[BANG!]
The sound of heavy steel balls hitting the floor echoed across the room as William collapsed onto the wet ground.
"Huff… huff… huff…"
He gasps for air, sweat dripping madly down his face. His palms are raw and bleeding from gripping the magical weights.
Raiden stands just at a distance, watching. Without any reaction.
One second passes, then two, three, and five.
William still lies motionless on the floor. Then a bolt of yellow lightning shoots out and strikes him.
The current tears through his body, sending unbearable pain straight into his head. The agony forces his body to move, his muscles trembling as he pushes himself back up.
Only then does the lightning stop.
[Grip Training to Failure Completed; Now Please Proceed to Run 10 Laps Around The Hall]
The tag the old dwarf gave William floats into the air, displaying the next drill along with a five-second countdown.
[5, 4, 3, 2, 1]
[BZZZT]
Another bolt of lightning slams into William, jolting his body and forcing him to start running.
His mind is fried. He doesn't know what's happening anymore.
All he remembers is how it started—push-ups, sit-ups, running, gripping heavy balls.
At first, it was tough but manageable. But then it just kept going. Push-ups, sit-ups, run. Repeat. Push-ups, sit-ups, run. Repeat.
It never stops. The tag gives no rest, no end. Just more orders, more pain.
When William tried to ask Raiden when it would end, the man said nothing—just stared at him in silence.
Then came the zaps.
If he rests too long—Zap!
If he fails a push-up—Zap!
If he runs too slow—Zap!
The torturous cycle goes on endlessly. Eventually, William's mind shuts down, leaving only one thought—don't get zapped.
Raiden watches quietly from the side, his cold eyes unblinking. That only makes William's "training" feel even more cruel.
After an unknown number of rounds, the endless session finally ends.
[Training Complete; Please take a break, and we will continue right after]
Seeing those words on the holographic display, William's legs give out. He collapses to the ground, mind blank.
The last thing he sees is Raiden walking toward him before his vision fades to black.
When William opens his eyes again, he's back in the infirmary where the elf doctor works.
"Hi hi! Nice to see you again. How do you feel right now?"
William blinks a few times, sits up, and looks around.
To his surprise, he feels no pain at all. Twisting his arms and torso, he realizes his body feels stronger, almost energized.
"I feel… good?" he blurts out.
"Of course! You're in the presence of the second-greatest doctor alive. How could you not be fine?"
The elf doctor strikes a dramatic pose.
"..."
William stares, speechless.
Then his training tag suddenly floats up beside him, making him flinch.
[Your food has been prepared in the cafeteria. Please head over immediately.]
[You have 12 minutes to finish your food.]
[1]
[2]
[3]
Seeing the countdown, William leaps out of bed and bolts from the infirmary.
Following the map projected by the tag, he soon reaches the cafeteria—a massive concrete warehouse, just like every other building in Unit Zero.
He pushes open the two giant doors. Inside is a wide, empty hall filled with tables and stools… and one massive pile of food stacked on a single table.
William slows his pace, staring suspiciously at the heap.
[Your food has been prepared. Please finish it within 11 minutes.]
The tag hovers beside him, pointing at the mountain of food.
William's eyes widen. "I need to finish that in under 11 minutes?"
The pile stands half his height and as wide as his torso, made mostly of meat.
[Timer: 10 minutes remaining.]
"Damn it."
Without thinking, he digs in.
Five minutes of frantic chewing later, his stomach feels like it's about to burst. He slows down, panting, yet the pile barely shrinks.
Another five minutes pass. Time's up.
He braces for the usual punishment zap.
Instead, the tag glows red, runes spreading across its surface before it fires a beam of hot red energy. The entire pile of food vaporizes into ash.
William stares at the ashes, then at the floating tag—now much more terrifying in his eyes.
The tag flashes again.
[Lunchbreak Over; Return to the training hall and continue with your physical training.]
[100 Push-ups, 100 Sit-ups, 100 minutes weighted dead hang, 100 laps around the training hall.]
William's face goes pale.
The amount increased?!
Before he can process it, the countdown starts.
[You have 10 seconds to reach the training hall.]
[10, 9, 8…]
William bolts out the door.
The endless, mind-breaking training begins all over again.
The only difference is that Raiden is gone. The tag now handles everything—complete with its own self-casting lightning spells.
Days pass. How many, William no longer knows.
Every day blurs into the same brutal loop—train until collapse, get zapped for every mistake, wake up fully healed, and repeat.
At one point, he even received a magical weighted vest that grows heavier as he gets stronger, keeping the pain constant.
His life becomes a mechanical cycle of suffering, recovery, and more suffering.
Eventually, William stops thinking at all. His body moves on autopilot. His only purpose now: follow the tag's orders.
Until one day.
As William shovels food into his mouth, the tag projects new words.
[Congratulations, William. You have successfully achieved the minimal physical requirements for the Assassin Sniper class.]
[Now you can finally move on to the actual training.]
As the tag announces, the weighted vest deactivates, dropping from his shoulders with a heavy thud.
William freezes mid-bite. Then his mouth twitches.
"Ha, ha, HAHAHAHAHA—hahahaha—kuh, uhhhnnnnnn!"
He bursts into wild laughter that slowly twists into a sob of relief.
For a few seconds, he just sits there, shoulders shaking, half-laughing, half-crying. The noise echoes in the cafeteria, raw and broken.
Across from him, Aeris watches with a blank look while chewing her food.
William doesn't care. The words training complete are all he needs. The "actual training" part doesn't even register.
Then the tag lights up again.
[In 10 minutes, please head to the shooting range.]
William wolfs down the rest of his food, then sprints out of the cafeteria, a gust of wind following behind him.
He races to the warehouse to grab his rifle.
Now that the weights are gone, he feels light as air. Every step sends him flying forward, each muscle brimming with energy.
He reaches the warehouse in record time. The old dwarf glances at him, snaps his fingers, and William's black-and-red rifle floats down from the shelf.
William braces himself for its weight—but it lands in his hands effortlessly.
He swings it once, surprised by how light it feels.
"Hey! Put that thing down! That's not a toy!" the dwarf shouts.
"Ah—yes, sorry, sir." William grins awkwardly, scratching his head.
"Off you go now. I assume you've got a new training session?"
"Yes, sir."
With a quick salute, William dashes out.
The dwarf watches him go, a crooked grin forming. "He should enjoy it while he can."
The grin looks more sinister than kind.
William sprints across the base, ecstatic at how effortlessly he moves, even with the sniper on his back.
The shooting range is an empty hall: white walls, white floor, white ceiling. Bright lights make the space feel huge.
A single target sits at the far end. On the opposite side, a glowing line marks where he assumes he must shoot.
The tag activates again.
[You have 10 minutes to familiarize yourself with your weapon before official training begins.]
William mounts his sniper on the floor, exhales, and aims down the scope.
[BOOOM!]
The bullet tears through the air and hits the target dead-on.
But William's focus is elsewhere. He touches his shoulder.
The recoil—that painful shock he used to hate—doesn't hurt anymore. He still feels the force, but not the pain.
Excited, he keeps firing until the timer hits zero.
Then the lights dim. The targets sink into the floor, replaced by a single small target that moves back and forth in the dark, a spotlight tracking its motion.
[Weapon Familiarization: Get familiar with using your weapon. Objective—shoot the target when it turns green. Failure will result in punishment.]
William gulps. The word punishment instantly makes him think of the electrical shocks.
He drops to the ground, takes position, and tracks the moving target through his scope.
One minute passes. Then two. Then three. Nothing happens.
Then, suddenly, a massive rectangular block drops from the ceiling and crushes him flat.
At the same moment, the target turns green.
[Failed]
The tag announces and fires a sharp zap of electricity through his body.
William jerks up instantly, eyes wide and hair standing.
He stares dumbfounded at the tag, re-reading the mission text.
[Bonus: Focus Under Threat Training. You must stay focused on the target while constantly under threat in your surroundings.]
"!! That's not what it said the first time!"