As Leo's mother was still beside, Ronan couldn't do anything for the moment. He soon fell asleep.
Next morning.....
Just when the sun rose, Leo's mother woke up beside him. She looked toward Leo and kissed his forehead affectionately. "Rest well, honey. I will soon bring the breakfast and your meds." She whispered. After that, she got up and left the room.
It didn't take long for Ronan to wake up, either. He stretched his limbs a little. After that, he jumped up from his bed. Though his throat was still bandaged, he looked full of spirits.
He quickly reached the door and shut it properly so that no one could enter without him noticing.
"System." He called out right after that.
The translucent panel shimmered into existence.
"I want to initiate my first task. Show me what workout sessions are there to get rewards."
[Task: work out session
Number of workouts: Five.
Tier:01
Reward: Instant recovery and improvement
Run: 2 km
Chin up: 03
Push up: 30
Squat: 50
Sit-ups: 30
Tier:02
Reward: Earth grade meridian restoration pill/ Normal grade qi boosting pill
Run: 10 Km
Chin up: 10
Push up: 80
Squat: 100
Sit-ups: 80]
"Hahaha... Are you looking down on me, system? Are these really tasks? These are child's play. You have no idea what I am capable of."
Crack! Crack! Ronan twisted his neck left and right with confidence.
"Start with the workout task, tier 2."
[Task: work out session
Tier: 02
Initiated.]
[Progress: 00
Time remaining: 30 minutes]
"First is running, huh! Easy."
Ronan quickly changed into shorts and a T-shirt. He then wore his running shoes and rushed outside the house. With Leo's memory, Ronan had no further difficulties.
It was early morning, and so no one had woken up yet. So nobody noticed Leo coming outside the house.
Once on the road, Leo stretched his knees, ankles, and whole leg. And then....
He started running.
In the first few seconds, nothing felt out of place. But just after running for 30 seconds, he found his heartbeat becoming irregular. Breaths were ragged like his lungs were gasping for air. His legs felt weighed down by his weight. His shinbone felt stiff.
"What the hell? What's wrong with this body? Did this loser never do any labor?" Ronan, or presently Leo, cursed. The task he had thought would be as easy as playing games turned out not to be so easy.
Still, he kept moving forward. After living a life that was filled with death battles, this difficulty was nothing.
By the time he finished 8 km, his legs weren't moving any further as if they had turned into stone. Leo still kept pushing forward and finished the 10 km run. He collapsed at the finishing point with no strength left.
[Progress:
Run: 10 km
Chin up:00
Push up: 00
Squats:00
Sit ups:00
Time remaining: 15 minutes]
"Damn it! Never thought this simple task would turn out to be this difficult."
Leo gritted his teeth and pushed his body up. In front of the house, there was a small park-like area with various setups, such as a pull-up bar, a sliding pipe, and more.
Leo walked below the beam bar. He jumped and grabbed the bar with both hands, ready for his next workout, chin-ups.
But unfortunately....
His palms slipped, and he fell on his knees. "I.. I don't even have the strength to hold it. How am I going to do 10 chin-ups?"
The time was running out, and Leo felt his body screaming to lie down and rest.
Leo still pressed on. He stood up straight once more and jumped again, grabbing the bar. His fingers tightened, stopping himself from falling this time. He squeezed his core and pulled his body. But after reaching halfway, his strength fully faded, and he fell from the bar once more.
"I... I overestimated this body... I need to start from tier 1," Leo said that weakly, his voice shaky.
Meanwhile, time hadn't slowed down even for a second. When Leo looked up, he found only two more minutes remained. And soon, even that time ended. And the moment it did...
[Warning!
Warning!
The host failed to finish the task.
Penalty initiated.]
The next moment.... The scenery changed before Leo. He found himself standing in an ice land. Before he could even process where he was and what he had to do.....
"Arrrrgggghhhhhhhh!"
A howl!
Leo tried to tilt his head toward the sound but....
BAM!
A powerful force struck him.
He felt a strong breeze brushing against his skin, his mouth wide open from the force of the air.
And.... Pain... His back felt numb, as unbearable pain spread.
Thud!
Snap!
Leo's body slammed into a tree, snapping it in half. Ice clusters rained down.
Leo's body slid down. "Blarrghhh!" He coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Thud! Thud! The ground shook as a huge animal walked toward him. Leo could finally see it.
An ice bear.
Leo tried to push himself up, but the pain made him collapse back on the ice, his blood soaking it red.
Leo looked forward and panicked. The ice bear wasn't where it was just a moment ago. Rather, a dark circle grew around him, turning bigger by the moment.
Leo instinctively looked up. "Shit."
The huge beast had jumped into the sky and was now falling right over him.
Just when its heavy body was about to slam on Leo and turn him into meat paste, Leo rolled to the side with everything he had.
Boom!
A crash! Ice particles scattered in every direction. Where Leo was just a moment ago, a circular dip pit appeared.
"Don't tell me I have to die just for failing a task. What bloody Eternal's Grace system? Your name should be blood sucking murderer system." Leo said that as he crawled back desperately.
Whoosh!
Leo saw something soaring into the sky from that pit. It was the ice bear again.
"No, no, no! Am I going to die like this? Come on, system. This isn't right. Not right at all."