N

The next morning woke the duo the same as before, with an alarm. "Rise and shine kiddos," Seargent Ruff yelled. "Today is going to be a good day."

"Why is that?" Yin Peng stupidly questioned, though to be fair he really didn't know.

Ruff smiled ominously. "Because today is speed squatting day. Let me explain. Today is the day you do squats. However, because you are already almost thin, and we need to build muscle fast, the system direly needs to give you some extra motivation." He gestured to Shadow briefly, before moving on. "Twenty-five squats, ten seconds per squat, and any time you do anything wrong, your 'friend' over here gets some skin ripped off."

Shadow paled, and Yin Peng gulped, not prepared for this new condition, as he had thought he put in enough effort the day before. Still, he looked at himself for a moment, really looked, and realized he had actually got so much thinner! Gone was the plump belly, fat legs, and overly flabby face! 'This isn't so bad,' thought Yin Peng, who had hated being fat. 'All I have to do is twenty-five squats correctly in a row, and then even Shadow doesn't get hurt.'

This was easier said, well thought, then done, however. The timer started, and Yin Peng had thought he had done one correctly, but Shadow's screams resounded through the room saying otherwise.

"Go down farther," barked Ruff. "Go down as far as you can, or she gets hurt."

Yin Peng didn't even have time to look at the pitiful Shadow, he only had ten seconds for each one. He strained himself, going down as far as he could, and still the screams of Shadow could be heard.

"Farther!"

"I'm fucking trying," Yin Peng angrily responded, which earned him another shrill scream. And so on and on this went, all the way up until Yin Peng finally completed twenty-five squats, and Shadow almost didn't look human.

"There, I did it you fuckers," Yin Peng gasped out, completely worn.

"Yes, you did. However, the system doesn't appreciate profanity, so now you two get to finish out the day with a ten-kilometer run, no healing, and no stopping either, we have electric shocks here too." Right after Ruff said that a track appeared in the room out of nowhere, stunning the two young ones, as it just appeared way too quickly.

"Alright, you better get going, you'll be shocked in ten seconds."

"Wait what?" Neither Yin Peng nor Shadow knew what to do. After all, Shadow wasn't in the best state, her blood was dripping out from multiple places, and barely any skin was left on her. Her eyes were also gone, and Yin Peng honestly had to give her some credit for having the will to stay conscious. He knew he wouldn't be awake if it were him, so he definitely didn't think she would be able to run for ten kilometers. Hell, could she even watch?

BZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Without warning, then ten seconds were up, and the two were shocked, literally. "AAAAAAGHhh!!" Shadow screeched so loud that even Seargent Ruff winced, albeit only a little. Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, Shadow began moving. Little by little, she lifted herself from the ground she had collapsed onto and stumbled around the track.

"Holy Shit!" Yin Peng might have been a little too surprised, as he had forgotten that this was a punishment for cussing at the system. Ruff just looked at him, which was confusing until he was shocked into realizing he needed to get going. This also allowed him to figure out that when one of them stops moving, they both get punished, so they would need to be helping each other the whole time.

Yin Peng, dissatisfied but unable to do anything in this hell, sighed and caught up to Shadow before slowing down to run beside Shadow, supporting her when needed. While running he decided to think in order to distract himself.

'So I was forced into the military and was experimented on. After enduring that torture, I was somehow transported here after being beaten by the head scientist and immediately found myself in a random house. Not even a minute later, I had to deal with shots from right outside my window, and got to personally witness a killing that happened for no reason.

Then for the next little bit, I stockpiled my resources, scoured the house, and familiarized myself with my pitiful defense. Next thing I know, an unfamiliar person waltzes into my house, searches it and threatens me at gunpoint. Then I'm forced to play a game of cards, and was told it was magic or talent or whatever, and that my luck was heaven-defying, after which I then summon a cat that can heal people.

So then I'm now quote-unquote friends with this person who introduces herself as Shadow, and right as I think I'm good for a bit, some sort of army comes around. The army forces myself and Shadow to hide, and I end up killing someone as we try to escape from some underground shagpad.

We finally escape from the soldiers, only to find ourselves in a weird-ass room with a psycho dog-man who has a fetish for torture. I'm forced to do intense exercises no one in their right minds would even think of doing, and Shadow gets tortured to the point of mental breakdown. I'm considerably mad by then, and to vent I use a bit of profanity which pisses off the system, that I have no idea what is, and now we're being forced to run ten kilometers exhausted and hurt, with no healing allowed. What kind of bullshit is this?'

It was considerable that Yin Peng would be angry, after all, nobody would truly want to be tortured without some motivation. Still, as he observed his changed, and still changing, body, he couldn't help but feel conflicted. His body was not fat anymore, in fact it was starting to become skinny which confused him. His muscles and skin seemed to have started receding into his bones, yet he felt so much stronger every time he woke up, which was really confusing.

Had he thought to ask about, Seargent Ruff could've actually given him an explanation to this. The room they were in was actually a separate conscious, and it was called the System. The System seemed horrible at first, yet the effects it brought were astronomical. As the space they were in was filled with a type of energy called N, their bodies were nourished, and so were their innate talents. Yin Peng, of course, didn't know this, but Innate Talents were quite similar to ancient Chinese cultivation. This space simply exhausted their body and tortured their minds, all just to make sure they could receive the most nourishment and improvement.

Six hours passed, and the two finally finished the run, after getting shocked numerous times due to careless mistakes and exhaustion. Shadow immediately collapsed to the floor, and Yin Peng, even though he was also exhausted, still summoned Lulu to heal both of them. Seargent Ruff didn't appear this time, but two separate doors that led to bathrooms appeared. Yin Peng dragged Shadow, who was exhausted, into one before collapsing into one himself. Just before his consciousness faded, he dragged himself into a huge tub and turned on the water.