(2 days later, July 17, 2006)
In a dimly lit pink room, Gasper lay flat on the floor, fingers laced behind the back of his head, elbows flaring out as he strained upward.
HUFF!
"T-Thirteen…"
He lowered himself back down, his shoulder blades touching the floor before he forced himself up again.
"Fourteen…"
Only his second day since being transmigrated into this… embarrassingly weak body.
You'd think being a devil would mean he'd at least be physically stronger than a human.
But nope.
It was all thanks to the way the original Gasper lived, it was like the kid had been actively trying to let his body rot.
"Fifteen…"
Yesterday had been leg day, mostly because he didn't have equipment for anything else yet.
"Sixteen…"
He winced, breath shaking. As much as it hurt his pride, he'd been forced to ask Rias for help getting some basic training gear. He hated every second of writing that note, especially knowing he couldn't trust her or anyone else in the peerage.
But desperate times called for desperate measures.
He'd sent Rias the note almost a day ago, asking for basic training equipment and natural ingredients, anything he could use to make nutritious meals with a decent amount of protein. He had to fix his diet, from what he'd found stuffed in the fridge and cabinets, the original Gasper had been living entirely off junk food and soda.
But other than his body feeling like it was held together with duct tape and prayer's, these past two days hadn't been that bad. He actually had a surprising amount of room to work with here.
It was basically a small apartment.
A bathroom, a little kitchen attached to the main area, and more than enough space for him to train, pace, spiral, and repeat. The coffin he slept in sat against the wall, right beside the entrance.
Gasper got up after finishing his ab day, stretching lightly before heading toward the kitchen to start making lunch. On the way, he flicked open his system menu and tapped into the quest tab.
[BECOME BETTER]
Description:
Train your body today.
Objective:
Improve your physical condition so you can use your Sacred Gear and basic magic without passing out after two uses.
Reward:
4 Gacha Coins
Time Limit:
8 Hours left
Status:
Complete
Ya, you read that right. His body was so physically weak that it sucked to use magic, he learned that the hard way. And after attempting to use his Sacred Gear? Out like a light. Face-first into the carpet.
He tapped the quest completion and gave a small nod.
Reaching the kitchen, he opened the fridge, and oh boy, to say the person who went grocery shopping for him was generous was an understatement.
He grabbed a few items from the fridge, some eggs, chicken breasts, fresh vegetables.
As he started chopping the vegetables and cracking the eggs into a bowl, his mind wandered. 'Honestly, it hasn't been so bad. Nobody nagging me, no work, no rent… just time to myself. Still, it's a bit lonely tho.'
He sautéed the chicken, stirring the pan thoughtfully. 'Maybe I should redo this whole room… don't really like pink.' A mental image of a cooler, darker aesthetic flashed in his mind. 'Oh yeah… could make it look badass. But I'd have to ask… her again, BUT I don't want to be indebted. Ah, truly a predicament.'
He added the final touches, seasoning, a dash of oil, a few neatly arranged vegetables, and stepped back.
The finished meal looked surprisingly presentable, even if it was just a simple lunch. Gasper couldn't help but smirk a little. 'Not bad'
*****
(12 days later, July 29)
BANG! BANG!
Gasper's fists slammed into the freestanding punching bag, each hit a little off-target, making the bag wobble unevenly. He bobbed and weaved awkwardly, more from instinct than skill, trying to imagine an opponent in front of him.
He jabbed with his left, swung a right cross that barely connected, and finished with a clumsy left hook.
BAM.
He stumbled slightly as the bag rocked back, breathing hard and wiping sweat from his forehead.
As you can see, he folded again and asked Rias for more equipment. At this point, he might as well sell his soul to her to get out of the debt he'd have to pay back later…
Wait a minute.
Anyway, he had already started redecorating his room. He decided to go for a nice gothic look, more dark colors, shadows, and mood lighting. After all, he was a vampire/devil now; might as well lean into it. He even added some chains holding up his coffin, making it look like it contained some ancient evil. To top it off, he had arranged bold letters on the front spelling out GASP, giving it a menacing flair. A little chuunibyou? Sure. Still, undeniably badass.
BAM! BAM!
Gasper kept practicing on the punching bag, learning basic combos from some DevilNet videos. In his mind, it was the best way to raise stamina for combat without actually having to fight anyone while learning basic fundamentals.
But there was one problem.
His basic calisthenics had started to feel… insufficient. So he'd moved on to the weights he'd requested. Honestly? The progress was faster than he expected.
As he finished, he bent over slightly, hands on his knees, and brought up the system to the quest menu.
[BECOME BETTER]
Description:
Train your body today.
Objective:
Improve your physical condition so you can use your Sacred Gear and basic magic without passing out after two uses.
Reward: 4 Gacha Coins
Time Limit: 6 hours remaining
Status: Complete
[RISING SPIRIT]
Description:
Practice battle techniques for today.
Objective:
Improve fighting techniques
Reward:
4 Gacha Coins
Time Limit:
6 hours remaining
Status:
Complete
He claimed both quests with a small nod. "No point in not trying," he muttered, then leaned back, his mind wandering to the first ten-pull he'd done just a couple of days ago.
Not thinking much of it, he opened the gacha tab. After finally saving enough coins for another ten-pull, he transferred them into the pull slots. This time, instead of praying to the red-haired Satan like last time, that scammer, he shot a quick prayer to a certain cute magical girl with black hair instead.
Taking a deep breath, he pressed the ten-pull button. He watched the animation play, eyes widening with excitement.
It wa-
<--–TO BE CONTINUED—