[Chapter 32: Before and After the Breakthrough]
After changing into a clean outfit, he quickly tossed his dirty clothes into the washing machine and stepped out of his apartment, which had been shut tight for two days.
"Oh my God, John, you're finally out!" Zach was pacing anxiously just outside the door. As soon as he saw John open it, he yelled in relief.
"Hey, Zach. Sorry to worry you. Don't sweat it -- I'm fine. But man, I'm starving. Got any food?"
"Shit, okay, you are really good," Zach exclaimed. Following his shout, Adam, Allen, and Bob came out of their rooms next door.
"Wow, you finally came out. Zach was about to call the cops," Allen said, smiling at John.
"What are you guys all doing here?"
"Zach wasn't feeling like working. I heard you had a major breakthrough in your training, so we came to check it out. Looks like it went well."
"Sensei, I heard when you hit a breakthrough in karate, you gotta be super careful, or you risk losing yourself mentally. Is that true? You've been at it a while now -- aren't you worried about burning out?" Bob asked, clearly worried, probably from some wild news story.
Hearing Bob's question, John felt a wave of silence and one of those 'facepalm' moments. Before he could reply, Zach came out of his room carrying a large pizza.
John didn't bother waiting and grabbed the pizza, retreating back to his place. Of course, Zach and the others followed him into the apartment.
...
Inside, John sat at the table, eagerly digging into the pizza. In no time, he finished it entirely on his own.
Patting his stomach, he felt only about 60% full. But Adam, Allen, and Bob all stared at him with wide eyes, shocked.
"Man, you just demolished that whole pizza, and your stomach barely looks any bigger. Zach, does John always eat this much?"
"Seems like he's eating way more this time -- guess it's because he hasn't eaten properly for two days," Zach shrugged.
"Seriously, that's some stamina!" Allen said, amazed again.
John looked around at their envious faces and couldn't help but laugh.
"Zach, got any more? I'm still hungry."
Seeing Zach's expression, John quickly added, "Don't worry, Zach. I'll treat you to a meal next time."
...
"Zach, do you know how John learned karate?"
"I do. John told me before," Zach replied. Adam, Allen, and Bob all looked at Zach expectantly, silently telling him to keep going.
"According to John, ten years ago on Christmas, he was playing around at the orphanage. Somehow, he ended up wandering out onto a nearby street and ran into an old, homeless Asian man. John gave the man his sandwich, and in return, the man gave John a karate manual -- a training handbook on martial arts techniques. Since then, John started practicing karate and hasn't stopped."
"What about the manual? Where is it?" Allen urgently asked on behalf of the group.
"John said one time he forgot toilet paper, so he used the manual instead," Zach shrugged.
"No way! Using that handbook like it was toilet paper? John really wasted a treasure," Allen and the others gasped.
Hearing the story, John almost choked on his laughter. He never thought that Zach would spin the story he'd made up into an epic tale for the others.
...
After finishing another big pizza, John finally felt full under the awestruck eyes of the others.
Later, John wanted to test how much his physical condition had improved after the breakthrough. He suggested heading over to Allen's place, and naturally, the others tagged along, eager to see how much progress John had made.
The results stunned them all -- they were speechless, astonished by his superhuman strength and endurance. Every guy present secretly wished to have a body like his.
Though John insisted that since he had started training young, he only remembered bits and pieces from his manual and forgot most of it, Adam and the others weren't about to stop pestering him.
Only when John promised to teach them did they finally back off.
As for magic, John planned to experiment only when no one else was around.
...
"Saint, I feel like you've grown taller. And your skin -- it's smoother. Man, your skin is amazing. If the ladies knew your karate made your skin that soft, you'd be the most popular guy around," Adam teased.
They heard the nickname 'Saint' when they overheard it during phone calls with Zach, Jerry, David, and others, and it caught on.
Besides their surprise at John's enhanced physical abilities, Adam and the others now noticed the changes in his appearance too.
John knew he hadn't really grown taller but had lost weight, which made him appear taller. He estimated he'd need a lot of nutrition to regain strength and that his height would increase faster than average.
By his estimate, once he reached adulthood, he might hit around 6'3". Finally, he'd achieve the "tall, rich, and handsome" standard, leaving behind the barely 5'8" frame from his past life -- which was, frankly, considered somewhat decent.
John's physical growth was in a rapid phase after his breakthrough, expected to last about a month, before settling into a long, steady improvement.
...
Knowing the rapid progress required ample nutrients, John hit the stores with cash in hand, buying plenty of protein foods like eggs, beef, chicken, tuna.
Consider all his expenses during this period, his savings had now depleted from $200,000 down to $50,000. John realized he had to start earning money fast or he wouldn't even be able to afford his meals.
*****
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