Chapter 8: Another Mission

Ryder's expressions couldn't help but distort as soon as he heard Janus' words.

"You! Do you think we are in a game? How can I kill a real human being! I'm not a monster! And why do you wish to harm Alice!" 

Ryder roared in anger as he opened his eyes abruptly.

<Mission has already been issued. It can't be changed>

Janus said in an emotionless tone.

"He...is he serious?"

Ryder started frowning as he fell into deep thought.

"Janus can reverse time, so I don't think that anything is impossible for him. I can't let Alice die, but killing? I'm not capable of it either. I haven't even killed an animal; how can I kill a real human being? what should I do?" 

His head was aching as he thought about everything. He wanted to cry. His headache kept increasing. He could feel his heartbeat getting faster and faster.

"Can we negotiate? Change the mission into anything else? I'll do any other mission!" 

He started requesting Janus.

<Mission has been issued. It can't be changed>

Janus repeated the same answer.

'What should I do? I have no choice but to k-kill,' 

He felt like vomiting at the simple thought of killing. Even the simple notion of killing a human was scary for him.

<To help the host in achieving his goal, a side mission has been issued>

<Mission: 20 200 Do Push-Ups in minutes>

<Reward: 20 origin points and two low-level strengthening pills>

<Punishment for failure: Full body Paralysis two days. You will be unable to move days>

<Time 20 Limit: minutes>

'He's seriously trying to get me killed, isn't he? Why do I feel that Janus is even worse than Maya?'

'My choices are to force my body to do something that I don't think is possible or get paralyzed for two days? If I got paralyzed for two days, I wouldn't be able to complete the main mission even if I wanted to, and Alice would die. You're not giving me any other path, but the one that you want me to choose!" 

"I don't have much time to think. The time limit is only 20 minutes. I can't take the risk of getting paralyzed, or I won't be able to save Alice," Ryder said.

He stood up with a determined look on his face. His head was still aching, but he didn't care. He hurriedly got down to the ground and positioned himself for push-ups.

Although Ryder wasn't the most athletic person globally, he did exercise daily, but not to the limit.

When it came to Push-ups, he only did three sets of Push-ups in a day, each consisting of 10-15, but this time he needed to do two-hundred, which he thought to be almost impossible, but he didn't give up.

He continued doing Push-ups. After doing 30 push-ups, he sat up as he started giving his body rest. He could feel that 30 was close to his limit at once. His eyes focused on the clock that kept ticking as he rested.

After resting for only a minute, he again resumed his exercise.

Time kept trickling away as Ryder kept doing Push-ups. Fifteen minutes had passed away, and he had finished 160 Push-ups. His chest was near the ground, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't push his body up.

He could feel his hand shaking. He didn't have any power. He dropped down to the ground, unable to even sit.

He closed his eyes as he breathed heavily.

It was at that moment; he saw his surroundings change. It was as if he was in a dream. He found himself in a different place. A girl was standing before him, who looked similar to Alice, but she seemed older. She was wearing a beautiful green dress and a crown on her head.

"They will kill you if you don't stop!" the girl told Ryder with tears in her eyes. 

"I won't stop! I can't stop until all of them are dead!" 

Ryder felt as if these words just came out of his mouth. It was like a dream where he had no control over his mouth.

Immediately, the dream broke. He found himself back in his room. He was still lying on the ground, but his body was more relaxed now. He felt as if he had rested for hours.

He looked at the clock and realized that only three minutes had passed.

"I still have two minutes! I can still do it!" Ryder muttered in a determined tone before he pushed his body upwards.

He continued his Push-ups while keeping his eyes on the clock.

He had three minutes left to finish 40 push-ups, and he didn't want to fail. Failure meant that someone close to him would die. 

He used all his strength to finish this mission on time, and ultimately he succeeded in time.

Ryder finished his 200th Push-up before he dropped to the ground, tired.

"I did it," He muttered with a smile on his face as he took a deep breath.