Chapter 20: Gains

I was surprised by the notifications that popped up on my phone after the stream.

[Benjamin Johnson has subscribed to your channel.]

[Emily XOXO has subscribed to your channel.]

[Kiiiitty has subscribed to your channel.]

[anniegameplays has subscribed to your channel.]

[...]

Looking at the notification history, I was really surprised at how many people started following me during the stream.

Before the stream, I had 56,523 views on my music video and 1,813 subscribers on my channel.

After participating, my views went up to 60,213 and my subscribers went up to 2,999! With only one subscriber left to reach 3,000!

I think that since these people had already come to my channel to hear the song I had just sung, they must have subscribed to the channel to be notified when I officially released Lazy Song.

Since I had nothing else to do, I bought the copyright to the lyrics of Lazy Song and went to sleep.4

I don't know if it was because I sang this song yesterday, but my sleep tonight was much more comfortable than on other days.

In fact, if it hadn't been for the alarm clock on my phone, I probably would have slept late and not woken up in time for my morning walk.

After waking up and brushing my teeth, I was surprised when my dad struck up a conversation with me during breakfast, since we usually just eat in silence and enjoy each other's company.

"Hey champ, I was thinking we could go to a bar this Saturday, how about it?" He asked a little excitedly.

Looking at him in surprise, I thought for a moment and asked, "Sure, but why a bar? Wouldn't it be better to go somewhere where Ethan could have more fun?"

Hearing that, he smiled. "Yes, but your mother and I thought that since you're interested in the artistic side of music, it might be nice to go someplace where there's live music."

"Live music? Is there a band that plays there?" I asked, more interested.

He just shook his head and laughed at my question. "Some days of the week there are actually hired artists, but on Saturday it's more like an open mic, where anyone can get up on stage and sing, and if someone sings well they can even get a few drinks from the audience."

Hearing that, I started to smile, but he quickly noticed and shook his head.

"In your case, no drinks yet, but if they buy drinks, I'll drink for you." He said, laughing and looking at me to see how I would react.4

Unfortunately, I couldn't hide my frustration and earned a few more laughs from him.

In my old world, I drank and smoked, so I kind of missed it, even though I knew it wasn't good for me. Of course, I only missed drinking because cigarettes not only tasted like shit, they made me smell like shit, and it was impossible to stop using them, even though I knew they were destroying me.

So I certainly wouldn't get my body addicted to nicotine again in this world.

"I used to go there with your mom when we were together." He said with a smile as he ate one of his toasts. "I don't think we've been there since you were born, I hope it still works the way I remember it."

"You haven't been there since I was born?" I asked confused.

Realizing he'd said too much, my father tried to change the subject, but when he couldn't think of anything else to say, he finally sighed and admitted. "Having kids is expensive, within a year you were born, a few years later came Olivia, after a while came Ethan, so there wasn't much money left to go back there... and when there was some money left, we preferred to go somewhere where you would have fun."

Seeing the sincerity in his words, I felt a pang of pride in this man, because it really is a noble thing to give up going to a place you love to take care of your children, something my crappy old dad never considered.

"Then let's enjoy it, to celebrate the 2k microphone I won, I'll pay our bar tab." I said with an excited smile as I stood up and left the house. "And I won't take no for an answer."

I shut the door before my dad had time to reply.

-------- Jonathan's Commentary --------

Jonathan sat on the sofa looking into the camera, a big goofy grin on his face.

"He knew I'd turn him down..." He said with a laugh. "He knew that if he gave me a little time I would refuse and not take no for an answer, so he was faster than me and didn't take my no for an answer, hahaha." Jonathan laughed heartily.

"I don't know what's going on with this boy, but I feel more and more that he's maturing very quickly and his personality is becoming so pleasant... who would have thought that my son could become a friend so soon?"

After laughing, Jonathan reached to the edge of the sofa and whispered into the camera.

"I saw that he was frustrated because he couldn't drink, so if he gets a drink there, I'll pretend I didn't see it. If he manages to hide it from his mother, good for him, if she finds out then it's not my fault hahaha, at his age I did worse, let's see if he can handle the Combat Helicopter Lauren". Jonathan laughed.9

-------- Comment End --------

As I walked, I looked at my arm and remembered some videos I'd seen about a smartwatch that measured my heart rate, speed, and distance, and I thought it would be a good idea to buy one for myself.

Since I had already lost almost 20 kg, my body was getting more used to exercise and I was able to run a little.

Because of my weight, I couldn't jog for long, as my knees couldn't take the strain of my constant weight for an hour, but it worked if I took a few minutes to rest.2

[+1 DEX].

Seeing this message surprised me! It's been a while since I've gotten a Dexterity point, but considering I don't run much and I've only been doing weight training lately, it made sense.

Maybe the only dexterity training I'm doing is Krav Maga training, so adding a little jogging to the list would surely boost that statistic in no time.

"Hey, kid, you lost a lot of weight, huh?" Surprisingly, an older woman commented as she walked past me.

"Really? Glad it's working, haha!" I replied, earning a nod from her.

I think I've run into this woman a few times on my walks, and considering I've lost 16 or 17 pounds since I started, I think my transformation is beginning to show.

Not only did she comment, but an elderly man who was watering his lawn also commented to encourage me to continue.

"Well done boy, you seem to be doing much better since last week, keep it up!" He said as he waved at me.

Smiling, I waved back and continued alternating between walking and running.

My body was tiring much faster than usual, but I persevered and completed my 1 hour workout.

Since I had been running at times, I think that instead of walking the 3 km I usually do, I must have walked at least 4 or 5 km this time, which is a big improvement!1

And even though I was tired, I was still able to walk home, much better than when I started!

My lung capacity is getting used to this intensity of exercise, and probably because there's less fat squeezing my lungs, it's easier to breathe.

After showering, I weighed myself and was very pleased with my current weight.

[Weight: 139 Kg -> 133.2 Kg] (306 lbs -> 293 lbs)7

My weight was dropping fast!

Out of curiosity, I even looked up on the Internet what the BMI (Body Mass Index) chart was for someone of my weight, and I had just gone from Class 3 Obese to Class 2 Obese!2

I would need to drop to 115 kilos to become class 1 obese, which considering I was losing about 2 kilos a day with my 3 daily workouts, would only take 9 days!

Not to mention that I was working out and training my muscles, which also increased my weight...

Looking at my arms, it was hard to see a clear change in the muscles, so I squeezed my right arm with my left hand while I was flexing the muscle, and you could really feel a strong muscle there, unlike last week when I hadn't started training!

How good it is to have the system, not only does it speed up the rate at which I learn things, but also the rate at which I lose fat and even gain muscle!

////NunuNote/////

discord.gg/NunuXD

Vote with your power stones, I really need your support for this competition!!