He wearily dragged his exhausted body back to the coffee shop, panting as he opened the refrigerator and chugged a can of cold water.
Although it was snowing, a heat haze rose from his body. After finishing the water, he went to the sink to wash his face to sober up.
His actions had led to the doom cult's activities being discovered earlier than expected. This resulted in the cult members being intensely pursued and swept by military police for the past few days, making it so they dared not show themselves during the day, only venturing out at night.
Operating at night was advantageous for them because there were almost no people or obstacles to hinder their actions without being detected. The nighttime also inadvertently worked in his favor, as Noid no longer had to painstakingly distinguish who was from the doom cult.
Using the night vision function of his A.T.A Armor helmet, along with the reconnaissance capability of his gear, he could easily track and follow the followers back to their lairs. Then, he would proceed to dismantle them. Once the dismantling and takedowns were complete, he would use one of the followers' phones to call the police to handle the rest.
But from the very first night of his "heroics," he immediately realized he had a very big problem: his physical stamina.
It all started when he was in his old world. For ten years, he had been a recluse, only going out for school. After graduating high school, he never left the house. So his physical fitness could only be described as terrible. In this world, the initial period of fighting and the two years of hard work afterward had helped Noid's stamina improve a lot. But it was still only slightly above average.
If his opponents were all ordinary people, a single strike from the staff or a shot from the gun could put them on the ground instantly. But from the information provided by the system, the doom cult was not just a bunch of crazy people who kidnapped sacrifices and used schemes; they had their own forces.
"Fanatics (incomplete reform)" and "Fanatics (complete reform)" sounded like super-humans. However, judging by the accumulated points rewarded, which were only on par with a normal doom, their strength was probably similar, and wouldn't exceed 1.5 at most.
The doom cult's reformed fanatics, although seemingly inferior to humanity's reformers, were still monsters compared to ordinary people.
Fortunately, the entire A.T.A Armor set was originally police equipment from a world where many mutants and super-humans existed, which helped him, an ordinary person, not necessarily be at a disadvantage when confronting the doom cult's fanatics.
The dual slowdown and paralysis effects from the paralysis gun and paralysis staff also had more uses than the system described. The paralysis gun and paralysis staff couldn't paralyze an individual with a value of 1.0. But as long as the amount of paralyzing electricity hitting the opponent was sufficient, it could achieve a similar effect.
For example, when he fought a reformed fanatic, a single shot from the paralysis gun could only cause the fanatic to slow down and twitch. But when the tenth shot hit the fanatic, the accumulated electricity would explode, causing paralysis.
Noid took off his robotic arm, then fell asleep.
The next morning, he sleepily opened the shop for business. The sleep had completely restored his physical strength, but the mental fatigue had not yet subsided.
For some reason, the frequency of doom attacks had decreased, giving military powerhouses like Sasha more free time. So lately, she had been coming to his shop for breakfast and coffee.
While having a meal, Sasha suddenly asked, "Noid... do you want to go back?"
He turned his head, his face full of question marks. Go back? Go back where?
"To Karj City. Lately, military scouts have noticed a large number of dooms have withdrawn from frontline 17, including Karj City. So the commanders of the frontlines are planning to organize the army to retake Karj City, and the chances of success are very high."
As she spoke, Sasha didn't notice her hand gripping the spoon slightly, leaving an imprint on its handle.
Noid's movements stopped. He looked thoughtful, but his expression soon returned to normal.
"Why would I go back? To be honest, I'm not even from Karj City. I was just dragged into the army to defend the city on my first day of entry."
"It's just... I might lose a lot of customers later on."
He said with a laugh, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes. He was telling the truth. Less than ten minutes after arriving in this world, he was already in armor and on the battlefield with dooms. This had also left a huge psychological scar.
"Noid, you don't have to worry. If you lose customers, I'll send people to compensate."
Sasha's hands relaxed. She even calmly bent the spoon handle back into its original shape.
All the customers had left for work, and the early morning shift at the coffee shop was over. Noid closed the door and went inside, calling upon the Infinite System.
"Infinite, filter for items that can enhance my physical attributes and are suitable for my current state."
The store interface began to change, displaying various physical enhancement items. Noid carefully selected them, taking over an hour to choose three items he was satisfied with.
Reinforcement Fluid:
After consumption, it permanently increases physical strength, tendons, muscles, skeleton, internal organs, and other systems for individuals with a value from 0.5 to below 1.0.
Can only be used a maximum of 3 times.
The greater the body's tolerance, the stronger the increase.
Price: 40 accumulated points.
SNG-26 Hormone Stimulant:
After use, it increases metabolism, digestion, and physical development by 300%.
Can help users with a value below 1.0 achieve much greater training results than normal.
Price: 9 accumulated points.
Potent Elixir - Berserk:
Helps the user increase physical strength to a value of 1.2.
Not to be used after 10 hours.
Continuous use 3 times will cause damage but will achieve a berserk state, increasing the value to 1.3.
Price: 70 accumulated points.
The SNG-26 Hormone Stimulant was for his physical training. The Reinforcement Fluid was for enhancing his physical attributes. The Potent Elixir - Berserk would be his trump card against super-humans.
His current value was 0.6. Using these three items properly would likely allow him to reach a physical value of 0.9. A value of 0.9 in a human was almost at the peak. Anything above 1.0 was considered a super-human.
The training plan began. Noid bought a lot of food. Then, he used the SNG-26 Hormone Stimulant. One second after using it, he felt his body starting to feel strange. It was getting hotter, and Noid even had the illusion that his muscles were moving on their own. The breakfast he had not long ago was already gone.
He simultaneously replenished his food and began to perform physical training exercises. During the training, he felt a powerful flow of energy spreading throughout his body, a feeling that only occurred when his body was completely unhindered.