[Streamer 'Eugene' // ON AIR // 717,435]

-[Here at an athlete training center for a physical abilities test]

“…Hello, everyone. Today, we’re at a national Olympic training facility nearby, accompanied by semi-regular guests Harmony and Dice, plus our special guests, Logan and Lorentina. It’s 10:16 a.m., and we’re set to start the tests as soon as the setup is ready.”

-Hey everyone!!!!!!!
-What??? Did you just say who the guests are???
-Whoa, why’s the crazy bear sister here!!!!!! Hahahahahaha
-Teacher, if you keep giving us so much content, we’re going to explode from happiness, haha!

March 2036, clear skies with a few clouds.

I started the stream from a large indoor facility, filled with viewers’ voices and the hum of measuring equipment. With a staggering 700,000+ viewers on a weekday morning—numbers comparable to my gaming streams—I glanced at the viewer stats. Surprisingly, almost half were international, with many from the U.S., and, as I’d later learn, many were sports scouts and analysts. I thought about greeting them in English but figured the auto-translate would handle it.

As I mentioned, today’s test wasn’t a private affair. It included everyone from my regular stream, along with Logan and Lorentina. In truth, they just happened to be in Korea, so they joined in for the fun.

“Today, we’ll be doing a bunch of measurements, starting with parts of the NFL Combine, followed by reflex tests and weight measurements… This will probably take a while.”

The first test would be a 40-yard dash, with simultaneous records for 100m and 200m. After that, a standing long jump and high jump. Normally, there’s also a 100kg bench press test, but that’s been combined with a broader strength test for later. Most viewers didn’t care much about the test specifics, just that the stream would last longer.

Lorentina approached, adding, “You’re the most physically capable among us, so take it easy. We don’t want you breaking all the equipment.”

“Blame the equipment if it breaks, then.”

“Just a little joke.”

I was about to say something else when more people entered—some in suits, others in workout clothes. It turned out they were foreign sports scouts based in Korea. Although they obviously couldn’t recruit a manifestor for their teams (manifestors are banned from most athletic competitions), curiosity must’ve gotten the better of them.

“Are you ready for the test? Is your body warmed up?”

“Yes, all set to go.”

“Then let’s move outside for the sprint test.”

We headed out to the track in the crisp outdoor air, with the drone camera hovering overhead to follow me. Logan, Lorentina, Harmony, and Dice trailed along at a leisurely pace.

Once on the track, I was guided to the starting line, where they asked what kind of shoes I’d use. I requested the sturdiest shoes they had. The staff member looked a bit taken aback, so I clarified:

“There’s a chance my shoes might tear or get destroyed on the first sprint.”

“Oh, uh… I’ll see what I can find quickly.”

The guy dashed off. I was serious—when I was a new Icarus operator candidate, I went through military boots in two days. The soles couldn’t withstand the impact and blew apart under the combined force of my weight and foot pressure. Logan, Lorentina, and I actually wear boots with several-centimeter-thick titanium plates in the soles. Great for durability, grip, and especially CQC. It’s no wonder we can break through double ballistic plates with a kick.

In a couple of minutes, he returned with a pair of shoes.

“These have triple carbon plates embedded.”

“Thanks. If these break, I’ll go barefoot.”

I slipped on the shoes, which fit perfectly as they had my size. Ignoring the fit, I headed to the track, planted my feet on the start rail, and placed my hands on the ground. After a few breaths, a holographic countdown appeared on the track.

3, 2, 1.

I pushed off the ground like a spring, wind tearing at my eyes. It felt less like running and more like flying, with each stride covering over five meters. I couldn’t gauge the exact speed, but I knew I’d crossed the 200-meter mark in under 10 seconds.

Slowing down at the end of the track, I looked down.

“Aw, man. The shoes are toast.”

The triple carbon plates were crushed beyond repair. I took them off and shook them; broken fragments rattled inside. The drone camera finally buzzed over with the results.

200m record: 8.69 seconds. Speed: 82.84 km/h.

“No wonder I could barely keep my eyes open against the wind.”

-Wait, wha- no, what the heck?????
-Wow, we’ve heard you’re different, but this is something else hahaha
-So it’s true, he really isn’t the same species hahaha
-You’re telling me he can run 80 km/h in a human body???
-At that speed, he’d be ticketed in a school zone lolololololol

Meanwhile, two dots sped toward me—Logan and Lorentina, running barefoot out of curiosity. In a sort of impromptu bonus test, both reached about 80 km/h as well. Unfortunately, the rubber surface of our lanes didn’t fare too well.

“Why are there so many scuffed-up patches on the track?”

“We’re not paying for that, right?”

And then, a little ways down the track, two slower figures—Harmony and Dice—were making their way toward us. Their awkward, waddling run had Lorentina chuckling about how adorable they looked, and I had to agree. They managed to achieve average records for women of their age.

Wheezing and lying flat on the ground, Harmony and Dice panted.

“I… I think I’m going to die…!”

“You three really aren’t human, are you?”

Honestly, I couldn’t argue with that.

With multiple sets of eyes watching and laser-based timing devices in place, the measurements were as fair as they could be. Still wide-eyed, one of the staff members cautiously approached me.

“Uh, any interest in a retest?”

“No, as you can see, the shoes didn’t survive.”

The guy who’d given me the shoes wore an expression of disbelief as I shook the remains. And this was just the beginning.

“So I thought today’s Tricki server felt off—seems our ecosystem disruptor was streaming since morning.”

-Ecosystem disruptor lolololololol
-I’m off to write a spicy post: "Tricki / Controversy / Disrespect to Other Streamers" ww
-Eugene… has become a streamer top-tier no one can keep up with…
-Four special guests—how can anyone resist this lololol
-By the way, isn’t Hotteok also a manifestor? Ever done something like that?

12 p.m., clear skies.

Hotteok had gotten up at 11 a.m. after a night of heavy drinking, barely finished washing up, and started a casual stream—only to crash the server from the flood of viewers, forcing a quick restart. After reading a summary of Eugene’s stream on Tricki, he reacted just like anyone else would.

“…84 km/h? Excuse me, what?”

-Is he a person or a car lolololololol
-Living Point: The bear sister and Lorentina clocked similar speeds.
-Realizing why manifestors don’t enter sports competitions…
-Can you imagine Dice fighting this guy multiple times, only to rank 4th in the final championship lolololololol
-This is terrifying

Hotteok recalled his own max speed of 34 km/h, wondering if this was truly within human limits. He knew an E2-level manifestor who once mentioned that manifestors ran differently—like a skipping stone rather than simply pushing off the ground. The key was stride distance. Usain Bolt’s stride averaged 2.43 meters, thanks to his height and powerful legs.

And Eugene… didn’t even need explaining. Smashing carbon plates with foot pressure alone was just absurd.

And that wasn’t all.

“Vertical jump of 2m, broad jump of 5.53m… average visual response time of 10 milliseconds? Ah, well, he is a snake, so he could just sense vibrations, not visual or auditory signals. He might’ve picked up on those vibration cues before the visual signal even registered…”

Muttering to himself, Hotteok quickly joined Eugene’s channel, which had hundreds of thousands of viewers.

Eugene was currently testing his lifting capacity. Instead of the usual barbells and plates, he was using a strange machine suited for lifting cars. And, on the LED display, the numbers read four digits.

With his mouth agape, Hotteok mumbled.

“My total lift is around 1,200 kg, but he’s benching that solo.”

-Wow… just wow…
-I just can’t wrap my head around this lol
-If he punched something, he could probably demolish a building lolololololol
-Could he even stop a speeding car at this point?
-Captain Anaconda lolololololol

The Captain Americas of this world were definitely plentiful.

Later, Logan and Lorentina posted similar inhuman results. Hotteok felt thankful he’d always downplayed his E2-level abilities, brushing off questions with, “I’m just like everyone else.”

Eugene’s old 3-lift record was around 2 tons. But today, she’d surpassed 4 tons. It was unbelievable.

And then, the power test.

-How should I do this?
-Simply strike the box as hard as you can. This device measures the damage impact.

The screen beside the machine displayed measurements in "units," with conversions to horsepower below. 1,300 units roughly equaled 1 horsepower.

After putting on boxing gloves, Eugene loosened up, carefully gauging the optimal position to unleash her strongest punch.

After a few moments, a sound shook the facility, as if something massive had rammed into the device.

—BOOM!

The shockwave shook the entire wall holding the machine.

The screen went black for a moment, then flickered back on, displaying a figure of 800,000 units—over 600 horsepower, an astonishing result.

Hotteok let out a laugh, half amused, half bewildered.

“So that’s the power she’s been swinging that axe with?”

-600 horsepower hahahahahaha
-Living Point: 600 HP is what you’d see in high-end super sedans
-So getting hit by that would be like getting hit by a car?
-Fact: The smaller impact area means it’d probably leave a fist-sized hole in your body
-Teacher, we’re so sorry for whatever we did, please forgive us…

<Anonymous user donated 10,000 won worth of protein! Thank you!>

-So does this mean Mikael went up against a dump truck with just a shield? lolololol

“Ah, Mikael…”

True enough.

Though he likely didn’t know, looking back, it really did seem like he faced a dump truck head-on.

Meanwhile, Eugene tried a few more strikes, then asked the staff a question.

-Is this machine capable of measuring kicks as well?

-Uh…

The staffer typed on his calculator, then handed Eugene a file with a rather serious look. She nodded, took off her gloves, and stepped back.

With question marks popping over their heads, including Hotteok’s, Eugene approached the drone camera and spoke.

-The device has a maximum capacity of about 1.5 million units. They’ve asked me to stop here to prevent damage to the equipment if I exceed that force.

It was truly in character.

The day wasn’t over yet.