<h4>Chapter 398: Stand Treat</h4>
<strong>Trantor: </strong>Nyoi-Bo Studio <strong>Editor: </strong>Nyoi-Bo Studio
On the way home.
With a sudden jittering sound in his ears, Li Dong halted his footsteps.
“Show yourselves,” He spoke. “I can smell your scent. Ah, yes, a scent of hostility.”
“Hahaha!”
A burst of pratingughter pierced through the air as three masked boys appeared with their hands stuffed in their pockets. They surrounded Li Dong in the middle of the road, with two in front and one at the back. Both sides of the street were lined with tall bushes, and Li Dong had no way of escape.
“Hey, new kid, did you know? We’re not quite pleased with you,” said the tall masked boy, rubbing his knuckles.
“You had better be nice and stay down. Rx; my gentle fists will not greet your face.”
“Why don’t you kneel and beg for forgiveness? You can call us daddy and crawl under our crotches. Perhaps then you’ll get to suffer less,” the shortest masked boy said with his legs open, pointing at his crotch.
“Shintora, Sakyu Akagi, Mio Takao... I assume that it is you guys?”
What?
The three were shocked.
“How’s that possible?”
“How did you recognize us?”
“Huhuh, you think that will save you a beating? Aren’t you too na?ve there, my man Touki?”
Shintora, who was their leader, walked forward while cracking his neck. “I know a special boxing technique. When my fistnds on my man Touki’s head, he will forget everything that happened today and will be unable to use us in front of the teacher. This technique is called... the Fist of the Memory Reaper.”
“Cool!”
“Well, looks like we have no other choice. Let’s beat him up until he forgets everything, huhuhuh.”
The two other masked boys let out a peal of smugughter.
“Are you guys stupid?” Li Dong said wearily. “I can unleash a 580-kilogram force punch with my left fist, and 660 kilograms with my right. The explosive power of my leg can reach more than 800 kilograms... Are you sure you want to challenge me?”
What?
The three were shocked once again. Their faces were sweating. That can’t be true, right?
How could high schoolers such as them withstand a 500- or 600-kilogram force punch?
“Stop making preposterous jokes!”
Shintora sped up while running and mmed his fists into Li Dong. “Stay down, scum! You are really annoying!”
“Together!”
The other two also charged in with their fists.
Boff, biff, bam...
“Damn it, his body is as hard as iron.”
“He’s fast. I can’t catch up with his speed.”
“Argh! P-p-pain!”
“We are sorry, Touki! We are sorry! Please forgive us!”
It took a few minutes.
The three masked boys kneeled before Li Dong in a row, begging for mercy. Their eyes were full of fear as they looked at Li Dong before them.
Monster.
He was literally a monster. They were no match for him. After taking just one or two punches, their thought of exerting dominance over him immediately vanished, and was reced with pleading for mercy.
“I’ll be heading back. I still have to work to do. Another thing, if you ever think of bothering me again, I implore you to think of this stone first.”
He leaned over and picked up a three-inch-thick marble brick from the ground, took it in his left hand, and forcefully smashed it with his right fist.
Krrrr... The brick shattered into dozens of pieces and fell in front of Shintora and the others.
“Ah!”
“M-m-monster!”
“T-T-T-Touki! Forgive us! Please!”
The three were scared to such an extent that their souls left their bodies.
The figure of Li Dong’ back was already far in the distance.
...
He took off the virtual helmet to let his brain rest for a while.
Li Dong knew why three of his ssmates—Shintora, Sakyu Akagi, and Mio Takao—hade to him looking for trouble.
Firstly, in PE ss a few days ago, he brutally wrecked them in a one-versus-three basketball match, earning himself a spot in the limelight.
Secondly, because of his surname, the girls in his ss had been very curious and concerned about him recently. This further intensified the hatred Shintora and the others had for him, an outsider. For them to take certain “actions” to put him down was entirely justifiable.
“But... the person you’re challenging is a God, the supreme God who rules over the. Even the basic attributes of my divine body areparable to the top athletes and boxers. Even unarmed, I can still easily go against ten enemies.
“And if I were to be killed, I could be ‘revived’ infinitely. As long as the ‘Tallest Tower’ still stands, I will remain the Lord of Eastern Jupiter.
“In front of my people, I am invincible.”
...
After the events of that ambush.
Shintora and the others never gave Li Dong any trouble again. Instead, their bodies quivered every time they saw him, just like when rats see a cat.
But for some unknown reason, It seemed like Denen Satoshi liked him or something, since she brought two bento boxes for three consecutive days—one of which was naturally for Li Dong.
Noon of that day.
Li Dong took the delicate pink bento and ced it in front of himself. However, he did not open it, even after a very long time.
“What’s the matter, Touki? Does the food not suit your appetite?” Denen Satoshi asked, looking at him strangely. Why was Touki not eating?
“Uhm...”
Li Dong hesitated for a while, but still told her. “In all honesty Satoshi, I actually... have a huge appetite. For a bento of this size, I might need five of them to just fill my stomach, and I can eat more of them.”
“I’m really sorry, Satoshi, please forgive me for being rude. I’ll like to go to the canteen and eat a little more today. Why don’t I treat you to a meal tomorrow, Satoshi.”
Upon finishing, he handed the bento back, stood up, and bowed. He left the ssroom and headed straight towards the school canteen.
“Ah...”
Denen Satoshi felt like she had been struck by lightning. She kept her head low and blushed to the back of her ears.
She wasn’t getting flushed because of shyness, but because of awkwardness—an awkwardness that made her want to stick her head in the ground.
She was petite, and her appetite was the smallest among all the girls in the ss. Touki, on the other hand, was a boy more than 180 centimeters tall, but he was eating a bento almost the same amount as hers. There was no doubt that Touki was not getting enough.
She, however, had brought Touki bento boxes for five consecutive days,
“Ah!”
Denen Satoshi couldn’t help herself from letting out a loud wail. She held her face in her hands. “I’m done for. He hates me. Touki definitely hates me now. He will never like a stupid girl like me.”
...
In the school’s high-end restaurant.
Li Dong ordered half a table of dishes.
On the whole, they were the most expensive dishes: squid, sizzled steak, a chicken drumstick in a brown sauce, fried sea prawn, takoyaki, and so on, costing more than 300 dors in total... usually, he would be able to buy a scrumptious meal for just 30 to 50 dors.
Li Dong speared a Takoyaki and tossed it into his mouth. He savored its deliciousness and sighed.
“In the end, the dishes here are still more to my taste.
“Satoshi’s bento actually doesn’t taste bad, but it is always just a few foods. It has lots of vegetables and less meat, and I can’t even see oil on any of them. Only a couple more times and I would be sick of it. Saying that I eat a lot is just an excuse. This body of mine can go a long time without food, as the system will automatically replenish my energy... I’m so sorry, Satoshi.”
Besides, in this game world, as the supreme ruler of this, enjoying life waspletely normal, especially in terms of food. Li Dong did not want to deny himself. After all, the food on this was quite delectable.
However, through observation, Li Dong discovered that most of his ssmates at school did not eat well. For the sake of saving money, most of them would bring bento boxes to school. Their food was rather in. Turnips, potatoes, and eggs, mixed with somemon fruits... only a few of them atevishly every meal.
Reasonably speaking, with the technological level and production capacity of Eastern Jupiter, it would not be difficult to make it so thatmoners at the bottom of society would have meat and fish in every meal. However, due to the gap between the rich and the poor, the solidification of social sses, and the high costs of education, medical, and amodation which took up arge portion of household expenses,moners at the bottom mostly live a frugal life. It was rare for people to eat over 300 dors in a high-end restaurant like him.
He immediately attracted the attention of his contemporaries dining in the restaurant.
“That’s more than 10 dishes. Can he finish them alone?”
“He ordered all the few most expensive dishes; Is he the son of a boss or something?”
“A normal person could never finish all that unless he were an eating champion. Should I join tables with him? I have not eaten chicken drumstick in brown sauce for a very long time...” said the lean and tall student who only had one dish in front of him, drooling.
“Feifei, isn’t that Touki from our ss?”
Ishinaka Mei who was from an average family, and had such close ties with Shangguan Feifei that they often ate together, noticed Li Dong sitting alone in the corner. She stood up in surprise and spouted these words while looking at Li Dong, who was facing away from them. She also saw the sumptuous dishes Li Dong ordered, which were enough for four or five girls.
“Touki?”
Shangguan Feifei stood up and was somewhat surprised. “That’s really Touki! hHow can he afford so many dishes? Aren’t those worth more than half a month of his living expenses? He seems more extravagant than I am; where did he get so much money?”
“Feifei, I think this is just something asional for Touki—maybe once every six months or a year. Perhaps from tomorrow onwards, he will only have a bowl of rice for every meal paired with free soup and small dishes, just like the poorest students in the school... Touki said himself that he’s just a poor transfer student. At his level of poverty, he can’t sustain such an exorbitant lifestyle,” Ishinaka Mei analyzed.
Shangguan Feifei nodded while she looked at Li Dong’s back. “So he’s choosing to ease the despair of being poor in this way? Understandable, understandable.”
By that time, they were basically full. They left the restaurant and returned to the ssroom.
Swiftly, gossip was repeated among the girls. News such as “Touki just had a big meal” and “He spent more than 300” spread like wildfire, and was made known to all the girls in the ss.
Denen Satoshi, too, caught wind of these rumors.
She immediately covered her face and was about to cry.
“I didn’t expect Touki to be that hungry. It must be because of my bento.”
“300 dors—it’s more than a month of my pocket money. I made Touki spend all of that in just a single meal.”
“Denen Satoshi! No matter what, in the face of such losses, you should makepensation!”
Denen Satoshi made up her mind.
...
“Ah. Finished.”
Li Dong finished all of the half-a-table of dishes, but he did not feel at all bloated. Food that entered his belly waspletely transformed into NULL data, bing clouds of air.
After all, in reality, his body did not eat anything. No matter how he ate in the game, his body, in reality, would not feel any fullness. That feeling was unnecessary; otherwise, under the game’s deceptive effect, yers might starve to death in reality and bepletely unaware of it.
“He actually finished all of them! My chicken drumstick in brown sauce! My Takoyaki!”
The lean and tall student who had been sitting next to him, waiting, was looking at the almost emptied tes. All of a sudden, he felt dejected and lost.
...
The next day.
It was time for lunch again.
“Let’s go, Satoshi! Let’s go for lunch together. Today’s on me,” Li Dong said,ing up beside Denen Satoshi’s desk.
“No, let me, Touki... I’m so sorry for these few days, Touki. I must treat you to a meal today,” Denen Satoshi said with her head lowered. Her perspiring palm sped on the purse in her pocket which contained all of her pocket money. In order to restore Touki’s impression of her, she was already prepared to go bankrupt.
“It must be me today, Satoshi.”
Li Dong said with a serious look, “Although your bento was not enough for me, I could feel your kindness and your heart in it, Satoshi. My heart will not be at ease if I do not treat you to a meal today. I would be an ungrateful person who was not worthy of being your friend. If you’re not willing to go, Satoshi, I will have to bear a huge psychological burden in my heart... Satoshi, please let me treat you to a meal.”
“This...”
Denen Satoshi did not expect Touki to be so grateful over those few bento boxes. She felt both moved and ashamed. Seeing his persistence, she said, “Fine, you treat me today, and tomorrow, it’ll be my turn!”
“Sure. Now let’s go.”
Li Dong nodded. At a nce, he saw Nishihara Kaori, who had eaten a few meals with him, taking out her lunch box. He walked two steps towards her and said, “Kaori, let’s go. Come with us to the school cafeteria. Today we won’t eat bento. I will treat both of you to a sumptuous meal.”
“Ah...”
Nishihara Kaori looked at him. After it crossed her mind that she had not gone to the school cafeteria for a long time, she slid her bento box back in her bag and nodded. “Then I will also treat you both to a meal next time.”
The three went to the school cafeteria together.
...
After all the dishes were served at the table.
Denen Satoshi’s and Nishihara Kaori’s mouths were wide open.
There were exactly twenty dishes, which almost filled up the whole table. What’s more, most of them were the more expensive ones. The total cost could not be less than 500 dors. It was the equivalent of an ordinary student’s living expenses for a month. But at this moment, it was the expenditure for three to have a single meal... absolutely an act of extravagance.
They drew the attention of many other students.
“I’m gonna start now.”
Li Dong glided his chopsticks forward and began to revel in the table of delicacies, ignoring the gaze of the others.
However, Denen Satoshi and Nishihara Kaori had not picked up their chopsticks. Although they couldn’t help but gulp a few times as they sniffed the tempting aroma of the high-ss cuisine, they have no intentions to feast on it.
There were only two voices in their minds: “How am I supposed to treat him back the next time if I eat all these?”, and “How did Touki have so much money?”
Didn’t Touki say that he is just a poor transfer student? Could someone poor afford such a high standard of living?”
“Satori, Kaori, why aren’t you both eating?” Li Dong called to them. “Are the dishes not appetizing? Should we add a few of your favorite foods?”
“N-no, no, no.” Denen Satoshi waved her hands flurriedly. “I-I’m not hungry now.”
Nishihara Kaori said, “I ate too much during breakfast. I don’t have much appetite now, huhuhu.” She giggled.
“Rx. I work hard every day just to eat better and ssier food. Although I am poor, it’s no problem for me to maintain such a high standard in eating. I’m really good at work, by the way...”
Perhaps out of awareness of their concerns, Li Dong gave this exnation.
“Touki!”
Nishihara Kaori raised her head forcibly and asked, “How much can you earn every day?”
Denen Satoshi also looked at him curiously.