Hobin woke up to the sound of a loud ringing alarm. He shifted his gaze to right, stretching an arm for his alarm clock. He tapped against it hardly, but the alarm kept going. He groaned and shouted as he awoke, realizing what it was. An alarm? Yes! But in his head. It was XL, waking him up around 3 am.
"DAILY QUEST: JOG FROM YOUR HOUSE TO CENTRAL SQUARE AND BACK.
ESTIMATED RUN: 1,500.
ESTIMATED RUN-TIME: 30minutes.
REWARD: -4% weight loss. +3 Stamina. +6 Fitness".
Hobin glared at the floating bluescreen and squeezed his face. For the past eight days, he experienced restless nights. Always exercising and keeping fit, based on the calendar and request of XL. Since the mid-term only lasted two weeks, he had only a few days to get himself fit for the next rough months of school.
Hobin jumped out of bed, washed his face, and dried it with a towel. He got into his black tracks and took a new breath.
"Let's do this".
He sprinted right through the dumpy yard and jogged for the central square. Running at full throttle for the requested destination. As he went on, he kept stumbling, panting and grunting. As he stopped to catch his breath, he looked up to see the route also had steps. He let a low groan.
"Steps". He muttered and heard the glasses ding for a message.
"IF YOU LIKE BEING PUSHED AROUND THEN YOU REMAIN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE FOOD CHAIN. OR YOU CAN RISE UP AND-
"Shut up! Hobin let out a groan and staggered to his feet. "I got this".
"GOOD. BECAUSE YOU ARE 2 MINUTES BEHIND SCHEDULE. ALSO, THE STEPS ADDITION WAS TO SEE YOUR STAMINA WORKS".
Hobin cracked a smile and drew a step back and dashed for it with pace. He kept going, pushing forward and never looking back, until he got to city central.
When Hobin got to city central, some shops were opening. Pedestrians filled the sidewalks. He took a parked bench and gave out a loud exhale.
"REWARD HAS BEEN INSERTED.
DAILY QUEST: GYM—300 CRUNCHES. 400 PUSH UP. 90 SQUIRTS WITH BELL. 250 PRESS UP.
REWARD: +15 STRENGTH. +10 STAMINA +12 AGILITY.
YOU THINK YOU'RE UP FOR IT?
Hobin chuckled and wiped his face. But before he could even move, he heard his stomach grumble. Right, he hasn't eaten. He reached for ice cream, but felt the glasses shake. It was as if they disapproved of his choices.
"YOU SHOULD STAY ON A STRICT DIET OF PROTEIN. NO CHOCOLATE. FRUITS & VEGETABLES. EXCEPT YOU WANT TO GO BACK TO BEING A FAT PIECE OF SHIT".
Hobin pulled up a long face. Before his system he ate as though the world was his oyster, but now he would have to eat fruit in order to achieve his desired body fitness. Hobin groaned as he pulled a cart into the farmer's market. He rolled it so loud that the whole store could hear it. Everyone glared at the long-faced boy who acted less his age.
"YOU ARE ACTING LIKE I ASKED YOU TO EAT POISON". The glasses chimed and Hobin scoffed at the sight of vegetables.
"Jean Satire was right, "Hell is other people". Hobin whispered and let out an exhaustive moan.
"TRUE, EXCEPT I AM NOT A HUMAN". XL replied.
"Yeah, well a human designed you". Hobin snapped out loud and caught the intense glared of the costumers in the store. To them, Hobin looked like a big baby, who was clearly going nuts.
"Sorry" Hobin whispered. But no one replied him. He rolled quietly to the far end of the store, glaring annoyingly at the fruits and vegetables.
"PERHAPS WE CAN COMPROMISE. AN APPLE A DAY CAN KEEP THE DOCTOR AWAY". XL muttered.
"Really? Hobin asked with excitement. He thought XL was going to make him eat vegetables and proteins all day. He still needed a few meats and fish, once in a while.
Two days in and Hobin's thought for suicide increased. The training grew intense. XL introduced puzzle games-chess, scramble, checkers and forced him to play more combat games to increase him fighting and thinking faculty. Each time he was done gyming or running, XL made him solved quick puzzles to test his minds quick recovery system. On one particular occasion, XL set puzzles to the bathroom, hindering Hobin from entering except him had completed puzzle or drill. This made Hobin fast in thinking and bringing out new ideas. XL but him in tough circumstances via simulators to see how he could solve each problem and respond to circumstances.
By the fifth day, Hobin was on his last leg. He had carried a heavy bolder on his back, while solving XL's puzzles, which he found as a silly excuse for torture. He felt his lungs burn out and beg for air. His eyes went dead cold like his face. Hands and knees went sore, back hurt and his face red. He was sweating and barely stood. As he solved the final puzzle, he flipped the bolder off his back and crashed down to the floor. He let out a cold moan and felt his body on death's door. The sun was setting slowly and birds flew out to their nest. Hobin reached a arm out into the night sky, and let out a soft cry when heard XL's voice.
"CONGRATULATION YOU HAVE FINISHED THE FINAL PUZZLE.
QUEST HAS BEEN COMPLETED. YOU WILL NOW BEGIN A SHORT REHABILITION PROCESS AS YOU HAVE REACHED YOUR FRIAL BODY'S LIMIT.
REWARD: A FULL DAY REST.
I HAVE TO SAY. I AM VERY PROUD OF YOU…HOBIN ITOSHI".
Towards the end of the week, Hobin stood before his bathroom mirror. Staring in surprise at the sudden turn of his body. His abs were all out. Fleshy meat of his skin became a chunk of muscular tissue. His face had remodeled into perfection.
"Is this really me? Hobin asked staring at himself in the mirror. He admired his body. Running his palm softly up and down his chest. He turned, spined and gestured like a model on the runaway.
"REVIEWING PRESENT STATS:
STRENGTH: 56%. AGILITY: 69%. STAMINA: 66%. SKILL: 72%. WIT: 81%
STATUS: ABOVE WEAK.
IT IS NOT EXACTLY PERFECT, BUT NOW, YOUR BODY IS READY FOR COMBAT TRAINING".
Hobin cracked a smile "Let's do it".