Mythology Rebooted

"Hey, hey, hey, where are you looking?"

Noticing that Wayne's gaze was off, Vee raised her fist and shook it, then punched the pervert in the stomach.

Wayne grunted softly, weak and feeble; even his punches lacked strength, yet he claimed to be a mage.

If she had the nerve to continue, he swore he wouldn't fight back!

Vee said, "Senior Kris has been really busy recently. Her mentor suddenly assigned her a new task, Veronica is busy catching up with her thesis and reports, so she entrusted me to deliver the gift."

"Don't you have a thesis and reports to catch up on?"

Wayne was surprised; he remembered that Vee and Veronica were roommates, both nearing graduation.

Could it be that this girl was a top student?

Indeed, she played the part of a tomboy convincingly, clearly a sign of strong studying capabilities.

"No need, I can copy Veronica's report, and for the thesis, we can co-author it, just need my signature on it when the time comes," Vee said smugly and without any sense of guilt.

Wayne: "..."

That's so like you, fitting my stereotype of a busty girl perfectly.

The graduation thesis that Vee and Veronica had to submit wasn't a typical college paper, but an inner academic assessment of magical theory for students, allowing co-authorship. The practical assessment was even simpler: demolish a heretic's hideout and submit a mission report.

Vee, being Veronica's roommate and bestie, had played the trust card and dumped the responsibility onto Veronica's shoulders.

Regarding the Evanston Women's College's graduation thesis, how could a mage let secular matters tie down her hands and feet? Shamelessly, Vee let Veronica wield the power of money— the thesis was already taken care of.

Seeing the girl brag in such an unabashed manner, Wayne couldn't help but cast an envious, no, contemptuous glance her way.

Lucky for her, he wanted a top-tier hero to rescue him too, he wanted to cling to Veronica's coattails as well.

"So, where's the gift?"

"At my place, come with me, and I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

"..."

That kind of talk can easily lead to misunderstandings!

————

The gift Vee had prepared was at her house; to be precise, Wayne had to choose the gift himself.

A communication bird!

As a mage, a communication bird was essential; they were not only the mages' trusted partners but could also be used to cast certain specific spells.

The tradition of communication birds had a long history, and even with the invention of the telephone, this tradition had been preserved.

In the taxi, Vee mentioned that the communication bird was only part of the gift, a welcome present for Wayne to celebrate him gaining magic power and becoming a promising mage apprentice.

The gift wasn't expensive, but it was priceless; many wild mages who sought it on their knees could not find a way and had to spend a lot of time cultivating their own communication birds.

Wayne could take a ready-made one, find a bird that resonated with him, fill out the form, and then take it with him.

Willibarabara talked nonstop, often with jumbled sentence structure, jumping from one topic to another as if she were walking on watermelon rinds. It took Wayne a good while to understand.

The messenger birds were bred by the Tri-Goddess Alliance and were given only to the devotees of the three goddesses. Veronica and the other two had signed a guarantee for Wayne, allowing him to receive two messenger birds in advance.

One for the daytime and one for the night, a day-use type and a night-use type.

"Sounds like sanitary pads..."

Wayne muttered under his breath. After the taxi stopped, he followed Willibarabara out of the car and arrived at a bustling street.

North Lundan, also known as the Northern District of Lundan City, wasn't the Central District where the elite congregated, but along with the West District, it gathered the middle class of Lundan City, making it several times more affluent and prosperous than the East District where Wayne lived.

The streets of North District were very wide, so much so that the sidewalks alone could accommodate three cars driving side by side. However, like all the streets in Lundan, they all suffered from a scarcity of greenery.

Urban greening and the like, a Green Belt Act had been passed in the last two years, but the layout of the city was basically established, and it was difficult to find open space to plant trees in the short term.

The taxi stopped in front of a fitness gym, with a name that was simple and blunt—Strength and Faith Fitness Center.

Wayne was surprised that gyms already existed at this time and even more surprised by Willibarabara's shocking revelation that the gym was her family's.

Willibarabara pushed the door and entered, with Wayne following behind. A wave of heat hit him in the face, making his vision blur momentarily and nearly bringing tears to his eyes.

So hot. In the middle of winter, are they burning a boiler in here?

Wayne rubbed his eyes, and what came into view was a spacious gym with various types of vintage equipment.

To Wayne, the styles were outdated, but for this era, the gym was well-equipped with every kind of professional apparatus imaginable; it could definitely be considered modern.

Horizontal bars, dumbbells, barbells, stair climbers, rowing machines, punching bags, bench press racks, wrestling rings...

Next door was the ladies' fitness area, and farther away, through a glass door, one could see a swimming pool.

A few well-bred fitness enthusiasts were pumping iron in the equipment area, each with a muscle-bound trainer, receiving one-on-one personal coaching. The trainers all wore uniform white coaching attire, sleeveless vests with shorts, their clearly defined muscles reflecting an attitude that commanded respect.

Each one was at least two meters tall, and all were bald.

Even if they had thick hair, it wasn't growing on their heads.

In the wrestling ring area, two idle trainers were locked in a wrestling embrace, clad only in shorts. Muscle rubbed against muscle, sweat collided with sweat, creating an intense tension in the air.

After a short while, a scar-faced, bald trainer gained the upper hand, using his superior ground technique to pin his opponent underneath him, a chokehold securing total control over the situation.

His thick arm muscles were as solid as rock, slowly constricting like a python. His opponent, with a throat trapped and face turning red, still stubbornly resisted, refusing to surrender.

Around them, another seven or eight coaches and fitness enthusiasts watched, either cheering or cursing profanely, discussing how they would break out of this hold if they were in the ring.

Their voices were so loud that Wayne couldn't hear the wrestlers on the stage at all, but from what he could see, he could imagine the squelching noise of muscular friction.

"I'm baaack~~"

Willibarabara cheerfully waved towards the wrestling ring.

"Oh, it's Willibarabara!"

"You're back."

"Why so early today, don't you have school?"

The coaches gathered around from all directions. They were exuberant and good-natured, greeting everyone with a goofy smile showing their pearly molars.

Soon, very soon, in what was almost the blink of an eye, the coaches had completed their encirclement of Verity.

To be precise, it was an encirclement of both Verity and Wayne.

The furious hot air struck them in the face, the strong scent rushing to Wayne's sensitive nose like a dog's, quite unfriendly, and moreover… it might have been an illusion, but he felt that these muscle-heads harbored a significant grudge against him. Behind their seemingly honest smiles, there lurked faces as fierce as demons.

Wayne couldn't help shivering. This was no place to linger. Better to grab the gift and get out fast.

Verity didn't see it that way. Everyone was as warm and welcoming as usual. She believed Wayne would surely come to like her family members. Faced with the coaches' questions, she answered each one, but soon she became dizzy from the relentless queries and managed to whirl her way out of the circle.

"Why have they all gone?"

"Wayne, come with me… Eh, where's Wayne?"

Wayne was next door in the coaches' break room.

He saw it clearly. Those big muscle bullies used a veneer of hypocrisy to coax Verity away, and once they had shaken her off, they bared their ferocious fangs at him. They jostled and shoved, squashing him between their pectorals and biceps, and hoisted him up into this room next door.

"Kid, you and Verity are pretty close, huh!"

"When did you meet? Come on, tell us uncles a bit about it."

"What do you do for a living, young man? How old are you? Graduated yet? Ever been beaten to a cripple?"

"Don't be scared, none of us are good people here!"

"Hee-hee-hee———"

(눈_눈)

Wayne, expressionless, finally understood why Verity's impersonation of a gay man was so convincing. It was not acting; rather, it was fostered by her living environment.

If his guess was right, all those steaming muscle bullies were devotees of the Sun Goddess.

So this was a stronghold for the Sun Goddess devotees—no, with such dignity, such an air, 'den' was a more fitting word to describe this place.

That was close. Good thing he had pledged his allegiance early, prostrating himself under the ethereal, translucent, lace-trimmed one-piece nightgown of the Moonlight Goddess.

"Make way, everyone. This man is Verity's guest. Look at you, making such a racket—what if you scare the poor guest stiff?"

A pair of strong hands parted the crowd, bringing with them a surging heat as they reached Wayne. The man's robust and towering figure stood out even among the two-meter-tall muscle mountains, casting a vast shadow simply by standing, dwarfing Wayne's own height of one-meter-eighty, making him seem like a giant.

"My name is Keen Dick, the head coach here. Just call me Coach Dick. Young man, you must be Wayne, right?"

Coach Dick grinned, revealing his stark white teeth.

A scar twisted from his forehead down to his chin like a centipede crawling across his face, which writhed as he smirked.

The scarred, bald man from the ring.

"Speak up, our boss is asking you a question here!"

"Shut up! Didn't I tell you to be nice to Verity's guest?"

Enraged, Dick swiveled and threw a punch, not caring who had been talking, choosing a random unlucky fellow to launch through the air.

Boom—a random unlucky fellow was embedded into the metal locker.

Wayne: (눈‸눈)

What is this supposed to be, intimidation?

Ha! As if they can scare him!

Let's get one thing straight—he had treated Verity as one of the guys. But given the uncles' and aunts' antics today, he'd make sure Verity cries herself hoarse later on.

"Don't worry about them, they're just playing around. After all… this is the first time Verity's brought a boy home, and such a cute one at that." Coach Dick patted Wayne's shoulder, wearing a friendly smile.

Centipede chaos.JPG

Wayne: ∑(O_O;)

He understood the message loud and clear: let's call a spade a spade—he treated Verity platonically, and the uncles and aunts could rest easy, for even if Verity made a move herself, he wouldn't respond.

"Have you all seen Wayne?"

There was a knock on the door to the coaches' break room, and Verity poked her head in.

"Haven't seen him." xN

"I'm here!"

Wayne raised his hand, fearful that even a moment's delay would see clueless Verity close the door on him.

He pushed through the crowd and quickly headed for the door. Barely taking two steps, he was caught by a thick arm encircling his neck from behind.

Dick leaned down for a close whisper with Wayne, saying with a laugh, "Verity, your friend is really interesting. He's quite the comedian; we all like him a lot."

"That's wonderful; I was afraid you guys would pick on him!"

"How could we possibly!"

"No way!"

"Haha, we would never pick on anyone..."

"Exactly."

In the midst of laughter, Dick issued a warning to Wayne in a voice only he could hear: "Kid, be careful. These eyes are always watching you, and you know what I'm talking about!"

"Dick, what are you whispering about over there?" Verity frowned, pulling Wayne behind her.

The little white rabbit stretched out her hands to protect the big bad wolf.

"The coach said I'm a great person and because I'm your friend, he wants to offer me a free gym membership, so I won't have to pay in the future." Seeing Dick's embarrassed look, Wayne stepped in to ease the tension.

"Really? Tell me the truth!" Verity was somewhat incredulous.

She wasn't stupid, just not that bright.

"Of course, it's true." Dick quickly took over the conversation, nodding emphatically and giving Wayne an approving look, then smiled again.

You're quite tactful, kid!

Wayne nodded as well, smile away. Enjoy it while you can, old man. Better laugh now because congratulations are in order a year early—you're becoming an elder!