Although he had a good idea for getting that money, Lohan checked the time and realized it would be rude to text Lisa at that hour, so he forced himself to sleep and decided to send the message the next day.
-xXx-
When he woke up early that morning, Lohan was feeling great.
Despite the intense workouts, he didn’t feel the muscle soreness that this transformation should have brought.
Looking at his reflection in the mirror, Lohan felt increasingly comfortable with the changes he was seeing.
In the past, although he wasn’t fat, his lean physique was more a result of starvation and malnutrition than of a truly healthy body.
Now, his weight was increasing, and again, not because he was accumulating fat, but because of the muscles he was developing!
Lohan ran his hand over his abdomen, feeling the firmness of the abs that now stood out clearly on his torso. He wasn’t developing into a bulky, brute-like body like that of a bodybuilder, but rather the long, dense, and functional musculature of a professional swimmer.
His shoulders had broadened, creating a distinct "V" shape in his torso, and his posture, once hunched from malnutrition and the despair of the Lower Zone, now remained perfectly upright and firm.
His skin, which had once been pale, sickly, and dry, now displayed a soft, healthy glow, the result of [Efficient Digestion] that extracted every last nutrient from the Grade A solutions.
And to cap off this incredible sense of change, the factors he felt most were transforming and enhancing his body, even without a mirror to look at himself, were the two Cores he had within him.
Both the Magic Core and the Natural Energy Core were constantly generating energy inside him, filtering and purifying his body 100% of the time!
-xXx-
Lohan had to wait until he got to college to send the message to Lisa, since he didn’t feel confident enough to talk to her on the bus, especially since they’d be talking about money.
But as soon as he sat down in his usual spot in the classroom, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and started typing the message.
Here, the fear of being watched was almost nonexistent, considering that the people around him actively ignored any student from the Lower Zone like him.
[Hayes:
After sending the message, Lohan intended to check the latest news from Elysium until Lisa replied, but surprisingly, she responded almost instantly!
[Lisa: I just woke up. My mom decided to show up at home last night and we ended up talking until pretty late... I kind of lost track of time. 🥱]
Lohan raised an eyebrow, surprised by her honesty, and finding it cute that she was using emojis with him for the first time.
Lisa rarely gave details about her personal life, always maintaining a cold, professional facade even when they talked about trivial things. Hearing that explanation for why she was tired made Lohan raise his eyebrows slightly, and a subtle smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
[Hayes: Ohh, I hope it was a pleasant conversation! I also had an... interesting early morning, so to speak. My crazy landlord decided to "break into" my apartment at one in the morning, completely high, demanding an advance on the rent. 🤦🏻]
This time, Lisa’s reply came with a brief delay.
[Lisa: Break in? People from the Lower Zone really have no sense of boundaries or basic safety. Are you okay? If he’s a persistent problem, I can offer you legal support.😠😟]
Lohan was a little bothered by how she spoke of "people from the Lower Zone" in general, since that theoretically included him too, but knowing she was practically right, he just ignored it and felt a small warmth in his chest.
The warmth came from the concern she showed for him, even offering to use her actual resources to help.
[Hayes: No need, Lisa. He won’t be a bother for a while. Let’s just say the reflexes and strength I gained in Elysium served as "convincing arguments" for him to leave haha, but thanks for the offer. 😇🤣]
Suddenly the classroom door opened and everyone fell silent.
Standing there was Isabella Vance, drawing everyone’s attention, but surprisingly, unlike the cold, deadly expression she usually wore, she now had a small smile at the corner of her mouth as she looked at something on the floating golden hologram screen projected in front of her.
Seeing that expression on the face of the girl who normally showed no interest in anything was shocking, both to the students from the Upper Zone and those from the Lower Zone!
This caused their curiosity about what she was seeing on that screen to skyrocket.
Some thought she had received some good news from her family; others thought she might just be counting money, or watching a funny video, or, most shockingly, chatting with a boyfriend?!
That last possibility was what came to mind for most of the boys interested in Isabella and the girls who envied the heiress of the Vance Group.
Unfortunately, this doubt could only be resolved by asking her directly, since her hologram was in privacy mode, causing those around her to see only a blurry golden screen floating, unable to make out any of the content.
Isabella didn’t mind the attention she was getting, she was already used to this sort of thing, and walked calmly to the spot where she always sat, focusing on the screen.
Suddenly, Lohan’s phone vibrated, notifying him of a new message.
[Lisa: Convincing arguments?! Haha, knowing how you act, I think he’s lucky his brain wasn’t digested by you. 😂]
Lohan let out a soft laugh at her reply and quickly typed a response.
[Hayes: Lucky? I think that even if I could digest brains with my acid in this world, I still wouldn’t do it... I’m actually afraid of what I might find when I receive his memories... maybe the experience would be worse than the nightmare I went through when I digested the Level 11 Mana Stone!! 😳🫣]
"Pfft." Isabella Vance, on the other side of the room, chuckled upon seeing something on the holographic screen in front of her, making the people around her even more curious.
Every few seconds, whether it was Isabella on one side or Lohan on the other side of the room, they would laugh at something, but despite the coincidence, no one there realized just how much it seemed like they were laughing at the exact same thing!
But with his heightened senses, and knowing the exact moment the messages were sent and received, Lohan heard the girl’s soft laugh, which was made even more evident by the deathly silence around her, every time he sent a message to Lisa.
He even looked at her with a furrowed brow, but thinking of the "danger" of offending this Vance heiress, he looked away and went back to typing on his phone.
A few seconds later, upon hearing someone laugh right after she sent a message to Halon, Isabella also looked around and noticed a boy from the Lower Zone laughing at something he was seeing on the screen of his broken cell phone.
And surprisingly, that boy was the one who had argued with Julian Neal a few days ago!
’Could it be?’ Isabella wondered, shocked, yet hopeful, and also a little afraid, quickly looking away and not daring to face him.