READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 29: The Rock
The dining hall turned silent as everyone stopped eating and turned to look at the potential fight. They didn't want to eat that soup anyway, so entertainment was much more welcome.
On the other side, after Veer declared himself as the leader of the Second Dormitory, a muscular man stood up from his seat.
"I don't think you're strong enough to be our leader."
He was a young man but looked far from it. Towering over others at a height of two meters, the man looked like a giant. His head was completely bald, as the light reflected on his shiny scalp. With powerful muscles rolling under his skin that his white shirt barely hid, he had a heavy presence around him. Just a single look from him was enough to turn the whole dining hall silent.
Crossing his arms over his chest, the giant looked at Veer, gesturing for him to come forward to show his strength. After all, the first and foremost rule of being the leader was to have enough strength.
They had only agreed to let the triplets be their leaders as they were powerful as a team, and nobody else really wanted to be a leader. They were even fine with Veer as a leader, or rather, an empty leader.
Nobody wanted to take orders from someone so new to them and who was very weak.
Seeing the bald man, Jarek shifted slightly and spoke in a hushed voice, "His name is Rock, and he's probably the strongest in our dormitory. He's a simple-minded man but still reasonable, so he let us become the leaders. Now..."
Veer listened to everything with a subtle smile playing on his lips. At Jarek's warning, he just chuckled and said, "Then it's fine!"
He jumped down from the table and began walking toward Rock, as he asked in his mind, 'Can you show me his status?'
[As the individual is neither a wife nor a wife candidate, the system cannot show his proper status. To get such functions, the host needs to evolve the system.]
His smile stiffened as Veer looked at the hologram before him. The thought of this giant of a man being his wife sent shivers down his spine.
'What kind of stupid thoughts am I having?' Veer hurriedly poured a mentally made bleach on his thoughts and asked, 'You said you can't show his proper status, but you can show something at least, right?'
[Affirmative!]
'Good! Then show me what this guy's got.'
[Understood!]
[Name - Rock]
[Age - 18]
[Race - ******]
[Rank - F]
[Aspect - Mountain's Fury]
He had hoped to see the description, but there was none. Still, the information was more than enough for him to form some plans.
Stopping before the giant man, Veer had to strain his neck to look at him. "You know, it hurts my neck talking to you!"
"You're not the first to say that," Rock smiled. "Now, are you ready for a fight?"
"I am, but I don't think this is a proper place for that," Veer said, looking around.
Rock frowned. There were too many wooden tables, and students were also there. Normally, he wouldn't have cared about some wooden tables, but they were in the Second Dormitory, so everything was precious to them.
"What do you suggest then?" Rock asked.
Veer smiled and put his hand on Rock's shoulder. "Seeing that you're buffed up, I'm guessing you're choosing the Warrior path. So, how about this? I'll punch you, and then you can decide if I'm strong enough or not."
Without much thinking, Rock nodded. "Sure! If you can push me even an inch back, I'll concede."
"Good enough!" Veer smiled and then turned toward his fellow students. "Hey, can you guys shift the tables a little?"
The boys took no time to set the tables aside, making a small clearing at the center of the dining hall. In that clearing, Rock stood like an immovable mountain, with a confident smirk on his face.
On the other side, Veer looked like a weakling compared to him. He had a lean build, and his muscles were dense, making them very subtle so nobody expected him actually to win in this exchange.
"Let's see how you take this!" With a wide grin on his face, Veer bent his body forward, taking his hand back.
Clenching his fist hard, he put all of his strength into this one punch, even mixing some mana in it. There was a thin coating of his mana surrounding his fist, which made the air whistle as it passed through.
With a low grunt, Veer punched forward, aiming at Rock's chest. His movements were fast, and few managed to react to it, even though they were waiting for it.
Taken aback by surprise, Rock also felt a danger from this attack, so he hurriedly crossed his arms before his chest, making a cross sign as he took Veer's punch head-on.
The students were stunned as the spoons dropped from their hands. Their minds were questioning if what they were seeing was right.
The giant man was actually pushed back, and that was after he defended. If he had not, they wondered what would have happened.
Now, they all looked at Veer in a new light. Everyone in the three dormitories acknowledged Rock's strength, and it was said that even Carlson had invited him to the First Dormitory.
Unfortunately, Rock declined as he didn't see him worthy enough to be served.
Veer jerked his hand back and hissed, "What the hell, man!? Are you some kind of rock come alive or what?"
Putting his hand down, Rock laughed. "I'm just built different. But I have to say, you're also something else. That punch was enough to make me bleed for sure."
His laughter grew louder as he stepped forward and patted Veer on the shoulder, making him flinch in pain. "Fine! I'll let you be the leader of this dormitory. You seem like a guy who knows things, so I'll let you do the things. My dumb brain can't handle all of that."
"Hehe, don't worry," ignoring the pain, Veer smiled. "I promise I'll give you all a good life in this dormitory. And it will start with food. I am not eating this, and I won't allow any of you to eat this either."
Everyone was moved by his words as hope ignited in their hearts. Maybe, just maybe, they could have a better life. Thinking of this, they were about to throw away the synth soup when Veer's voice made their mood drop back to the ground floor.
"Eh? Don't throw it away, as you still need to eat it today!"