Sweat was pouring down my face as I tasted iron in my mouth. My muscles felt like they were about to burst from the repetitions of contractions.
"One more! One more!" the trainer yelled.
One more. Those two words weren't to be trusted when coming from a personal trainer. I was certain this trainer from hell would push me until my tank emptied. But to be honest, that was why I paid him seventy thousand won for each session.
"Pffft"
Finally, I let out a deep breath and lifted the bar up on the bench press. There was a sense of exaltation by getting "one more" done and a feeling of reinvigoration. Considering what I had just accomplished, I deserved to be proud of myself.
"Good job today, Hoyeong," the trainer said.
To my surprise, the devil didn't push me any further. It was almost disappointing since I felt like I could do about two more sets.
"How about another set after a break?" I asked.
Laying on my back, I was still out of breath. I was still in bad shape compared to the trainer, but when pumped up, my muscles weren't too shabby either. The trainer shook his head at my persistence.
"I've thought this often, but I have never had a client like you," he said.
"Like what?"
"You seem like someone obsessed with working out."
Come to think of it, I couldn't blame him. Probably not many would come to the gym twice a day to tear it up like there was no tomorrow.
"It's a scary world. With creatures popping up everywhere." I smiled.
"You're working out for self-defense? You should just switch to martial arts…"
"Already on it. Kendo."
I swung my arms in the air to show him my skills. The trainer looked somewhat confused and startled at my foolishness.
He asked, "You're really going to fight creatures with a sword?"
"We'll see."
Of course, I wasn't. I wasn't that crazy.
[The end is near.]
[Time Remaining: 0 days 0 hours 1 minute 14 seconds]
[Recommended Quests: weight training, cardio exercise, kendo]
Recommended Quests
I was still not sure what it was for, but the miraculous status window had recommended exercise for me. I knew the reason was to prepare for the end, but I was still unsure what physical training had to do with it. And the meaning of the end wasn't clear either.
In any case, there was only a minute left until the end of the world, and I started thinking that I might even miss the muscle aches that had spread over my entire body. Pain like this was hard proof that I was alive and well. But abruptly, a question popped into my head.
Is this actually happening?
After all, this could all be a scam created by the damn goblin, and there was no way creatures would be friendly towards humans in the first place. Then, was this status window made to take a dig at me? All kinds of strange thoughts began clouding my mind as time ran out.
"Let's do one last set," I suggested.
In any case, it was too late for regrets. | had already quit my job and donated most of my money since I had no existing family. If nothing happened in a minute… Well, it wouldn't be a total loss. Thanks to the quests, I was in the best shape of my life.
"Pffft"
"One more! One more!" the trainer yelled.
[Time Remaining: 0 day 0 hours 0 minutes 10 seconds]
Ten seconds. It was the final countdown. The past 15 days weren't all bad. I had never hustled this hard in my entire life, and I didn't know why I worked out so hard, but I gave it my all.
Even if it was for nothing… there's nothing I can do now.
And with the last bit of strength left in me, I lifted the bar for my last bench press.
[Time Remaining: 0 day 0 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds]
The world around me started to fade gradually. I suddenly couldn't see my trainer, who couldn't stop yelling, "one more." It wasn't just him, but the pot-bellied man on the leg press near me had also disappeared, along with the fit girl stretching on the mat. The buff man who loved to give unsolicited advice was gone too. There was no one around. Only the loud music filled the air in the empty gym.
[The gateway to the end is now open.]
[The game begins now.]
The end had finally come. Although, it was a lot different from what I had imagined.
"A game?"
I was still breathing, and my body was alive and well. Everything was the same, including my clothes, my shoes, and even the feel of my face on my fingertips. The only differences were that my body no longer felt exhausted from the long workout, and this space felt unfamiliar.
[Before starting the tutorial, the player's aptitude will be inspected.]
The messages kept coming in, and I was going out of my mind trying to keep up. Never had I imagined the end of times would be anything like this. This was absurd. Maybe
this could be the afterlife, but a game? What game?
[The aptitude test has been completed.]
[Your data will be analyzed, and you will be assigned to the most suitable profession.]
You've got to be kidding me. I quit my corporate job because the end was near. Now a new job?
[You have been selected as a
[Detailed information can be found on your status window.]
Me, a gladiator? It was a ridiculous result. There was even an old sword that appeared beside me. Wait, did it say I could see my details on my status window? My initial
Wiseman's Status Window didn't have that feature.
[
[Profession: Gladiator]
[Level: 1]
[HP: 100%]
[MP: 10]
[Stamina: 14]
[Strength: 11]
[Agility: 7]
[Senses: 8]
[Skills:]
[
I couldn't help but laugh. I really was a gladiator. The only training I've done was swinging the bamboo sword a few times after registering at the kendo academy two weeks
ago. Worse, I hadn't even touched a wooden sword, and I had just learned a few basic movements through the fast-track course…
That was all… but I couldn't believe what was happening. I started picturing movements I hadn't even learned before, feeling that I could actually do them. I picked up the old sword from the ground. Something about holding this in my hand seemed familiar.
[Displaying beginner's swordsmanship.]
I began swinging the sword, cutting through the air as if I had done this all my life not flashy but clean and well-pace, literally what beginner's swordsmanship would be. Even
movements with intricate flows didn't look strange or out of place.
"How is this possible?"
The answer was simple. It was because beginner's swordsmanship was my skill. I hadn't figured it out completely, but I was close to completing the puzzle. The Wiseman's Status Window probably recommended kendo as a quest to…
"Help me with the game?"
It made no sense, but I was given swordsmanship skills, probably because I took those kendo lessons. And the status window must have recommended weight training and physical exercise for the same purpose. Needless to say, it would be easier to navigate through the game if my initial stat was increased even by a single point. So then, what was the game?
I clicked on the Wiseman's Status Window, listed as my other skill. I thought perhaps it could give me some more hints, just like how it warned me about the coming of the end.
[The Wiseman's Status Window is now activated.]
[This skill's functions in the game system are as follows. This message will be omitted moving forward.]
[1. The Wiseman's Status Window can be activated to view status windows of others.]
[2. A strategy guide will be delivered to you occasionally through the Wiseman's Status Window.]
[* Note: Your level up will progress more slowly than other players due to this skill.]
I was overwhelmed with the overflow of messages.
"My level up will progress more slowly because of this skill?"
I couldn't tell if this skill was helpful since one's level was everything in games. Wouldn't leveling up quicker be better than a strategy guide? It all depended on how slow the level up process would be. And there was another important question.
"Is the rest of the world in the same position as I am??" I shouted in frustration.
Needless to say, there was no answer.
[The tutorial begins now.]
However, that question was about to be answered. The setting changed instantly, and I was teleported to another unfamiliar location. I had no clue what was going on. I was on a path in a dense forest, which seemed like a place where wild animals could suddenly appear at any given time.
The end was here, and a mysterious game had begun. And its start was the tutorial.
[The tutorial has been activated.]
[Please choose one of the two conditions.]
[1. Stay alive for 60 minutes in the forest]
[2. Run to the end of the path]
A game tutorial would be like the warm-up level before starting the actual game and was designed to allow players to get used to the game. But I was far from getting used to
anything at that point. What a strange ending for the world. Who came up with this?
[Your strategy guide has arrived.]
At that moment, I received the strategy guide through the Wiseman's Status Window.
[Strategy Guide: Spend all 60 minutes of the tutorial to capture as many creatures as possible. The second option is easy to achieve but not recommended as it interrupts growth.]
According to the strategy guide, my job was to hunt creatures. And as expected, it was like any other game. But with one interesting fact…
"It's not as scary."
It might have been the effects of the game, but I felt a strong desire to win. In any case, I had to hunt the most creatures in this forest since I was paying for these strategy guides with my leveling up slowed down.
"I'm gonna have to catch every single one to lessen the disadvantage."
The creatures should be easier to deal with since this was the tutorial. I grabbed the old sword and strolled along the forest path. The setting definitely made it feel like I was playing a game, and I thought to myself, virtual reality games in the future would look precisely like this.
[
[Level: 1]
I saw the brief information appear as I spotted a raccoon wandering on the path. And there was one thing I could tell just by instinct, that it was weaker than me. I took a fast hold of the old sword and charged toward the little creature.
[Displaying beginner's swordsmanship.]
As expected, the raccoon died on the spot; all it took was a few stabs.
[You have caught the One-horn Raccoon.]
[You have acquired points for experience.]
Fortunately, I had no damage, and only my magic power had gone down a bit for using the beginner's swordsmanship skill. Now, the key was to level up. I roamed around the forest path, faithfully hunting creatures.
[You have caught the one-horn raccoon.]
[You have acquired a point for experience.]
The hunting was going better than anticipated. One-horn raccoons were weak, and my beginner's swordsmanship skill was pretty decent. The only problem was that I started running out of magic powers. I only had one more use of the skill left, but there was no reason to save it since I would soon be leveling up.
I used the skill to hunt another one-horn raccoon in front of me.
[You acquired points for experience.]
[Level 2]
Although I was told leveling up would be slowed down because of my skill, it didn't feel like it. It would be nice if I could compare with others, but I was the only existing player in this tutorial.
[You can acquire points each time you level up and use them to boost your stats.]
[Remaining Points: 2]
It amazed me that I was in a situation that looked exactly like an existing game system.
And at that moment…
[Player's level is being adjusted.]
[Level 1]
"What?"
I glanced at my status window to find my level was back to 1. I now knew the reason for my level up being delayed. Did this mean that the hunting I did to this point was for nothing? Just when my feelings of injustice were about to surge, a notice caught my eye.
[You can acquire points each time you level up and use them to boost your stats.]
[Remaining Points: 2]
My level had gone down, but my remaining points did not.
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