The pain was changing.
On the third morning, Leo awoke to a deep soreness, but it was a manageable thrum instead of the sharp, debilitating agony of the day before. His Vitality: 4.2 was already making a difference. The System's greeting was the same, but the list of quests had evolved once more.
<< Daily Development Quests >>
1. {Cardiac Output}: Sustain a heart rate above 140 BPM for 30 minutes. [Reward: 15 PE, +0.1 to Vitality, +0.1 to Willpower]
2. {Structural Integrity}: Complete 5 sets of 12 push-ups. [Reward: 15 PE, +0.1 to Strength]
3. {Sustained Focus}: Read for 60 uninterrupted minutes. [Reward: 10 PE, +0.1 to Intellect]
4. {Social Catalyst II}: Initiate a conversation with a stranger that leads to an exchanged piece of personal information (e.g., a name, a hobby). [Reward: 20 PE, +0.1 to Charisma]
The rewards were bigger. The requirements were stricter. The System was a demanding personal trainer, constantly upping the weight. The {Social Catalyst II} quest made his palms sweat just looking at it. An exchanged piece of personal information? Yesterday's miracle felt cheap in comparison.
His routine was becoming grimly familiar. The protein shake, the logic puzzles, the run—now with a real-time heart rate monitor hovering in his periphery. He pushed through the cardio, the {Cardiac Output} quest forcing him to a pace that was genuinely punishing, leaving him dizzy and drenched. The push-ups were still hell, but the fifth set no longer felt impossible, just brutally difficult.
It was during {Sustained Focus} that things shifted.
He was reading the history of the Roman Empire, the same dense text from the first day. He'd reached a chapter on military engineering, on the grueling discipline of the legions, when a soft chime, different from a quest completion, echoed in his mind.
Historical Pattern Recognized.
Correlating data...
Subject: Legio X Fretensis. Notable Campaign: Siege of Jerusalem.
System Log Fragment Recovered.
Access Y/N?
Leo froze, the text on the page blurring. His heart, already taxed from the run, began to pound for a different reason. A System Log? He focused on the 'Y' in his vision.
A new, archaic-looking screen, etched like stone and faded with time, superimposed itself over his book.
<< USER LOG: Centurion Marcus Valerius >>
Path: Path of the Legion (Variant: Proactive Path)
Core: Awakened (Iron)
Quest: {Fortify the Spirit} - Maintain formation under projectile fire for four hours. [Reward: 15 PE, +0.2 to Willpower]
Note: The men flag. Their Willpower wanes. My own falters. The System does not care for fear. It only measures endurance. The grind is the point. The wall is scaled not in a rush, but stone by stone.
Leo stared, his breath caught in his throat. It wasn't just a vague notion that historical figures were Users. This was proof. A direct, firsthand account. A Roman centurion, two thousand years ago, was dealing with the same brutal, quantifiable self-improvement. The grind is the point.
The log dissolved after a moment, but the impact remained, leaving Leo with a strange, vertiginous feeling. He was part of a chain. A legacy of suffering and growth that stretched back into the fog of history.
This revelation fueled him through the rest of his reading, and the subsequent chime for {Sustained Focus} felt more significant than before.
The shadow of {Social Catalyst II} loomed all afternoon. He went to a coffee shop, a calculated move. It was a social environment. He ordered a black coffee, his hands trembling slightly, and sat at a small table, his eyes scanning the room like a prey animal.
His target was a woman around his age, sitting with a sketchbook, her hand moving in quick, confident strokes. She looked focused, which made the idea of interrupting her feel even more monstrous.
The System's pressure began to build, a familiar headache brewing at his temples. Now, it seemed to whisper. Growth requires discomfort.
Gritting his teeth, Leo stood. His chair scraped loudly on the floor. The woman glanced up, her expression neutral, then returned to her sketchbook.
He walked over, his coffee cup feeling like a lead weight. "Uh, excuse me?"
She looked up again, a slight frown now on her face. "Yes?"
"I... I couldn't help but notice you're drawing." It was a stupid, obvious thing to say. The pressure in his head intensified. "I mean, it looks really good. From what I can see."
Her expression softened a fraction. "Thanks. Just practicing."
"Are you an artist?" he asked, desperately trying to steer the conversation toward the "exchanged information" the quest demanded.
"Trying to be," she said with a small, self-deprecating smile. "I'm Maya."
The quest notification pulsed in his vision. So close. He just needed to offer something in return.
"I'm Leo," he blurted out. "I'm... I'm between things right now." It was a pathetic summary of his life, but it was personal information.
Maya nodded, seemingly accepting this. "Well, good luck with... the things." She gave a polite but final smile and looked back down at her sketchbook.
The conversation was over. It had been awkward and stilted. But as he walked back to his table, the glorious, multi-toned chime sounded.
{Social Catalyst II} Completed.
Reward: 20 Proactive Energy Gained.
Charisma +0.1
Proactive Energy (PE): 99/100
He was one point away. One single point of Proactive Energy from awakening his Core.
That night, he lay in bed, his body thrumming with a new kind of energy. The Idle Projects screen was blazing.
Awaken Essence Core (Requires: 100 PE, and a Tribulation) - AVAILABLE
He focused on it. A new, severe warning appeared.
Warning: The Tribulation is a personalized trial of spirit and will. Failure can result in psychological regression, permanent stat decrease, or in extreme cases, system rejection. Proceed? Y/N
Leo's blood ran cold. Permanent stat decrease? System rejection? He thought of Centurion Marcus, fortifying his spirit under a hail of stones. He thought of the endless, grinding days. He had come this far. The pain, the exhaustion, the soul-crushing social anxiety—it had to be for something.
He couldn't stop now. The grind had become his purpose.
With a thought that felt like pushing a boulder over a cliff, he selected Y.
Initiating Tribulation.
Prepare for: The Mirror of Regret.
The world dissolved into absolute, silent blackness. Leo floated in a void. Then, a light appeared, forming into a shimmering, mercury-like pool in front of him. As he looked into it, his reflection began to change.
It showed him not his current self, but a younger, brighter-eyed version. It was Leo from five years ago, full of ideas for a novel he was going to write, a business he was going to start, a life he was going to build. The image spoke, its voice a haunting echo of his own, filled with disappointment.
"Is this what you became? A man commanded by a pop-up window to do push-ups? I had stories to tell. You have a stat sheet."
The words hit him with the force of a physical blow. Shame, hot and acidic, rose in his throat. This was the trial. This was the System forcing him to confront the very mediocrity it was designed to eradicate.
Another image shimmered to life: his father, years ago, a mix of concern and pity in his eyes. "You just need to find your passion, Leo. Apply yourself." The memory, now weaponized, felt like an indictment.
The void echoed with the ghosts of his own abandoned ambitions, each one a nail in the coffin of his self-worth. The pressure was immense, a weight threatening to crush his spirit entirely. The easy way out was to agree, to succumb to the truth of his own failure.
But something rebelled. A spark ignited by 30 Proactive Energy, by 0.1 increases in Strength, by a conversation with an old man named Arthur.
He looked the phantom of his younger self in the eye, and for the first time, he spoke back, his voice steady in the void.
"I am applying myself," he growled. "Every single day. It's not the story you wanted, but it's mine. And I'm not quitting."
He turned from the mirror, rejecting its condemnation. He accepted the regret, the wasted years, not as a chain, but as a foundation. The grinding path was his choice now.
The blackness shattered.
Light and sensation rushed back. He was in his bed, gasping, his sheets soaked with sweat. But he was different. He could feel it. A new, solid warmth pulsed at his core, a tiny, dense sun of energy.
The status screen bloomed in his vision, transformed.
---
<< Leo Mears >>
Essence Core: Awakened (Red I)
Proactive Energy (PE): 0/200
Attributes:
· Vitality: 4.3
· Strength: 5.3
· Agility: 3.0
· Intellect: 11.2
· Willpower: 6.3
· Charisma: 7.2
Active Skills:
· Indomitable (Novice): A surge of resolve. Temporarily boosts Willpower by 2 points. (Cost: 20 PE)
Idle Projects:
· Dedicate PE to Attribute Growth (1 PE = 0.01 to a chosen attribute over 24 hours)
· Refine Essence Core to Red II (Requires: 200 PE)
He had done it. He had survived the Tribulation. He had an Awakened Core. And he had his first true Skill.
Leo Mears lay back, the phantom voices of his regrets silenced. The path ahead was longer than ever, the PE requirement now doubled. But for the first time, he looked at the grinding wheel not as a victim, but as the smith.
He was ready.