Shen continued the running, he did not know how many laps he had gone through. He only stopped when his stamina was below fifty.
[You have trained your body to the limit!]
[Congratulations! You gained +3 Endurance and +2 Agility!]
"Oh, shet. Training is still effective for me," He was surprised that he got 5 Status Points in total. This was a rare moment as he usually only got 1 Endurance and sometimes it was 1 Endurance and 1 Agility. He released the weight on his back and looked around. Ming had started his squat training and Dale… was still running.
Sweat flooded his face as his mouth was opened wide, gasping for air, "How many laps, Sneaky?" Shen asked his friend. He did not see the graceful and dashing friend anymore. Dale mumbled something unclear in response while waving his hand.
Shen shook his head and entered the village. The other members were doing their things. He could hear the smashing sound from WealthyGuy's house. That man was asked to flatten steel for some reason. At least, a thousand a day. As for ZhenZhen, she just finished cooking to replenish everyone's hunger after a morning workout.
Shen got his share and went to his house. Resting on the bed for faster recovery. It was an open secret for everyone in the village. ZhenZhen was about to call him, but her hand was hanging in the air and no words came out of her mouth. She was not that close yet to Shen to ask for a personal matter.
After a few days of interaction, Shen was a typical person she enjoyed talking with. The guy was cheerful and positive, talking to him would make her think positively as well. Though he was not that positive inside, Shen was very cautious inside. He just did not show it outside, but ZhenZhen liked to talk with the guy even though he was younger.
They often talked about food and ingredients. Even cooking in real life, so she liked conversing with the guy. Now she noticed there was something that bothered him. She wanted to help but was also afraid that she overstepped the line. He was afraid that the matter was too sensitive.
In the end, ZhenZhen decided not to talk it out with Runner and let him be. He was a man, he could take care of his matters.
*** ***
Shen was unaware that he caused the people around him to worry about him. He was trying his best to not show it outside. Sitting on the bed, he ate the bowl of mushroom stew, "Working out is really working to distract my concern." That was true since the concern over Eunha disappeared temporarily while running.
"I will be busy myself with the training, I guess…" Shen scooped the second spoon. The menu was temporarily mushroom stew since ZhenZhen did not have the ingredients to cook something else.
He finished his meal and rested on the bed to recover his stamina. It took longer since he had a lot of stamina now, but it did not waste much of his time as he was fully recovered in ten minutes. He realized the higher his Endurance was, the regeneration rate of the Stamina became higher as well.
After Shen fully recovered, he went out and washed the dish. Then he returned to the place where he usually did his squat. He was now using thirty-five kilos of stone for his weight. He tapped his index finger against the stone, "Let's increase the weight, maybe it would increase the efficacy of my training. Let's increase it to forty-five kilos."
Shen brought the stone back to the backyard and returned with a bigger stone. Ming noticed his friend was coming back with a bigger stone, "I thought you were going to hunt the monsters?"
"Nah, I will just continue my training. It turned out the training was still effective for me. I just need to do more than usual," Shen replied before he started his squat. This time, he did not count the squat, he would count his stamina instead. If his Stamina was lower than twenty, then he would stop the squat.
In the middle of his squat, Dale returned with a dying face. His body swayed to the left and to the right. Even so, he did not throw any complaints about the training. He found out that the training paid off. He got 12 Endurance and 5 Agility. It was more than Shen told him.
Dale threw his body on the cool wooden floor. He did not even have an appetite to eat to recover his hunger. He just straight closed his eyes while his mouth gasped for breath. However, someone disturbed his rest. Dale opened his eyes and sat up.
He saw his two friends doing squats with a big stone on their back. Looking at the two lifted the big stone, it encouraged him even more, "I can't lose to them and I have to catch up!"
Sneaky Banana took his portion of mushroom stew and ate it. His eyes shone when he tasted the food and raised his thumb at ZhenZhen who was watching his two friends, "The food is yummy though my mother makes better food."
ZhenZhen rolled her eyes, "You should not tell me the last part. I already know that mother's cooking is the best." As someone who grew up with her mother's cooking, she understood Sneaky Banana's sentiment. She was not that petty to get offended by such a remark.
After finishing his meal, Dale rushed back to his house. His Master told him that he should return when he finished fifty laps. As Sneaky Banana entered his house, WealthyGuy came out of his house. He took his portion as well to recover the hunger.
That was the activity of the hidden village. While the other players were racing for the ranking Leaderboard, they were training.
Shen spent his day training, accompanying Ming and the others. After the squat, he would swing his sword. Thanks to his effort, he got many Stats Points even though his level remained the same.
Running: +3 Endurance +2 Agility
Squat: +5 Endurance +3 Strength
Swinging Sword: +2 Endurance +6 Dexterity
Shen truly pushed himself to the limit. He would not stop unless he ran out of stamina. He stopped counting since then. After he finished the three sets of training, Shen logged out. He visited Eunha in the hospital. That was how he spent his days for the next two days. On the third day, the hidden village received its sixth member.