Desperate Will

With the inscrutable sensation of descending from a great height and plunging to one's instant death, Lenny's eyes shot wide open and he sprung up from the bed he lay, panting heavily as though he had just run a marathon.

Frantically scanning the area with beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, he gradually calmed down. The morning sun rays cascaded down into the room through the window bars, their soft shadows positioned diagonally on the laminate floor. 

Lenny let out a deep sigh. 

'Thank goodness, it was just a dream…'

Tiredly brushing his face with his right palm, he muttered, "What was it even about?"

Attempting to recall the specific details of the nightmare, he thought inwardly, 'I was running. Maybe I was… being chased? Dammit, I can't remember. Falling from that building felt so real.'

Groggily, he checked his phone and as usual, there were no missed calls or texts. The time read exactly 7:28 AM.

He got up from his bed and headed to the bathroom. The day had officially started, and he had to make the best use of it.

Switching on the bathroom sink tap, he scooped some water up and splashed it on his face to drive away the lingering sleepiness in his body. However, it wasn't as effective as he thought.

He stared into the mirror, taking in the sight of his below-average-looking self with dark brown hair, pale-white skin outlining his collarbone and ribs, a long face with slight acne on his slightly swollen cheeks, reddened tired brown eyes with dark bags beneath them, a large bony nose with a band-aid covering, and a slightly weak chin with a receding jawline.

He casually looked away and used his towel to clean his face. From then, he performed his morning rituals, which were first emptying his bowels, then brushing his teeth, and then having a bath.

Coming out of the bathroom, all done, Lenny walked towards the wardrobe when a surge of information entered his brain and was imprinted on the forefront of his memory.

[Task #2: Perform (0/40) push-ups, (0/40) sit-ups, (0/40) squats, and a (0/4) km run.]

Difficulty: Medium.

Reward: 15 VP.

Ending In: 1 hr 59 mins.

The corner of Lenny's eyebrows twitched slightly, and a frustrated smile emerged on his face.

"These tasks are getting further and further out of hand."

Despite saying this, Lenny quickly got into game mode. He changed into his old sports joggers and donned a normal short-sleeve t-shirt. Then, he took out an overworn gray canvas from deep within his wardrobe, wore it, and tied the shoe laces.

Swiftly, he got down on the floor and started the push-ups.

"Hoof… Hoof… Hoof…" 

He exhaled as he went up and inhaled as he came back down.

'One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Six… Seven… Eight… N-Nine… T… T-Ten!'

Lenny struggled and felt his muscles strain. He couldn't endure it since it had been long since he had performed a push-up. It was only due to his increased strength attribute that he could perform more than 5.

Giving up and falling flat on the apartment floor with a thud, he muttered as he panted, "It's… it's impossible…"

However, despite saying this, he forced himself up once again and did three more push-ups. 

Repeatedly getting back up again by cursing himself and telling himself just how much he needed the v-points, Lenny managed to complete the 40 push-ups exercise after a complete 21 minutes.

Getting up and panting heavily, beads of sweat were rolling down his forehead. 

"Why… haa… on bloody earth, can I not just instantly be done with this? Working out is the worst feeling ever…"

To Lenny, it was as though a mallet was pounding his chest muscles and his hands were like two giant blocks of hardened cement.

Sighing, he took off his bedsheet and folded it a few times till it became the size of a small rectangular yoga mat.

Then, he placed it on the floor and laid his back flat on it with his knees high, making his legs a triangle. 

Raising his heavy hands to his head, he forced his upper body up.

"Urgh… this hurts so bad!" Lenny frustratingly screamed. However, with the gnashing of his teeth, he forced himself up repeatedly.

His core constantly hardened and stretched with every complete back and forth. Reaching 15 sit-ups, he took a minute rest and pushed his crying muscles once again. 

Completing the 40 sit-ups, his entire shirt was soaked in sweat. 

Sit-ups were way harder to perform after push-ups, and coupled with the fact that not all his sit-ups were registered by Top Idol due to Lenny's occasional improper form, his frustration with everything was further enhanced. He regularly had to check the app, correct his form, and perform the sit-up properly before it was recorded.

This particular set took 30 minutes to complete.

"Finally…" Lenny weakly got up from the ground.

Standing, he felt blood rush down his head, causing him to feel greatly light-headed and dizzy. He lost his balance and slumped on his bed.

'Dammit, I feel like dying… Should I get myself an Insta-Power Booster Capsule…?' Lenny thought to himself but decided against it. 'I might instantly fail the task. It could be regarded as cheating.'

The risk wasn't worth it in his eyes. This was a medium task with a chance to earn him 15 v-points. He absolutely couldn't risk it.

With only an hour left on the timer, Lenny got up from the bed and got pumping.

The squats weren't as easy as he thought. He didn't realize he relied on his core for balance and mobility until now. With every pump, his lower abdomen felt like ripping itself apart. Coupled with that, his leg muscles gradually became stiffer and stiffer.

Again, he gnashed his teeth as he performed the exercise. With unwavering determination, he completed the 40 squats in only 15 minutes.

Immediately he was done, he took a few steps, heading for the apart door, but his legs too now felt like blocks of hardened cement!

"Dammit! Does this app want to kill me?!" Lenny cried out, tears forming in his eyes.

However, time was of the essence and he still had to perform a 4 km run.

Clenching his jaws together, he endured the severe body aches and walked out of the apartment complex.

Finding it impossible to run, he jogged to the street's junction. Then from there, he jogged the full length of the street, which was about 500 meters, and then some. 

On many occasions, he even fell. The neighbors and street vendors just watched him and didn't do anything to help. The feeling wasn't a foreign thing, Lenny never even expected them to care or offer him help. 

He carried himself back up time and time again and made sure he jogged forward and never walked, so as to make the meters he ran count.

Weakly stopping at an intersection, panting heavily and utterly dehydrated, he felt his consciousness slipping away. But just then, a message flashed in his mind.

[Task completed.]