NOVEL WEB Chapter 71: Vernal Equinox
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Chapter 71: Vernal Equinox
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February 11th—Vernal Equinox.
The fourth solar term of spring, occurring each year between February 10 and 12, marks the day when the sun shines directly over the equator. Day and night are equal, each lasting precisely twelve hours.
As dawn broke early, sunlight filled the room.
At the sound of the 7 AM alarm, Zoe set down the web novel she'd been engrossed in for some time.
She glanced toward the living room, where her dog, Platinum, had gathered an assortment of shoes from various parts of the house. Zoe sighed, a wry smile forming on her lips.
Dogs will be dogs.
They have an instinctive urge to pick up all sorts of things to chew on, and shoes seemed to be a favourite. Fortunately, none of Zoe's shoes were expensive, and since Platinum was still a puppy, her little teeth couldn’t yet cause serious damage.
With that in mind, Zoe let it be.
After topping off the dog’s water and food bowls with fresh water and kibble, she watched as Platinum eagerly dashed over to devour her breakfast. Meanwhile, Zoe prepared for her routine, strapping on the weighted vest she’d bought a while ago.
It was time for a workout.
The vest weighed only 10 kilograms, which felt light for someone like her, but it was better than nothing. Grabbing her massive bronze sledgehammer as an additional weight, Zoe swiftly powered through a set of exercises: over ten minutes of squats, handstand push-ups using just one finger, and sit-ups—all while wearing the vest.
Her movements were so fast they left afterimages, and Platinum, having finished her meal, sat staring wide-eyed in awe.
Yet, despite the intensity, Zoe hadn’t even reached her limit.
This was just a warm-up before the real workout began—muscle tremor training. In mere seconds, this technique pushed her to the brink of exhaustion, both mentally and physically.
After about fifteen seconds of this intense training, Zoe collapsed onto the floor, utterly spent. It took her around ten seconds to recover.
Feeling her body recharge while her mind remained somewhat fatigued, Zoe realized once again that although the muscle tremor training was highly effective, it was not something to be done frequently.
Even with her improved mental endurance, the extended duration of the exercises meant she could still only manage this particular training three times a day.
After a brief pause, just as she was about to continue with another half-hour of weighted exercises, a knock at the door interrupted her. Turning towards the sound, Zoe saw Benny standing at her doorstep, grinning like a cat who’d caught the canary.
Sensing Benny’s elation, Zoe curiously put away her workout gear and walked over to open the door.
"Zoe, you were right! As long as I stay here, I’ll avoid the chaos near the borders," Benny announced with a broad grin the moment the door opened. "Plus, I’ve always been careful with my private information, so there’s nothing to worry about."
The smile on Benny’s face was practically overflowing.
“So... does this mean you two...?” Zoe raised an eyebrow, recalling their conversation from the day before when she’d picked up Platinum. She had a pretty good idea of what had transpired.
"Yes! We're officially together!" Benny declared proudly. "We spent all last night chatting online."
He puffed out his chest, looking as triumphant as a general reporting a hard-won victory.
That smug look on his face wasn’t too different from the time he’d gleefully boiled a plant to death with hot water.
"You lucky bas...," Zoe muttered under her breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing, I said congrats,” Zoe replied, switching her cursing to words of congratulations with a smile.
She didn’t actually think Benny was a bastard.
"You know, I was thinking—what if I let her move into the fifth floor of our building? Her current place is pretty far from her little bookstore, but we’re much closer." Benny spoke dreamily, as though he was already envisioning a picture-perfect future.
“You’re moving a bit fast, aren’t you? And wouldn’t renting out the fifth floor be a hassle?” Zoe couldn’t help but roll her eyes. The noise of someone else’s happiness was starting to grate on her nerves.
“Rent? The fifth floor is mine too,” Benny said with a grin, flashing a smile that practically radiated the power of money. “I bought it the day I moved in! Every time you see me going up to the fifth floor to take the lift, it’s so the people there don’t know I live on the sixth.”
Zoe froze.
What? The fifth floor is yours too?
Suddenly, everything clicked into place. That explained why, even with her ability to sense people from a distance, she’d never noticed anyone living on the fifth floor. It had been empty all along—Benny had bought it.
After a long, stunned silence, Zoe quietly closed the door in Benny’s face, leaving him standing outside with his excitement.
“Go enjoy your little love life. Don’t bother me,” she muttered through the closed door, before returning to her desk.
The noise of someone else’s happiness had disturbed her peace. She decided it was time to log into a game and vent some frustration on players who were no more challenging to her than bots.
As someone with superhuman abilities—strength of 2.5 tons, the ability to see the wings of a ladybug from 80 meters away, and a reaction time far faster than 0.1 seconds—she relished the thought of slaughtering a few players.
Or wait, wasn’t it still work hours?
Zoe hesitated for a moment as the game began to search for opponents. Then she smirked and lowered her head.
"Doesn’t matter. They’re all the same. Let’s kill them all."
The matchmaking screen soon popped up, and a group of elite players gathered for the battle.
But as soon as the other nine players, from across the country, saw the username “No worries, two minutes is plenty” appear on their screens, a collective groan filled the lobby.
Her gaming handle had gained some notoriety by now.
Zoe didn't play often, but her insane skills had rocketed her up the rankings. Her style of using only a USP pistol and never buying armor had made her infamous, with people calling her more of a cheater than actual cheaters.
Footage from her games, filled with pinpoint headshots and impeccable recoil control, had become the bane of anti-cheat streamers, though the platform had confirmed she wasn’t using any hacks. This made her something of a gaming prodigy, and she’d even received invitations from several international teams for their training programs.
But Zoe ignored them all.
She wasn’t interested in using her fame to become a streamer or joining a professional team. In fact, she’d even had Benny send legal notices to the gaming platform, ensuring her personal information remained private.
Gaming was just a hobby for her. And given her increasingly superhuman abilities, even this competitive pastime was starting to lose its appeal.
The only reason she’d booted up the game today was to blow off steam after Benny’s happiness had become too much to bear.
After playing with Platinum for a bit, she turned her attention back to the game, which had now finished loading. Glancing at the scoreboard, she checked the names of the five unfortunate souls on the opposing team—she hadn’t paid attention to them during matchmaking.
All of them were well-known streamers or professional players.
At that, Zoe’s guilty conscience about wrecking less skilled players began to fade.
Switching to the USP that a teammate had gifted her, adorned with an expensive skin, Zoe charged forward without hesitation.
