The dark gray, skin-tight suit I wore, the Grunt Battle Suit, had its surface "material" shifting wildly. This "material" was none other than a swarm of nanobots, smart and tiny machines that enveloped my whole body, acting as my protective suit against the many dangers and challenges in this comic book superhero world that I had reincarnated into.
However, now they shifted across the surfaces of my entire body below my head, rubbing me in a fast but systematic back-and-forth wave motion. They started slow, but their movement became faster with each passing second. I gritted my teeth, enduring the pain from the intense rubbing of the nanobots on my skin. Initially gentle, their rubbing felt like being rubbed with a bath towel, but... they gradually became more abrasive, akin to sandpapers scraping across my body.
You might be wondering: why did the nanobots begin to hurt me? Weren't they supposed to protect me, as I had just said? The answer was: I "asked" them to help me. They weren't rebelling against me and/or hurting me with harmful intention, no. In reality, I was the one who had "asked" them to do this intense rubbing on my body.
'Why?' you might ask next. The answer was quite simple, honestly, but the explanation behind this simple answer was rather long, unfortunately. It was related to a childhood memory of mine, involving a pair of socks and a carpet rug. A simple memory of experimenting with physics and electricity that I learned from my 6th-grade science teacher, who said to us snot-nose kids:
'When you rub your feet on a carpet, it creates a tiny bit of electricity that makes your body able to give a small shock.'
I remembered that little lesson my teacher had taught me, recalling the small me trying that experiment with socks and a carpet in my childhood home's living room... only to receive my first ever electric shock of pain. What delightful nostalgia, wasn't it?
So... to answer the previous question: it was to generate electricity with my body and my suit's nanobots.
I already forgot the scientific term for what I was doing right now, but that feeling of shock was something I vividly remember. Thus, I wanted to replicate that experiment with my own body and the GBS suit's nanobots, to create an even bigger electricity... Electricity that could create my own EMFs field around my body!
Small arcs of electricity began to appear on my body. But as the nanobots' rubbing became faster and faster with each passing second, more and more of these electricity arcs appeared. Not only did I feel the intense pain of sandpaper rubbing on my skin, but I also felt a familiar tingling... a tingling of electricity and the so-called EMFs running through my whole body. Of course, they did not just give me a simple tingling, but they also gave me the same sluggish-and-stiff feeling as well.
Honest to all the gods and goddesses in this comic book superhero world... the feeling I was experiencing right now was like my own personal brand of hell. I had said before that I was becoming insane, but this time, I truly felt like I was undoubtedly insane for purposely subjecting myself to torture for a theory that may or may not work.
But... the only thing that mattered to me right now was just one thing... to clear this obstacle course in front of me!
"It's all or nothing...!" I exclaimed loudly. I forced my stiff muscles to move once again, "pouring" more of my willpower. Not just into muscle mass, but even into my nanobots as encouragement for them to keep up their good work.
Slowly... I began to lift my right leg forward. Then... my left leg's turn, lifting it up forward.
Right leg, left leg, right leg, left leg...
Step by step. My movement was lanky, as if a puppet on a string. But... each step became faster and more refined. What initially was a poor and awkward movement... now became a steady walk, as I approached the Lightning Grid obstacle once more, ready to test my wild theory. My whole body was covered in many arcs of electricity, and I could faintly feel the EMFs radiation surrounding my body amidst the intense sandpaper hell and the stiffness of my body. A normal person would have already broken down and died on the spot, but...
I was not a normal person anymore, nor was I a sane person.
"I... Am... Grunt No. 703...!" I declared my new identity in this new world, "and I will pass this damn obstacle course!" I shouted with determination toward the menacing Lightning Grid, pouring more and more willpower into every step that I took.
I finally stepped inside the hexagon tiles of the Lightning Grid. It was slow walking as I soon approached the lightning barrier created by the steel rods of said Lightning Grid. I had never thought about it before, but the light produced by the lightning barrier was quite intense by itself. Nevertheless...
This... was the moment of truth. I would either pass through this lightning barrier, or I would die getting electrocuted to death...! I gritted my teeth hard and then... I shouted with all of the air in my lungs!
"OHHHHHHHH!!!" With a loud battle cry, I came closer and closer to the lightning barrier, and at last... I was inside it.
I stopped in my tracks, standing there dumbfounded. I could still feel the intense pain of the nanobots sandpapering me. Though to be honest, that pain was starting to get numb anyway. What I was looking for instead... was the pain of electrocution that I had anticipated when I entered the lightning barrier, and... there was none of that. I looked around me and found that I was indeed inside the lightning barrier... exactly in the middle of it in fact.
I could see the bright electric current of the lightning barrier around me, but... it seemed as if the lightning barrier was avoiding me, detouring around me. As if... I was a large stone in the middle of a river... a river of electric current that would have killed me instantly.
No... rather than a large stone, it felt like I was inside a small dome, created by the EMFs field that was radiating through the rubbing of my nanobots against my own body.
I still stood there dumbfounded... but, "Hehe... hehe... hahaha... hahahaha!" I let out a loud laughter inside the lightning barrier. I couldn't help it. I was pretty damn ecstatic, knowing that my wild theory was actually proven right.
I had fought fire with fire... or in this case, I had fought Lightning with Lightning... my own Lightning!
I laughed for quite a while before eventually stopping. But even though I stopped my laughter, if you could see my face (and not covered with this GBS mask of mine), you might even see that I was grinning like a madman who had just won the lottery. The lightning barrier kept activating and deactivating, but it didn't really matter anymore. I was protected from it by my own lightning barrier.
Now then... it was time to finish this obstacle! I looked forward, toward the other side of the Lightning Grid obstacle. Because I had stopped for a moment, my leg muscles were already back to the sluggish-and-stiff state yet again, but... this time though, with the help of not just my own willpower, but also the adrenaline and dopamine, I managed to force my legs to walk again, and it was easier than ever.
I walked out from the first lightning barrier without much of a hassle, stepping on another one of the hexagon tiles. I continued casually walking on said tile and even approached another one of the lightning barriers without any hesitation whatsoever. Soon, I entered the second lightning barrier... and I did not get electrocuted, just like the first one, and then casually stepped out of this lightning barrier.
The way I saw it, it felt like the lightning barriers themselves didn't exist. The only obstacles in front of me were just the steel rods, and they themselves were just simple pillars that I could just easily go around without much thought.
My simple walk became faster and faster with each step... and then I began to step up my pace and started running! I ran into another one of the lightning barriers and just passed through it, again, as if it was nothing. I ran even faster with each successful pass of the lightning barriers! The other side of the Lightning Grid obstacle was getting closer and closer...
And eventually... I passed the last lightning barrier... the last hexagon tile. Finally, I stepped on the other side of the obstacle.
I stopped running and stood dumbfounded at the spot. The shifting on my GBS suit stopped, and the arcs of electricity surrounding my body slowly went away. It felt like the nanobots in my GBS suit had sensed that my request to them had finished. Now, they instead began to work on mending the damage done to my body because of my reckless wild idea.
I turned my head to glance back at the Lightning Grid obstacle I had just passed through with ease before returning my focus ahead. I hung my head low and clenched both of my fists. Then... I lifted my head and looked at the clear blue sky with excitement.
"HELL YEAHHHH!!!" I shouted to the sky in celebration.
I had finally conquered the Lightning Grid.
Finally, the 20th chapter. Feels pretty good to finally reach this first milestone of mine.
Thank you to everyone who has reached this far with me. I hope that all of you will stay tuned for more of Grunt No. 703's misadventures and shenanigans!
HIATUS. Not much to say here other than it's not working out.
[3rd Person POV]
[Half an hour earlier, Grunt Orientation's Observation Room]
In a sterile, white-walled room filled with hundreds of monitors and data screens, a large group of scientists in white lab coats watched the progress of the newly recruited grunts as they navigated the grueling obstacle course known as "Orientation." Their expressions were a mix of detached curiosity and clinical interest.
"Grunt No. 659 has fallen off platform B3," one scientist announced, his eyes never leaving the screen as he adjusted his glasses.
"Grunt No. 753 has been rendered unconscious from obstacle H5 of platform C2," another scientist reported, her tone devoid of empathy as she fiddled with the tablet in her hand, seemingly inputting data into it.
"Grunt No. 641 is stuck on obstacle G3 of platform D1. He is still conscious but seems to be unable to get off from obstacle G3. Should we send support?" a third scientist inquired, glancing at his colleagues behind him.
"Support request denied," one of the scientists, seemingly a higher-ranking senior scientist who stood in the middle of the room, replied coolly. "New regulations have been established by the higher-ups. We are no longer allowed to help the newly recruited grunts in their orientation. Any of them that cannot get out from being stuck in an obstacle is deemed a failure and will be put on the low-priority list."
The room was filled with these discussions as they observed the newly recruited grunts, with the hum and beeping from the observation room's equipment accompanying them. The scientists continued their observations with an almost clinical detachment, their minds already shifting to the next set of data points—in other words, another one of the grunts to observe.
One of the scientists in front of another set of observation monitors was searching for a point of interest happening in the Orientation obstacle course. His other colleagues were already busy with the grunts currently attempting the obstacle course, and he was instead tasked with finding anomalies in this Orientation.
Then, he found a point of interest, which came from an unexpected place: the opened facility's metallic gate that was connected to the Orientation's opening ceremony room. There... a single grunt came out from it.
"Hmm...?" He deemed this as unusual. All of the scientists here in the observation room had thought that all of the grunts had already come out from the opening ceremony room. "Hmmmm...?" Another thing that seemed unusual to him was that this particular grunt looked a bit different than the other grunts.
He fiddled with the monitoring computer in front of him. Then, the observation monitor that he had been using soon zoomed in and locked on the particular last entrant grunt. "Huh...?" He muttered in confusion, as this particular grunt was even more unusual in the close-up.
The grunt was quite muscular and tougher-looking than the other newly recruited grunts. "No. 703...?" He read the label number on the left chest of the unusual grunt. He then turned his head and looked back at the higher-ranking scientist who was still observing the main event of the obstacle course.
"Sir, an unusual grunt just came out from the facility," he reported to the senior scientist. The senior scientist heeded the call from his colleague and approached where he was currently observing the unusual grunt he had just mentioned.
"An 'unusual grunt,' you say?" the senior scientist inquired.
"Yes, sir," he confirmed. The scientist then moved aside to let the senior see the so-called 'unusual grunt' he had found. The senior began to observe the grunt shown on the monitor's screen. The grunt himself just stood there dumbfounded, seemingly from seeing the Orientation's obstacle course for the first time.
"... It's him," the senior scientist muttered.
"Sir?" The colleague scientist heard his muttering, his face showing confusion.
"Grunt No. 703," the senior scientist simply stated the identity of the grunt.
"I mean, yes? That is Grunt No. 703," the colleague scientist reconfirmed what the senior had stated, not sure what he was talking about.
"That is not what I meant," the senior scientist clarified. "Grunt No. 703... he is the rumored 'special' grunt that has caught the interest of Miss Victoria," he explained to his colleague.
"Miss Victoria... took an interest in him...!?" The colleague scientist exclaimed, his expression showing both surprise and horror. It seemed that to him, the thought that the infamous mad scientist Victoria "Mad Star" had taken an interest in something was both unusual and horrifying at the same time.
"Indeed..."
"But... why? What's the deal with this one?"
The senior scientist was about to answer his colleague's inquiry, but suddenly, the door of the observation room burst open. All of the scientists inside the room were taken by surprise, turning their attention toward the newest entrant. Speaking of the devil, it was none other than Victoria "Mad Star" herself and a few of their colleagues who had been with her during the opening ceremony.
Every scientist in the room immediately stood up straight at the presence of Victoria, "Miss Victoria, Ma'am!" they said in unison, showing their respect to the scientist who was, after all, their leader and the head scientist of Max Brain's empire. But some of them showed a bit of fear in their expressions, knowing the reputation and attitude of Victoria, the infamous mad scientist.
Victoria walked casually into the middle of the room, her gaze directed toward the many observation monitors observing the newly recruited grunts. She quickly scanned through all of the monitors, assessing every one of them with keen eyes, but... it seemed that she had a bit of disappointment in her expression. It was as if she was searching for something in particular among all of the grunts on the monitors and did not find any of them in them.
Then her gaze landed on the duo of scientist colleagues who had been talking about her just recently. Victoria stared intensely at both of them, which startled them quite a bit. They knew what she was looking for... but the way she was looking at them was not just unnerving, but also quite terrifying. It felt like their lives could easily be plucked away by her on a simple whim.
Suddenly, she made a beeline toward them, startling them even more.
"Move," she simply said to both of them.
"Y-yes!!" They immediately complied, scrambling away from the observation equipment that was displaying and observing the unusual grunt, Grunt No. 703. When she finally arrived at the equipment, she stared at the display with an intense gaze for a while... before her face slowly turned into a wicked and mischievous smile, visible only to those near her. They saw her wicked expression and quickly backed away in fear, not wanting to get involved in whatever she was planning.
Victoria rummaged through her white lab coat and then quickly pulled out her own tablet. With a few swift taps and swipes on the screen, the observation equipment in front of her began to transform. Panels on the wall behind the equipment slid open, revealing a large monitoring screen that extended to cover a significant portion of the wall. The room's lighting dimmed slightly as the new display illuminated the space with a cold, blue light.
At the same time, a sophisticated control system emerged from the hidden compartments under the "desk" that had propped the current observation equipment. Keyboards with glowing keys, touch-sensitive panels, and various advanced input devices extended outward and locked into place in front of Victoria. The entire setup looked like something out of a futuristic control room, bristling with technology far beyond the standard observation tools the other scientists were using.
Conveniently, there was an empty panel in the middle of the advanced equipment system, on which Victoria then placed her tablet. The new and advanced equipment immediately sprang to life, as if it had finally connected to the tablet. The monitor screen even greeted her with a simple text message: 'Welcome Miss Victoria'.
Victoria's fingers danced across the new control system. The large monitoring screen flickered a bit, displaying multiple angles and data streams focused solely on Grunt No. 703. Bio-readings, heat signatures, and a plethora of other real-time performance metrics filled the screen, providing Victoria with comprehensive and detailed information.
She leaned forward, her eyes narrowing with excitement as she delved into the multitude of data. The other scientists watched in awe and trepidation, now aware of her new obsession: the newly recruited grunt currently displayed on her large observation screen, Grunt No. 703.
Victoria fiddled with the control system again. The large observation screen then displayed a new window that popped up in the middle, with the message: 'Observation Drone A4 Manual Control Activated', accompanied by an image of the drone, before quickly disappearing.
Conveniently, a remote controller emerged from the equipment system, which she gleefully picked up. With precise and refined control of said controller, the screen showing Grunt No. 703 zoomed in as if the drone that had been observing him was approaching directly toward him.
Victoria's voice broke the tense silence in the now dimly lit observation room. "Now... let's see what sort of entertainment you can provide me, Grunt No. 703~," she murmured to herself, a gleam of anticipation in her eyes. She cleared her throat and then... she spoke to the screen.
"What do you think, Grunt No. 703~?"
A bit of a late update.
HIATUS. Not much to say here other than it's not working out.
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