The idea didn’t come to Arthur out of nowhere as it had been in the back of his mind even before he started playing DO. Because of his short stature and weak build, he struggled a lot and had contemplated trying to start exercising before.
But, the problem he immediately faced was time. Arthur didn’t have any time to actually do that as his entire day was spent either working or studying or at school. By the time he finishes all of that and eats dinner, he is beyond exhausted.
He wasn’t able to integrate exercise into his daily life so he simply forgot about it. However, now that his life had changed completely and his previous struggles were not a problem anymore to him, the idea of training came back again.
‘Though, would training be useful considering that my body is getting stronger on its own?’ He thought to himself.
So far, Arthur’s body has been getting stronger constantly as he has played the game and he was noticing that change in real-time even after a few days of playing the game. That naturally made him wonder if he would even be doing the right thing if he tried to train and improve his physical abilities apart from the serum’s effect.
“Hmm, I mean, technically, if I train, that would still help my improvement in some way, no?” Rubbing his chin he walked to his closet and picked some clothes he deemed good for training.
“They even got my sizes right… How the hell…?” Looking at himself in the mirror, Arthur asked himself. “At this point, I should probably just assume that they know everything about me.”
With a sigh, Arthur turned around and walked to the living room. There, he stood for a while thinking about what he should do while stretching and doing some light movement.
“I should probably just start with something casual like push-ups and stuff. I would’ve wanted to go out for a jog or to one of the gyms, but that isn’t available for now.” He muttered as he finally started training.
He first did some push-ups to gauge his limit and how far he improved using the serum only. He did notice how his body felt stronger and faster than before. Even his senses became sharper and better. However, how much did he exactly improve was still something he didn’t know.
“Hmm, ok, let’s start with 20 push-ups.” He muttered as he went down and started the exercise. The very first thing he noticed was that his body felt lighter than before. He could easily go up and down without any problems and no pain in his muscles.
In a matter of seconds, he was able to do 10 as if it was nothing. The same was true for the next five pushups. He didn’t find any discomfort or trouble going down to the ground and up again.
“Goddamn, I couldn’t even do 10 without struggling for my dear life before. Now, I think I can go way beyond 20.” With an excited look on his face, Arthur quickly continued doing the repetitions.
He reached 20, then 25, then 30 and he was still able to push even further. By the time he found himself unable to continue anymore and his muscles were getting really sore was around 42 push-ups.
“Ugh, come on… One more…” Clenching his teeth powerfully, Arthur pushed for another one before he finally couldn’t continue and fell to the ground tiredly. He heaved up and down as he rested there. However, a wide smile could be seen on his face.
“Hahaha… This is amazing… Only a few days of playing and I’m already four times stronger than before.” He muttered in shock. While he knew that mere push-ups could never truly give him an accurate estimate of how stronger he became, it still showed him that the effect was indeed real and he was indeed improving.
‘I’m living the dream…’ He thought to himself as he finally stood up with a grunt.
“But, this is only the beginning. Time to actually push myself a little.” He said as he rolled his sleeves. “I’m going wild!”
***
A few hours later, Arthur was motionless lying in the bathtub. He looked like a dead corpse. The sound of the birds whistling outside as the sun rose to the sky, announcing the start of the day. The noises echoed in his ears as he stared at the ceiling dazedly.
“… I can’t… move my body…” He muttered with a painful groan. “I think… I overdid it…”
The pain he was feeling at that moment was real and almost unbearable and the reason for that was the stuff Arthur had done. For several hours after he began training, he did every single exercise he could think of that didn’t involve weights.
He turned into a complete maniac that didn’t want to stop. He didn’t know why, but the excitement he felt when he saw his improvement made him want to accelerate it even more. He just wanted to become way stronger now that he had received a taste of that power.
Even when his body was already beyond exhausted after two hours of continuous and rigorous training, he still continued past that. He was able to stop only when his body was genuinely unable to move anymore.
The pain that followed that was as he expected, brutal. Laying in the tub, he couldn’t even do anything.
“I should’ve not… Done that…” He muttered as he lifted his head up. “My muscles feel like chicken noodle soup with extra spiciness.”
Even when he lifted his hand a little, he saw it starting to shake uncontrollably. It was almost funny to watch.
He had been like that for the past 30 minutes.
“I need… to leave the bathtub… Or I might get a heat stroke…” With pursed lips, Arthur tried to force himself out of the bath only to end up on the ground.
“Hnng! Come on!” Luckily he found some support to make him stand up. His legs wobbled a lot and he almost fell again but he still forced himself into the shower. After that, for the next 20 minutes, he struggled to shower and wear his clothes properly.
By the time he was finished, he had exhausted all his efforts and simply laid on the ground to catch his breath.
“Note to my future self… Never do this again! I have almost killed myself!” He yelled as he rolled around like a sausage.
At that moment, he heard a knock on the door. His face froze immediately. “I forgot about… Goddamit… Not now!”
Because of his pain, Arthur forget that he was expected to receive some things from the academy today. The knock on the door was naturally related to that. Sucking in a deep breath, Arthur forced himself to stand up again.
“I need a cane… I need help!” With all his will, he dragged his exhausted body to the door and opened it.
There, he saw a familiar face.
“Good morning, Mr Arthur! How are you tod-” The woman froze mid-sentence as she noticed Arthur’s weird behavior.
*Wobble*
“Good morning… Selia… I’m, as you can see… doing great.” He muttered as he held into the door for dear life.
*Wobble*
“Hm? Are you really ok?” She asked worriedly.
“Yeah, I’m really fine… I was training.” He laughed awkwardly. “Anyway, please come in.” He said.
“… Thank you for your invitation but, I just came here to hand you your required items for the start of the new year.” She said as she picked up a small package and handed it to him. “There is a manual with all the information you need to know in there so please read it carefully. You also have permission to explore the academy city now. Have a nice day!”
Then, before Arthur could say anything, she walked away.
Arthur was still stunned as he looked at the package and then at his empty doorstep where the woman was standing.
“… I guess she was in a hurry.” He muttered as he slowly closed the door behind him and tried to walk back to his bedroom.
“Woah!” Before he could even move, he stumbled forward and fell on his face. Luckily, before impact, he was able to protect the package. He laid there for a few seconds.
“I hate this.”
A//N: Thanks for reading!
