Chapter 74: Desperate Friends

"I am, and always will be grateful for the love and priceless support from you all. The Grindhouse Wrestling universe had fueled my motivation and happiness, and this had been the major power of my success.""From Day One, y'all had always been there, and I, Max Fury, am honestly thankful with all my heart!"

"I promise to give my all and always be the Max Fury that you all love. Thank you, universe!"

Arnold dropped a post on his page after making a written speech. After his win last night, it was right that he had to show gratitude to his fans... Coming out victorious in his first title defense.

Within minutes, countless comments began to drop...

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"We love you, Max Fury! Keep soaring!"

"The Legacy, Max Fury!!!"

"A true humble fighting champion! Kudos to you Max Fury."

"Here we go again! Another victory for you, champ. Congratulations!"

"I love you, Max Fury! Please marry me!"

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There were too many comments before Arnold could know it, and he couldn't reply to all. To maintain actual professionalism, it was best that he didn't reply to any.

However, while reading some of the comments, his reactions were mixed with shock, delight, and wonder.

The most interesting part of the comments was Arnold seeing a lady begging to marry him.

"Crazy..."

Arnold furrowed his brows in shock, but it was only clear that he was alien to this kind of event. With being such a trending superstar, things like this are sure to always come.

The post ended up getting 15k reactions and 3k comments on Facebook, a few figures less than 10k reactions on TikTok and Instagram, with 6k reactions with over nine hundred comments on Twitter.

Glad and satisfied with his social media growth, Arnold couldn't hold back the smile that kept appearing on his face.

Right now, only top figures like Tristan Black, Eclipse Son, Jerry Blaze, Matt Killian, and Black Pope were the ones who had more followers on social media than him. Most of the men were fighters in the high-level roster, except for Jerry Blaze, who had made a great impact in the low-level roster for years before Arnold's arrival.

It was indeed, a great growth... And even the Grindhouse Wrestling Management themselves were amazed.

Honestly, he was the face of the show at this moment... Well, perhaps, with Tristan Black, the top champion.

******

"We are on our way to your room. How about we go have lunch together?"

Arnold ran into Mark and Lila on his way to the gym, which stunned the sh*t out of him. He hadn't gotten to see them after coming back from Arizona, making him a little guilty for that act...

Mark smiled at his friend without a hint of anger around his eyes. Lila, too, didn't seem to have been mad with his attitude lately, making Arnold a little surprised.

They were all cool towards him as if nothing really happened.

Anyway, did something really happen???

Keeping those thoughts to the side, Arnold forced a smile back at them and replied.

"Actually... I am on my way to the gym. I ate a lot at breakfast, and I'm full now."

Lila and Mark exchanged glances for a moment and turned to Arnold after.

"It's okay. How about we go workout together then?" Mark suggested with yet that congenial smile he always showed.

"Yes. It's been a while since I visited the gym. I think I need to train a little," Lila said and looked at Mark again, "After all, we also ate a lot at breakfast." S~eaʀᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Yeah, hahaha. We ate a lot," Mark laughed upon response.

However, Arnold was only busy observing the weird conversation of his friends. He suddenly noticed something fishy, as if they were up to something, maybe some kind of plan to make him develop an interest in Lila again.

But he had doubts... He guessed that wasn't the case. Perhaps they just needed to be around him and that's all.

Although he was trying his best to limit his time with them due to his ambition, Mark and Lila had gained a huge portion of his trust.

He had taken them as his friends, which meant a lot to him... This was why he never joked with the term "friend." Once he called you his friend, then you are like a sibling to him.

"Okay sure then. Let's go the gym," Arnold had no choice but to accept their proposal, but he had promised not to get distracted...

The system already made a reaction before he could even realize it...

[Hmmm... It's clear that Max Fury is a stubborn lad.]

'Don't say that, I promise not to get distracted.'

Arnold tried to convince his Advocate that he wouldn't let the association at the gym ruin his goal for the day.

[Let's see how it goes then.]

[You gained 25 points to your Intelligence after your last match.]

[Intelligence: 95.]

[You only need five more points for your Intelligence to gain your first Anonymous Skill.]

'Whoa! I have gotten there!'

[No. Not really. Your goal today is not to advance your Attributes but to learn to understand the concept of fitness and combat. To start up, you have to visit the training ring instead.]

"Huh...?"

[Yes. You have to understand combat to enhance your combat skills tactically.]

Arnold hesitantly glared and nodded. "Sure..."

[Good. This way, you can become more skillful and tactical in your matches, making it easy for you to weaken opponents at the beginning period of the match.]

[If you can learn a lot of tactical combat, then it's guaranteed that you will gain up to five points to your Intelligence, helping you acquire your first Anonymous Skill.]

[Good luck...]

Arnold's mouth was sealed after the system's order. He wondered how his friends might feel if he told them that he had changed his mind, weighing him down... Confused.

He needed to acquire his first Anonymous Skill anyway.

It took quite a moment before he could make up his mind to tell them, and at that time, they were almost at the gym house.

"Hey, guys. I'm so sorry but I have a change of mind. I would be practicing in the training ring instead," Arnold said with an apologetic tone.

However, his friends just didn't seem to have become disappointed with his sudden decision. They smiled after those words, making Arnold stunned in the inside.

While blinking confusedly in front of them, Lila glanced at him and spoke.

"It's okay. There is actually no problem with that..."

"If you are going to the training ring, then..."

"We are going to the training ring too."

******

[A/N: I'm grateful for the Power Stone growth this week. Thank you so much for the support. We only need Golden Tickets to rank up. Please, let's do this!]