"What?!"
"I was kidnapped through time?!!"
This was exactly Alex's reaction after his supervisor finally answered all his questions immediately after he left the debriefing hall.
Alex had a few guesses due to his personal observations already but somehow, at the back of his mind, he still wanted to believe that this was a dream.
All his hopes were ruthlessly destroyed by his supervisor though.
Apparently, this was year 2189.
When Alex first heard that, he laughed, thinking that his gloomy supervisor had this joking side to her but when he asked repeatedly and she answered in the same way with the same poker look on her face, he almost fainted in shock.
No sane human being would react normally when he was told that he was suddenly living 153 years in the future.
But that was Alex's reality.
One moment, he just did another clean sweep of a Summer Olympic tournament and the next, he was somehow 153 years into the future, forced to run in a track against an opponent for survival.
Alex struggled to come to terms with his new reality.
He did not know if he should be more horrified by the fact that there were multiple intelligent races in the universe, or the fact that time traveling was now possible, or the fact that a universal war was even fought.
Heck, he was horrified by everything that he learned.
Alex had a habit during his time as an Olympic champion. Being an Olympic champion did not mean that he had it going for him all the time.
Especially during his last race, Rio 2036, Alex was tensed.
He was no longer in his prime, his strides were slower and he was going up against the fastest men in the world.
The thought of losing was overwhelming, suffocating his mind. But during these moments like these, he had a strategy to calm down.
To calm down, Alex would randomly scribble his thoughts down in a dairy.
That was exactly what he did at this moment.
Through his suit, he used the currency that he earned through his first race, spending some runner points to purchase a dairy.
{2 runner points have been deducted!}
{You have purchased a physical dairy!}
Alex's temporary chambers in the massive Sky Dome Stadium was a simple apartment with a bedroom and a sitting room. With the technology of the Arcade Empire, Alex had everything that he needed inside his chambers.
Alone in his room, that night, after spending a lot of time thinking about his current reality, he picked up the dairy and under bright lighting, he wrote.
[Day 1 of being kidnapped through time!]
>It's me, Justin Alex. Apparently, I was kidnapped through time by a mad scientist, can you believe it?<
>I still can't believe it. Sigh…, I guess the world wars in Planet Earth was not enough. After finally entering the stars, from a simple world war, humanity and the other advanced civilizations in the world graduated to a universal war and this is the outcome of it<
>A universe with one sole advanced civilization, the winner of the civilization war, the Arcade Empire<
>When I think of it, it's just ironic. I finally understand why something this ridiculous like Runners; Survival and Glory can be made legal<
>Afterall, in this age, who cares about anything not Arcadian? Humans, the Tiger Rhus, all other civilizations, they're just pets to the Arcadians. To survive, I need to run and win, and attain glory<
>Well, it's just day 1 but I've made my decision<
>I won't let the future rob me of the joy of the present that was stolen from me. I don't care about a universe war and an Arcadian Empire. To me, all of this is just fantasy. I'm a human and all that exists is still Planet Earth<
>All these complications are for those born in the future, not me<
>This is why I've decided to run<
>I will run. I will keep on running until I attain my freedom. I will keep on running until I return to the present to enjoy the joy of being the new legend of track racing, the new Usain Bolt<
With that, Alex closed the dairy, switched off the lights and laid on his bed.
His supervisor already informed him. Tomorrow was training day, he and the other 99 runners who passed the trial race will train in the stadium in preparation for their next race.
Laying down on his bed that seemed to be capable of massaging his body, Alex finally started going through the events of today.
His brain drifted back to the moment when he was on the starting line.
At that moment, uncertainty affected him, clouding his mind with doubts and confusion but Alex was able to clear it off his mind because he was running.
All his life, the one thing that Alex was good at was running.
In high school, he was bullied by other kids, he had a lot of insecurities but one thing that he had confidence in was his speed.
Once it came to a race, that timid incompetent boy would disappear, replaced by the confident personality of a champion.
That was what enabled Alex to run, analyze the track of the stadium and the new situations before him. This was what enabled him to win the trial race.
'I wonder how long it will take me'. He thought, clenching his fists.
'I'll just take this like another Summer Olympic tournament'.
'It's not going to be easy but when has it ever been easy?' He felt like chuckling. 'If it was easy, everyone would do it'.
'This is why I'm here. Like Amelia said, I was taken through time because of my speed'.
Thinking of this, he drifted. 'I wonder if the great Usain Bolt is also here'.
'Besides, she said there are other humans here, I can't wait to meet them in training tomorrow'.
He finally closed his eyes to sleep. 'No matter what happens, I won't lose'.
'I will win'.
'That's what it takes to be a champion'.
'One race at a time, I will win, chipping away at the chipping blocks until I become the champion of Runners; Survival and Glory'.
Thinking to this, he smiled with his eyes closed. 'The cheer of those spectators, I could easily get addicted to that'.