridiculousness of it. Six plates not even counting as a working set is truly insane compared to his previous self. It's insane to those who aren't strongmen competitors or powerlifters.
Hell, the maximum bench press naturally and no support gear is around 700 pounds(317.51kg), but that guy was about 100 pounds(45.35kg) heavier than even him.
Marcus didn't really even have body fat.
Taking a swig of the nasty drink, he wanted to push himself.
He added another plate to a staggering 675lbs(306.175kg).
Making sure his form was correct, he lifted it.
The weight was pretty fucking heavy, but it still felt like he had more in the tank. This felt about right to work with as a working set.
Getting overconfident, he added another plate.
"Yo, choom. You need a spot." Darren rushed over seeing how much he was lifting and couldn't believe what he was seeing. Naturally, he didn't want to see him get crushed.
Marcus looked at him and nodded.
"That sounds nova. Thanks." He smiled before getting himself into position.
This was 765lbs(346.998kg). A truly absurd amount and breaking the world record of his previous life. No wrist wraps, slingshot band, or weightlifting suit. All him.
He felt emotion come over him as he thought of a perfect phrase to bring to this world.
Gripping the bar, Marcus shouted.
"LIGHTWEIGHT, BABY!"
Darren couldn't help but grin widely as he helped lift the bar off the rack.
"COME ON, JOHN!"
The bar descended, touched his chest, and exploded up, but it didn't go that way.
Marcus struggled immensely as it slowly raised.
"UP! UP! UP! LET'S GO!" Darren hyped him up which helped a lot.
He slowly but surely lifted it all the way until he locked out as Darren helped him rerack it.
"WOO!" Marcus overcome with excitement and masculine pride jumped off of the seat.
"That was fuckin' nova, John!" Darren dapped him up and brought him in slapping his back.
Marcus calmed down and sighed with relief before noticing he got a notification.
+100 Body
+100 Athletics
Truly a symbiotic pairing.
"Sheesh, choom. You sure you don't got any hidden cyberware or you juicin'?" Darren raised an eyebrow.
Marcus laughed.
"Nah, just some optics and regular shit. I don't wanna look like a wannabe Animal either." He explained.
The shorter man shrugged.
"Pretty damn impressive for no cybernetic enhancement at all. No wonder Vik recommended you. Your arm must be a fuckin' cannon." Darren joked.
"I guess we'll see." Marcus chuckled.
After a few pleasantries, Darren left.
Getting back to the grind, Marcus tested out his squat and deadlift which were more safe than having the bar crush your trachea.
His working set for squats is 1035lbs(469.468kg) and his max was 1125lbs(510.291kg)
For his deadlift, it was about the same, but he didn't use smaller weights than the 45s(20kg) so there was quite a bit of wiggle room.
The fact that he could deadlift over 500kg is truly insane to him. He completely beat out every record. His height and weight probably helped quite a bit along with the system fuckery. Gyomei's physique is just busted.
He also got more notifications hitting those maxes. It felt good.
Marcus was about to start his working set for bench when he heard a familiar voice.
"Yo, John!" Vik called out and noticed he didn't use his first name probably because of his face and not wanting to draw undue attention.
"Hey, Vik! When were you gonna tell me that you're my coach." Marcus raised an eyebrow.
"Ah, slipped my mind at the time. Honest mistake." Vik looked apologetic.
Darren walked up and slapped his shoulder.
"Hey, Vik. Where'd you find this monster?" The short-haired male laughed.
"What are you talking about, Darren? Did you already get him in the ring?" Vik looked at Darren and Marcus with confusion.
Darren just grinned and pointed to the bench.
"You wouldn't believe what he just did."
-+=[BoG]=+-
Another chapter down and it's the big 20.
I just finished this on the 6th, so it should come out on the 12th.
Until next time!
Later!