“Huh? Lose consciousness?” Suddenly Ken began to have a bad feeling. But that was quickly pushed to the back of his mind as he thought about the benefits of consuming such Elixirs.
“I’m going to bed anyways, so I may as well just use it.” This was his reasoning as he quickly checked his alarm was set for 5am and crawled into bed with his covers pulled up.
[Are you sure you wish to consume: C-grade balance and Coordination Elixir?]
[Yes/No]
Ken clicked yes without any hesitation, waiting for the system to do its thing.
Yet even after a few minutes, Ken felt nothing.
“Huh? Did it not work?” He sat up and was about to open up the system interface before he suddenly felt a bout of nausea make his vision swim. It was as if he was in rough and raging seas out in the middle of the ocean with the way his stomach began to turn.
Ken was contemplating looking for somewhere to spew until he suddenly lost consciousness and fell back onto his pillow.
***
The next morning, Ken woke up to the sound of his alarm blaring. Out of habit, he sat up and turned it off before heading over to his closet to get changed.
In his zombified state, there was nothing but the discipline he had now ingrained into his body. This continued until he was about to walk down the stairs, when he received a notification.
*DING*
YOU HAVE PENDING MISSIONS AND NOTIFICATIONS – WOULD YOU LIKE TO VIEW THEM NOW?
“Ah.” Ken finally felt his memory return to him in his drowsy state. He quickly walked back into his room to check them out with the few minutes he had left before meeting up with Daichi this morning.
[You have consumed: C-grade Balance and Coordination Elixir.]
[Balance and Coordination grade has been increased by 3!]
PHYSICAL FITNESS: (Avg. C-)
Balance and Coordination: C
Agility: D+
Strength: C-
Stamina: C-
‘Holy crap! A C-grade Elixir increased my grade by 3!?’ Ken gawked at the notification in awe, feeling as if he had hit the jackpot.
Although his expression reverted back to normal after he remembered that it was not a fixed amount. The description of the Elixir said that it would increase the grade depending on what his current grading was.
The reason he had jumped up 3 entire grades was probably because his Balance and Coordination was so low to begin with.
While this was the case, it still put him in a great mood. He quickly opened up the missions tab, only for a smile to form on his face.
MISSIONS:
#NEW MISSION: Get into shape (progressive overload) – Weekly
*Task 1: Run 11km a day
*Task 2: Complete 130 sit-ups a day
*Task 3: Complete 80 push-ups a day
*Task 4: Complete flexibility enhancing regime every day
***
REWARDS:
>C-grade random elixir
>Bronze tier Lottery ticket
>5 Major points
PUNISHMENT: (In case of failure)
>Loss of Major League System
>Life of Mediocrity
[ACCEPT: YES/NO]
He noticed that his tasks had been made more difficult, likely as a result of his increased fitness. Unfortunately the rewards and punishments remained unchanged, but at least he was confident of achieving these harder tasks.
Without taking a second look he hit the yes button and headed down the stairs. Ken wasn’t sure if he was imagining things, but it felt like he could traverse the stairs a lot easier.
“Morning mom!” Ken called out in a chipper tone.
“Morning Kenny. Will your friend be joining us again for breakfast?” She asked, sipping her morning coffee.
“I think so, just make some extra in case. If he doesn’t show up then I’ll eat his share!” He said with a smile.
“I’ll be leaving.” He said after putting his runners on.
“Take care.”
Ken once again found Diachi waiting at the same spot as last time. This time however, he didn’t look so tired.
“Ready to go?” Ken asked with a smile.
Daichi gave a thumbs up before they both began their morning run. Despite it only being his 2nd day alongside Ken, Daichi did a whole lot better than yesterday.
Ken could not explain it. It was like he had almost double the energy reserves as the day prior.
A thought seemed to be nagging at him while he ran, however he decided not to confront Daichi about it, as it was none of his business.
The only thing that had changed between yesterday and today was that he had been fed breakfast and dinner by his mom. Ken wasn’t so sure what circumstances his friend lived with at home, but could it be possible that Daichi was not being fed properly for whatever reason?
Ken frowned as the thought continued to nag at him. The fact that Daichi only ever had noodles or day-old rice for lunch every day seemed like another piece of evidence to back up his theory.
After running the entire 11km without a break, the two arrived back at the corner after a bit more than an hour. The two were out of breath, but Ken still managed to tell his friend to meet for breakfast in 30 minutes.
“I’m home.” Ken said, feeling the beads of sweat rolling down his body as he took off his shoes.
“Welcome home son.” A deep voice spoke out to him in English, almost causing him to jump in fright.
“Dad!” Ken froze on the spot and looked upon his father who was clearly mixed-race. His curly brown hair, chiseled jaw and tall stature would stick out within the crowd.
He felt his eyes moisten as this was the first time he had seen his father in this life. His heart was filled with regret from how he had treated him in the past, dredging up emotions from the depths of his psyche.
Before he knew it, he ran towards his dad and hugged him tightly, forgetting that he was drenched in sweat.
Chris Takagi was shocked and taken aback by the sudden situation. He couldn’t remember the last time that his son had hugged him, especially since his job had forced him to stay away for long periods of time.
Suddenly, Ken’s dad felt a stinging in his eyes. He felt as if that little boy who had idolized him as a child had returned, the one who would follow him around and ask him to play catch everyday.
Before he turned into a teenager and became cold and distant.
“Welcome home Dad.” Ken’s muffled voice sounded out, causing the last shred of self restraint to collapse in his father.
Chris knelt down and hugged his son back, tears flowing down his face unabashedly. Now that his son had returned to him, he would do his best not to let him down.