[Scanning host… Scan complete.]

[Analyzing the most efficient exercise in the host’s current capability… Analyzing complete.]

[Please complete the following exercises:]

[Walk 3 km] [(0/3)]
[Run 2 km] [(0/2)]
[Do 1 set of 10 knee pushups] [(0/1)]
[Do 1 set of 10 lunges in each leg] [(0/1)(0/1)]
[Do 1 set of 10 frog leaps] [(0/1)]
[Do 1 set of 10 sit-ups] [(0/1)]
[Do 1 set of 10 burpees] [(0/1)]

 

“Shit. This wouldn’t have been a problem for me in the past. The walking part is fine, but I haven’t run for over a year now. I know how to do all these, and I did far harder sets before. Now, things are going to suck with this unathletic body of mine.”

Ah, fuck it. Eli exited his house, locked the door, and walked down the streets. “Fucking cold out here!” He exhaled. “Hm… The quest said I needed to walk three kilometers and run two kilometers, but it didn’t say I needed to do it all in one go.”

 

[Walk 3 km] [(0.3/3)]
[Run 2 km] [(0/2)]
[Do 1 set of 10 knee pushups] [(0/1)]
[Do 1 set of 10 lunges in each leg] [(0/1)(0/1)]
[Do 1 set of 10 frog leaps] [(0/1)]
[Do 1 set of 10 sit-ups] [(0/1)]
[Do 1 set of 10 burpees] [(0/1)]

 

“Hm. Let’s see if this thing works.”

Eli jogged; his slabs of fat flapping, sweat gone cold. He huffed and puffed, each breath rhythmic to his thudding footsteps.

Afterward, he rechecked it.

 

[Walk 3 km] [(0.3/3)]
[Run 2 km] [(0.2/2)]
[Do 1 set of 10 knee pushups] [(0/1)]
[Do 1 set of 10 lunges in each leg] [(0/1)(0/1)]
[Do 1 set of 10 frog leaps] [(0/1)]
[Do 1 set of 10 sit-ups] [(0/1)]
[Do 1 set of 10 burpees] [(0/1)]

 

“This won’t be as hard as I thought….”

Eli alternated between walking and jogging. Halfway through, a group of college students pointed at him, laughing their asses off, and shot pictures.

“Fucking assholes. Let’s see if you can still laugh when I am fit again!” Fueling himself with anger, he ran faster. Soon he finished and returned to his apartment complex, sweaty and panting.

As he was about to enter his apartment, he saw Chloe exiting her own apartment. She wore thick yet casual winter clothes and looked like she was going to hang out with her friends.

Chloe looked at him, eyes wide a bit. “Eli, did you do some training? You look like you just did a marathon with how sweaty you are!”

He huffed. “Yeah…hah…ran like—two kilometers—and walked another…three kilometers.”

“That’s good!” She smiled. “Running is healthy for you. Keep it up. I’m cheering you on! Just don’t hurt yourself.”

“Yeah, thanks… Anyways, I still need to continue my training. Talk to you later.”

Eli was about to open the door—“Pfft”—when Chloe burst out into laughter. “Ahahaha! Heeheeehehehe! Ohohoho!”

Eli frowned, turned to her. “What’s so funny?”

Chloe puffed out. “Eli, your pants! It has a large hole in it! Ahahaha!”

Eli creased his brows and looked at his rear. He barely saw a large tear on his tight-fit, elastic sports pants from his field of vision, revealing his yellow Spongebob boxers.

He took a deep breath. No wonder those college kids laughed at me. I would’ve also laughed in their shoes! Luckily there weren’t many people out today, or I’d really be the butt of infinite jokes.

Chloe said with amusement, “I suggest you get yourself new pants…and new underwear while you are at it….”

Eli flattened his lips. “Very funny. I think I’ve had enough of being the butt of jokes for today. I’m going to continue training. See you.”

Not willing to take any more jabs, he walked into his apartment and shut the door. After he shut the door, he heard Chloe's unbridled laughter on the other side. Annoyed, he pulled off his pants, laid on an old yoga mat he had, and continued his training. Soon he completed the training, his whole body sore.

 

[Walk 3 km] [(3/3)]
[Run 2 km] [(2/2)]
[Do 1 set of 10 knee pushups] [(1/1)]
[Do 1 set of 10 lunges in each leg] [(1/1)(1/1)]
[Do 1 set of 10 frog leaps] [(1/1)]
[Do 1 set of 10 sit-ups] [(1/1)]
[Do 1 set of 10 burpees] [(1/1)]

[Today’s training is complete. Would you like to redeem the reward now?] [Yes/No]

 

“Yes.”

Two one-hundred-milliliter corked and spherical potion flasks materialized in front of him. One contained purplish-black liquid, the other red liquid. They had yellow labels pasted on them, with foreign letters written.

He frowned. He studied the purplish-black bottle.

[LVL 0 Tonic: A potion that accelerates the effect of training by 10 times. It heals small muscle tears, bones, and tendons from minor injuries incurred during training and naturally strengthens the body. Due to the potion containing vast amounts of nutrients, there is no need to eat food for the effect to happen. It is recommended to drink right after training. Can only be used once per day. Has reduced effectiveness on higher-leveled creatures. Note: it tastes like grape juice.]

“Nice…at least I won’t need to worry about being exhausted at work. It’d allow me to train daily too. Saturn was right. It really does increase training by twenty to thirty times since normal people only train two to three times a week.”

He squinted his eyes at the note. “Why grape juice? I’d understand if it tasted like some cough syrup or an energy drink, but grape juice? Seriously? Is this because of how it’s made or was this intentional?”

He sighed. “No point thinking about such drivel. Although I don’t really like grape juice, I guess it’s better than cough syrup.”

Eli uncorked the potion, the sour scent wafting in the air. He cringed at the smell. “Bottoms up!” He then drank every drop of it, wincing from the taste.

His body heated up, relief washed over him, as though he took a cold shower on a summer day, as though a skilled masseuse massaged his body.

He moaned. It was bliss.

Eli opened his eyes. Muscle soreness—gone. He felt slightly stronger as if he’d done sports for a month.

Before taking the tonic, his shirt was tight-fit on his body. Now, however, it was a little baggy. His shorts were a little looser too.

“Did I lose weight? Seems like I slimmed down by a few pounds…it’s really like I’ve been training for a month.” He curbed his shock. “Doesn’t that mean I can slim down again in just a few weeks of effort? No…I can be even more than that. I can turn into a total hunk!”

After he finished checking himself up, he eyed the other potion and picked it up.

[LVL 0 Vitality supplement: A potion that enables an LVL 0 being to refine its vitality stat by 1 point. This potion contains all the necessary nutrients, so there is no need for more food. Cannot drink more than 10 supplements each day. Higher-leveled beings will not benefit from drinking it. Warning: May cause impurity discharge. Note: Tastes like strawberry juice.]

“It’d increase my vitality stat by one point. Still, I don’t know whether or not it’s a lot.”

He eyed the warning. “Impurity discharge? What’s that supposed to mean? Hm…only one way to find out.”

He uncorked the bottle, the strawberry scent tickling his nose. He smiled. “Though I’m not a fan of strawberries, at least I can enjoy drinking this. Cheers!”

Eli downed the potion until the very last drop. He felt tingly all over his body; his body began aching. It was bearable but uncomfortable, as though his body was being stretched. It lasted for a few minutes before it calmed down.

Suddenly, his stomach gurgled, and he ran to the bathroom. Ten minutes afterward, Eli exited the bathroom. What he let out was Jet-black diarrhea that stunk so bad he almost passed out. It was even worse than a public toilet in a carnival he went to when he was a kid.

“Is this the so-called ‘Impurity discharge’? If it is, I can certainly agree that it wasn’t pure at all. Quite the purge.”

He drank a glass of water, and after recovering from the ordeal, he reviewed the changes in his body.

First, some of his body hair and even unwanted facial hair had fallen to the ground.

Second, his skin appeared to be smoother, more flawless. Some blemishes, minor scars, and even some of his acne and zits faded—a pleasant surprise since it’d been bothering him for a whole year.

Third, his overall health. He felt healthier. More energetic. Not a drastic change, but it was an improvement.

Fourth, his height. He couldn’t confirm it yet, but he could swear he grew a bit taller than before. He didn’t have any measuring tools, so he had to postpone it.

The final change was that he felt a certain vague energy in his body, and since he was unsure about it, he didn’t dwell on it too much.

After he sprayed an air freshener in the bathroom, he bathed, dressed in pajamas, ate dinner, then opened his system again to do what Saturn had told him.

Evolution:

Choose upgrading method:

1. Refinement
2. Evolve
3. Skills
4. Mutations

Skills.

Skills:

Racial Skills:
[None]

Unique skills:
[Precognition LVL ] [0/10]
[Time Stipend: Current regen: 1 sec/day. Current max capacity: 1 min. Upgrading it will increase time regen by 1 second and max time capacity by 1 minute] [(0/1)]

 

Ok, let's put a point in Time Stipend and see what happens...

Eli focused on the skill and tried to funnel a point into it. The result was...

 

[Time Stipend: Current regen: 2 sec/day. Current max capacity: 2 min. Upgrading it will increase time regen by 1 second and max time capacity by 1 minute.] [(0/1)]

 

Seeing that it upgraded, he went ahead and placed three more points in it, leaving him with 0.77 points.

 

[Time Stipend: Current regen: 5 sec/day. Current max capacity: 5 min. Upgrading it will increase time regen by 1 second and max time capacity by 1 minute.] [0/1]

 

Satisfied, he nodded to himself before checking his phone—10:40 p.m.

He sighed. “Time to sleep. I still have work tomorrow.”

He brushed his teeth, shut the lights, then hit the bed.