Chapter 2: First Exercise

"Pfft, too easy!" 

Lee laughed and agreed immediately to do his first task with the system. He sat in a comfortable position and did what looked like regular push-ups.

In his previous life, he learned many more things from the memories, and the original Lee wasn't physically weak, as he constantly trained on the brink. 

Lee seemed like a bit of a masochist because he started doing something else again when he finished something, and he was usually exhausted by the end of the day.

He didn't give up which was respectable!

It's just a pity...

In this cruel reality, something definitely went wrong with Lee's fate...

"Alright, let's not dwell on the sad stuff!" 

Lee concluded in his thoughts and purposefully tapped his forehead against the wooden floor. 

He simply didn't want to continue darkening his life with excessive worries in vain.

After all, the past couldn't be changed.

However, Lee bit his lips and wore the confident grin of someone who wouldn't back down from the desire to become a master of Taijutsu.

Rock Lee exhaled while doing a push-up on the floor and felt a mountain and ice block press on his back stop him from straightening his shaking arms. 

"What the... does the system really throw such unimaginable difficulties at the beginning... Did they really put... some damn magic or jutsu with gravity on me!"

Lee pondered in genuine shock and managed to push up only once with difficulty and with a teeth-gritting strain.

After pushing up a couple more times, Lee no longer felt his arm, and his body quickly became numb.

"I don't know... What awaits me in failure... But if there's a penalty, I don't want to fail it..."

Lee's thoughts flowed slowly, and from Lee's mouth came nothing but a deep growl.

It may have been easier if the chakra circulated more actively in his body to provide him vitality, but it's harder under increased gravity without much practice.

Therefore, Lee stopped seeing anything after eight push-ups because the sweat made it hard for him to see, and his lungs were having difficulty getting air.

The pressure was so great that his muscles were about to cramp and convulse. 

The muscle tissue looked like it was about to tear apart and spill blood in any direction.

However, the fear of the unknown served as excellent motivation to not give up.

At the tenth push-up, some doubts sharpened in his mind...

Is it worth it to destroy himself if there are more hellish exercises to come? 

What's the point of all this? 

It would make him feel good to die alone from exhaustion?

Perhaps it's better to finally give up...

But...

"No!"

Lee exclaimed in his mind at that moment, his round eyes instantly widening and then reddening due to the stinging sweat streaming from his forehead. 

He lifted his heavy body into a plank position for the last time with a ragged scream.

"AAAARRGH!"

Then, he received a notification from the system in a cold and mechanical voice.

[Hellish Exercise completed!]

[Congratulations, user]

[You can claim the Bronze Chest from your inventory.]

"I didn't even get any bonuses... Truly a hellish and merciless system... Just some push-ups, but what did it lead to..." 

Lee fell face down into the pool of his own sweat immediately. He was so weak that he couldn't even sit up, let alone lift his head.

He was squeezed dry.

After sighing in relief, Lee was thankful that the stress was finally gone and that he could now take a break and relax for a while.

[Name: Rock Lee]

[Shinobi Rank: Academy Student]

[Health: 90%]

[Stamina: 5%]

[Chakra: 100%]

[Taijutsu Rank: C]

[Ninjutsu Rank: — ]

[Genjutsu Rank: — ]

[Inventory: Empty]

[List of Demonic Exercises: 3]

"Hey, how's my little boy doing?"

Suddenly, the calm was disrupted by a loud and energetic voice. 

A man with long black hair down to his shoulders and round eyes with inherited lashes climbed through the room's open window. 

He wore the typical green Shinobi vest with a forehead protector and the symbol of the Hidden Leaf Village adorning his forehead. 

A wide, goofy smile was on his face.

Or rather, adorned until he didn't notice his son, half-dead from exhaustion...

"Rock!"

In a panic, the man yelled while flipping over the unconscious Lee and pulling him close while looking sad and stupid, and almost crying.

"Rock! I knew your crazy training wouldn't lead to anything good, but... to this extent! Rock! Can you hear me? Say something, son!"

Then Lee gathered his strength and whispered quietly and dryly.

"Leave me alone..."

"Oh! So, everything's fine with you! That's good!"

He quickly nodded while letting go of Lee and finally releasing him to stand on his own two feet while swaying slightly.

'Rock Lee's father... His name is Son Lee... They never really showed him in the anime, but many parents were left off-screen...'

Lee noted this detail while wiping the remnants of moisture from his face with the sleeve of his sweat-soaked kimono shirt. 

However, he still felt dizzy and thirsty for sleep. 

Moreover, his status in the system indicated that he had exhausted eighty-five percent of his stamina by performing a single exercise.

What a hellish one!

"Alright... Rock, I understand your desire to follow in your father's footsteps, but... It will be very difficult for you without Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, even at the level of Chunin, let alone Jonin, so don't overdo it, alright?"

He didn't extend the silence between father and son and said what he had to say. 

Lee kept quiet because he was tired and didn't know how to talk to him who seemed close but distant and only rarely in his strange memory.

He simply nodded, but he didn't take the words of the so-called "busy" father seriously.

'They don't believe in me... However, I have a bronze chest that I received as a reward after completing the first exercise. I don't know what's inside, but... I might be able to rise to a higher level than some academy students... Well, at least I hope so... Ha-ha-ha, another world, and isekai...'

These were the conflicting thoughts wandering in Lee's mind at the moment.