Chapter 134: And there was a Spark
“Hmmm, leave me alone, you scammer. Just make yourself useful and punch stuff,” Jenny waved him off without even opening her eyes.
“No, I don’t think I will,” Jin replied easily, smiling.
“Hey, monkey, beat him up for me,” Zeph woke up, his ears perking as he looked at Jin with obvious excitement at the thought of fighting someone strong.
“Hmm? Cool monkey,” Jin said approvingly. He paused, glancing around at the collection of creatures nearby. “Hare, wolf, sheep… even a bear. Is Kei just collecting creatures now?” His gaze lifted instinctively toward the sky and the tree line, his expression turning thoughtful. “Feels like there’s something missing.”
“There’s also a Stormbringer Fellhorn and a Frost Tyrant Fellhorn,” Owen added casually, nodding toward the surrounding area. “And Seth’s over there too.” He gestured briefly. “But the bear isn’t Kei’s. That one’s mine.”
“What are you looking for?” Lisa asked.
“He’s got all these creatures,” Jin replied. “I was just expecting a bird to be among them, that’s all. Oh hey, you’re here too.” He finally noticed Lisa properly.
On the ground in front of her lay a blueprint, beside it the finished creation it depicted.
“Yeah,” Jenny added, glancing at it. “Just like his father's that he keeps in the corner of his office.”
“When he told me about it, and about its connection to his parents, I really put my all into making this for him,” Lisa said quietly. “I hope he likes it. It's supposed to be a weapon he had in mind to make, and he seemed so excited about it. He was really adorable."
“Is anyone going to explain why Number One is here, and why him, and why you all seem so familiar with each other?” Talia finally questioned.
“Oh, Scammer?” Jenny yawned. “He’s Kei’s bodyguard who somehow scammed his way into becoming Kei’s best friend.”
Jin looked around. “More importantly, who are all of you, and why are there suddenly so many people here? The wood crafting lady’s here, and even you, Kaito?”
“Human experiments,” Jenny said flatly. “Kaito’s here for me. I don’t know why, but whatever. And her” she pointed lazily at Lisa, “that’s your new sister-in-law.”
The clearing went quiet for half a second.
Then Jin blinked.
While the others were still surprised to learn about Kei and Jin’s friendship, Jin himself was far more stunned by a different revelation.
A sister-in-law.
The moment it sank in, his gaze shifted to Lisa, softening instantly. The sharpness he carried dulled into something warm and protective, as if he had already decided that whatever happened next, she was now under his care. Lisa noticed immediately and couldn’t help but laugh, genuinely pleased.
“Is it true that Kei was weak back on Earth?” Kai suddenly asked, voicing a question that had been sitting in his mind for a long time.
“Oh right, he told us he was really weak,” Reese added.
“Hm, more lazy than anything,” Jenny replied without hesitation.
Lisa shot her a stunned look, as if to say she had absolutely no right to call anyone lazy.
Jin thought about it for a moment. “I guess that’s one way to put it. Not really lazy, though. More like he never saw the point in exercising. I’ll admit, I was surprised by how strong he was when he showed up and handled that Apex boss. Why do you ask?”
Reese, Kai, Owen, and Talia exchanged glances.
Then, as if a dam burst, they turned on Jin all at once.
“That demon has no soul!”
“He made us exercise nonstop!”
“He threw us at monsters!”
“We got beaten up. A lot!”
They unloaded everything. The brutal training. The relentless drills. The advice that somehow made things worse before it made them better. They ratted Kei out completely, voices overlapping, some of them even breaking down into full sobs, tears and snot included.
Jin listened patiently.
Very patiently.
When they finally ran out of breath, he nodded slowly.
“…So,” he said, eyes lighting up with a dangerous kind of excitement, “he’s exercising now?”
The group collectively froze.
Something about the look on his face made their skin crawl.
“Oh yeah,” Jenny said lazily, not even looking up. “Kei is definitely going to kill you guys now. If you thought his training before was bad, now that you’ve ratted him out, he’s absolutely going to design new training regimens. Ones just for you. Probably to test things.”
Lisa covered her mouth, amused, her shoulders shaking slightly with laughter.
If anyone had been paying close attention, they would have noticed the color drain from Reese, Kai, Owen, and Talia’s faces.
It looked almost like their souls were leaving their bodies.
At least, that’s what Kaito thought he was seeing.
In front of everyone, a small mountain of equipment spilled out onto the ground. Different parts, different accessories, spanning multiple grades. The one thing they all had in common was their purpose. Every piece boosted mental attributes. Will. Intelligence. Even Charisma.
“This is everything I’ve managed to collect so far,” Jin said, glancing at the pile before looking at Jenny. “Do you think any of this will help him?”
“Whoa… that’s a lot,” Kaito muttered, picking up a silver-grade scepter and inspecting it. “So all that dungeon diving and hunting mental-stat gear… that was for Kei?”
Jin only hummed in response.
“And Jenny’s been stockpiling materials to make clothes for him too,” Lisa added, her tone shifting with concern. “Is there something you two are worried about?”
Jenny and Jin exchanged a brief look.
“During the time you’ve been with him,” Jin asked carefully, “has Kei ever acted… odd?”
“We only met him here,” Kai replied. “So all we know is how he’s been with us.”
“That’s fair,” Jin said.
Jenny leaned forward slightly. “Then let me put it this way. Have you noticed any changes? Even small ones. In his behavior, his personality.”
The group hesitated. Reese, thinking back. “Do you mean the calligraphy thing? I’ve seen words carved into the ground and surroundings before. Like they were etched by wind.”
Lisa nodded. “He asked me to make calligraphy scrolls and brushes too. Actually… that was right after you came by asking me to make playing cards,” she said, glancing at Jin.
Jenny turned slowly to him. “Really? Even here you’re trying to scam people?” She stared for a second longer. “…How much did you make?”
Jin coughed. “Ignoring that. It sounds like he’s still keeping himself under control. For now. Let’s just hope we’re not already too late.”
The worry on both his and Jenny’s faces was unmistakable.
“He’s been in a dungeon for awhile,” Jenny added quietly. “When he comes out… let’s hope we can still keep him grounded.”
“We’ve just been training, trying to keep up,” Reese said. “Whatever’s in there keeping him busy for that long is bound to make him several times stronger than us. So we’ve been running dungeons and quests with these guys, hoping to close the gap. We’ve also been trying to improve that whole natural training approach Kei told us about. Not relying on the system.”
Jin did not interrupt. As if unwilling to let Kei’s efforts with them go to waste, he had them explain everything. Every drill. Every restriction. What Kei made them do and, more importantly, why he made them do it.
By the time they finished, his expression had darkened.
“I guess you feel stupid now, huh?” Jenny laughed, catching the look on his face. “Believe me, I was pissed too when I found out dumping stat points was basically a waste. But you?” She gleamed. “You were riding Kei so hard about exercising that he literally jumped off the highest floor in Cherry Tree just to get away from you. And you still didn’t think of such a thing.”
Jin exhaled slowly.
“Alright,” he said at last. “I’ll continue his training for you.”
Everyone stiffened.
“He remembered some of the easy stuff I tried to teach him,” Jin continued, crossing his arms. “Back then, he could do push-ups just fine. But they reminded him of the cramped place he grew up in, so he avoided them and got lazy about it. Doesn’t matter now.”
His smile turned sharp.
“Until he comes back, you’re under my care. And if this whole exercise thing is really as effective as it sounds, I’m going to squeeze more stat points out of you than he ever did.”
Silence followed.
At that point, Kaito was more than certain of one thing.
Their souls had already left their bodies.
.....
Wukong stood there speechless, staring at the human now sporting long, drooping hare ears and voltage-lined legs. His mouth hung open.