The next morning, Ajay was awake before the first light broke over Delhi. The lane outside his house was silent except for the distant bark of a stray dog. He tied his shoelaces in the dark, slipped his old bat into its faded cover, and stepped out quietly so as not to wake the rest of the family.
His legs carried him toward the neighborhood ground almost by instinct. But this time, he wasn't going for a casual hit. Today, he had one goal—push the system as far as it would go in a single day.
First Experiment: Cover Drives
When he reached the nets, the sun was still rising. The caretaker uncle was sweeping leaves off the pitch. Ajay set his bag down and began his warm-up, mind already working.
He remembered what the system had shown him yesterday:
Perfect shots gave more progress than sloppy ones.
Repetition seemed to multiply gains if the form stayed exact.
So he decided to start with his most reliable shot from his old career—the cover drive.
He asked Mohit, who had just arrived, to bowl only good length deliveries outside off. "No bouncers, no yorkers. Just there," Ajay said, tapping the pitch at the spot he wanted.
Mohit smirked. "You're the boss."
The first ball pitched exactly where Ajay wanted. He leaned forward, head over the ball, and let the bat glide through. The ball raced past cover before the fielder could move.
Ding.Batting – Level 1 – 23/100
Second ball—same result.Third—again.By the tenth, Ajay noticed something.
The system gave a slightly bigger jump after every three or four perfect repetitions, as if rewarding consistency.
Second Experiment: Flick off the Pads
After fifty cover drives, Ajay's shoulders burned, but his progress had jumped to Batting – 40/100. He switched sides and had Sanjay bowl at his pads. The flick shot, when timed right, was another easy run-builder in matches.
Here too, the pattern emerged—precision mattered more than power. When he rolled his wrists and kept the ball down, the system gave a bigger boost. Lazy flicks that drifted into the air barely moved the bar.
By the time he was done with another fifty flicks, the batting skill had crossed Batting – 55/100.
Third Experiment: Bowling Repetitions
Ajay swapped bat for ball. He set a single stump and aimed to hit it ten times in a row with off-spin.
The first few deliveries were close, some missing by inches. But by the sixth over, the rhythm kicked in. His fingers rolled the ball with controlled spin, dipping it late and straightening toward the target.
Every time the ball hit the stump cleanly, the system rewarded him double compared to near-misses. By the end of the drill: Bowling – 21/100.
Pushing the Limits
Ajay decided to try something risky—seeing if fatigue affected progress. He began sprinting between wickets, full pace, bat in hand. After ten sprints, his lungs burned and his shirt clung to him, but the fitness bar ticked steadily upward.
At Fitness – 12/100, he stopped and gulped water. The ground spun slightly, but in a good way.
The Realization
By late afternoon, Ajay had the results of his first serious test:
Focused, repetitive drills on one skill gave faster results than playing a normal match.
The system rewarded not just completion but quality of execution.
Physical strain didn't reduce point gain—it might even increase it for fitness-related skills.
Walking home, legs aching but heart racing, Ajay understood the truth.
If he could endure this grind daily—hundreds of perfect strokes, pinpoint deliveries, relentless fielding drills—he could reach levels no natural talent alone could touch.
The old Ajay had been lazy when it came to training. This Ajay would be a machine.