Chapter 16

The following six days were akin to torture. Yet, no matter how hard I worked out, I felt more or less alright the next day. Was this the effect of the game, or was it good genes, and I wasn't actually bullshitting before?

After waking up, I was eating a rather heavy breakfast then going straight to the gym. Waiting for Jessie to come and instruct me on what to do.

I thought that I would do the same course of exercises, but she changed it every day.

"We need to assess different things," was what she said as I was dying on the Treadmill.

Greg caught me on one of the days and started talking that he was exercising in his youth. He was mostly doing weightlifting, and he got overly excited while talking about it, giving different tips to me.

"You should show them how our family does things. Give it your all." It was his way of cheering me up.

I didn't know if I was 'showing' anything, but the number of people watching over me increased the more tests I passed.

On the first day, there were two guys, but they left when we returned from the infirmary.

On the second day, these guys were in the gym. When I asked Jessie who they were, she told me that they were part of the team. They were resting and recovering from the recent fights. When I saw the exact manner in which they rested, I once again doubted if I chose the right path for myself.

On the third day, the number of people watching somehow increased. I remember a girl and one more guy entering the gym and walking towards the previous duo. They talked about something and looked in my direction.

On the fourth day, even more people came. When I asked Jessie if everything was alright, she told me, "If you have enough strength to talk, then do more exercises."

I couldn't ignore what happened on the fifth day as the number of people increased even more. They were cheering for me. I pressed Jessie for answers because I didn't like the attention of this crowd, and she told me. Too many times I came near breaking records. And this feat wasn't anything worth any attention unless these records were broken by a single person. As they belonged to different men and women, I was one of a kind reaching such high numbers.

I didn't know what would come out of this trial. So hearing this, I felt a wave of euphoria. I have always envied those guys in the gyms, professional athletes or fighters. How they went against all odds and won. Their feeling of hardly achieved victory. As I was rather lazy and unmotivated, the feeling of my blood boiling wasn't enough to move me.

But right now, I've had everything without training. This body was already maxed out, so all the grinding was done before me. I could get a victory depending on the strength of my willpower. And the more I got into it, the more I wanted to show them that I had the willpower.

On the sixth day, a rather small gym was packed with people who were cheering for me. I lost my shyness somewhere in the middle of this road, and I tried to give their cheering back to them. However, I wasn't able to top any record.

"You know, it would be terrible if you would gain an injury so slow down a little," Jessie probably felt how hot-blooded I was.

But I didn't listen to her advice.

On the seventh and the last day, what was waiting for me was weightlifting. Jessie told me it was to measure my actual muscle strength. Two big dudes were acting as my assistants in case something would go wrong. When I asked if I needed any helping equipment, they told me that this one didn't need it.

This day would end as all the other ones if it wasn't for the ending. I was frustrated with the way I was nearing the records but couldn't even match any of them. The last chance to do it was an overhead press with a barbell. As it was weight training, the number of my tries was limited.

My veins bulged, and I started groaning through tightly clenched teeth as I was doing my first try. It had a slightly lower weight than the record. On the second try, I asked to add more weight. Jessie protested, but she was silenced and pushed away by two big guys who added two more plates.

I was feeling that it would be easy to repeat this, but I was wrong. Two more plates that didn't even weigh as much as a large bottle of water made a huge difference. I bet my face was redder than a tomato when I was lifting it.

As I was looking around, I saw a lot of expectant eyes all around me. With one last push, I lifted it over my head and threw it down.

""YEAH!!!""

"GO FOR THE NEW RECORD!!!"

"MORE WEIGHT!!!"

The crowd broke into cheers as I managed to match the record. But I still had one more try.

"Do you want to go for a new record?"

I turned to look at the one who was talking. It was one of the big dudes that were ensuring my safety. I couldn't quite understand what was happening around me, and I looked for Jessie, but she was nowhere to be found.

Lifting it twice was hard enough. I didn't know what was harder, actual training on the first few days or this one. The first two tries completely drained my strength.

But then this feeling that was in the depth of my stomach returned to me. I think I understood what it was, dopamine and adrenaline. I wasn't sure, but the feeling of happiness was probably because of these hormones.

As my eyes grew focused, I looked into the eyes of the one who asked me.

"Yeah, I want more."

He nodded, and with the help of the other dude, two more slates were added.

I took the barbell and started getting in the proper position.

"HUP!" I lifted the barbell and placed it on my shoulders and chest muscles. I was getting even more lightheaded. I thought that I would lose consciousness at any second. I had a feeling like my muscles were tearing up while my lungs were burning. It felt like someone poured molten metal into them. While I was holding this position, the people around me turned into a blurry picture while the shouts were no longer reaching my ears.

I remembered how I asked my parents to buy me a dumbbell when I was young. But after a week or so, I forgot about them. I remembered how I gave up on studying for the best college and ended up in one with Andrew. I remembered how I liked the girl but didn’t want to change myself, thus leaving this love buried deep inside me.

All the times I gave up halfway were replaced by one of the most recent memories.

How I freaked out when I ended up in this world, how all those around me were driving me into the enclosure. Act like this guy, do what you're told. Pushing me around imposing their will on me.

One step in the right direction, one step in the left direction, is rejected. The role you should play is already determined.

"You know, when I was feeling that it was impossible to do the weight, I would roar and push every little bit of energy out of my body. It helped me a lot of times" I remembered Greg said something like this.

"UOOOOH!!!" I roared and pushed my hands. I felt something dripping from my nose. Not only my muscles but my ligaments were also stretching far more than they could while my bones started creaking.

"AAAGH!!!" Every cell in my body was screaming as I pushed the barbell higher and higher. With one last push, I lifted it up in one swift motion. I held it in the position above my head for a second or two before slamming it down.

As I didn't need to do anything anymore, I started falling down. That's when Jessie held me from behind. Where was she hiding before? My view changed from the blurry crowd to the white ceiling, then to her face. She handed a handkerchief to me as she was talking about something. I couldn’t hear her. As my sense of hearing was returning, I heard only whistling.

When Reid punched me, I was shocked. It was hard to say that he stunned me. While right now, I felt my soul leaving my body.

"Erlig, can you hear me?" as I closed and opened my eyes a few times, I finally regained my senses. Now I could see how worried Jessie was. As well as hearing the roar of the crowd cheering. Screaming that this time they found an absolute monster.

"Yeah, I'm alright." I tried to stand up but almost tumbled down. If it wasn't for the help of Jessie and that big dude, I would probably fall flat on my face.

"Patrice, why the hell did you do it?" Jessie sounded angry, to say the least.

"He wanted to do it." I heard a deep, soothing voice.

"So what? Didn't you see, he was already feeling bad enough after the second try."

"Yes, I saw it. Still, It's up to him to decide. If he wants to continue or give up." I finally managed to take a good look at him. He was a tall black guy with a short spiky haircut. He didn't look as brawny as I, but he was definitely taller than me.

"It's nice to meet you. My name is Patrice Vidal. Jessie told me that she found someone good, but I thought it was all big talk," he extended his hand for a handshake.

"Erlig, Erlig Grimes." as we shook our hands, he flashed me a smile.

"At first, I looked at you and thought you were so-so, but after seeing your results, you proved me wrong. Especially with the strength of your spirit." He looked not so nice and kind, but the way he spoke was notably gentle and amiable.

"What about them?"

"Gosh, you long ago made a new record by gaining constantly good results. Even without this stunt you did, you would pass the trial with distinction." Jessie was still fussing over the thing I did.

Nevertheless, it felt great to do it. I started laughing at all the things that happened these days. The thing that was dripping from my nose turned out to be blood, so Jessie insisted on going to the infirmary. I've probably been there more times than in my whole previous life. After a thorough checkup, they told me that everything was alright.

As I rested while they looked at me over, I reassured Jessie that everything was alright. After all, the healing capabilities of this body were top-notch.

I insisted that I was alright and wanted some time alone. After that, Jessie gave me a long lecture stating that I should visit the gym tomorrow and be careful. Saying my goodbyes to everyone, I started walking home.

I plugged in my earphones and started listening to some music. I was feeling great. The way I handled this last test and apparently passed the trial was a good sign. While the things that emerged from the depth of my consciousness were not so good. I didn't know whose feeling it was or why I thought like that. If I got some spare money, I should probably visit the professional.

I was standing on the crossroad while waiting for the traffic lights to change colors. There was a rather large group of men looking unappealing. I saw groups like that every day when I was going to college in my previous life, but this particular group somehow caught my attention.

They had more people than a team of football players. And the way they looked smelled like trouble. Some of them even had bandanas hiding their faces.

I started feeling nervous while looking at them and decided to go around them. That was until they started pointing in my direction. While a few of them were pointing in my direction, the one that looked bigger than the rest took out his phone.

I heard a whistle from their side of the road through my earphones. A second later, they were already running in my direction.

"CATCH HIM FIRST!"

What the fuck this was?

One more second later, I was running away from them. I didn't even know why I started running. If it was a usual situation, I would first talk to them. But my legs started running before I could think. I heard cars screeching, even through the music.

One of my earphones was unplugged because I was running fast. And I started hearing what they were shouting much better.

"STOP BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!"

"THROW SOMETHING AT HIM!"

"CIRCLE HIM!"

FUCK!

I turned my head backward while running on the absurdly wide street and saw a big group of thugs running after me. They didn't stop even if there were people in front of them. Shoving everyone who was in front, they tried to catch me. Luckily, the distance between us was slowly growing because I was faster.

That was when someone threw a rock or a brick at me. As I tried to dodge it, I didn't manage to spot a step in the road and fell down, rolling on the ground.

I hastily stood up and looked at the crowd that started hurling everything they could at me while the rest of them almost caught up to me.

FUCK!!! SHIT!!!

I didn't know what to do. If I was hit by the things they threw at me, I would probably be done for. What to do?

As I once again started running, I saw a narrow branching of this street. So I turned and started running there. If I enter a small, narrow street, they won't be able to run after me with the whole crowd, thus losing some of their men.

"FUCK, CIRCLE HIM AROUND!!! THE REST ARE TO GO WITH ME!"

I heard the voice that issued an order to catch me shouting again.

This side street was tight as well as curving and turning all the time. I don't know how many times I shifted directions.

As I looked sideways through the passages I was running by, I saw another group, besides the one behind me. These ones were running alongside me.

DAMN! WHAT TO DO?! FUCK!!! I still didn’t manage to recover from the trial, and my muscles started hurting like hell.

As I was running here and there, I completely lost track of where I was.

FUCK ME!

That was when I ran into the wall.

It was a dead end. I heard the sound of countless shoes as well as shouting. Fuck it! I dropped my bag and saw a trash bin. Using it as a trampoline, I somehow managed to grab the edge of the wall.

"AAARGH!!!" If breaking the record was tough to do, right now, this pull-up felt as if the weight of the whole earth was on my back.

"FUCK, DON'T LET HIM CLIMB OVER."

I felt a dull pain resounding in my back. They were probably throwing something at me.

I felt how one of them caught my leg. As I looked down, the guy who caught me was smiling.

"LET! ME! GO!" I hit him with the other leg knocking him down. I felt the biggest outburst of strength so far as I finally climbed the wall in a swift motion. I fell down on the other side of this wall.

Landing on my legs was probably a bad idea. They were now hurting like hell. As I looked around, I didn't see anyone near me, but I saw my bag. I didn't have any time to think about why it ended up here. I grabbed the bag and started running in what felt like the opposite direction of this gang.

I saw how this tight, tunnel-like alleyway finally widened. But what terrified me was that a guy was standing in front, and he looked like he belonged to the same gang.