Time ticked by, minute by minute.
The mechanical arms worked methodically, occasionally swapping tool heads from within the portal:
Sometimes it was a nozzle spraying atomized catalysts, sometimes an emitter releasing specific-frequency energy waves, and sometimes a pipette extracting microscopic tissue samples.
Cogboy had already pulled out a crude data-pad redeemed from the shop for 50 coins—essentially an electronic notepad with scanning and recording functions—and was recording every single detail.
Tax Bro and Schrödinger Bro went from initial shock, to numbness, and finally, they started yawning.
"This is more boring than watching a Servitor get oiled..." Tax Bro muttered softly.
"But it's very effective," Schrödinger Bro said, staring at Zeke's bare arm. During the mechanical arms' work, silver light would occasionally flow beneath the skin of his arm, and his muscle definition seemed to... actually become slightly firmer.
At the fifty-eight-minute mark, the mechanical arms stopped working simultaneously.
They slowly retracted, the tool heads withdrawing into the arms, and all three retreated neatly back into the gear-filled portal.
The portal began to contract, the complex mechanical phantoms inside gradually fading.
In the final moment, Zeke thought he saw an extremely blurry logo made of light flash deep within the portal.
The shape of the logo... looked like an abstract brain surrounded by a cog?
The portal completely disappeared.
The countdown reached zero: 00:00.
[Basic Physique Enhancement (Type I) Modification Complete.]
[Vessel bone density increased by approx. 12%, muscle efficiency increased by approx. 15%, basic maximum stamina increased by approx. 8%.]
[Mild metabolic acceleration activated; wound healing speed estimated to increase by 5%.]
[Adaptation Period begun. It is recommended to avoid extreme weight-bearing or high-intensity combat for 24 standard hours to allow the body to fully integrate the enhancement effects.]
[Current Type I Enhancement Completion: 1% (Will naturally increase as the adaptation period progresses and through vessel activity).]
The force field immobilizing his body vanished.
The numbness from the injection site on his neck also rapidly faded.
Zeke tried moving his fingers.
He could move.
He slowly sat up on the bed.
His first sensation was... lightness.
Not that his body weight had decreased, but it felt as if some invisible burden had been lifted from his body.
Every movement was smoother, more effortless.
Although Zeke had long since realized the realism of this game, this physical enhancement—this most visceral sensation of gaining power—still left him deeply astonished.
He clenched his fist.
His knuckles let out a faint crack, but it wasn't the sound of bones; it was his tendons and fascia adapting to the new tension.
He could clearly feel the strength radiating from his palm.
"How does it feel?" Tax Bro asked impatiently.
Zeke didn't answer directly. He got out of bed, walked over to a pile of building materials in the corner of the dormitory, and bent down to pick up a metal plate that previously required two people to lift.
The plate felt heavy in his hands, but... he could hold it.
He took a deep breath, engaged his core, and actually lifted the metal plate over his head!
Although his arms were trembling slightly and his face was a bit flushed, he had actually lifted it! (TL/N: I guess who wouldn't want to test their strength a little after an enhancement? even after reading the recommendation)
"Holy shit!" Tax Bro's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "That's fucking called a 'slight increase'? System, you call this slight?!"
Zeke set the plate down and panted a few times, a smile appearing on his face. "It feels... amazing."
He rolled his shoulders. "Right now, I feel like... I could punch a cow to death. Of course, I mean the degraded grox they breed in the Hive cities, not a Khornate Juggernaut."
Cogboy leaned in with his data-pad. "The phase penetration technology, the non-invasive skeletal enhancement, and the energy signature of that portal earlier… This is absolutely not existing Imperial technology! It doesn't even look like known Xenos tech!"
Zeke shrugged. "If the game system gives it, we take it. Anyway, it's better than getting snatched by the Mechanicus and shoved full of augmetics. I don't want to wake up one day and find half my brain replaced by a Cogitator array."
His words drew a burst of laughter from several other players in the dormitory who had been secretly watching them.
Zeke walked to the dormitory door and shouted outside: "Anyone want to test my strength? Tug-of-war?"
Three players immediately rushed over; they were all fence-sitters who hadn't decided whether to get the enhancement yet.
Someone dragged over a tough vine, thick as a wrist, that had been collected earlier while chopping down the jungle.
Zeke grabbed one end, and the other three players grabbed the other.
"Three, two, one, pull!"
Both sides exerted force simultaneously.
The vine instantly pulled taut!
The three players gritted their teeth, digging their feet into the ground and hauling backward with all their might.
Zeke dropped into a horse stance. The muscles in his arms contracted fully for the first time since the enhancement, his veins bulging slightly.
He could feel the force transmitting through the vine. The combined pulling power of three adult men—before the enhancement, he wouldn't have lasted three seconds.
But now...
His heels felt like they were nailed to the ground. His body leaned back slightly, his arms as steady as hydraulic pistons.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds.
Twenty seconds!
The faces of the three opposing players were flushed red. One of them slipped and nearly fell.
The vine began to move slowly toward Zeke!
"Holy shit! We really can't pull him!"
"Zeke is a beast!"
"A hundred coins! This hundred coins is fucking worth it!"
Zeke let go at the right moment. If he kept pulling, the vine might snap, and he already felt a slight soreness in his arm muscles. This was a normal reaction during the adaptation period; he couldn't overdo it.
But the results were plain to see.
A person who had just completed the Type I enhancement had overpowered three unenhanced adult men in a test of pure strength!
"The system didn't lie." Zeke shook out his arms. "Although the description says 'slight increase,' a 'slight' increase by Warhammer universe standards translates to a qualitative leap for vessels that were originally just ordinary humans like us."
He looked at the crowd of spectating players. "I suggest that anyone with spare cash consider getting the Type I first. Whether it's for future exploration, combat, or... well, moving bricks and building houses, it's useful. But remember, the modification takes an hour. It must be absolutely safe. It's best to have someone watch your back."
He paused, then added: "Also, based on how I feel, this enhancement isn't instantaneous. There's an adaptation period."
"Don't go looking for a fight right after the enhancement. Take it easy first and let your body adapt."
Once he finished speaking, the players erupted.
"What are we waiting for! I'm going right now!"
"I have enough coins! I'm getting one too!"
"Wait for me! Let's go together! We'll watch each other's backs!"
"Fuck, I should've enhanced earlier! If I had this strength back in the industrial zone, I could've stolen a few more chunks of ore!"
The crowd surged toward the dormitory area like a tidal wave.
Soon, the faint silver-white glow of portals lit up one by one inside the cubicles, and mechanical arms extended.
The dormitory was filled with a cacophony of voices:
"What the fuck, this needle in the neck feels so weird."
"Don't move, don't move! The game system said you can't move!"
"Bro, your expression looks so peaceful, did you die?"
Zeke, Tax Bro, Schrödinger Bro, and Cogboy retreated outside the dormitory.
Watching the bustling scene inside, Tax Bro rubbed his hands together. "I'm getting one too! It's just a hundred coins!"
Schrödinger Bro nodded. "I'll enhance too."
"But I want to look at the Psychic Talent Screening first... If my psychic potential is high, maybe taking the Psyker route would be more suitable."
Cogboy, however, was still frowning at his data-pad. "The technological origin is too complex. It doesn't align with the logical framework of creating gene-enhanced warriors in the Warhammer universe. But the modification process itself is safe, highly efficient, and harmless. I advise all personnel to complete the basic enhancement as soon as possible. It is the fastest shortcut to increasing the overall survival rate of the Chapter."
In this dog-shit Warhammer universe, power was the prerequisite for survival.