[6] Missions And Rewards!

So Sunday morning came and the weather was surprisingly good.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky which was unbelievable for UK weather...

I didn't have anything to do until around 11 am when I planned to head to the boxing gym but then my leisurely day plan went straight to hell. As I was tucking into my breakfast and watching soccer AM.

The devil came calling!

[Morning sunshine, wakey wakey, rise and shine... GET THE F*CK UP!]

Yep, the system started talking once again. Which I was starting to grow an annoyance towards.

"Hey system, Is there a mute button for you?"

[Host...]

[Do you not like me? Sad emoji!]

I'm not kidding, the system wrote 'sad emoji' instead of using an emoji.

I have a 40-year-old, wannabe cool dad, in my head.

Back to the plotline.

The system basically started bugging me because of a feature to the system, missions!

Missions entailed completing certain objectives, as you could imagine, for a reward.

It wasn't necessarily overpowered or anything special but the reward was quite eye-catching and definitely worthwhile.

[Mission: Complete daily exercise routine for 30 days (1 month)]

[Reward: Complete knowledge of professional boxing rules and regulations!]

[Daily workout]

[1.5 Mile Run]

[50 sit-ups ]

[50 crunches ]

[50 push-ups ]

[Good luck!]

When I say that this was worthwhile, it absolutely was. In my previous life, as a watcher of mainstream fights, I didn't have all too much knowledge of how the scoring of a fight was dealt with. In fact, I only really knew someone was winning when they looked like they were landing more punches.

And since the system used the word 'complete', it meant that come a month's time, there would be nobody that could challenge my knowledge of the scoring system in boxing.

Even at a professional level.

And for someone with a lazy mentality like the current me, this was a huge, huge win.

As for the exercise routine, I knew it was going to be hard starting out, the current me was a twig with little meat on my bones. Picture a skeleton but make it handsome. That said, compared to the old me, it was more than possible to achieve.

"This time around, I don't plan on getting fat, I will look after my body and treat it with some basic respect at the very least... Even if that means not touching crappy food." A resolute expression found its way onto Ryan's face.

So with that thought in mind, I started the long journey ahead with 50 situps.

Since the younger me had been playing football, the start wasn't that difficult.

5 situps... Done.

10 situps... Done.

15 situps... Done.

Then I hit a wall around number 18, my stomach was burning and the strength in my legs was beginning to give way.

"Ho, that's definitely something... Come on one more..." Ryan spoke out loud trying to hype himself up to get one or two more. After all, 20 sounded better than 18.

19... Done. Ryan's face had turned completely red and the vein on his forehead was bulging.

"On... One more!"

20!

"Haaaaah!" Ryan exhaled, "This is going to take a while, I still have to go to the gym soon as well, if I turn up crippled what will that old geezer think?"

"He'll probably throw me out!"

Reaching such a realisation, Ryan switched to push-ups. And just like the sit-ups, he was unable to complete anywhere near 50 in a row. He didn't expect that either since that would just be unrealistic.

But when he was struggling to get past 12, he kinda felt bad about how feeble he was.

"When you think that I can only barely lower myself and raise myself a whole 12 times, it's quite embarrassing. Still... I shouldn't get worked up about it, I'm still able to do a whole 12 more than my previous life." He smiled as he mocked himself.

"Now then, crunches."

Crunches were surprisingly the best out of all 3 exercises. He did a whole 24 before he was unable to sit up for a few minutes. Forcing himself to stare at the ceiling, regretting his choices.

He also decided that he would do this workout before his breakfast in the future, since now, after just eating his stomach was feeling slightly out of it.

He rested for half an hour and strength came back to him, enough to get up and walk around the house.

His siblings were doing their own things and his mother was in the garden relaxing for once so he didn't bother her, "Time to go to the gym then."

His clothes were old but he had plenty of football strips and shorts suitable for working out in and since it had been a while since he had worn a Newcastle strip, he wasn't going to miss the chance to show off his home team.

Skip to the arrival of the boxing gym...

Since I had been 'officially' accepted by the old geezer yesterday, I didn't bother being shy and entered the gym straight away. To only be met with surprise.

It was clear and tidy.

Yesterday, it was covered in dust and dirt but today it looked like a fully functioning gym that had just opened. It wasn't anything special like the back garden, it was just mainly matted flooring but it was enough to be classed as 'Professional'.

"So you're finally here then brat." A voice came from the backroom waking Ryan up from his shock.

"You cleaned?" Ryan asked with curiosity, after all, he didn't know what the old geezer had in mind for his training, was he going to use this room for something.

"It was always clean?" Big Brian replied with a hint of confusion in his voice but then he carried on in a hurried manner. "Anyway, we have no time for all of that, you do still want to train don't you."

"Huh? Yeah, why are we still talking about this."

"Good, follow me..."

The both of them went out to the garden but this time they carried on walking off to the side on the left. It had an opening with a regular boxing bag. Ryan would later find this to be called a traditional heavy style boxing bag.

The geezer watched me wrap my hands like he taught me yesterday and tightened them properly so I didn't hurt myself, then I slipped on some gloves.

"Warm up by punching this bag just like yesterday, 300 times." Brian spoke nonchalantly as he turned and left going back inside but not before he added something, "Only when you finish will we carry on with training. It's up to you how much effort you put in."

'Hah? this is a warm-up?' As Ryan was about to start complaining like usual.

*Ding*

[Mission Received!]

[Compelte 300 warm-up sets of basic punches...]

[Requirement: Correct form.]

"I received a mission?" Ryan muttered to himself.

Shoot I shouldn't talk out loud, the geezer might hear me and think I'm insane.

[Host, as you have been picked by the system, you are destined to be the greatest.]

[In order for you to not disappoint the system, please strive to do better than the guideline for the mission.]

[Reward: ???]

There's a reward?

Hehehe...

That was pretty much all that I had to see, I started punching like I'd been possessed by a ghost.

The sound of gloves hitting the heavy bag sounded out in the quiet garden.

They started off out of time but after 20 or so sets, they fell into a rhythm.

Whoosh* Pap*

I was regretting my decision to do push-ups before this but knowing I was getting a reward I pushed through the fatigue.

"Breath, you're not breathing properly!" The geezer's voice sounded out from just over my shoulder.

If you carry on as soon as you reach just less than a hundred punches you will pass out from sudden dizziness.

"Breath out when you strike a punch and breath in when you pull your hands back to defend. It sounds simple but if you don't do it every time, you'll fall into a habit of never doing it."

Surprisingly, the old fogey's advice worked wonders. I found myself being able to control my rhythm better as well. I was just focusing on catching my breath and could focus more on my form.

It took me around 15 minutes to throw 300 sets of punches which were actually unbelievable. Considering I had to catch my breath after every 100 sets. The last 100 made me feel like I was going to vomit but I pushed through it.

Only to get ice cold water poured on my excitement of finishing.

"That was just a warm-up, why are you so happy?"

But big Brian wouldn't understand, I had just completed my first ever mission by the system.

[Mission successful!]

[Reward: Refresh of life energy!]

Almost immediately, I felt a warm current pulsing throughout all of my tired limbs, my legs, my arms, and my back. It didn't stop there it flowed through my blood and my organs.

I felt like I had just slept for 12 hours.

This was great, even all my muscle soreness from my early workout was gone.

I can train harder!