Becoming The Strongest Using My Would-You-Rather System!-Chapter 36 - Bronze Core And System?!

A few minutes later, Theo stepped out of his apartment with the box in his hand.

He quickly walked down the sidewalk, heading for a familiar small forest.

’Breaking through inside the new apartment is a no-go,’ he thought, whistling softly. ’The forest is perfect for that though.’

In all the days he’d spent inside the forest, no one had ever come to disturb him. It was a beautiful place in nature where he could truly focus.

After a few more minutes, he reached the small clearing he’d used before near the center.

Theo glanced around briefly before nodding to himself and sitting down cross-legged.

He sucked in a deep breath of air as he placed the metal box in front of him and carefully flicked open the lock.

As he lifted the lid, a single plum-sized fruit revealed itself to him, its dark purple skin with thin veins that glowed in a soft blue light running along its sides.

’It better be worth the two hundred thousand I spent on it,’ he thought, his gaze serious.

More than half had come from the daily falling challenge, while the rest came from the newest challenge he’d taken on.

’This B-rank Lightning Fruit is the culmination of twelve near-death experiences and five days of disgusting baby food as meals.’

Theo stared at the fruit for a moment longer before exhaling slowly.

’’First, stimulate the core, which will be incredibly painful,’’ he muttered, going through the steps one final time. ’’After pushing through that moment of pain, I need to swallow the fruit.’’

’’From there, I have to expand my core to its limit and pour as much remaining energy into its walls.’’

That was all there was to it.

Even so, Theo didn’t dare get careless, as it was his first breakthrough ever and it practically determined his future.

’I got this,’ he told himself, exhaling sharply.

He straightened his posture, his gaze firm as he glanced at the fruit in front of him.

His breathing gradually slowed down.

The forest around him faded away, his mind only concentrated on the breakthrough.

’This is where it really starts,’ he thought, closing his eyes.

Focusing on his affinity, Theo slowly started forcing out mana threads.

However, instead of immediately guiding them to his core, he let them float around freely.

After a couple hundred threads, he started to feel a sharp tingling feeling within his core.

’I need to stimulate it even more.’

As he kept drawing more and more mana threads from his core, the tingling sensation grew worse.

Suddenly, they stopped emerging individually.

Instead, it was like a dam had broken as countless threads spilled into his core simultaneously.

’Finally,’ Theo thought, clenching his fists.

The stinging feeling he’d felt at the start was no longer there, replaced by a slowly increasing amount of sharp pain.

’It’s like the lightning is melting a hole in my core,’ he thought, gritting his teeth.

Despite the pain, Theo kept forcing out more threads.

Minutes flew by as his core was filled to the brim.

His skin lit up in a faint yellow light, evaporating any sweat instantly.

’That’s it,’ he thought, feeling a sense of fulfillment from his core.

As he stopped forcing out mana threads, the stinging pain stopped growing worse. But the same couldn’t be said about the burning sensation.

’This damn heat!’ he thought, every muscle in his body tensed up.

He opened his eyes, staring at the box in front of him.

’Concentrate,’ he reminded himself, pushing through the pain as he reached for the fruit.

A sharp, numbing lightning shot through his hand as he grabbed hold of it.

Theo moved quickly, stuffing the fruit into his mouth.

Biting down, a sharp surge of lightning mana ran down his throat.

His body tensed immediately.

The mana rushed down his throat, heading straight for his core.

’Next step,’ Theo thought, ignoring the pain as well as he could. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

He forced the mana threads in his core to push against the walls simultaneously on all sides.

That’s when his core started to crack, sending a violent pain through his chest.

’No one told me about this!’ he thought, his fingers digging into the ground beneath him.

He maintained his focus though, knowing that not doing so could get him killed.

Theo forced the mana threads within his core into the cracks, mending them as the core expanded.

At the same time, the mana from the fruit surged toward the cracks from outside the walls.

Theo’s core grew larger at a rapid rate as the mana threads slowly vanished from his core.

After a minute of expanding, he felt his core grow unstable.

’Almost—’

He pushed his limits a little further.

That’s when he felt a familiar sense of fulfillment spread through his body.

’Done!’

Looking at the sea of mana still floating outside his core, Theo quickly forced it into the remaining cracks.

Only after every crack was completely mended and his core’s walls were strengthened to the very limit did he stop.

Finally, his core glowed for a moment, changing into a deep bronze color as if affirming his breakthrough.

’’I did it,’’ he muttered, feeling exhausted.

The tension left his body all at once.

He fell backward, exhausted.

His chest rose and fell slowly, his body still buzzing faintly from the remaining energy.

For a moment, he didn’t move.

His gaze fell on the dark sky above him as a small smile formed on his face.

’Bronze core...’ he thought, relaxing fully. ’I actually did it.’

But before he could relax—

A familiar screen blocked his view of the sky above him.

[Would You Rather?]

Theo stared at it silently, his eyes wide.

[Option 1: Awaken another SSS-rank affinity]

[Option 2: Gain a billion dollars]

[Option 3: Obtain an Obsidian-rank lightning technique]

’’...What?’’