chapter 11 If you say that, then I'm interested

First Day of School.
Delyna got up early in the morning and deliberately stomped loudly as she went downstairs, hoping to disturb Castor' sleep.
To her surprise, she found that he was not in his room and had already gone out for a walk.
When they arrived at Greenville University, Delyna asked Castor to get off at the school gate first, while she and Follia went to the underground parking lot. Castor was happy to do so.
In the first week of school, after the orientation for new students, military training began.
Castor had countless ways to avoid military training, but he saw not the need to.
"Time's up, rest for twenty minutes!"
Following the command of a young instructor, many of the fifty students in Clinical Medicine Class 2 sat down on the ground, wiping sweat with their sleeves.
"Standing at attention is so tiring."
"Yeah, I feel like my legs are about to break."
"It's really uncomfortable to stay motionless."
"We have to endure seven more days, purr purr…"
Complaints filled the air.
Seeing this, the young instructor shook his head. "You college students these days are too pampered. You can't even stand at attention for forty minutes. Useless!"
Some boys in the class visibly disagreed with this contempt.
"Not everyone's the same, instructor!"
A short-haired male student raised his hand and stood up. "Standing at attention is nothing to me. I work out and play basketball every day. My physical condition should be on par with yours."
The young instructor smiled. "Oh? What's your name?"
The young man stood tall. "Orion!"
"Wow, he's so brave to talk to the instructor like that."
Many girls in the class looked at Orion with surprise.
Castor watched with interest.
"Care to have a competition?" The young instructor felt the need to teach these college students a lesson.
"Sure, what's the challenge?" Orion was excited.
If he could beat the instructor, it would be a great way to stand out.
Even if he lost, it wouldn't be too embarrassing.
"Let's do push-ups," said the instructor casually.
"No problem!" Orion confidently patted his muscular chest.
The two quickly got ready.
They supported themselves with their hands on the ground, standing side by side.
The rules of the contest were simple, whoever couldn't keep up first would lose.
Students from nearby classes, hearing about the competition, came over excitedly to watch.
Initially, Orion kept up with the instructor's pace, but after eighty push-ups, his form began to deteriorate.
At one hundred, he was drenched in sweat.
At one hundred twenty, his body trembled.
"Darn, this instructor is really tough..."
Orion looked up and almost got scared to death. The young instructor was doing one-arm push-ups!
Being greatly surprised, he stood up and asked, "Instructor, you..."
"Why did you stop?"
The instructor also stood up, smiling and slightly red-faced.
"Dude, you're completely outmatched. You were doing regular push-ups, and the instructor was doing one-armed ones all along..." a male student reminded him.
"Damn..." Orion's cheeks reddened, realizing the gap between a fitness enthusiast and a soldier.
"A mere college student challenging us? Too naive."
The instructors from the nearby classes exchanged glances, all barely holding back their laughter.
After Orion returned to his group, the young instructor asked, "Anyone else want to try?"
No one responded. If even the tall and strong Orion lost, who would dare overestimate themselves?
The young instructor added, "If you beat me, you're exempted from military training."
"Oh?"
Castor raised an eyebrow.
Now that you mention it, I'm interested!
"Altair, you're strong. Why don't you try?"
Fatty Scott encouraged Solstice.
Solstice Edwards shook his head. "I can only do seventy push-ups in one go, and only twenty with one arm. The instructor would beat me in seconds."
"The instructors really are tough, we can't compare to them," Fatty Scott remarked.
"Alright, let’s continue training—"
Just as the instructor was about to resume, a student raised his hand. "Um, instructor, I'd like to try."
It was Castor.
He didn't want to continue with the military training, it felt boring.
"Whoosh!"
All fifty students in the class turned their shocked gazes to him.
"You?" Orion looked amused.
In his view, Castor, skinny and without any visible muscles, dared to challenge the instructor?
"He's the guy who had a conflict with Nox from the Sanda Club yesterday."
"I heard he dared to fight a senior."
"Wow, fighting a senior? That bold?"
Whispers filled the class.
No one knew Castor' background, but challenging the instructor meant he must be capable.
"You want to challenge me?"
The young instructor looked sceptically at Castor. "Are you sure?"
"Instructor, you meant what you said just now, right?"
Castor confirmed, "If I win, I don't have to do military training."
"Yes, of course!"
The young instructor was confident. "But you have to beat me first!"
"Alright then."
Castor was relieved.
Stepping out, he started the contest with the instructor. Both began doing regular push-ups, one after another.
"If he beats the instructor, I'll live-stream eating poop!" Orion told his dorm mates.
"Layla, do you think Castor can win?" a round-faced girl with glasses asked Layla.
Layla nodded slightly. "I believe he can!"
"Layla, you're dreaming," said a girl with a high ponytail and good looks. "He's just a college student. He can't beat an instructor who trains every day."
"Exactly, there's a specialization in every profession. Don't challenge someone's livelihood with your hobby," added another girl with freckles.
Despite her dorm mates' belief in his defeat, Layla still harboured a sliver of hope. She had seen Castor easily beat up Archer and his gang, as if it were child's play. Even soldiers might not be able to do it so effortlessly.
Soon, the number of push-ups exceeded fifty, and the young instructor began his show.
Switching from two arms to one.
"Kid, you're still too green to compete with me!"
"I hold the push-up record in our unit!"
The young instructor sneered internally.
Then, he saw Castor also switch to one arm, folding in his fingers one by one until only the little finger remained, rapidly continuing the movement.
"How is that possible?"
The young instructor was dumbfounded.
Screams erupted from Clinical Medicine Class 2, especially from the girls who had thought he was sure to lose.
"My God, one-finger push-ups! Am I seeing things?"
"Is this the legendary one-finger Zen push-up?"
"And it's with the little finger, damn, that's too strong..."
Not just their class, but students and instructors from nearby classes also came to watch.
Many instructors dropped their jaws in amazement.
What in the world?
Orion, who prided himself on being the fittest in the class, flushed red with embarrassment, as if he was slapped in the face several times…