"Training mission system activated. Complete departure preparations within three minutes. After three minutes, proceed outside and perform 250 standard burpees at maximum speed. Countdown: 180, 179..."
The mechanical voice was utterly cold, like some emotionless machine... No, it was a machine.
"Fuck! Two hundred and fifty burpees in one go? That'll kill someone!" Jiang Yan Hai's eyes went wide.
Damn it, he had coasted through recruit training like a slacker. His physical fitness had improved somewhat, but after spending a month at the Regimental Logistics Department farm, he had practically lost it all again. The physical stats from earlier made that clear.
The average healthy adult scored 100, while he was only at 80! And now he was supposed to do 250 burpees?!
Forget burpees—even 250 push-ups in one go were beyond him.
"System? Engine? Red Star? Can we talk this over? I know I need to train, but exercise needs to be gradual, doesn't it?" Jiang Yan Hai quickly lowered his voice and said.
Unfortunately, the icy mechanical voice did not respond. In the lower-right corner of Jiang Yan Hai's vision, a blood-red countdown continued to tick down.
He spent several dozen seconds trying to communicate with the auxiliary engine, but it was useless.
Fine. Although the auxiliary engine had not said anything about killing him, Jiang Yan Hai had never truly been a slacker. Before, all his hopes had been crushed at once, which was why he had become that way. Now that he had hope again, there was nothing more to say. Naturally, he had to work hard!
He twisted open the faucet, splashed water over his face, and rinsed the toothpaste from his mouth. Without even drying his face, he rushed into the barracks. Fortunately, he was already dressed, and he quickly pulled his Training Uniform over his short-sleeved shirt.
But he was still too slow.
Who told him not to start tidying up immediately? By the time the countdown ended, Jiang Yan Hai had only just finished getting dressed and had not even had time to rush out of the barracks.
"Bzzzt..." Jiang Yan Hai supplied the sound effect himself. He had no idea why he was still in the mood to do that at a time like this.
But an indescribable pain seemed to surge up from his soul. His entire body instantly began to tremble. The terrifying pain sent him crashing to the ground, where he convulsed violently.
Worst of all, under that agonizing pain, he seemed to lose all control over his body. He could not even scream. His body kept twitching faintly until, ten seconds later, the intense pain finally vanished.
Strangely, once the pain was gone, Jiang Yan Hai suffered no serious aftereffects. It was as though the pain had struck directly at his soul. That feeling of being worse off than dead... was terrifying. Jiang Yan Hai absolutely, absolutely never wanted to endure it again!
"Punishment complete. Countdown restarted."
"Fuck!" Jiang Yan Hai cursed and charged out of the barracks. He immediately began doing burpees in the open space outside. This was the Regimental Logistics Department farm, so there was no dedicated training ground, but there was plenty of open ground.
But after he completed one burpee, the countdown was still ticking down.
"I've already started!" Jiang Yan Hai could not help shouting, but there was no response!
Fuck me! Jiang Yan Hai took a deep breath, immediately stopped doing burpees, forced himself to calm down, and began recalling the earlier mission prompt.
Fortunately, his memory in this world was strong enough. Jiang Yan Hai instantly reviewed the mission requirements. Complete departure preparations within three minutes?
"Fuck!" Jiang Yan Hai cursed again. His quilt was still piled on the bed like a heap of rotten cotton. Forget soldiers—even in an ordinary household, no one would leave a quilt like that.
Barracks order was part of departure preparations too! What the hell was there left to say?!
He sprinted back inside, stuffed the dirty clothes on his bed into the washbasin beneath it, then neatly placed the washbasin in the same position as those of the other soldiers.
Then he rapidly began folding his quilt. Fortunately, barracks order was among the first things demanded in the military, so when he had first entered recruit training, he had studied it seriously and practiced it frequently.
By the end of the three minutes, he had only barely managed to finish the barracks work. He rushed out of the barracks to the open space and got into position to begin the burpees.
At that moment, Jiang Yan Hai noticed that the countdown in the lower-right corner of his vision had stopped.
Sure enough. Jiang Yan Hai let out a breath of relief, took a deep breath, and immediately began doing burpees. He did not know why the Red Star Engine wanted him to do burpees. They were not a standard exercise used in military Physical Training.
But burpees were widely recognized as one of the high-intensity bodyweight resistance exercises that burned fat in a short period and sent the heart rate soaring.
The United States once considered soldiers capable of doing 100 standard burpees consecutively at their limit to have excellent physical fitness. That showed just how brutal this exercise was. And now Jiang Yan Hai was being asked to do 250 in one go?!
Fortunately, maximum speed was not a fixed measure. It referred to the fastest speed within his personal limits. In other words, however fast he could go, he had to go that fast, and every movement had to meet the standard!
As terrifying as it was, Jiang Yan Hai did not want to experience that soul-deep pain again. He did not waste words and immediately began the burpees.
One, two, three... By the tenth, Jiang Yan Hai's arms had already begun to shake. His physical fitness was poor, only 80% of an average person's level. The push-up portion of a burpee was the hardest part for him.
But Jiang Yan Hai still forced himself to persist. By the time he barely completed the twentieth, not only his arms but also his abdomen had begun to cramp painfully. His push-ups had become completely unstandardized. Once he went down, his arms could no longer push him back up.
But he could not stop. Jiang Yan Hai continued struggling onward. The Red Star Engine apparently had no time limit, as long as he was not deliberately stalling. It had to be said, when Jiang Yan Hai had a goal, he was truly ruthless.
Although his brain worked exceptionally well in this world, intelligence alone was not enough to enter elementary school and graduate from Peking University with three degrees within ten years. That also required terrifying perseverance.
By the time he struggled his way to the twenty-fifth, Jiang Yan Hai's breathing had become extremely ragged, and even his mind had begun to slow. Blood throughout his body was frantically delivering oxygen to his muscles, so naturally, the oxygen available to his brain had decreased.
Then, with a "ding," the Red Star Engine in his mind finally responded.
"Target's muscles detected at their limit. Auxiliary training mode activated."
As the prompt ended, Jiang Yan Hai felt a numb, tingling sensation suddenly spread through every muscle group in his body, as though a weak electric current were running through him. Yet that tingling eased his muscle pain and even gave him a little more strength.
Jiang Yan Hai took a deep breath. Although the auxiliary training mode had eased his muscles, he was still at the edge of his limit.
But as long as it allowed him to keep going, pain did not matter. Jiang Yan Hai could endure it.
He did not know the principle behind that faint tingling sensation, but it kept him going. Though his muscles continued to ache, Jiang Yan Hai was still able to persist.
Until—"Ding. Training Mission 1 complete. Mission evaluation: 120%. As this is the target's first completed training mission and the mission evaluation exceeded expectations, reward: Special Forces Experience Card, one hour ×1."
The mechanical voice sounded in Jiang Yan Hai's mind again. Only after he reflexively completed another burpee did he realize that he had actually finished 250 burpees.
At that moment, Jiang Yan Hai looked as though he had been pulled from water. His clothes were soaked through with sweat, inside and out. Every muscle in his body ached terribly, yet that faint tingling sensation had not disappeared and continued to form within his muscles.
Jiang Yan Hai wanted to die. This damn thing was a total rip-off!
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