University of Tokyo, Faculty of Engineering.
The lecture hall of the nuclear engineering program had just been filled with the sound of chairs scraping and the footsteps of students beginning to leave the room. The midday sunlight streamed through the tall windows, casting a soft glow on the whiteboard still covered with nuclear reaction equations.
Kazuma, who had finished his class, packed his books and laptop into his bag. His movements were quick and orderly. Today he intended to head straight to the dojo after the lecture ended.
Just as he was about to walk out—
"Wo, wo! What are you doing!?"
A loud voice from behind made him stop.
Kazuma turned around and saw a young man with slightly messy black hair staring at him with an exaggerated look of shock.
Takeshi Hongo.
His friend since the first year in the engineering faculty.
"What?" Kazuma asked flatly.
Takeshi pointed at him from head to toe as if he were looking at some strange creature.
"Man, look at yourself!"
He stepped closer, his face still full of disbelief.
"You look like a different person!"
Kazuma frowned.
"Where did your bean-sprout body go? And your cute face?"
His tone sounded half joking, half genuinely unable to believe it.
Kazuma grew more confused hearing that comment. He knew the nuclear engineering faculty was dominated by men—something quite rare in the world under the current social system. Because of that, the male students here indirectly had a kind of strong solidarity.
They understood each other without needing many words.
But Takeshi's reaction this time felt overly dramatic.
Kazuma looked at his friend with a puzzled expression.
"Weren't you always like this?"
Takeshi stepped even closer, examining Kazuma seriously like he was inspecting a laboratory specimen.
"No, seriously."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Your shoulders… are broader."
His hand pointed toward Kazuma's arm.
"And your arms look denser too."
Kazuma reflexively looked at his own hands.
Takeshi continued in a dramatic tone.
"You used to look like a college student surviving on instant coffee and report assignments."
He patted Kazuma's shoulder.
"Now you look like… an engineering student who actually touches barbells."
Kazuma fell silent for a moment.
He had indeed begun training hard at Yamazaki's dojo over the past few days. The basic training given by the old man was truly brutal by ordinary standards.
But he had not expected the changes to already be this visible.
Takeshi grinned widely.
"Don't tell me you started martial arts training or something?"
He leaned a little closer while staring at Kazuma suspiciously.
"Yes, I've been training," Kazuma replied casually. "Didn't I ask for your suggestion before?"
Takeshi blinked several times, trying to remember.
"Eh? Really?"
He scratched the back of his head with a confused face.
"I thought that old man was already dead."
Kazuma immediately narrowed his eyes.
"Hey, that's not polite."
"Oh, come on." Takeshi raised both hands defensively. "The last time I saw that dojo, the place was as quiet as a haunted house."
In fact, Takeshi had once lived near that dojo when he was a child. Because of that, he knew about Yamazaki Kudo—a name that used to be quite famous among aikido practitioners before the world changed due to the appearance of Mato.
Kazuma let out a short breath.
"I did struggle quite a bit over the last three months."
"Waaah…"
Takeshi whistled softly while once again observing Kazuma's body from head to toe.
"Only three months and your change is this drastic."
Kazuma did not answer. He only smiled faintly.
He obviously could not tell what had actually happened during his training period at the Yamazaki dojo.
Because from the very beginning, the old man had not trained him as an ordinary student—but as a successor.
As a result, the training intensity he went through was truly beyond normal limits.
The first month alone felt like hell. His entire body experienced muscle cramps almost every day. His arms, legs, back, even small muscles he had never realized existed felt like they were being torn apart.
But strangely, his body gradually began to adapt.
In the second month, the pain turned into something he could control.
Yamazaki's strange training methods also began to feel slightly more reasonable—although still brutal.
Like endurance training using a large wooden log normally used to ring temple bells.
Or balance training on a wooden beam while receiving thrown sandbags.
Kazuma had even thought he would not survive the second month.
But the craziest of all was one particular exercise.
He remembered that moment clearly.
'Considering I had to do push-ups while being pulled by a mad cow… it's no wonder my body changed like this.'
Just thinking about that training made his shoulders feel sore again.
Over the last three months, Kazuma's body had truly changed.
His muscles had become denser and more proportional. His shoulders broadened, and his arms looked far stronger than before. Even his height seemed to have increased slightly.
If he used to look like an ordinary engineering student who rarely left the laboratory, now his aura looked far more athletic.
Takeshi finally nodded slowly, still looking impressed.
"Crazy… so that old man can still train people like this."
Then he grinned mischievously.
"So now you're like the secret student of that old dojo?"
Kazuma shrugged lightly.
"More or less."
Takeshi patted his shoulder again.
"Then you better be careful."
"Why?"
Takeshi chuckled.
"With a body like that, girls on campus will start noticing you."
Kazuma only let out a short sigh hearing that comment.
If only the problem were as simple as attention from girls…
The reality was far more troublesome. Since the norms of the world flipped after the appearance of Mato, women's attitudes toward men had also changed drastically. Many of them had become far more aggressive—especially those who possessed the blessing of the peach. In today's society, women with superhuman power stood at the top of the social hierarchy.
As a result, situations that used to be considered strange had become common.
A man openly teased by a woman.
A man dragged somewhere by a woman stronger than him.
Or worse—laughed at when he dared to refuse.
Because in some people's view, a man was not supposed to refuse.
"Don't say that," Kazuma muttered while lightly massaging his temple.
Takeshi raised an eyebrow. "Why? Isn't that good news?"
Kazuma looked at him flatly.
"You don't know how troublesome that is."
He remembered an incident from a few days ago.
A female student from another faculty—clearly someone with the blessing of the peach—suddenly approached him after class ended. At first it was only an ordinary conversation, but the situation quickly changed when the woman began openly flirting.
When Kazuma tried to refuse politely, the woman's expression changed immediately.
Not angry.
More like… offended.
As if rejection were something a man should not do.
The situation had even heated up when the woman grabbed his arm, intending to drag him somewhere.
If that incident had happened three months ago—before he trained at Yamazaki's dojo—Kazuma was sure he would not have been able to break free.
He might really have been dragged away.
Fortunately, the reflexes he had trained worked well. With a simple movement that almost resembled an aikido technique, he managed to release the woman's grip without causing a commotion.
But the experience still left a rather… terrifying impression.
Takeshi stared at him for a few seconds before suddenly bursting into loud laughter.
"Seriously? You got pulled by a peach-blessing girl?"
Kazuma sighed again.
"Yes."
"And you refused?"
"Yes."
Takeshi slapped his shoulder while still laughing.
"My friend, you really have great courage."
He shook his head in admiration.
"Many men would consider that luck."
Kazuma looked at him blankly.
"If you want, next time I'll introduce her to you."
Takeshi immediately stopped laughing.
"…No need."
Kazuma lifted his bag onto his shoulder.
"Good."
He began walking toward the exit of the faculty building.
Takeshi followed him a few steps before asking,
"You're going to the dojo again today?"
"Yes."
"Training that hard every day?"
Kazuma did not answer immediately.
In his mind, he felt something faint—a warm pulse inside his body, like a small ember constantly burning in his blood.
The ability Solar Genesis was still not completely stable.
If he did not strengthen his body and control…
He was not sure what might happen one day.
Kazuma finally answered calmly.
"I don't have a choice."
Then he stepped out of the building, heading toward the next training—