I opened the room door and saw Kad, Giel, Has and Lasa scattered across the floor. Everyone looked bored. I sat down in the middle of the room and started.
Ninety five out of five hundred push ups.
One hundred three out of five hundred.
My body was already burning. I had done some this morning. I told myself I would do twenty more tonight and that would be enough. Tonight would be the first of five nights without sleep. I had a fight set for one month from now with the SSS rank. I had to show Reg I was not someone to be laughed at.
We just finished midday training and we would not be called again for hours. The base was supposed to play hide and seek tonight. The rule was brutal: whoever gets found must fight the seeker. I forced out a few more push ups.
One hundred nine out of five hundred.
I collapsed. No more for today. My whole body ached. I sat on my bed and talked to Lasa, who was lying beside me.
"Everything okay?" I asked.
She smiled. "Yeah. You?"
"Just working hard. I have a fight in a month."
Giel sat bolt upright. "You what? No way. Why are you telling us this now?"
I laughed. "I forgot. I am doing a quest. Two hundred kilometer run. Five nights without sleep. Five hundred push ups."
Lasa hugged me. "You can do it, Mike."
Her words warmed me. I blushed.
A few hours later the loudspeaker announced, "The hide and seek game has begun."
I was a seeker. Kad was supposed to be a seeker too, but when I opened a locker someone fell out. Kad. He had forgotten he was supposed to be seeking.
"You are a seeker, why are you hiding?" I asked.
Kad looked sheepish. "I forgot."
I sighed. We kept searching.
The wolf voice sounded in my head. Turn off that ugly flashlight, it told me. I clicked my light off. In the dark I saw better than ever. No one could see us.
I moved like a shadow. When I grabbed a hider I finished it quickly. One knocked out, two points for Kad and one for me. Has and a seeker collided later. Light magic and fire clashed, but Has won. The rest of the night was boring. Most of my friends were not found.
I slept one last time before I started the five night run. At dawn I was up and pushing again.
One hundred eighty nine out of five hundred.
It felt easier than yesterday. The wolves helped me escape the base. They bit a hole in the perimeter wire and I slipped through. I left a note for the commanders — family emergency, needed elsewhere. Then I began to run.
Five kilometers. Ten. The kilometers stacked into hundreds. The first three days gave me a hundred eighty kilometers. I kept pushing. Four hundred eighty out of five hundred push ups completed. I had stayed awake three out of five nights so far. My speed felt superhuman, but every step cost sleep and bone.
I rested on a bench, not to sleep, but to keep doing push ups. Five hundred out of five hundred. The first task complete.
Two hundred kilometers run finished. Midnight arrived and I forced myself to stay awake. Five nights without sleep done. When I accepted the reward an aura wrapped around me. Pain tore through my bones until I screamed. The system updated me.
Reward Level Forty accepted.
Status update: Trainer evolved to Wolf.
New skill unlocked: Wolf Strike with your wolves.
I returned to base exhausted, met by commanders who scolded me for leaving. They warned me not to do anything like that again for the next two years. I had no parents anyway. I had become stronger.
Time moved on. One month later I was level forty two. Training had become brutally hard. At eight in the evening the system pinged a new quest.
Quest: The SSS Battle
Defeat Player Adler 0 of 1
Reg. Adler. The arrogant water mage who had set the match for one month from now. So he was a player too. My jaw tightened. If Reg was one of the players then I could not afford to stop. I had to climb higher, harder, faster.
I opened the system and stared at the name on the screen. Player Adler.
The arena roared with noise.
Crowds filled every seat, voices blending into one heavy storm of sound.
The betting boards flashed—98% on Reg, 2% on me.
That 2% was my friends: Has, Giel, Lasa, Kad, and Baz.
They believed in me when no one else did.
Reg strutted into the ring like a king.
He grabbed the microphone and grinned, his voice echoing through the arena.
"HELLOOO MY FAAANS! Do you want to see what an SSS rank can dooo?! Then watch now!"
From his hands, water spun into a sphere—smooth, deadly, perfect.
He tossed it above me and let it drop.
It exploded on impact.
Cold drenched me.
The crowd laughed.
I stood there dripping, fists trembling.
I wanted to hit him. Hard.
But not yet.
"Fighters," a commander announced.
"Please, into the ring."
We faced each other in silence.
The tension felt like the air itself would shatter.
"GO!"
The alarm blared—signal to start.
We lunged.
Our hands locked, power clashing midair.
I twisted, aimed for the ground, and threw him.
He should've hit the floor—but his water caught him like a cushion.
Then the stream turned into a whip.
Too fast to dodge.
It hit me square in the chest.
I flew backward and hit the ground hard.
One day earlier.
"Baz?" I whispered in the dark. "I'm going to rank myself now. Will you come with me?"
No answer. Baz was asleep.
So I went alone.
The ranking room was cold. The stone glowed faintly in my hand. I pressed it to the scanner.
…SS.
"You are an SS rank—but a very strong one. Too bad. Almost SSS."
Almost.
But not enough.
I clenched my fist.
Baz used to outrank me.
Now I'd surpassed him.
But still, it wasn't enough.
Back in the present.
Reg laughed. "What's wrong, wolf-boy? Out of tricks already?"
I wiped the blood from my lip. "REG, YOU ARROGANT PIG! YOU DON'T DESERVE SSS RANK!"
I charged.
"WOLFFF STRIKEEEE!"
Reg sidestepped—barely. Then his fist connected. Once, twice, three times in the stomach.
Then a final hit to the face.
I hit the ground, gasping.
He grabbed my leg, lifted me high, and slammed me down with all his strength.
The ground cracked beneath me.
"MIKEEE!" Lasa screamed from the stands.
Her voice snapped me awake.
I pushed up, laughing through the pain.
"HAHAHA! IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT AS AN SSS RANK?!"
I wiped my nose, crouched low, and dashed faster than ever.
A blur of gray light.
"WOLF STRIKE!"
My fist connected.
Reg slammed into the arena wall, breaking through it—but he climbed back in, laughing.
Then came the flood.
A tidal wave of water tore through the arena.
Spectators screamed as they were washed away.
Reg's laughter echoed through the chaos.
"Mike! Haha! You're so weak! I'm going to destroy you!"
He ran toward me, water swirling around him.
I whispered something under my breath.
He froze mid-stride.
His eyes widened.
"W-what did you just say?"
I met his stare.
"Stop, Player Adler."
He stumbled back. "What? How… how do you know that name?"
I didn't answer.
I moved.
Wolf Strike!
Reg flew upward. I followed, kicking midair—
But he caught my leg.
Then came the barrage.
Six hits to the stomach.
Four to the face.
Lightning-fast.
I hit the wall. It broke.
The next wave swallowed me whole.
When the water settled, I was still there—barely breathing.
Reg walked up slowly.
"Mike… Mike… Mike."
He pressed his boot on my hand. I felt the bones crack.
I screamed.
"Tell me," Reg hissed, "how do you know I'm Player Adler?"
Then something inside me snapped.
My left eye glowed crimson.
My right hand—still free—morphed, claws of gray energy stretching out.
Reg realized too late—he was still holding that arm.
I drove my claw straight into his stomach.
Blood splattered across the floor.
"M-Mike? What… what is this?"
Behind me, voices gasped.
I turned—Lasa, Giel, and Kad stood at the entrance, faces pale.
Lasa whispered, "M-Mike… what are you doing?"
I pulled my claw free. The glow faded. My hand returned to normal.
Reg's eyes went dark.
He roared and kicked me with all his strength.
I flew through the wall and into the rubble.
"Weakling," he spat, blood dripping from his mouth.
"NOOO!" Giel shouted, running to the debris, digging through to find me.
Kad and Lasa stood their ground, staring at Reg.
"You lunatic!" Lasa cried.
Reg wiped the blood from his lips and smiled darkly.
A cold, mechanical voice echoed in his mind.
Hello, Player Adler.
New quest received:
Kill Player Wolf (0/1)
Reward: Level up to 55.
Reg's face went pale.
"H-how did y-you—" He coughed blood.
Then he whispered, staring into the smoke and rubble.
"You're a player too… aren't you?"