Thud! Thud!
The sound of Alex's armored feet in his running suit hitting the ground reverberated repeatedly as he ate yards of space with every step that he took.
It was already more than an hour since Alex's first personal training started and, in this time, he already ticked some milestones out of the ones that his supervisor, Amelia set for him.
At this moment, Alex was bulling through a 100-meter dash.
His breathing was labored as he pushed into his reserves, digging in to draw out more speed.
He was going really fast, far faster than anything he ever attained back in planet earth but when he was very close to the finish line already, something happened.
Alex's legs gave in and he collapsed in a heap.
"F*ck! Not again". He cursed.
Right at that moment, it appeared before him.
{WARNING! One of your life attributes is on red!}
{Health points: 35/50}
{Stamina: 0/13}
Alex collapsing on the ground was a direct effect of his stamina being exhausted due to him overexerting his body.
This was not the first time it happened in the past hour.
Rather, this was the fourth time.
During his trial race, filled with uncertainty since he didn't know a lot of things yet, Alex decided to run with certain precautions in mind after making up the 3 rules that helped him survive the trial race.
These precautions were related to his life attributes.
Having watched as Runner 808 was devoured by the annihilating flames, extinguished from existence, Alex was wary for his life.
Then, he had so many questions in his head. What would happen if his stamina points got down to 0?
What would happen if all his health points were exhausted?
Having watched a race rival be devoured by the annihilating flames already which confirmed that dying was real in this crazy hyper realistic game, Alex became extra wary of letting his core life attributes drain to a deadly minimum.
But in this training, pushed by his supervisor's demands, he had to overexert himself. Of course, Alex confirmed that it was safe before doing it.
And with that, he finally got answers to his questions.
When the stamina gauge becomes exhausted, an athlete becomes overwhelmed by fatigue, the simple act of literally walking becomes a chore.
And in a competitive race, this was dangerous.
As for the health points, Alex already got answers to it.
The first time that his health points got exhausted while training, Alex almost had a heart attack because he thought he died.
Once your health points get to 0, your game suit shuts down, literally.
And once the game suit shuts down, your world turns dark since the suit was responsible for every sensory feedback to the runner once it was equipped.
It was not just any mundane suit, it was a suit of high technology that was able to connect to the nerves of every runner, becoming one with them biologically.
The game suit was like an extension of a runner's body.
Once your health points get to 0, the runner stays alive but the suit dies until it passively recovers enough health points to power back on.
It took 1 whole minute for the game suit to regenerate 2 HP.
These discoveries proved to Alex that his decision to be prudent with how he managed his stamina and health points was the best one.
But after understanding how his 2 life attributes worked, he became more confident as under Amelia's guidance, he attacked his daily personal goal with gusto.
He already made the decision to run, now he was ready to make the sacrifice that was required to win.
Just like he went to every Olympics tournament with the ultimate desire of winning the gold medal, in this world, he also wanted to win.
He didn't just want to survive, he also wanted to attain glory.
This time, once he collapsed in a heap after his stamina was exhausted, far away in the distance, Amelia communicated to him through his suit.
"Ok, that's enough for now, it's time to rest".
"Why? I still want to go".
She was calm. "Remember, this is just personal training, the real training led by the coach will start soon and for that, you need to be in tip top shape".
"Oh!" Alex finally calmed down.
And with that, he paid attention to Amelia's recommended daily goal.
{Daily Personal Attribute Training:}
>Endurance Training: Jog 2120/1500 meters<
>Endurance Training: Run 1750/800 meters<
>Speed Training: 490/200-meter sprint<
>Acceleration Training: 100/30-meter dash with waist weights attached<
>Intelligence Training: Nil<
It was when he paid attention to the paper that he finally understood how much he already achieved in just an hour.
'Wow…, is this possible in just an hour?' He was amazed.
For the endurance training, Amelia jogged with him as with her giving pointers, they engaged in conversations that conveniently distracted Alex from the pain of his screaming muscles.
As for the second endurance training, he was able to run 1750 meters solely because of the crazy boosts that were made possible by the game suit.
Also, he did it because he was Justin Alex.
As for the speed training which was his normal domain, Alex excelled even more as he felt like a fish in water.
He could tell that his speed was close to improving again.
Of the daily training tasks that Amelia recommended for him though, without doubt, the acceleration training was the hardest.
Tying weights to his waist to tie him down, Alex engaged in short and rapid bursts of speed.
This was training that most footballers in his previous world also did.
This training sapped all energy from his legs.
It drained his stamina faster than all the others but yet, through sheer willpower, Alex was able to cope with it as he kept on going and going till Amelia urged him to stop now.
15 minutes later though, Alex stood up again. "One more time". He said, and then, he started the 200-meter sprint.
Well-rested for it and with warm legs, Alex floated.
It was just training but he managed to break his personal best record for the 200 meters that he had in his old life, and that was when something happened.
Immediately after he completed the 200-meter sprint, the game interface lit up again, overlapping with his vision.
{Your speed Runner attribute has increased by +1 stat points!}
Alex froze in shock. "I did it!" He screamed excitedly.
18 minutes later, other runners finally started appearing on the stadium tracks.