Walking the familiar boulevard once more, Aisaka Noya could already see the training grounds up ahead. Taking advantage of the quiet stretch of road, he opened his system's mall panel.
[You have selected: "Six Styles – Paper Art Skill Scroll (Intermediate Level)" and "Body Technique Training Acceleration Card (7 Days)". Total cost: 1200 points. Confirm purchase?]
He tapped "Yes" without hesitation.
A notification window blinked across his vision — Exchange Successful.The Intermediate Paper Art skill had been learned instantly, while the Training Acceleration Card appeared in his inventory, waiting for manual activation.
"So, skills can't be stored for later," Noya mused, scratching his chin. "But items can. I should grab the other props first and stash them in my backpack for when I need them."
After sorting that out, he focused on the basic attribute menu. Each stat had a small "+" beside it — just like the RPGs he used to play in his past life. The familiarity brought a faint smile to his face.
Intelligence and Charisma both cost way too many points to upgrade right now — completely out of reach.
That left Strength, Agility, and Endurance.
He stared at them for a long moment, torn between the three. Finally, he made up his mind. Using all 4,000 points he'd earned from Berumere's "ambiguous relationship reward," he hit the "+" sign next to Endurance twice in a row.
The reasoning was simple. He was still in the stage of closed-door training — pushing his limits day after day. A stronger body meant more stamina, more recovery, more time to keep training long after everyone else collapsed.
Combined with the Training Acceleration Card, it was a perfect match.
And endurance boosts, unlike strength or agility, were subtle. No one would question why he suddenly looked superhuman overnight.
Watching his Endurance rise from 9 → 11, Noya suddenly felt warmth spreading through his body — like heat surging in his blood, pulsing through his organs and veins.
"…Huh?"
He flexed his joints. The fatigue that had been clinging to him after an entire day of brutal training… was gone. He actually felt refreshed, as if he could keep going till sunrise without even slowing down.
"At least fifty percent stronger than before," he murmured, grinning. His mood soared.
He'd always had a gifted physique. Even among the headquarters' elite camp, his endurance ranked near the top — that's what allowed him to train alone at night after everyone else had dropped out.
But now? With two more points added, he was confident. Out of all 200+ trainees in the elite camp, no one could outlast him anymore.
"If I keep focusing on endurance," he laughed to himself, "I'll end up like some kind of monster — tougher than that rubber idiot Luffy!"
He chuckled, imagining it. "Picture this: I bump into Kaido someday, shout that I'm going to be King of the Navy. He gets pissed, swings his thunder club, and—bam! I'm still standing. He hits me again, and I'm still alive! That'd freak him out, right?"
The image made him grin wider.
Of course, he knew it was just a passing fantasy. If he kept leveling only endurance, the point cost would eventually skyrocket. He'd have to start balancing with strength and agility soon enough.
By then, the boulevard had ended. The training ground loomed ahead.
Noya opened his backpack, activated the Training Acceleration Card, and stepped inside.
The night wasn't pleasant — clouds blanketed the sky, snuffing out the stars. But the few lampposts scattered around the field cast enough light to see by.
Several silhouettes were already there, pushing themselves through drills. These were the real diehards of the elite camp — the ones who trained even after Zefa's grueling daily regimen.
After all, the official training alone was brutal enough. Most people were too exhausted by sunset to even move, let alone keep going through the night.
Noya found a quiet corner, shrugged off his coat, hung it on a fence post, and took a deep breath. Then he started jogging the perimeter.
The camp's training field stretched about 500 meters end-to-end. For a normal soldier, thirty or forty laps would be a half-day's work — enough to drop them flat and gasping for air.
Noya's warm-up? One hundred laps.
By the time he finished — nearly ninety minutes later — he was drenched in sweat. But he only took a few sips of water, rested for a minute or two, and jumped straight into his next set: strength training.
First exercise: one-handed push-ups. Goal — five thousand reps.
Every thousand reps, he switched his angles and posture to hit different muscle groups — arms, core, abs — keeping the strain balanced and the burn alive. The smell of sweat mixed with the raw scent of effort and iron will.
"Four thousand six hundred and one… four thousand six hundred and two…"
Sweat dripped from his chin, darkening the ground below. Every muscle in his body was drawn tight as a bowstring. His breaths came deep and even — powerful, controlled.
The difference was undeniable.
Before tonight, even at his best, he'd be gasping for air toward the end of his regimen, his muscles screaming in protest, his body threatening to collapse at any second.
But now? Even after a full day's training, his stamina was steady. His breathing never faltered.
"It's not just endurance," he realized between sets, eyes burning with excitement. "It's like my body's evolved — the way it recovers, the way it handles strain…"
He clenched his jaw. "Alright, let's see how far we can push this."
Past 5,000 reps, the familiar ache and pressure began to mount again. Pain rolled in waves through his arms and chest. But Noya gritted his teeth, refusing to stop.
There are three stages of pain, he reminded himself.First, you feel the pain.Then, you accept it.And finally — you understand it.
But he'd already gone beyond that.
He didn't just endure pain — he enjoyed it.
"Six thousand nine hundred thirty-five… six thousand nine hundred thirty-six…"
By the time the counter hit seven thousand, his arm finally gave out. His body slumped forward, collapsing onto the mat with a dull thud.
"Haah… haah… haah…"
Then he smiled. "That… felt amazing."
His limbs trembled too much to stand, so he rolled onto his back and lay there in a big X, staring up at the black sky above.
No system chime this time — but he didn't need one. He could feel it. The Training Acceleration Card had doubled his progress.
If he kept this up for a week straight, he could probably reach the same results that used to take two months.
For the first time, he felt the wall holding him back start to crack — the limits of his body loosening, ready to be broken through.
It took a long time before he managed to sit up again.
His wrist ached as he rubbed it absently, still lost in thought.
Maybe I should test the new Paper Art skill next, he thought, pushing himself up from the ground—
—when he suddenly noticed a slender figure approaching him under the dim glow of the streetlamp.
She hesitated for a moment, then walked straight toward him.