Monday, 9:00 AM
Liam was sleeping with saliva dripping down from his mouth.
He was in a familiar bedroom with some common decorations around.
A high pitched sound suddenly reverberated throughout the room every time half a second pass.
Liam moved his torso upwards with his still closed eyes and shifted his head away from the loud and annoying sound but it still didn't go away.
He then tried to smack the thing that was producing the never-ending sound.
And as the annoying sound went away, a small machine being smashed resounded.
Liam opened his eyes after that and looked to his left.
He saw the broken pieces of the once properly working alarm clock.
"I... I broke it."
Liam just remembered that he was already in his house.
And he also remembered that he was already strong enough to break small stuffs like the alarm clock.
Making him dissatisfied with his morning awakening.
Liam soon went downstairs for him to cook and eat his breakfast.
After eating, he felt bored and went on the couch to watch the TV. He noticed that his house was already clean, leaving no traces of his fight with the thieves two days ago.
The TV was still doing its job properly, but Liam wasn't watching properly.
He was so bored that he even thought his body was merging with the couch.
Perhaps because of so many fights he experienced in just a day, he wanted to do something.
But what was that something...
His overthinking started at the same time as his emotions dwindled.
He wanted to remember something.
Liam was happy after remembering that he successfully got Ian agreed to let the doctors let him rest in his house instead of staying in the hospital by using his father's name.
But he was disappointed after he remembered that he didn't hear the conversation between the dangerous enemy and Ian's father.
But then he was pleased when he remembered that he didn't need to go to his university for a week or two after knowing that his professors learned about his pitiful state which was now healed because of his godly skill.
But then again he was upset as he remembered that every time a student like him didn't attend the lectures, his schoolwork will also pile up.
Whew.
Liam breathed out a heavy sigh.
He wanted to do something.
No, he needed to do something.
At that moment, he remembered something again.
But it was not a useless thought this time.
He recalled his fight between him and the master of Rynn.
At that time, he didn't realize that he was concealing his true strength, making him feel fear yet somehow it also gave Liam motivation.
The motivation that he also gets from his promise.
He promised himself and also his parents, that he will break down that entire organization to its remaining piece.
A sudden urge of aroused inside him.
"Stronger... I need to get stronger."
Liam stood up from his seat.
He wanted and needed to be powerful enough to kill that guy who made him tremble in fear.
Then his organization, the dark society, is next.
By feeling all sorts of hatred towards the filthy organization.
He soon arrived at the backyard.
This... This is the place that I will train myself.
Looking at the meadowy yard with over half the size of a basketball court, he thought it was a good place for him to do the physical labor.
He wandered around it before stopping at a large rock that has almost the same height as his hips and about three times his width. It also has a dense texture that made it look really heavy.
Despite that, Liam has a thought of lifting it.
And he did it.
But he wasn't successful.
He dug a bit of some soil until he saw the other end of the rock there.
He placed both of his hands below it and quickly tried to lift it, but it only moved by a centimeter.
'It didn't work...?'
He expected it to be heavy that his body will immediately get numb after holding it for only a few seconds, but he didn't know that he won't even be able to lift it.
Is he lacking strength?
But he defeated a few strong guys just two days ago.
Is it also because of his dexterity and endurance that have no use for lifting some weights?
Or did he just beat them by luck?
In any case, his thinking only made him want to get even more stronger so it was somehow a good thing.
'So is it true? What that masochist guy, or rather, Ember, said to me?'
[Your body seemed strong but it's still too untrained and undeveloped. It's like you just ate something to make it contain power then leave it as it is now.]
Liam thought of the 'thing he ate to have power' was like the strength stat he increased with by using the system's points.
[If you didn't continue enforcing the wall that blocks the power from leaking outside, the wall will break. And it will be awful.]
'My body wasn't changing in appearance although I've become strong enough to beat down a man who has a buffer body than mine.'
He took a step, while in deep thought.
'Is it why I lose my stamina quickly, my muscles ache immediately, and being asleep for a long time?'
So many thoughts went into him as he recalled the guy's words.
But all of it went away when one idea emerged.
The basic training...
"I need to do the basic training that even I, in the past, after my parents died, didn't do...."
Liam spoke his mind with his eyes burning from incitement.
"And I won't use any skills from the system.
He hurried under the tree and suddenly went down on the floor.
Only his hands and the end of his feet were touching the floor.
He was about to do some push-ups.
'I'll go until I reached my limit...'
After doing a deep breath he started counting in his mind.
'One... Two... Three... Four...'
And so his training began...
At his 20th count, his body began to feel numb and his breathing wasn't as smooth anymore.
As he realized that himself, he was somewhat a bit disappointed but continued.
Three minutes later, Liam counting to 50 passed.
His limbs started to move unsteadily, his muscles ached, he breathed heavily, and his sweat trickled down his body like tap water.
Fuu...
'I need more...!'
Though his body was giving up, Liam continued.
Until the 80th count...
He halted in the middle of his activity.
His arms were still stretched, while his entire body was trembling.
He started to lose breath and his skin was red from either the sweat or the pain.
He gulped as he took his breath...
Thud!
And soon collapsed on the ground.
He forcefully tilted his body to see the tree and the sky.
Before he eventually fainted on the spot.
While he was unconscious a chime echoed through his mind...
As a window appeared...
『 The host's training has finally concluded. 』
『 Commencing the calculation of the number of attributes that the host obtained from the hard work he took before completing his training. 』
『 The host received 1 point of Strength and 2 points of Endurance. 』
Thirty minutes later, Liam finally opened his eyes.
He woke up thinking that he suddenly gained more vitality in his body but didn't care much about it when his body slightly ached after moving just a little.
'The Regeneration skill didn't work completely?'
At that random moment, he somehow understood the skill's process.
'I see. So it heals the most life-threatening injury with an incredible speed but it becomes more sluggish at healing when it wasn't important, just like muscle pains.'
He stood up and wandered around but it comes with a slight muscle pain every time he took a step.
kuu...
"This Regeneration skill is a bit... Stupid? No, it's fair enough."
Liam spoke before he decided to hydrate himself and rest a bit more.
He went inside his house with his body swaying left and right caused by his weakened legs.
After drinking a large amount of water and resting by watching the TV for over an hour, he soon chose to continue his training.
And so it began once again, with him doing the sit-ups.
The countdown he made was shorter than when he did from the push-ups earlier, apparently, because of the backlash from pushing his body to the limits.
He only made 60 sit-ups.
Then once again collapsed and fainted on the floor of the grass.
Then the system's window appeared once again.
Portraying the same contents that it said earlier except for the rewards.
It only gave Liam 1 point for the Strength and the Endurance attributes.
After opening his eyes again, everything that he did was just the same as earlier.
Waking up with a slight muscle pain and feeling a little bit of vitality but simply ignoring it.
He went off inside his house to rest for over an hour.
Then going back to the yard, he did another one of his 'basic trainings'.
He went for squats, but only managed to achieve 50 counts.
He laid on the floor.
And fainted.
Then the system showed up again.
But this time it only gave him 1 Endurance point.
Waking up, then the process repeat.
The last one he will do for the day was running.
He planned to run 25 laps around his yard but only managed to barely make it into 15 laps before he tripped and fell on the floor.
He slammed the ground in anger.
Then Liam eventually fell unconscious.
The system gave him 1 dexterity.
And he woke up later than usual.
He slept for almost two hours lying on the ground.
"Huh...? Ah. It's just a dream."
Liam stretched his body while still lying on the ground before he stood up back again and strode towards his house.
Because he slept for 2 hours all the pain was gone.
Instead...
'I feel slightly better than before. Do sleeping on the groundworks that well?'
Liam already did five hours worth of training and decided to sleep and continue tomorrow.
He went into the bath after resting for a while and soon went to his bed.
Thinking about what he did today,
80 push-ups, 60 sit-ups, 50 squats, and 15 laps of running.
He smiled.
Before he finally closed his eyes and slept.
Three days later.
He has been doing the same training he did since the first day but it definitely got some quite improvements.
After sleeping for 8-10 hours he woke up consuming fruits that he found in the fridge.
Did some stretching for a warm-up before his training.
Then finally did his push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and running.
On the second day, he achieved 90 push-ups, 70 sit-ups, 55 squats, and 20 laps of running.
On the third day, he was happy when he achieved 100 push-ups, 80 sit-ups, 65 squats, and 23 laps of running.
Today, on the fourth day, he remembered something just as he woke up.
Liam rushed into the backyard and walked towards the corner.
He stood in front of the large rock that he tried to lift three days ago.
Right now, he wanted to test his strength, he wasn't expecting much like holding it while running as only the overpowered main characters could do something absurd like that.
And so he placed his hands below the rock and tried to lift it.
With his full strength, he can move it upwards and push it onto the other side.
While when he put more strength into his arms and his back, he can lift it for only three inches high and stayed with it for just several seconds.
It ain't much but it's an honest work.
After heaving a sigh of relief, he spoke.
"Hah. It wasn't that much, but I sure made quite a progress."
He smiled, did a warm-up after, and soon started training.
Then the sixth day came.
Exactly five days have passed since he started his training.
He just finished running and was already lying flat on the ground.
Though he was tired, his smile didn't go away.
Because he made 100 counts from two of his basic training.
He attained 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 85 squats, and 28 laps of running.
"What great progress I've made..."
He didn't faint nor sleep on the ground like what he did normally, but went straight to his kitchen instead.
Exhausted, he immediately grabbed and drank lots of water.
As he was putting back the water jug inside the fridge, he noticed that there's nothing left inside besides the water jug and water bottles.
'There's no fruits left?'
When he realized that, he remembered that he's also short on money.
And as he remembered that he needed to make money, he recalled his part-time job.
"The gym."
Liam worked at a gym as a gym assistant.
He helped patrons as they work out.
Like assisting customers with equipment, ensuring gym cleanliness, enforcing the gym's rules, and maintaining daily logs.
Because he was already working there for a few years back, he can surely convince the manager to let him borrow the gym equipments.
And his late realization made him quite satisfied with himself.
"Making money while getting stronger."
He stood up, showered, and so went to his bed, without losing his smile.