Capítulo 3: Chapter 3
I'd forgotten how comfortable a home could be.
The bag dropped to the hallway floor with a dull thud, my gaze already moving past it as I made my way to the bathroom. The light flickered on, harsh and cold, illuminating a reflection that barely felt like mine. I stared, taking in the slight edge to my jawline, the shadow under my eyes, the new steadiness in my stare that wasn't there before. The softness, the hesitation… I couldn't find it. There was only focus, as if every part of me had been refined to a point.
The silence of the house settled around me, thick, almost oppressive, but there was something comforting in that weight. Each creak in the floorboards, every corner of the walls felt different now, like the whole place was holding its breath. A faint, satisfied feeling settled in my chest… I'd come back, but I was something else now.
Purpose. Just what the hell was it, that it had changed me this much.
Turning on the faucet, I splashed some cold water onto my face, trying my best to clean out the wounds from Seungmin earlier.
It wasn't just Purpose. It was the entire Quest Window as a whole. Where did it come from and who the hell was Gun Park? Almost as if answering my thoughts once more, the screen flickered to life again.
[Gun Park is not a man that can be captured simply using words.]
[More of him will be revealed through you as you grow.]
I squinted. Well that wasn't vague at all. My eyes stayed on the last word, grow. It fascinated me. That one word seemed to be the sum of my desires. Growth, become more tomorrow than I am today.
Strength, power, money.
I longed for more of it.
So priority number one, I needed to become stronger. Strong enough that no bully or delinquent would be able to block my path, which meant training. Except I had no idea how to do any of that.
[Requirements met!]
[Training wheels Subsystem unlocked!]
I stared at the glowing message, a grin spreading across my face. So it wasn't just in my head. This Quest Window was reading me like an open book. If there was any doubt about it before, now there was none. This system wasn't just some glitch… I was meant to have it.
A laugh escaped me, sharper than I intended, and for the first time, I didn't try to hide it.
[Training Wheels Subsystem Activated]
[Welcome, Beginner! Your personalised training program begins now. Objective: Build baseline power, endurance, and agility. Complete each exercise within the time limit for rewards.]
The screen flickered, and a new list appeared before me:
[Training Quest: Complete the following by tonight!]
17 Push-Ups (within 60 seconds)Wall-Sit for 2 Minutes 49 SecondsRun 13 laps around the Daehak children's park (Time Limit: 20 minutes)Hold a Plank Position for 2 Minutes 18 secondsShadowbox with Speed (47 Seconds Full Power)Repeat 3 times.
[ Current stats:
HP: 1500/1500
Attack: 1
Defence: 1
Agility: 1
Spirit: 200 ]
[Rewards: +2 Attack, +2 Agility, +2 Defence]
My eyes widened, the challenge settling over me like a weight. These numbers weren't generated randomly. Each number was designed to take me to my specific limit for those muscle groups in a specific time.
It was easier to do it all at the Daehak park, especially since I lived nearby, only a minute walk away.
I quickly peeled off my school uniform, tossing it into the corner, and pulled on a fitted workout shirt and some gym shorts. The fabric clung to my skin, allowing for freedom of movement. I laced up my worn-out sneakers, the soles scuffed from countless half-hearted attempts at exercise in the past.
The short walk to Daehak Children's Park felt electric, each step pounding against the pavement echoing the rhythm of my heart.
As I reached the park, I quickly noticed the out of use sign, recalling why no-one ever used this playground anymore, a child had apparently died from getting hit by the swings when they were being used by high-school students. Rumours had spread quickly enough with none ever being verified but needless to be said, the park had quickly been vacated by other parents and children.
Now it was just empty. Perfect.
I dropped to the ground, positioning myself for the first set of push ups. The timer appeared in the corner of my vision, a silent countdown that only I could see. I pushed through the first ten, my arms shaking, by fifteen, my arms felt like lead, but the seconds ticking down made me grit my teeth and push harder. I hit twenty with just a second to spare.
[17 Push-Ups (within 60 seconds)] - Complete!!
[No rest! Next exercise!]
And with that, the world faded, as I focused solely on the screen revealing the path to strength.
***
2 weeks later
"Psst, hey Geon, do you know what happened to Jaehyun?"
I lifted my head off the desk and stared at the interrupter of my recovery nap.
My classmate's face hovered over mine, eyes wide with excitement, as if he was waiting to drop some big, juicy news.
I stared at him, barely holding back a yawn. "Why would I care what happened to him?"
He leaned in closer, whispering as though he was sharing state secrets. "Because he got beat up. And not just beat up. He's barely been able to show his face for two weeks." He leaned back, raising his brows. "Word is, it was brutal."
Jaehyun. I hadn't seen him around lately, and I thought maybe he'd just gone quiet for a bit, waiting for another opportunity to mess with someone weaker. I didn't realise that me beating him up would damage him mentally that badly.
I leaned back in my chair, watching the guy who'd filled me in, feeling a faint, satisfied smile tug at the corner of my mouth. "Guess he finally met someone who he pissed off."
The guy blinked, clearly not expecting that response. "Uh, yeah…guess so." He glanced away, clearly unnerved by the calm in my voice.
"Anyways," he mumbled, shuffling back to his seat, "Thought you'd want to know."
I leaned forward, elbows on my desk, processing the information. Two weeks of intense training, of the system pushing me harder each day, and I could feel the difference.
Normally, doing exercise and training more than once a day would be counterproductive as the body wouldn't be given time to recover but this Quest system of mine seemed to not only read my mind but affect my body too.
The training wheels subsystem had given me a linear stat growth for the past two weeks with it supposed to be carrying on until my stats reached 50, what the system considered baseline fighter level. After I reach that point, my 'training wheels should come off' so to speak.
I was certain that my growth within these two weeks was not normal for a human, even on steroids, my amount of growth was ridiculous, no matter if you put in the effort or not. Real change was supposed to take time, but not with me I suppose.
Of course I still wasn't sure how the numbers correlated to an increase in real time strength but I knew for sure that my strength hadn't doubled or tripled so each point couldn't be a singular measurement. My strongest theory at the moment was that each point acted as a small multiplier for my current strength.
But then again, when it came down to a fight, what mattered wasn't solely physical strength. Techniques, strategy, adaptation and the willingness to actually cause damage matter a lot more when it comes to fights as a weakling.
So said How to Fight Vol.1, the book that I'd been given as a reward for my third day of training.
I was about to close my eyes, reminiscing upon the workout of yesterday until a flicker of blue light crossed the corner of my eye. Both eyes immediately shot open as I looked around for the Quest screen.
But there wasn't anything?
My face curled into a frown and I turned around, only to see glowing blue letters floating on top of the head of a second-year student outside in the corridor.
[Lee Inrang]
The soft shimmering blue slowly faded into a light red and a familiar blue screen sparked to life besides me.
[Story Quest: Follow the marked individual!]
[Rewards: ???]
A story quest? I scoffed, what was this, an RPG? Regardless of the titles however, my curiosity won out and I grabbed my bag and stepped outside, noting that the 'Marked individual' had made his way down the stairs.
Side-stepping a few other students, I hurried so as to not lose him. Class had already ended so there was a ludicrous amount of first and second years crowding the corridor.
As he exited the stairwell, occasionally glancing over his shoulder, Inrang slung his bag over his back, slouching down. He was trying to not be seen, but of course with the blinking red letters over his head, it was hard for him to not be seen by me.
We both left the school and I pulled out my phone, pretending to keep my attention on that while he went on his way.
I wondered why the Quest window was turning me into a stalker.
As I walked behind Inrang, feigning distraction by my phone, I kept my pace steady, just far enough to avoid suspicion. Yet the bright red letters floating above his head seemed to mock any attempt he made to be inconspicuous. I stifled a smirk. If the quest system was going to assign me a stalker's role, it could at least give me a way to turn off the glowing sign on his head.
He turned off the main road, heading toward a quieter part of town. I stuck to the far side of the sidewalk, glancing up only occasionally to keep him in view. I had no idea where he was going—or what I'd do if he actually noticed me. Despite my best effort to appear casual, a small thrill simmered in my chest. This was the most excitement I'd had all semester.
Finally, he entered a narrow alley that cut between two buildings. I slowed, debating if it was really worth following him that far. What was he even up to? I glanced down at the quest window again, hoping for any new information, but the only thing it displayed was a single line in flickering blue text.
[Quest Progress: 60%]
"Sixty percent," I muttered. Great, I was halfway through my transformation into a certified stalker.
I rounded the corner and found Inrang further down the alley. He was standing by a rusty metal door that looked out of place, like it belonged to an old storage shed. He took another glance around, then slipped inside, leaving the door ajar.
I took a deep breath, the quiet hum of the alley filling the air. My rational side screamed at me to turn back, but curiosity—and the promise of "??? rewards"—won out. I walked slowly toward the door and slipped inside, wincing as it squeaked shut behind me.
Inside, the space was dark, lit only by a series of faint, neon-blue strips along the walls.
I looked around, until I saw a small metal glint on the floor. A metal trapdoor. There was nowhere else he could've gone.
Slowly lifting the handle, I crawled into the hole, climbing down the ladder inside whilst closing the trapdoor above me. The further down I went, the more I heard… voices? No, those were echoes of something else that sounded like… cheering?
I finally found the bottom, a wide corridor that I followed into a single door, slightly open. The moment I wrenched the door open, the sound hit me like a truck and I nearly fell.
There were blinking neon lights everywhere, hundreds of chairs filled with what looked like students, some were even old men, screaming and cheering desperately, waving around wads of cash. I looked towards the middle and blinked.
Was that a fucking cage fight?
The screams of gamblers around me slowly filled up the background noise.
[Quest Progress: 100%]
[You have completed Story Quest 1!]
[Ding! You have discovered the hideout of the Bully Council affiliate Daehak Gang's Profit model!]
[Reward: Crew Subsystem Unlocked!]
The rush of Quest windows almost took over my vision completely and I almost closed my eyes from the glare until the very last window appeared and I nearly choked.
"This early? You can't be serious…"
My outburst seemed to have gotten me noticed by a few of the guys standing outside the cheering masses, almost like security. But at this point, I couldn't care less.
The screen didn't blink away and I slowly reread it. It had literally been two weeks, barely even that and this bullshit piece of blue pixels wanted me to-
[Story Quest 2: Take over Daehak!]
My right eye twitched as I looked around.
"Well fuck."
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
Teddartic
Teddartic Short chapter, it's been a busy week.
Next chapter has actual proper fights so will be much longer.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder