Episode 67: Physical Enhancement Ability
The week started on Monday—
Yuma and the others were at Aisha’s laboratory in Tokyo’s Ota Ward. The first floor of the laboratory used to be a factory, so it had a considerable amount of space.
The interior was dimly lit, with only a few bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling.
Various pieces of equipment were scattered throughout the room. Yuma looked around with curiosity as he headed towards Aisha, who was in the back, along with the president.
“Um… what is all this?”
Aisha, who had been working on a computer, stopped abruptly and turned to Yuma.
“It’s equipment for measuring physical fitness. First, I need to measure your physical abilities.”
“H-haah…”
Aisha skillfully adjusted the measuring equipment and prepared for the tests.
“President, am I really the one doing this? I feel like the president could do it too.”
“Well… my strength and physique are pretty average. It’ll be easier to get data from you. Besides, it’s not bad to have your physical abilities enhanced. If you get stronger, you can hunt more Monsters!”
The president said it casually, but Yuma still wasn’t convinced.
“Alright, Yuma-kun. I’m ready. Let’s start measuring!”
Seeing Aisha looking so excited, Yuma realized he had no choice but to give in.
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“Okay, put your strength into it~”
“Hnnn!”
Yuma gripped the dynamometer. He clenched his teeth and exerted all his strength.
“Okay, that’s good, you can stop now.”
The device he was holding was a digital dynamometer that could measure grip strength with great precision.
In addition to this, they used a vertical jump measuring device and a digital back strength meter to quantify Yuma’s physical strength.
They also did shuttle runs and a 20-meter shuttle run outside.
“For now, let’s stop with the strength-related stuff.”
Aisha told him he could rest, so Yuma sat down on a chair and took a breath.
The president handed him a towel, saying, “Good job,” so he said, “Thank you,” and took it, wiping his face and neck.
Just as he was thinking about how tired he was, Aisha came over with a smile.
“Yuma-kun, let’s eat these while you rest.”
She held out a case filled with a large number of round balls in front of Yuma.
“What are these…?”
“These are ‘Iron’ Demon Ores extracted from Pill Bugs. Iron has the effect of enhancing muscle strength. Let’s start with these.”
“Y-yes.”
Yuma replied with a wry smile to Aisha, who cheerfully handed him a plastic bottle, holding the Iron balls in his right hand and the bottle in his left.
There were 72 balls in total. He sighed and put a ball in his mouth.
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“Hmm, I see, I see.”
Aisha happily entered data into the computer. After eating all the Iron balls and taking a good rest, they performed the same physical fitness tests again.
The Iron balls seemed to be breaking down in his stomach, so he didn’t feel full, but the water he was using to wash them down was accumulating in his stomach.
He was getting pretty tired, so he thought they might be done for the day, but—
“Now, Yuma-kun. Let’s try ‘Lead’ this time.”
“Eh!? Lead? Are we still going!?”
“Of course. Lead is also a muscle-strengthening Demon Ore. It’s more efficient to examine them together.”
“Are there any besides muscle-strengthening types?”
“Of course, there are. There are ones that improve eyesight, make you more agile, or increase your stamina. Well, I plan to do them all over the course of a few days.”
Yuma’s eyes glazed over. He might be dead by the time it’s over.
That day, after eating 54 ‘Lead’ balls, he did the physical fitness tests again and finally finished.
From the next day on, Aisha’s relentless physical fitness tests continued.
They performed eyesight tests, dynamic visual acuity tests using a vision training machine, and reaction speed tests using a computer.
Yuma thought he was lucky because he wasn’t using as much physical strength as yesterday, but his face twitched when Aisha brought out a large number of ‘Aluminum’ balls.
That day, he ate about 100 Demon Ores and the measurements were completed.
The next day was even more hellish. To check his stamina, they measured his lung capacity and long-distance running time. He was exhausted by noon.
“Now, Yuma-kun. Eat all of these.”
Aisha brought out nearly 200 ‘Copper’ and ‘Chrome’ Demon Ores.
“You’ll be running the same distance in the afternoon, so eat them all by then. Hehehe.”
It looked like a devilish smile.
All the measurements were completed in three days. That night, Yuma and the president were called by Aisha and came to the second floor of the laboratory.
“Hey, good work! The results of the analysis are out. I’ll report them to you guys too.”
Yuma stared at Aisha, who was cheerfully holding a black file and acting excited, with a blank look on his face.
“The results are amazing!”
“Yuma’s physical abilities have improved that much?”
The president, who was sitting on a folding chair, asked with interest.
“Yes, of course! It’s a better result than I imagined.”
Yuma also raised his face in anticipation. He didn’t feel like his muscles had gotten much stronger, but it would be great if his physical abilities had improved. Aisha opened the black file and read out the results.
“Yuma-kun, you can be happy! Your muscle strength has increased by 1.2%, your eyesight by 0.4%, your dynamic visual acuity by 0.7%, your agility by 1.1%, and your stamina has improved by as much as 1.5%!!”
Yuma was devastated in front of Aisha, who was shouting triumphantly.
After eating all that, that’s all?