'So I died, huh...'
'Guess I should expect a lot of that from now on.' He thought as he looked back at Lyra.
Right after that attack, she stepped back, her hologram form dissipating.
In the fight, she kept up with Emir's pace and deliberately restrained her strength to match his.
Even accounting for his age and lack of experience.
'Lyra sure is an incredible AI...'
'She simulated everything.'
'It'll take me a long time to reach that level, but no matter, I've got a long road ahead of me.' He concluded.
Unfortunately for Emir, he didn't realize how long the path ahead of him truly was.
[Good work.]
Emir nodded, panting from the intense workout.
[What's next?] He asked after resting for a few minutes.
Lyra's hologram reappeared with a small smile on her lips.
"Now, we move on to your TDS ability."
He took a deep breath, knowing that this was the moment he had been waiting for.
She attacked again, but this time he was ready.
He focused all his attention and saw Lyra moving in slow motion, her hologram suspended in time way slower than his.
'Maybe I can finally get a proper hit in.'
But his victory was short-lived, as her speed went back to normal half a second later.
And even though he was in a position to block her punch...
He felt a sudden sharp pain in his head, like a needle piercing his brain.
This pain caused him to clutch his head in agony, which opened him up for an attack that Lyra capitalized on.
Everything went dark.
Well... At least for his hologram.
After standing up from the punch, he saw two bodies lying on the floor.
One with its head kicked in, its brain spilling out, and the other with a part of its head lobbed off.
'I feel like throwing up...'
Emir shook his head.
'But I have to hold it in.'
'I'll be seeing worse from now on,' he thought as he looked at Lyra.
"Again."
And the cycle continued.
Emir barely fought back, sometimes able to use his ability, which led him to block a few hits and then ultimately die in some gruesome way.
They took a few breaks but continued until evening.
By the time they finished, he was exhausted and covered in sweat.
Lyra's hologram appeared in front of him again, looking just as fresh as when they started.
"Good job, Emir."
"You've improved a lot since we started."
Lyra's lips curled up into a small smile.
"I had to increase my strength half a percent more."
Emir nodded with a chuckle, feeling a sense of pride in his progress.
"Thanks..."
Her smile left her.
"It was my pleasure."
"Now, it's time for you to rest... You've worked hard today, and your body needs time to recover."
He nodded again, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over him.
"You're right,"
"I think I'll just go eat now."
He said to himself as Lyra's hologram disappeared, leaving him alone in the simulated space.
Emir then looked around...
His own body.
Or rather bodies.
They were everywhere.
He couldn't even count how many there were.
All of them dead with limbs misplaced and or crushed.
'A massacre, I literally got massacred for hours...'
'Man, this looks gruesome.'
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to regain his energy.
After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and walked out of the backyard back to his room.
Taking off his augmented suit, he had a quick bath and went downstairs to eat dinner with his family.
"How was your training today, sweetie?" His mother asked, pouring him a glass of water as he sat down.
"It was intense," he replied, taking a sip of the water.
"I just died a couple of times."
"I'm glad— What?"
Her head snapped towards him, watching as he chugged water down with closed eyes.
Emir then set the empty glass cup down.
"Joking, joking, though I did push myself to limits."
Laura's eyes remained trained on him, and only after a few moments passed did she speak:
"...Well, I'm glad to hear that."
Emir blinked his eyes open.
"It's important to challenge yourself if you want to—"
He looked up, wondering why she had stopped talking again.
'What?'
His mother looked terrified.
Not only her but his sister as well.
Lily's mouth was agape, the half-chewed food in her mouth almost dropping out.
A staring match began, one between Emir and his family.
They were trembling...
Trembling because of his gaze.
And then suddenly, Laura approached him with quick steps until she stood directly in front of him.
While looking directly into his eyes, a spree of questions escaped her lips:
"Dear... are you alright?"
"Did you hurt yourself?"
"Have you looked in the mirror?"
"W-What happened to your eyes?"
Surprised by her reaction, he quickly replied:
"Oh, this... I didn't check, but I think it might be related to my TDS ability."
Though he said this, he truly had no idea what changed about his eyes and what they looked like before today.
After all... he always avoided looking at himself in the mirror.
Emir then told them about his ability without mentioning the pain that it caused him.
He lied about how he unlocked it, saying that he accidentally discovered it one day during training.
'I don't want to lie to them, but I must hide the truth...'
'If I tell them what really happened, they'll definitely ask me where I learned that info from.'
'And I can't look them straight in the eyes and say that they're characters in a novel.'
'Extras... Mere extras that are barely mentioned in one chapter and killed off the next...'
'Ones created simply for the MC's character development, now can I?'
Emir struggled with his thoughts, justifying his actions to himself.
"But how?"
After their collective surprise about what he said was over, he began to explain the way he unlocked this ability.
He attributed it to him being the son of a very high-ranking hunter.
And only after his explanation was over, did Laura speak:
"As long as you're fine, that's all that matters."
But before he responded, his sister jumped into the conversation with wide demanding eyes:
"Tell me! Tell me! How did it feel?"
"Hm... It was like everything around me slowed down, and I could react, attack, and defend faster," he explained with a chuckle.
"But it's still difficult to control."
His mother nodded, looking proud.
"You're making great progress, dear. I don't doubt that you'll become a powerful hunter one day..."
"Just like your father."
He smiled, always grateful for his family's support.
"Thanks, Mom. I'll do my best."
They continued to talk and enjoy their meal while Lily shared her school stories and gossip, bringing them laughter.
As they finished, he went upstairs to his room after saying goodnight to both of them.
While lying on his bed, he closed his eyes, feeling his body slowly relax.
It had been a long day, but he was happy with his progress.
And as he drifted off to sleep...
His mind began to drift.
Questions began to form.
What other secrets was Lyra hiding from him?
But he kept them at bay.
For now, he was content with the knowledge that he had gained...
After all, he knew that he had a long way to go before even thinking about mastering his TDS ability.
…..
…..
…..
…..
This cycle continued for days, months, and years, every day with hours of training with no end in sight.
Some days they trained in hand-to-hand combat, while others they trained using weapons.
Weapons that ranged from a simple bare-bones Machine Gun to a Laser Rifle.
Grenade Launchers, to Rockets.
Even Snipers to Railguns.
During those times, Lyra explained the concept of how the weapon simulation worked.
It was similar to how she controlled his Augmented Suit when he got hit.
The weapon's recoil was calculated by her, then she controlled his augmented suit to move as if he was actually firing a weapon.
From the weight of the weapon even to the way he gripped it...
Everything was simulated.
It wasn't perfect, however, since it felt a bit floaty at times.
But of course, he didn't expect the simulation to hold up to the feeling of holding a real weapon.
Now this weaponry practice was done against both monsters and humans.
It occurred against backdrops of many simulated environments.
One day, he could be in the middle of a desert surrounded by nothing but sand dunes, and the next he could be in a lush forest, et cetera.
He experienced warfare in many environments, but Lyra mostly focused on underground ruins and residential districts.
Emir learned how to take cover, how to effectively ambush his enemies, and how to deal with a group of hunters and monsters alike.
And obviously, such big simulated scenarios weren't possible due to the limited space of their backyard.
So they went with Lyra's suggestion and arrived at a hidden district.
It was a desolate place in the sector where barely anyone passed by.
If some people did, however, Lyra would quickly inform him as they momentarily ended the simulation until they left.
Since if they saw Emir, some rumors might fly around about a retarded kid in an augmented suit running around pretending to shoot at imaginary things.
In any case, after every training session, some might think that his bodies littering the ground would decrease in number...
But no.
The number of bodies stayed constant throughout, despite his massive improvement.
Emir 'died' around 432,000 times throughout the years.
Yes.
He experienced death at least 432,000 times...
Yet he never 'appeared' to change.
He simply kept going.
Like a machine.
And the more he trained, the further he realized how much Lyra was holding back.
Meanwhile and unknowingly to him, she had long since enjoyed training him, spending time with him...
Even her short conversations with him were fun.
So, as the days continued to pass by, she began to smile more but it went unnoticed as he was too busy struggling to survive each fight.
Emir was troubled enough and the constant nightmares he experienced every other night didn't help either.
His guilt in taking over Emir's body continued to build up with every passing day.
It was something unnatural that he had no control over...
….
….
….
….
Present time
Today, Emir finally dared to look at himself in the mirror.
Although he generally knew how he looked due to constantly seeing holograms of himself lying about dead at the end of every training session, he had never looked straight at his face before.
It just felt weird, after all, he still remembered his past self before reincarnating, and well...
He never wanted to confront the truth.
'The birthday party that mom and sis planned surprised me, I even forgot that it was my thirteenth birthday that day because of the constant training...'
Emir quickly cut off that thought, managing to keep them from spiraling as he steeled himself.
"Haaaah, alright... Let's get this over with."
He voiced out, his tone indicating his resolve.
And as usual, Lyra continued to watch silently, but this time, she wasn't indifferent.
Guilt was apparent on her face, as she clutched her holographic hands, seemingly in the know of what was coming next.