Chapter 6: Gym Battle
James Woods Regional High School is a public school named after the famous actor.
Although it is a public school, it has all the necessary facilities.
This was not because of generous public funding, but thanks to Mayor Adam West who championed the school.
In Chris's memory, the eccentric mayor was always keen on spending taxpayers' money on bizarre projects.
Thanks to this, the high school Chris attended built many facilities that were not typical for a public school of its caliber, such as a state-of-the-art gym.
Pushing open the door to the gym, a cool breeze greeted him.
Looking at the spacious area and the wide variety of fitness equipment, Chris nodded in satisfaction, thinking it was a great place to work out.
Especially with the continuous central air conditioning and powerful ventilation system, there wasn't a hint of sweat smell.
He was already starting to appreciate the mayor he had never met!
Just as Chris was observing his surroundings to decide which body part to train first, a tall, muscular blonde jock walked over.
"Hey, fatass! This is a gym, not your local buffet!"
The insulting words instantly hit Chris's ears, along with the obnoxious laughter of those around him.
Although Chris himself didn't care about these guys' mockery, being bullied for no reason would not be beneficial for his future!
After all, according to what he'd learned, the social hierarchy in American schools was completely different from what he expected.
Here, just being good at studying was useless; it would only lead to being bullied as a nerd.
Only by joining various cliques, building extensive social connections, and becoming popular would one be respected.
Otherwise, one would be ostracized and denied useful resources from the very beginning.
And more importantly, if you were seen as weak, everyone would bully you and treat you as the lowest rung on the social ladder.
So, even if Chris himself didn't really care about the jock's taunts, he had to fight back.
Otherwise, the people around him would immediately label him as someone who could be pushed around, and then various problems would follow.
Eventually, it would even spread throughout the entire school, letting everyone know that Chris Griffin was a pushover who could be easily bullied.
In a flash, Chris had already imagined the consequences of not fighting back.
So, what was there to say? Just do it!
With a step forward, while the blonde jock was still laughing, Chris landed a left hook on his face.
With Chris's naturally strong physique, and a punch thrown with his well-developed left arm, even a heavy bag would have swung wildly.
So, the blonde jock did not surprise Chris; he flew sideways and then crashed heavily to the ground.
Fortunately, the gym floor was covered with thick rubber mats, which allowed the guy to still breathe normally.
Even so, his right cheek instantly swelled up and even appeared visibly distorted.
Luckily, this was America; such an act, which could lead to serious legal trouble in some places, was only considered a schoolyard fight here.
Especially since this guy threw the first insult, Chris had even less to worry about.
Therefore, Chris calmly walked towards where the blonde jock had fallen, and when the people around saw Chris move, they all stepped back like he was radioactive.
Chris smirked, then crouched down to check the blonde jock's condition. After confirming he wasn't seriously injured, he said coolly, "Tsk tsk tsk, looks like someone's really gonna have a pig face now! I just wonder if this pig of yours will ever look normal again?"
"Mmph!"
The blonde jock, lying there dazed, moved his mouth, wanting to say something, but his swollen cheeks clearly prevented his words from coming out clearly.
So Chris ignored whatever he was trying to say and turned to look at several guys wearing the same basketball jerseys as the jock.
"Hey! You guys, carry this clown to the nurse's office. I don't want to work out in a place that smells like blood!"
After saying that, Chris stood up and walked towards the bench press area without looking back.
After that punch, Chris was genuinely curious about his current strength level, wondering if he could hit with 800 pounds of force.
Watching the intimidating figure walk away, the basketball team members quickly helped the blonde jock up and rushed towards the nurse's office.
If they arrived late, their teammate might really end up with permanent damage.
On Chris's way to the bench press area, apart from some people near the entrance who frequently glanced at him, the further he walked in, the fewer people paid attention to him.
After all, the entire gym was nearly ten thousand square feet, and there were at least over a hundred people there now.
Apart from those resting near the entrance who noticed the entire incident, most were focused on their workouts and had no time to care about drama.
Moreover, from the moment that guy insulted Chris to Chris knocking him out cold with one punch, the whole thing only lasted maybe thirty seconds.
That made it even harder to attract the attention of everyone in the gym.
Therefore, only twenty or thirty people in total noticed the incident, and only the dozen or so members of the basketball team knew exactly what happened.
So, when Chris lay down on the bench press, two helpful guys came over to spot him.
A Black dude who was doing bicep curls saw Chris preparing to bench press and immediately set down his dumbbells and walked over.
However, when he saw Chris's bench press weight, he couldn't help but say:
"Yo, bro! It's not that I'm doubting you, but if you're gonna go straight for 400 pounds, I'm not sure I can spot you safely!"
At this moment, a guy who had seen Chris knock someone out with one punch said, "Dude, man! You didn't see this brother's performance, otherwise you wouldn't be worried! But for safety, I'll help spot too."
Saying this, the man looked at Chris, seemingly asking for his approval.
Chris had no objection; although he was confident that 400 pounds wasn't his limit, having spotters was always smart.
And one of them even seemed to be his new fan, so he couldn't let him down.
Once the two stood in position, Chris took a deep breath, then his chest and arms exerted force simultaneously.
The barbell, weighing a full 400 pounds, was easily pushed up, and then Chris repeated it several times before returning the barbell to the rack.
At this point, Chris's new fan looked at the astonished Black guy and said, "Yo, bro! I told you, didn't I? Isn't my man impressive!"
Then the guy tried to take the opportunity to chat with Chris, but he turned and saw Chris continuing to add plates to the barbell, and directly adding 45-pound plates.
Even he, who had seen Chris send someone flying, was a bit nervous now, because nobody jumps up 90 pounds at once.
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