Chapter 2

[1st POV]

I must have been strange, pitiful, and even funny for a random observer. 

Imagine that there is a fat guy in the middle of the room, trying to do a push-up on a nice wooden floor with his fat body shaking, his arms trembling, and his belly touching the ground... 

However, there wasn't really a stranger in my room, and I was in no mood to laugh. 

Three! 

I managed to pull off a parody of a push-up only three times. 

Three! 

That was it, and the energy was gone. 

The whole 300-unit "explosive" energy bar. 

The "potential" energy bar even slightly diminished, and when there's no energy, there's no movement! 

Meanwhile, there was extreme breathlessness, a racing heartbeat, and weakness all over my body. 

Just like that.

Apparently, this was going to be harder than I thought. 

For the next ten minutes, I just lay on the floor, breathing heavily and watching as the "explosive" energy bar slowly refilled.

I managed to do a whole fifteen squats before the energy ran out again, and the entire sensation returned. 

After ten minutes of recovery, it was time to "work the abs." 

I managed to lift my upper body off the floor twice without lifting my lower half without using my hands for assistance.

I had to hook my feet under the edge of the couch. Otherwise, the mission was truly "impossible".

Well, it's a result, at least. 

Of course, it's not the best, but it's something to start with.

After enduring another ten minutes of unpleasant sensations, I got up from the floor and looked into my closet. 

Luckily, I found a tracksuit that was my size. 

There was a pair of running shoes among the shoes. 

They are brand new and have clearly never been used for what they were bought for and look nice though, and the soles are thick and soft enough to keep my knees from getting hurt while running on ground. 

I welcomed them like old friends.

Running… This body is a nightmare.

It can manage a fast pace for only four hundred meters straight. 

After that, the "explosive" energy runs out, and that's it—stop and wait ten minutes for the bar to refill.

After realizing this, I switched from smooth running to a hundred sit-ups, air Squats, push-ups, and ten-kilometer runs again. 

I repeated as many times as necessary.

I kept running and forcing myself to push through it, but still running. 

The red health bar started dropping, and messages appeared before my eyes.

[You have taken 1 point of damage.]

[You have taken 1 point of damage.]

[You have taken 1 point of damage...]

These messages kept appearing, one after another, one after another. 

The damage in single units added up to tens, tens were approaching the first hundred... It went over a hundred.

"Ding"

[You have taken 2 points of damage.]

[You have taken 2 points of damage.]

[You have taken 2 points of damage...]

I kept running while gasping for breath, losing health, but still running!

"Ding"

[You have taken 3 points of damage.]

[You have taken 3 points of damage.]

[You have taken 3 points of damage...]

The system continued to calmly inform me that the damage I was taking increased by another point as my health bar dropped below two hundred.

Then, when it dropped below one hundred, I started losing five points at a time...

I stopped when my health was at 50/500, or rather, I just collapsed to the ground because I couldn't stay upright anymore.

I couldn't hold a vertical position at all. 

I fell, and immediately...

[You have taken 20 points of damage.]

Apparently from the sudden stop. After all, everyone knows I can't just stop abruptly, let alone fall and lie down after intense running. 

I need to at least walk a little to cool down, and I hadn't done that.

[You have taken 10 points of damage.]

[You have been afflicted with the negative effect "Stroke" – health regeneration is reduced threefold.]

[You have taken 5 points of damage]

[You have taken 4 points of damage]

I lay on the ground, scraping at it with curled fingers, completely mindlessly. 

I felt worse than I ever had before that even the Player's Mind couldn't cope. 

However, I forced myself to straighten up and then get on my knees—or rather, onto all fours and then crawl to the nearest bench. 

Luckily, I made it, and I even managed to climb up onto it. I sat down, leaning my head back on the bench's backrest.

[You have taken 3 points of damage]

[The attribute Will has been unlocked]

[Will +1]

[You have taken 2 points of damage]

[Will +1]

I sprawled across the bench, and I felt awful.

[You have taken 1 point of damage]

[Will +1]

I shifted my focus to the red health bar. 

Health: 5/500.

[You have taken 1 point of damage]

[Will +1]

I couldn't get my breathing to stabilize because everything hurt—everything that could hurt hurt. 

[You have taken 1 point of damage]

[Will +1]

I could feel my vision darkened, and hundreds of greenish squares scattered across my field of view, covering it.

[You have taken 1 point of damage]

[Will +1]

I could hear my heart continue to pound violently against my ribs, smashing into them and thundering in my ears like echoing drums.

[You have taken 1 point of damage]

[Will +1]

Health: 1/500. 

Just a bit more, and I'd be free from this torment. 

My gaming experience had ended rather quickly, foolishly, and shamefully. 

I'd managed to kill myself through running. 

Who would believe it if I told them?

After a few seconds turned into minutes, the fatal message still didn't appear.

 Everything remained the same: dull, painful, and wretched, yet my breathing began to stabilize.

 A minute passed—a torturous minute, a terrifying minute—still, nothing happened. Then came the second minute, and then the third, and nothing changed.

After the sixth minute, something very happy happened: my health bar restored a single point. 

Health: 2/500…

The "Stroke" effect lasted a full two hours. 

Two hours of agony and horrific suffering and pain. 

By that time, my health bar showed 22/500…

After two hours and thirty-six minutes, when my health finally reached a hundred, I forced myself to rise from the bench and slowly shuffle toward home.

[Will +1]

It took me nearly another hour to reach the entrance. 

My Will increased by another four points during that long, difficult journey.

After climbing the stairs without an elevator to the fourth floor, where my apartment was located, I gained another two points.

Nevertheless, my potential energy bar drained more than two-thirds. Still, my bed and the hope of sleep were waiting for me.