Li Wei was stunned as Shi Ming Hao led them into a colossal gymnasium that seemed to stretch endlessly in every direction. The enormous space was filled with every conceivable apparatus that had ever existed. The vast array of equipment bore witness to the intense physical preparation that awaited the team. To Li Wei, who barely does sports, the equipment looked odd, he glanced around, sweat dripped from his forehead; he had no idea what those training machines were, he was like an earthworm, leaving its warm settlement in the dirt for its first time, perplexed by the vast world.Shi Ming Hao's voice filled the air once more, "You will have two weeks to prepare yourselves," he scanned around the people. "During this time, push your bodies to the limits, and hone your physical and mental strength."Chen Wu Tao, the formidable gym teacher from Sichuan, wasted no time. He strode toward one of the machines and began his training regimen with ease, his muscles rippling with each exertion, veins popping out at once, followed by sweat. The others followed his lead, knowing that this was his expertise, and each tackled the apparatuses after him.Amid the lively gym, Li Wei stood at the entrance, his emotions in turmoil. Doubt gnawed at him, his mind clouded by the idea of inadequacy. Among the talented, remarkable individuals surrounding him, he felt like an anomaly. Was this all just a mistake? Was he really chosen to participate in Project Mythos?Meanwhile, Chen Wu Tao glanced over his shoulder and noticed his predicament. The muscular gym teacher started towards him, first with a pleasant wave."Li Wei," Chen Wu Tao said in a warm, reassuring tone, "Are you alright?". Li Wei's current state could not hear him. Chen Wu Tao examined Li Wei for a second, quickly understood his situation and continued. "You may not have the same strengths as some of us, but you have your own unique qualities. It's not always about raw power. It's about determination, heart, and the willingness to push yourself beyond your limits." The deep words reached him. The shackle of doubts and perplexion he put himself in shook. The simple truth stuck, he was touched. he had somehow tackled his innermost feelings- his feeling of inadequacy, his feeling of not fitting in, his feeling of being the odd-one-out. Despite his encouragement, Li Wei still believed in his inadequacy, he lifted his head, staring into his eyes," But even in terms of those, I'm still inferior to you all..."With a friendly smile, Chen Wu Tao patted his shoulders," No you're not, you just haven't find your potential yet." "Follow me." He guided Li Wei toward the training machines."Li Wei, that over there is the treadmill, where you do your cardio exercises... The running." He pivoted to the other side, Li Wei followed him,"Those are the barbells, to train arm strengths" "Those are the situp benches for abs" "Those are leg press machines" He went on endlessly introducing machine after machine, dedicated to the exercise of every muscle group of his body, yet Li Wei did not feel bored from his long descriptions. In fact, he listened to every detail he said, even to be motivated by his words. The power of passion... he thought.Wu Tao opened a holographic notebook from his wrist," Tell me what you're good at. Let me design you a workout list."He patted his shoulder again, with a kind grin, "I know you're new to this and you're confused, but I'm here to help, I will always be there to help." He began to design a personal workout plan tailored to Li Wei's abilities and needs. The two embarked on a journey of self-discovery as Wu Tao taught Li Wei how to use every machine on his workout plan.Li Wei attempted training on several machines; some worked out, and some required some extra time... he would need to train harder for a while to catch up on the physical level.
Li Wei was definitely persuaded of his ability as a gym coach, he could even be a school teacher because of his passionate personality.
The time was eight at night, after hours of relentless training, Li Wei felt an excruciating sensation of sourness in his muscles as he struggled to even move his legs to the cafeteria, they wouldn't even budge. With all methods failing, he desperately crawled on the ground towards the cafeteria as it was dinner time. Liu Ji Mei, the beautiful librarian, crawled along with him," It seems we both have yet to accustom the training routines hey?" She smiled, Li Wei looked at the young beauty next to him, to an almost embarrassing extent of time. She looked curiously at him, "Anything troubling you?". Li We was brought back to reality," Yea... I can't believe I'm so weak!" He admittingly said, Liu Ji Mei giggled slightly, Li Wei was stunned by her cuteness, despite her exhaustion.Eventually, the two reached the tables, Li Wei desperately climbed up to the seat, his teeth even rattling. He eventually sat down as Wu Tao helped Ji Mei up, he felt another excruciating sensation from using his arm strength, his muscle yelping out pain. Li Wei's face went red, he was overloaded with pain, unable to get to the counter to his right and grab a tray of food. "Here, Li Wei and Ji Mei, I've already gotten food for you." "Do you have any allergies? I can swap them out for you." "Thank you!" his eyes glinted of appreciation, surprised by Wu Tao's kindness. To his eyes, Wu Tao was perfect, a muscular, kind, passionate alpha male who puts them above himself, putting the same amount of high care for everyone.
Li Wei grabbed his plate of rice, steamed fish, and fried vegetables- a nutritious, healthy meal that also looked decently appetising, and wolfed down deviously as his stomach protested violently from hunger. A chuckle came from Wu Tao, witnessing his exhausted, burnt-out state."I can't believe we met with Tan Bo Hong, literally the second most important person in this country today!" Ming Cong saidFa Ya, one of the participants of Project Mythos began bragging," Well we are the future hopes of China, of course they will come and greet us! Can you imagine the sheer power we'll get soon?" Li Wei was slightly disgusted by his greediness, and he remained silent, continuing to devour his meal, too tired to care.
..............................................Li Wei was not surprised by their dormitories as Shi Ming Hao set the room locks as their fingerprints. The dormitories were next to the cafeteria, a slightly cramped space filled with rooms surrounding a central basketball court; Li Wei was puzzled as to why the architects designed it there. He politely knocked on the door, then opened it by tapping his index finger on the digital pad.The interior of the room was rather ordinary, slightly better than the classic high school or university dormitories, it was an independent room with a small bathroom of a toilet and a shower, a slightly large living room with a comfy single bed at the corner. According to the staff here, their rooms will be cleaned daily and water will be delivered every day. They can also call them at any time for any assistance, it was almost exactly like a hotel. Li Wei quickly took a shower and hopped on the bed, completely paralyzed- his arms and legs stuck on the bed, both because it was too comfortable for him to wake him, and because he had never been this exhausted in his life.His first day at the headquarters of Project Mythos ended rather smoothly as he quickly fell into a long slumber under his silk-white blanket.............................Li Wei awoke from a deafening alarm call in his room. He stared at the clock- 5 a.m. He was still tired, his body yet to be recovered. Li Wei motionlessly stared forward, his brain still booting up. A loud knock came from the door, followed by a yell," Li Wei! Time to get up!" from the childish, arrogant voice, he figured it was Ming Cong's.He slowly got up, walking to open the door as his feet slightly ached from the exercise from yesterday. "Was I really meant to be here?" he said to himself. Remembering that he could not leave and that he was inferior to everyone else, he raised his palm, and mercilessly slapped his face. The sound of his slap filled the air, Li Wei was instantly awake. He quickly opened the door," I heard a loud slap, what happened?" Ming Cong questioned with curiosity. Li Wei blushed, and replied," I was just waking myself up.""I can tell it's pretty effective... but look at your face, its red, I can literally see a palm print on it." He pointed at Li Wei cheeks. "Oh..." his response was dull and uncaring.Li Wei checked his watch again- 6 a.m. he was now working out in the gym. If he was behind everyone, he would spend more time than others to train himself, to catch up, to surpass them and prove to be worthy as a soldier of the Divine Vanguard division, and as one of the ten last hopes of China.Wu Tao was throwing a barrage of motivational phrases as Li Wei completed sets after sets of muscle training. His brain blasted with sirens and alarms as his body protested his continuation, every inch he raised with his bench press hurt his mind. He was tearing apart, his brain threatening to explode into oblivion, the sole reason he could still resist his natural alarms is from Wu Tao's shoutings. "Hit another rep! You can do this! I believe in you!" He yelled at him again," Break your limits!" Wu Tao definitely qualifies as a gym coach.Despite being the kind and helpful person Wu Tao always is, when it comes to gym fitness, he changes into an almost different person, shouting motivational phrases, yelling the rudest insults to motivate people."I believe in myself!" Li Wei screamed as he spent his last willpower to finish his set. Wu Tao immediately caught his falling barbell as he spent everything on raising it, his mind collapsed, his arms unresponsive, finally resting; he was fully vulnerable to the falling barbell. Once it fell onto his chest, he would've suffocated and died. Wu Tao knew that to his heart from his years of experience as a gym coach. "Than... Thank you." Li Wei said before his consciousness faded.Li Wei regained consciousness- he was now in an old-fashioned classroom, filled with ancient wooden tables and chairs. A holographic book lay open in front of him. It was the same book he read on the car on the way to Beijing days ago, his version merely days ago was almost a different person. Back then, he was weak, still the shy and unconfident boy. Although now he still slightly lacked confidence, without a doubt he was different from himself days ago before he joined Project Mythos. An AI teacher walked around the classroom," Flip to page ten, we shall study the founding mythology of China." Despite being an artificial intelligence, the metallic, clunky teacher explained every question in precision. "Li Wei, you finally woke up!" Ming Cong waved at him, adjacent to his table. "Wu Tao carried you here while you were unconscious." Ji Mei from behind explained, high emphasis on crediting Wu Tao for his kindness. "Thank you." Li Wei nodded to Wu Tao as an appreciation and recognition.The AI teacher walked to Li Wei's table." Student Li Wei, welcome to mythology class, I will be your teacher. You may call me Alex, from the name I was given by my manufacturer." The teacher's voice was cold and emotionless, though it conveyed a harmless, friendly mood. "Flip to page ten, we are studying the Chinese founding mythology. Read the passage about Pangu." He obediently followed."Yo! this image of Nuwa is crazy... Why the hell is she naked? And what is that evil snake lower body?" Ming Cong interrupted everyone as he mocked the historic annotations of Nuwa on his textbook. The metallic AI teacher started towards him. Its eerie thumping incited fear in Ming Cong. He immediately stopped. The teacher halted and returned to her teaching.The environment was an exact replica of Li Wei's contemporary classroom in Shanghai during his high school years. Since everyone was basically adults or young adults, the classroom was generally obedient and education went smoothly, occasionally disrupted by Ming Cong's rude comments.
.........................In the days that followed, Li Wei witnessed unimaginable growth both mentally and physically. With Wu Tao's major contribution in motivating Li Wei, he violently reached limit everyday, and pushed them day by day beyond his perceived limitations. He gradually discovered his own inner strength and resilience, he for once felt less inadequate than others, and his originally fragile self-esteem slowly rose.The training became more than just a physical regimen; it was a journey of self-belief and growth. Li Wei's story was no longer that of an ordinary, talentless individual, but one of determination, progress, and the unwavering spirit of a limitless hero.