The Run II

Kai's mouth opened, but no words came out. His face burned with a deep red flush, and his thoughts scrambled for something—anything—to say to lessen how bad the situation looked for him.

'I'm sorry?'

'It was an accident?'

There were so many ways he could go about this, yet every single one sounded like the worst possible thing to say.

But what truly made his situation unbearable was the fact that his hands were still on her breasts. Worse, his fingers were still giving small, involuntary squeezes.

She returned her gaze to him, still gazing into his eyes with awe.

'Shit! Why am I still squeezing?! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!' he cursed internally.

'I need to say something—anything! C'mon Kai! Think...And why the hell am I still fondling her?!!'

His hands felt frozen in place, completely disconnected from his brain. He needed to say something before things escalated beyond repair. A simple apology. A genuine explanation. Anything would be better than silence.

And then, summoning every ounce of courage, he finally spoke.

"Ehh... yo-you've got really nice boobs..."

The world fell into a heavy silence and his conscience froze. The girl in front of him stared, her purple hair framing her wide-eyed, mortified expression.

'W-w-what the fuck did I just say?!' His thoughts screamed in horror, almost melting his skin with the heat of embarrassment.

'That's it. I'm dead. I'm a goner—'

At that point, a blinding pain exploded across his cheek.

The girl had slapped him. Hard. The impact rattled his brain, but before he could even process it, a returning backhand struck the other side of his face, whipping his head in the opposite direction.

"Pervert! You're disgusting!" she shrieked.

Kai barely had time to react before she sprang to her feet, clutching her chest with both arms, her face still burning red. Without another word, she bolted away, her heels echoing in the hallway as she disappeared down the hall.

What rattled Kai however, was that even through the stinging pain in his cheeks so still there, hs eyes instinctively followed her retreating figure, his gaze dipping lower to her backside.

'Damn... she really has a nice ass, too—wait, what the hell am I thinking?!'

He rubbed his swollen cheek, wincing at the heat radiating from it.

"Uhh... I guess I had that coming."

He sighed, lowering his gaze.

But despite the humiliation and pain, a single thought refused to leave his mind, which was questionable to whether he was truly sorry.

"Still… I never thought boobs would feel so much....like heaven—"

[Ding!]

A system notification appeared before him.

[You have acquired a nickname: The Gripper]

A long, suffering hiss escaped Kai's lips. He groaned as he pushed himself up from the floor, dusting off his clothes. His face still stung, but somehow, he felt like he had just returned from a trip to heaven.

"Oh well… since that's over, I better get back to it."

Yet, as he turned back to his task, a tiny smirk crept onto his face.

'What's weird is I'm actually sorry.... but I feel, accomplished.'

Completing his run was nothing special—aside from his pathetic, comedic form while running and his frequent breaks after every twenty minutes on the run.

Two hours later, after multiple breaks, he finally finished the daily challenge. Exhausted, he returned to his room in the Sorcery association.

Locking the door behind him, he peeled off his clothes and stepped into the glorious room that was the shower. Warm water cascaded over his skin, and the sensation was pure bliss.

'Man… this is the life.' he thought, sighing contentedly.

For once, he was living in luxury. Sure, there was a catch, but still—he was getting the treatment he deserved. Now, all that was left was becoming the strongest.

And with the downpouring secondary heaven he was in, he felt like he never wanted this feeling to end. Hot water after a long workout, what could be better than that? But then-

[Ding!]

Another system notification appeared.

[Congratulations, Player]

[You have completed all Daily Quests]

[Reward: +1 gain in all stats]

[Strength: 9

Skill: 8

Stamina: 5

Endurance: 8

Mana: 1

Player Level: Seeker]

[Player must gain points in all stats to level up!]

[Current Level: LVL 1]

Kai narrowed his eyes in slight confusion.

"A stat increase in everything… except mana."

'How do I increase my mana points?' He thought as he rubbed his chin with his hands.

As if reading his mind, the system immediately responded with a new notification.

[To increase mana, Player must subsequently hone their magic skills.]

"Hmm...that doesn't make any sense." He muttered.

'For as long as I can remember I didn't possess anything worthy enough to be called mana...could it be that...'

Kai stared at his hands, trying to feel any trace of mana flowing through them. But that was nothing.

'...the system gave me magical abilities? But I don't feel anything... everything's just normal.'

Letting out a soft sigh, he closed his eyes and leaned into the warm water, allowing his lingering thoughts to drift.

'This is too much information...But... what if I just wished for all my stats to be maxed out? Would that work?'

It wasn't a foolish question. It would be the fastest way to become strong. Maybe even enough to close the Grand Canyon-sized gap between him and Renji.

But then—

"No…" he muttered under his breath.

"If I exhaust all nine wishes, I'll die… and if I die, there won't be any point in having asked wish... I need to find out how to bypass the nine wish rule first."

He clenched his jaw.

"I only have two wishes left. There'll probably be more important things to wish for in the future."

However, there was another question which lingered in his mind- a thought which had left him in suspense as it crept into his mind.

His gaze shifted back to the system.

"How do I transfer the system to another player?"

The system only took a moment, and then a response appeared.

[Information is locked! Mystery will be unlocked when Player reaches LVL 100!]

Kai clicked his tongue.

"Maybe wishing for max stats wasn't such a bad idea after all."

But before the temptation could take root, he pushed the thought aside and returned to his downpour.

***

After his bath, a maid delivered his supper—free of charge. The meal was nothing short of royal: perfectly baked rice cakes, succulent meat, with sauce and a side of sliced cakes.

And as expected, Kai devoured everything in an instant.

The rest of his day was uneventful. Sleep became his cycle, and soon he developed a routine- Wake up. Groom. Eat. Complete daily quests. Level up. Sleep. Rise and repeat.

However, every time he left his room, he made sure to glance both ways as though he wanted to cross a highway, paranoid about another "Gripper" incident.

Days blurred into one another.

Until— It was Day 22 since he began his daily quests.

The soft morning glow seeped through the curtains, casting golden light across Kai's face until finally, he awoke.

He groaned as he sat up, stretching with a yawn. As always, the system greeted him with its normal manner.

[Ding!]

[The Gripper has awakened!]

[Your Daily Quests have begun!]

[Quest: Race to Become the Strongest]

[Daily Quest: Perform—

100 push-ups

100 sit-ups

100 squats

10-kilometer run

Time Left: 23 hrs 59 mins 55 secs]

[Failure to complete all daily quests in 24 hours will result in a grave penalty.]

Kai squinted at the screen, groaning.

'Hah… really? I just woke up!'

Frustration settled in. Every single day, the system demanded exhausting physical exercise, and for someone as lazy- and weak- as Kai, it was a miracle he had even lasted for 22 days.

"Can't the system give me a break?"

His eyes caught sight of the penalty warning and muffled scoff escaped from his lips.

'Tch. What's it gonna do? Ground me? Make me do my own dishes?'

Kai wasn't well versed in System stories, so ofcourse he was ignorant.

Rolling his eyes, he flopped back onto his bed with a lazy smile on his face as he hoped to resume his sleep.

At that moment, a soft knock sounded at the door, attaining his attention.

Slowly, and reluctantly, he sat up with a groan and trudged to the door- while still wearing his night wear- before he opened it.

"Who's there?"

Standing in front of him was Mr. Farrell, his usual composed expression laced with his briefcase at hand.

Kai gazed at him with squinted lazy eyes.

"Mr. Farrell? What are you doing here this early?"

Clearing his throat, Farrell reached into his briefcase and pulled out a white envelope.

"I apologize for disturbing you, Sir Draven. But this matter couldn't wait. I was sent to deliver this to you by the higher ups."

Kai hesitated. "The higher ups… for me?"

That was odd. He had was a well versed weakling and a disgrace to the seeker name, yet the higher ups wished to speak with him.

'Perhaps they wanna terminate our contract...or...did the gripping incident get to them? That wasn't sexual assault, right?'

Taking the envelope, he carefully peeled it open, crossing his fingers as he hoped it wasn't bad news.

As his eyes skimmed the contents, his expression darkened and his hands began trembled slightly.

He tried to speak, but just couldn't. The message inside the envelope was… left him speechless.

"This...This can't be." Kai muttered.

"I'm afraid it is, Sir Draven..." Mr. Farrell replied as he lowered his gaze before he added.

"...You've ..."