Latest Fitness Trend Connected to Another World: Sweat Turns into 'Philosopher's Stone.' Appraisal Result: 'It's Just Table Salt'

The 'Otherworld Transfer Exercise' sweeps social media. Practitioners' sweat crystallizes like diamonds, traded for tens of thousands of yen per gram on flea market apps. However, certification agencies announced the composition: '98% pure sodium chloride.' Experts warn: 'It has more impurities than table salt. Please don't lick it.'

2025-08-22

Translations: JA

Otherworld Pocket

Latest Fitness Trend Connected to Another World: Sweat Turns into 'Philosopher's Stone.' Appraisal Result: 'It's Just Table Salt'

The “Otherworld Transfer Exercise” sweeps social media. Practitioners’ sweat crystallizes like diamonds, traded for tens of thousands of yen per gram on flea market apps. However, certification agencies announced the composition: “98% pure sodium chloride.” Experts warn: “It has more impurities than table salt. Please don’t lick it.”

“30-second plank while enduring dragon’s breath,” “Squats pulling out the holy sword Excalibur.” Just by completing these spell-like routines, your sweat becomes the “Philosopher’s Stone”—this dream-like fitness program has captivated modern people seeking self-realization and alchemy. The proponent is Celestia Yui (28), a former reader model and self-proclaimed “space-time surfer.” “When your etheric body heightened through exercise combines with mana from another world, it crystallizes as it’s discharged through your sweat glands,” she eloquently explains on her video channel, offering zero scientific basis.

The sparkling crystals supposedly born from this exercise eventually became known as the “Philosopher’s Stone.” Under hashtags like “#SweatActivity” and “#TodaysPhilosophersStone,” photos of crystals scattered on yoga mats are posted daily. Due to their purported beauty and rarity, they’re traded on flea market apps for tens of thousands of yen per gram, marketed as “Lucky treasures from another world” or “Purifying power salt.” Buyers report effects that could only be described as a parade of placebo: “My financial luck improved when I placed it by my pillow,” “My skin became smooth when I added it to my bath.”

The National Central Appraisal Institute (Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo) put an end to this collective delusion masquerading as a social phenomenon. The institute, which had been watching the public frenzy with cold eyes, independently acquired crystals listed as “highest quality” on flea market apps and conducted component analysis. The results were mercilessly mundane.

“The main component is sodium chloride. It’s ordinary salt with 98% purity,” stated Mitsuru Shioya, chief researcher at the institute, matter-of-factly at a press conference. “The remaining 2% consists of potassium, magnesium, and organic matter including skin-derived keratin and trace amounts of sebum. In plain terms, it’s solidified sweat and dead skin.” A dry laugh—or was it a sigh?—escaped from the gathered reporters.

Following this announcement, Professor Michio Akita of the Department of Health Sciences at Tohto University dismissed the phenomenon: “The composition of sweat produced during exercise is mostly water and salt. There’s nothing special about it.” “Looking at the analysis results, it has more impurities than commercial table salt (over 99% sodium chloride purity). I absolutely cannot recommend using it for consumption or beauty purposes. Actually, just stop. Don’t lick it,” he warned in a strong tone.

After the announcement, “#JustSalt” and “#SaltActivityOver” began trending on social media. The influencers who had so enthusiastically promoted the “miraculous crystals” began deleting their posts one after another, with some performing impressive about-faces: “I thought it was suspicious from the start.”

Meanwhile, proponent Celestia Yui posted a poem on social media: “Material truth is trivial. What matters is the ’true philosopher’s stone’ called the heart that believes in one’s possibilities,” already hinting at her next business venture. The fictional stone has shattered, but people’s journey to find the next “easy miracle” seems to have only just begun.

Stakeholder Comments

Celestia Yui (Proponent): “Hater noise disappears into another dimension. Believing power opens the next door. Maybe ‘Fairy Tears’ next?”
Woman (32) who purchased sweat crystals for 30,000 yen per gram: “Wait, salt…? But that sparkle definitely healed my heart. I think it was probably expensive salt.”
Chief Researcher Mitsuru Shioya: “I wasn’t assigned this case just because my name is Shioya (Salt Valley). Probably.”
Professor Michio Akita: “The fruit of their effort was literally ‘salt.’ How ironic. Well, if they developed exercise habits, that’s good… no, it’s not.”
Sweat (personified): “I worked so hard to come out! Being treated as just a salty guy is terrible!”
Philosopher’s Stone (real): “I’ve been hearing about many impurities using my name lately. How deplorable.”
Flea Market App Company: “According to our terms, listings claiming scientifically unproven effects are prohibited (trembling voice).”
Table Salt: “I’m not worried about losing in purity. Also, we’re hygienic.”
Another World (concept): “Our mana isn’t that cheap. Also, please don’t connect without a visa.”
Demon Lord: “Squats to defeat me? And you get salt for it? How far the heroes have fallen.”