A few hours later…
Jessy didn't seem to get well soon, but something strange happened.
A sudden click rang out as the overhead air conditioner shuddered to life, then stilled. The entire seventh floor exhaled a collective groan. Within minutes, the temperature climbed. What had been a comfortable 22°C felt like a smothering sauna.
Lora wiped perspiration from her forehead and tugged at her cap. The other three nurses fanned themselves with chart paper. One shrugged off her jacket, draping it over a nearby chair. Another peeled off her gloves, letting them fall to the floor. The third peeled away her coat, revealing a damp T-shirt.
He was sweating too and his temperature kept rising drastically.
He suddenly opened his eyes, for real this time he was in the real world, but didn't give any reaction, he kept looking around, but not a single muscle moved. His body covered in bandages and connected to a heart rate device.
' As expected! No way they are going to let me die. It's just too inconvenient for them also if they really wanted someone for a bodyguard position they wouldn't make everyone go into this hell… what are they trying to pull?'
He smiled a bit, knowing he survived that was until …he saw Lora, he immediately gained consciousness.
'Curses!'
Jessy's heart rate on the screen went racing!
This was the first time he had seen a girl wearing such clothes, let alone his crush!!
"Do you think he's about to leave Earth?" Said one of the nurses with a panicked voice, mistaking the sudden surge in his heart rate due to him being on the verge of death.
'FOCUS! STOP THINKING ABOUT THAT!!' Thought Jessy with his face turning bright red.
"Too bad… the poor girl will be left with no back to be against hers."
Jessy's gaze immediately turned to Lora as if piecing her soul.
He sighed deeply, leaving the beep of the monitor steady. He remembered, even bandaged and weak, he had survived worse. Actually, for some reason, he felt true terror seeing Lora like that.
'It should be a public hazard walking like that in public.... or maybe...CLEAR THOUGHTS!'
No one talked for a while.
"Jina… Is?! Goo.." The teenager tried talking, but failed.
Lora gave him a wink, then added
"Yes, don't worry about her as long as she's with me."
Relieved, Jessy nodded at her.
And you won't believe who visited her today?" Lora continued.
"…Zain? Mr.."
"Nope! It's Thomas! He kept asking about you lately in school… It's been almost a week since you last showed up."
Jessy's jaw tightened. The name opened a fresh ache in his chest.
Instead of thinking what Thomas might want from him, he thought analytically.
Shutting down his eyes, He now has enough time to formulate a plan to get out of here, but how exactly will I get out of here if this Akula guy has that contract that I signed?
'According to the contract, as far as I can remember...
You are assigned a room and clothes, you get free training, free training clothes, free food, and even free yoga classes.
Man! My life would have been way harder without these yoga classes, thank god!" Thought Jessy was hilariously laughing at himself.
But this is where the privilege ends. I can't leave this building from the moment you sign the contract, can't terminate the contract by free will, can't use any of the weapons or machines we take under the company's name for my personal use, can't refuse missions, this word actually stopped me twice while reading the clauses of the contract…yes it doesn't seem like I am going to be guarding anyone. In fact, it feels like I am going to be a hitman. This description suits better.
I can't tell anyone about what I see here what happens inside the building, or else I will have to pay for the damages that I bring to the business.'
His eyes open again, 'Is the police included in 'anyone"? Doubtful but even so…Akula must have his hooks everywhere.
'CURSES! '
However, something popped up that made Jessy frown.
[Your Codename has been assigned!]
***
Few hours passed with Jessy's body still humming with lingering pain when the doctors ordered him to lie low for four days. But rest was a lie he refused to believe.
In the cramped room he shared with one huge observer, almost sucking all Oxygen in the room by himself with each breath, the stale air felt like chains, every breath a reminder of time slipping away.
It was Reef!
He sat against the peeling wall, watching Jessy unpack a battered laptop and a metal ruler scuffed at the edges.
"You heard the doctors, didn't you?" Reef said, voice hushed, as though even the walls might tattle.
Reef was so calm that it gave Jessy chills!
'Is he going to kill me for the humiliation he suffered because of me?' Jessy thought while panicking.
"Sir, I really have to admit... umm, you should have won that fight if I didn't cheat——"
"Your fight with me was never intended to be fair from the start. I am actually thankful you didn't hit my head with the fire extinguisher, instead you went to my shoulder and knees completely immobilizing me. The actual reason for moving in with you is to make up for that favor!" Reef said.
Despite him looking big and mean, he smiled a lot. He didn't seem to hold a grudge against Jessy anymore; in fact, he wants to be friends with him.
Reef advised Jessy to take a full break for these 4 days to recover from his wounds. Yes, Jessy removed the bandages, but still his body was full of bruises.
Jessy's eyes were cold embers. "Four days to sharpen or four days to rust," he murmured in a low voice.
***
Sunlight bled through a threadbare curtain, slanting dust motes across the floor. Jessy searched the web and pressed play on fight training guides. But Jessy didn't want polish he wanted hunger.
He fast‑forwarded to the knife defenses, watching ankles twist and wrists snap as if peeling back flesh. The screen glowed with promise.
He lifted his school bag from the ground and proceeded to take out a ruler.
Yes a it's a school ruler! If someone wants to survive a place like that, he needs to take advantage of every single opportunity he has, and for Jess, 4 days were a golden ticket to get ready for what's next.
'I don't have a knife on me, but this will do.' thought Jessy, looking at the ruler on the floor.
Reef fetched a damp rag and wiped dust from the ruler. "One slip, and you might as well use your wrist," he warned.
The grey 50cm ruler was made out of metal alloy with sharp, rusty edges! It didn't have a handle, so in a way, it was actually more dangerous to train with those actual training knives.
Both hands locked on the ruler. Jessy drove it forward in explosive jabs spine rigid, core coiled like a spring. Each strike ended in a slight hiss of obsession, the ruler's point nicked the air where a foe's throat would have been.
Reef stood by, counting every tenth rep.
"Nine‑thousand nine hundred ninety‑eight… roll your shoulder, Jess."
The ruler sliced through the dim beam of afternoon light. Jessy visualized bones cleaving; the edge carved phantom wounds across his forearm. He felt each swing vibrate up his arms, blood echoing in his ears.
He began with his right elbow anchored, wrist snapping with a whispered crack. Then left, weaker, trembling. Every cut on his palm taught him the language of pain.
***
By dusk, Jessy's arms throbbed. He dropped the ruler and prowled the room's center.
"Footwork!" Shouted Reef.
Shoulders low, knees flexed, he shifted east to west, weaving through invisible blades.
His breaths came shallow, each pivot a gamble, one wrong step and he'd slam bone into floorboards.
Reef mirrored him, ghost‑like, offering insights in hushed fragments, "Pivot on the ball… keep your weight forward… eyes on the threat, not the floor."
The room felt smaller with each passing second; the walls pressed in like a coffin, suffocating him. And still, he danced.
When the final rays died, Jessy collapsed onto the ragged floorboards. He planted his hands beneath him and forced his body into motion.
500 Push‑ups. Every descent was a fight against gravity's cruel appetite. His chest skimmed the wood; his shoulders trembled at the apex.
500 Sit‑ups. curled through pain, each rise a battle to keep his head from snapping back.
2 sets of 50 Pull‑ups His fingers clawed at the ceiling beam like desperate roots. His chin crested only by fingernails, body shaking as though years of weakness rode his spine.
Reef sat cross‑legged beneath him, counting in a cadence that felt like a dirge. At rep 43, Jessy's arms crackled with fatigue. "Don't stop," Reef whispered. Jessy's throat tightened into a snarl, and he ripped himself upward seven more times.
By the end of Day One, Jessy lay splayed out, drenched in sweat and something darker, an exhilaration that tasted like iron.
Jessy sighed loudly.
'Was this enough, Miss system?'
he immediately summoned the runes
with a wide grin on his face he kept looking at them admiringly
[LVL:2]
[Daily Training Status: Done]
[Calculated EXP: 55/100]
Reef tossed him a threadbare blanket, and Jessy accepted it without thinking, eyes half‑closed, mind already racing.
"Good night… "
said Reef after a while.
Jessy although sleeping.
He responded nearly instantly.
"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"