Michael had finished his meal.
Since he was a low four-dimensional being, he didn't actually need that much food—but he still ate until his stomach was full. So full, in fact, that he looked like someone in the late stages of pregnancy.
The reason for that was Jens and Marta. They'd practically forced him to eat until he couldn't eat anymore, and he had no choice but to comply.
It wasn't that they were trying to torture him—no, far from it. They just wanted to make sure he was well-fed, completely satisfied, and that his stomach was truly full.
Just then, a soft chime echoed in his head.
[Host's calorie intake has exceeded optimal level by 243%.
Current status: bloated but stable.
Recommendation: avoid additional meals for the next 18 hours.
Metabolic rate temporarily increased by 15%.]
Michael groaned. "Yeah, thanks, Sista. Real helpful."
Jens chuckled, leaning back in his chair. "By the way, have you made any plans regarding your grandfather's farmland?"
Michael sighed. "Ah, no plans yet. Honestly, I have zero idea about agriculture, so you can keep running it as you have been. I don't mind."
Jens's expression softened with a hint of relief. "Alright then." He stood up, brushing crumbs off his shirt. "The agreement I made with your father will expire next month, so I was hoping to renew it."
Michael straightened a bit, rubbing his bloated stomach. "Hmm, okay. I'll talk to my dad about it." He gave a tired smile.
Jens nodded slowly, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Good. I'll leave that to you then." Then he slipped on his jacket. "Also, your German is really good — I didn't expect that. It almost feels like you grew up here."
"Thanks for that. I actually learned quite a bit of German from my dad, and I also used to watch a lot of German movies."
Though, of course, those were outright lies.
"Wow, that's great! I'll talk to you about this later — I've got some errands to run right now. But if you need anything, just let your auntie know."
"Ok."
Jens then grabbed his car keys from the wall and walked out of the room.
Then Sista spoke again.
[Host, if you cultivate your grandfather's farmland and sell the produce in other worlds, you could earn a huge profit. There are countless planets across the universe where such goods could be sold for a fortune—especially those that are experiencing apocalyptic situations.]
"Hm… not a bad idea," Michael muttered. "The yield from twenty acres would be huge. But now's not the right time to juggle all that. I need to focus on strengthening my position within Albham first—and earning as much money as possible. My expenses are going to skyrocket soon."
Michael rose from his chair and walked toward his phone, which was still plugged in.
It was 75% charged; he unplugged it and turned it on.
The device powered up quickly, and a flood of notifications filled the screen. Among them, one email immediately caught his eye. He tapped on it.
Dear Mr. Gutmann,
Your interim suspension has been lifted. You may return to classes and campus facilities while the conduct case remains open.
Please schedule a brief check-in with your case manager by October 22, 2025. If you have questions, contact our office.
Office of Student Conduct & Community Standards
M–F 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m. | (555) 014-2100 | [email protected]
This email serves as official notice under University policy. Student records are protected by FERPA. Do not share this message except with those who have a legitimate need to know.
Sincerely,
Taylor J. Brooks
Director, Office of Student Conduct & Community Standards
Lexing State University
"Huh," Michael said, leaning back in surprise.
"That was unexpected. I thought the suspension would last at least a few months—or that they'd kick me out completely."
He frowned slightly. "Weird… really weird."
While he was mulling it over, he noticed a flood of missed calls and unread messages on his phone—most of them from Rick, his roommate from before he got suspended.
Seeing that many missed calls and texts made Michael a little uneasy.
Michael started skimming through everything.
"yo"
"dude where are you?"
"Ryan's out of the hospital and he's PISSED."
"just got jumped by him and his rich-boy squad on the scooter. scary as hell."
"he wants you back here or he's coming after me?? bro what the FUCK did you do???"
"they gave me $200 to find you like i'm some damn bounty hunter lmao (i kept it tho bills due)"
"if ur alive and just ghosting, so help me god michael im selling your dumb sneakers on ebay."
"...man, where are you?"
Michael sighed and started scrolling. There were too many messages to count, and he didn't have the patience for all that noise.
It wasn't that he wasn't taking Rick's situation seriously; it was that Rick was a chatterbox, and half of this was filler.
And he just didn't have the time or mood for it now. So he flicked his thumb down the screen, skipping everything until he reached Rick's last message, sent yesterday.
A frustrated emoji. "Answer, dude."
"I'm really starting to worry. Your phone is off. If you're not dead, then you better be back in the city soon, you bastard. You can't leave me here to deal with that rich prick alone."
And then several rows of crying emojis.
Hmm… looks like Ryan's been giving him a hard time. Maybe that's why my suspension was lifted—because Ryan wants me back at the university so he can get his revenge.
Damn that bastard. He still hasn't learned a thing.
Ryan Carter—arrogant, stupid, typical spoiled rich kid. And the reason he turned out this way? His father, John Carter—state senator and big-shot businessman.
To Michael, he was nothing more than a failed father—the kind of man who could build empires but couldn't teach his son any real values or discipline. That's why the kid turned out so reckless.
Michael tried to avoid Ryan and his cronies—"sycophants" might be more accurate—because he never wanted trouble. Especially not with guys like Ryan.
But that day's incident had been completely unexpected.
It wasn't like he had some long-standing beef with Ryan. His temper had just been running wild. He'd lost his part-time job because of some stupid customer. It wasn't the job that stung, really—it was the helplessness of swallowing someone else's anger. It was his frustration. He'd been looking for somewhere to vent that anger when he spotted Ryan, bullying a couple of juniors. Michael was never the "hero" type, but something in him just snapped. Even now, he still didn't understand what made him step in that day—or why he picked that fight at all.
But yeah, things had gotten that bad—so bad that Michael had beaten Ryan until he was unconscious. And after that… well, the rest was history.
Looks like it's time to teach that bastard a harsher lesson.