"AHHHHHHHHHH…!"Johan's scream echoed through the quiet forest as he collapsed face-first onto the ground, completing his final pushup. His entire fat body trembled like jelly, sweat dripping down his face and soaking the bandages still wrapped around his head.
[Ding!]
[Quest Progression]
[Push-ups: 50/50]
[Sit-ups: 0/50]
[Run: 0/10 km]
[Time remaining: 1 Hour 20 Minutes]
"Huff… Huff…" Johan gasped for air, his chest heaving. "At this rate… I'm really gonna die!"
Grinding his teeth, he rolled onto his back and forced himself into position for the sit-ups. His stomach bulged with every attempt, his round body making it almost impossible to bend properly. Each rise was only half as much as a real sit-up should be.
"Huff… Huff… How the hell am I supposed to do this with this body?"
[Ding!]
[Sit-ups: 1/50]
"H-Huh? It counts even if I do them wrong?" Johan blinked in disbelief, then let out a weak laugh. "Haha… then this might actually be possible…"
Clenching his fists, he forced himself up again, and again, groaning with every motion. His shirt stuck to his skin with sweat, his face turned bright red, but little by little he pushed forward.
Finally—
[Ding!]
[Quest Progression]
[Push-ups: 50/50]
[Sit-ups: 50/50]
[Run: 0/10 km]
[Time remaining: 1 Hour 10 Minutes]
Johan fell back on the grass, panting so hard it sounded like he was dying. "Huff… Huff… T-Two parts done… but… but ten kilometers?" His eyes widened in despair. "That's just cruel!"
Johan didn't waste a second. With his entire body still trembling from the sit-ups, he staggered to his feet and began to run.
"Huff… Huff…" Each breath tore through his lungs like fire. His legs felt like logs, heavy and unmovable, but he forced them forward.
[Ding!]
[Run: 1/10 km]
His body screamed at him to stop, but Johan's mind refused to listen. He kept running, his arms flailing like a zombie's, his head lolling as if he would collapse at any moment.
[Ding!]
[Run: 5/10 km]
[Time Remaining: 42 Minutes]
His vision blurred. The green trees around him melted into shapeless colors. Sweat streamed down his face, stinging his eyes, but he didn't stop. Every step was agony. Every breath felt like knives stabbing into his chest.
"Ughhh…" Johan groaned, but his feet kept moving.
And then, with one final desperate stride—his legs gave out.
THUD!He crashed face-first into the ground, unconscious.
[Ding!]
[Quest Progression]
[Push-ups: 50/50]
[Sit-ups: 50/50]
[Run: 10/10 km]
[Congratulations. You've completed your first quest.]
The night was silent, broken only by the distant rustle of leaves and the faint chirping of crickets. Johan lay unconscious on the forest floor, his body motionless.
Suddenly—fwooom!—a soft white glow began radiating from his body. The light pulsed gently, wrapping him in a cocoon-like aura. His wounds, his exhaustion, his aching muscles—all seemed to vanish within that glow.
The forest shimmered faintly in response, as though the trees themselves were breathing with him.
As the glow reached its peak, Johan's body began to change. The layers of fat melted away like mist under sunlight, his form tightening and reshaping. Flabby arms grew firm with muscle, his round face sharpened into clean lines, his features becoming striking and well-defined. The transformation was slow, silent, yet miraculous—as if the light itself was sculpting him anew.
When the glow finally faded—shiiing—Johan no longer resembled the overweight boy he once was. Instead, he lay there with a lean, handsome body, his chest rising and falling peacefully.
After a few minutes, the glow dissolved into the night sky. Everything returned to silence, as if nothing had happened. Johan, however, remained asleep, his body finally at peace.
Morning arrived.
The forest was alive with beauty. Golden sunlight filtered through the canopy, painting the leaves in shades of green and gold. Birds sang melodious songs—chirp, chirp, chirp—while the cool breeze carried the fragrance of wildflowers.
"Ugh…" Johan groaned, blinking his eyes open. He rubbed his head, still lying on the grass. "Did I… fall asleep?" He sat up slowly, looking around with confusion. "How much time has passed?"
[Ding!]
[One day has been passed.]
"W-What?!" Johan's eyes widened. "One day passed already?"
Johan immediately pushed himself up from the ground, ready to run toward the wooden house. But then—thump… thump…—he froze. Something felt different. His body moved lighter, smoother, almost as if the weight he'd carried his whole life had vanished.
He glanced down.
"What the—?" His breath hitched. His hands weren't swollen and pudgy anymore. They were lean, with faint muscle lines tracing across his forearms. His belly was gone, his chest broader, his frame taller. His entire body had transformed into something unrecognizable.
"What the hell is this? What the hell happened to my body?!"
[Ding!]
[It's the quest reward.]
[The reward was to make the host's body perfect.]
Johan's eyes widened. "I-Is that so?"
Another notification appeared.
[Even without the system doing anything, the host's body was supposed to be like this.]
[But the host is very careless about his food.]
[That's why the host ended up like that.]
Johan twitched, his jaw tightening. "…Are you insulting me right now?"
[That's the host's mind setup.]
"…Shut up," Johan muttered, annoyed but too tired to argue further.
He exhaled heavily, then frowned. "But wait… It's already been a day since I disappeared from the hospital. I'm sure by now it's a huge mess there. And now you've even changed my body! Couldn't you at least have done this later? What am I supposed to do now? If I go back looking like this, no one will recognize me! I bet even my mom won't recognize me!"
Another notification blinked.
[The host really is dumb.]
[Did you forget about the mask?]
"…Oh. Right. The mask. But what about the time?"
[The time is different in the two worlds.]
[A day in this world is equivalent to an hour in the real world.]
"Is that so?"
[The host really is dumb.]
"Shut up!" Johan snapped, glaring at the floating panel. "Open the system inventory."
With a shiiing, the panel expanded, and Johan reached in, pulling out the Oblivion Mask. He slid it over his face—fwip!—and in an instant his appearance shifted. The fat body, the sluggish face, the bandages—everything returned exactly as it was before.
Johan touched his cheeks and arms, now round and heavy again. "Perfect. No one will suspect a thing."
He looked toward the wooden house, then muttered under his breath, "Now… how do I go back? Don't tell me I'm stuck here forever."
[Ding!]
[Just hold the key and say 'Open.']
Johan clenched the glowing key in his hand. "Alright then… Open!"
Whooooom!
The air in front of him rippled as countless blue lights gathered, swirling into a circle. A floating gate, radiant and shimmering, appeared once more. Its glow filled the boundary with an ethereal hum.
Johan stood before it, the masked face of his old self reflecting faintly in its surface. His heart thudded—thump, thump—as he prepared to step through.