A full week passed since Johannes gained access to the system. While his lingering melancholy remained and kept him awake at night, his body had made some progress.
Sometimes, the new nurses commented on his training. But most of them were reprimanded by the ones who knew. Some had been aware of his circumstances, knowing he had recently lost his father. A large number of the regular workers had gotten close to his loving parent, which was not unlikely considering how often he visited Johannes.
Whenever he visited, he would strike up conversations with them. Despite how awkward he could act with Johannes, his chats always felt natural to the opposite speaker. If he wanted to, he could be quite the social guy, Johannes noticed at some point.
Regarding his workout, he had success. Thanks to his meditation, he reached [breathing lvl 8] and focused on leveling the skill as actively as possible.
[Standing lvl 6] had also been obtained. The ability to stand gradually grew into something that showed endurance. This was the polar opposite of what it used to be a few days ago when he almost fainted out of exhaustion. While its progress had started to stagnate, as he had to stand for even longer to grow, his motivation was still at its peak.
Assuming there had to be a cap at which those levels would eventually stop rising, his fingertips were filled to the brim with anticipation. I cannot wait to see what happens once I reach the cap. How long would that even take me, though?
Nobody would know that besides the system. What Johannes knew was that he had to continue his workout now.
A nurse hesitantly knocked on the small hospital door. It was 12 PM, and she carried his food into the room.
Aware that this was the young man's newfound usual workout time, she silently put it on his table so as not to bother him. She was one of the regular nurses he had known for several years.
As she stood in the room, she found herself staring at Johannes with a soft gaze, secretly rooting for his success. It had not been long since the man was unable to stand, she thought. Eventually, she felt embarrassed and quickly left the room.
The obsessed man barely noticed her, muttering, "Thanks a lot." It was not that he attempted to be impertinent. He had been so focused on his posture and hand gripper that his surroundings had vanished.
Only his workout was on his mind. There had been nothing else that he tried to focus on.
I can stand for even longer than yesterday.I do not have to limit myself to merely a few minutes anymore.
Confidence invaded his mind step by step, something that had occasionally happened ever since he received the system's support. However, this time, it had been different. Johannes felt proud about his accomplishments - he who had only amounted to barely existing now did what nobody had ever assumed to be possible.
After 10 minutes, he stopped his workout - hungry as he was, he returned to his bed.
A careful stretch allowed him to pull closer what the hospital called food from his neglected overbed table. Its joints squeaked as he adjusted it to a comfortable position for himself.
Sturdy, almost overcooked beef that barely had any presence on the plate laughed at him. Its colour tried to play hide-and-seek with the grey walls as its hiding spot. It did not look tasty in particular. However, it was free of charge as he was unable to pick the option that was locked to wealthy people or Divers, which often correlated.
He had yellow potatoes as a small side dish, followed by a bland sauce. Johannes knew it was created to adjust to as many people as possible. But could it not at least taste good if he had to be in the hospital?
However, it neither lacked nutritional values nor calories. This is not because the portion was big but rather because Johannes did not have a lot of appetite. His appetite increased thanks to his training, but it was still underdeveloped due to his fragile body and his recent loss.
When Dad was alive, he smuggled some tasty treats for me. I miss that.
He started to reminisce as he ate. Bite after bite, he fought through his meal. After he had hardly finished his plate, a quiet sound ran through his room. Knowing it was the system's tone, he expected an increase in [Breathing], which he had been able to passively level.
[Quest created: Raise the ranks of [Standing] to Level 10 until the end of this day]
[Failure: The System Will Be Revoked. You Will Lose Your Abilities]
[Reward: 2 POINT(S)]
What? It will... BE REVOKED?
Now, that was a wicked prank. I will have to raise the rank of [Standing] to Level 10? How am I going to do that? He slightly punched at his table in desperation but slowed down right before the impact and stopped his fist in its tracks. That won't change anything. I can't hit an immovable object due a minor inconvenience. He was not going to stoop as low as this.
Johannes had always been told to create solutions rather than seek problems. At least, this was what his father had always told him. If he could not focus on a solution, he should not resort to overthinking the problem. Instead, Johannes had been taught to analyze for as long as he needed to.
I need a good plan. It took me several days to reach [Standing lvl 6], and that was with a training regiment that was modified to my needs. I cannot possibly return to who I used to be - no, what I used to be.
Johannes had seen his new abilities not as normal but rather as something he desperately needed to both improve and maintain. It was roughly 12:32 PM - enough time to at least aim for it.
While he carefully considered his options, Johannes eventually came to a conclusion. He just had to stand for as long as he could. Even if his legs were to lose their footing, he was prepared to fall as many times as he needed. Johannes would always crawl up again.