Lucas ran out of the room, feeling a rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins. He ran down the stairs quickly, making a lot of noise.
Ayumi was startled when she heard the noise. When she went to see what it was, Lucas was putting on a shoe and his jacket at the same time.
"Where are you going? It's late." She asked, a little confused.
Lucas was balancing on his right leg as he tried to put the shoe on his left foot.
"I'm just going to the store to get a drink to replenish my electrolytes. I'll be right back!" Lucas said, opening the door to the house.
"All right, but don't be too long!"
"Right!"
The sky outside was very dark, which immediately reminded Lucas of the moment of his death. He felt a tightness in his chest. It was fear, maybe terror. But that wouldn't stop him.
"Come on, come on..." Lucas muttered to himself as his footsteps echoed down the street.
He wanted to run to the local park, where he could get some exercise, and that would also cover half of the distance he needed to run.
As he ran towards the park, Lucas felt the cold night wind on his face. He passed people on their way home from work, some of whom waved as he passed. And he didn't even recognize most of these people anymore. He probably should have, but he didn't. After all, it had been 14 years since he had been a young man again.
Soon, each step seemed harder than the last and his lungs began to burn from lack of air. But it was almost 10 p.m. and he couldn't stop, not when he could actually lose attributes.
"Man, I really screwed up this time..." he thought as he adjusted his pace and tried to conserve his energy.
It took longer than expected, but Lucas arrived at the local park. It was empty and identical to the place he remembered.
The local park was on the edge of a forest, so there were a lot of trees and the place was pretty empty at night. Fortunately, the training area was right at the entrance. Lucas didn't have to go deeper into the park to complete his mission.
The squats and sit-ups were relatively easy for Lucas. He didn't like to brag about it, but he was more athletic than most boys his age.
The pushups were the real challenge. Soccer had made his legs strong since he was a kid, but soccer didn't help him develop strength in his upper limbs at all, so Lucas was quite skinny. He had to break the pushups into sessions, twenty at a time, and even then it was very difficult.
By the end, Victor's arms were shaking, and he was exhausted. But Céos didn't let him forget the main goal.
[You have 48 minutes left before the daily mission fails.]
Immediately after finishing his push-ups, Lucas had to run back to his house.
Each mile seemed like an eternity. He kept the system window open to monitor the distance he was running in real time.
A professional runner could cover 5 kilometers in about 25 minutes, maintaining an extraordinary pace of 5 minutes per kilometer.
Lucas' greatest attribute was speed, but he was far from running like a pro. Therefore, it would take Lucas 40 to 50 minutes to run this 5K. If he made it, he would be right on schedule.
His footsteps echoed in his mind, like a steady beat he had to follow. He passed a small grocery store with its fluorescent lights shining brightly, then a house with a dog barking excitedly behind a fence.
When he finally reached the corner of his house, his body ached so much that he had to stop to catch his breath.
"Ha... Ha..." He gasped with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.
Sweat was dripping from his face, and his back was soaked. He could feel it. His lungs seemed to be on fire, and every breath was a struggle.
Suddenly, a system window appeared in front of him.
[Daily Mission Completed].
[Congratulations! You've completed the "Effort X Reward" daily mission.]
[You have increased your Physical by 3 points.]
[You have increased your Speed by 2 points.]
[You have received the following rewards: +1 Star Point and +1 Loot Box].
Lucas lifted his head, looked at the pop-ups that appeared before his eyes, and smiled, but the smile soon faded.
"That was... horrible. Please, God, never let me go through that again."
***
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The next morning, when Lucas' alarm clock beeped, and he opened his eyes, the mission was there again.
[Daily Mission: Effort X Reward.
Description: You're not good enough. Try harder.
Daily goal:
0/100 pushups
0/100 abs
0/100 Squats
0/10KM run
Rewards:
+1 Star Point
+1 Loot Box].
Lucas rubbed his eyes and stared at the bright system screen, which once again displayed the daily mission. He let out a long, exasperated sigh.
"Ahh... Of course, it is a daily mission. It won't be that easy to get rid of it." Lucas said to himself. "But if I have to go through this every day, I at least have to know if it's worth it." He muttered to himself and decided to take a closer look at the system.
Without even washing his face, the first thing Lucas did that morning was browse through the options on the Champion System interface. He had seen something the night before, but had left it until the next day to check it out more calmly.
"Yes, here it is."
He found a section marked "Inventory" that he hadn't explored yet. His fingers moved over the holographic screen and he clicked on the chest icon. To his surprise, an inventory appeared, very much like those in role-playing games, with those many square slots. There were many empty spaces, and the only one that glowed was occupied by a small golden box labeled "Loot Box".
Lucas' eyes widened in disbelief.
"So... it's real?" He asked in disbelief. "I actually get physical rewards for these efforts, and they're stored here?"
Lucas touched the golden box, and a menu appeared with the option of opening the loot box. Eager to see where it would go, he selected OPEN.
The virtual box collapsed into inventory lights, visually revealing a series of items.
[You must select an item from
1 - Small Healing Potion.
2 - Speed Boots (+2 speed).
3 - Restorative Elixir.]
Lucas blinked a few times, trying to absorb the information. 'A healing potion? Speed Boots? And Restorative Elixir?' He was confused. It was as if he was playing a game.
"This is unbelievable..." He whispered, still in shock. Of all the absurd things that had happened to him in the past day, this game of his life was the most out of touch with reality.
His thoughts were interrupted by a line from Céos.
[You can access your inventory at any time to use the items you have purchased.]
Still sitting on his bed, Lucas decided to experiment. He selected the healing potion, and as if by magic, the potion appeared in his hand.
[You have selected 'Small Healing Potion'.]
It was a small glass bottle with a bright red liquid inside. This could be useful if he was injured before the championship and needed a quick recovery.
Lucas held it for a moment, still incredulous, before deciding to put it back in his inventory. The potion disappeared from his hand and returned to virtual space.
"So that's how it works..." Lucas muttered to himself. Then he remembered the speed boots.
With a smile on his face, he got up from his bed, put a hand to his face, and a broad grin appeared on his face.
"If I choose the speed boots later, the daily mission will be much easier? Why didn't I think of that? I have to take the test."
Just like that, Lucas began to understand a little more about how overpowered the Champion system was.