November 23, 2003, Antarctica, Queen Maud Land.
Outside Blue White Society's Antarctica Station One Containment Base, a glacier plaza was being lashed by howling, blade-like wind and snow.
The snow-covered land was white as far as the eye could see. The wind twisted the snow into swirling clumps and flakes that scattered through the air, blanketing the entire field of vision in an instant.
A strong, burly young man was bare-chested in the bitter wind and snow, training enthusiastically with all kinds of extremely difficult movements in temperatures of minus forty-six degrees.
A few meters away, another man smiled and said, "Xiao Gou, training to the extreme won't improve your physical attributes by much."
Unlike the young man, this man wore a thick fleece jacket and a weatherproof shell, with a heavy down coat over them. His measures against the cold were extremely thorough.
As he trained, the young man laughed. "I know. I'm just doing my routine training. I'm not expecting the snow and ice to make me stronger. I just hope this bitter blizzard will make me give up and roll back into the warm base."
The man raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Then why haven't you gone back?"
Xiao Gou laughed heartily. "I want to go back inside where it's warm too, but unfortunately, this level of wind and snow isn't worthy of making me!"
The man thought, So that's what this is about. Tempering his will?
"What level of wind and snow would make you give up?" the man asked.
Xiao Gou seriously completed his final movement before saying, "Uh, I don't know either. Sorry, I can't imagine it."
"Huh?" The man laughed. "The Research Department is developing a virtual reality device. The test model should be ready soon. I heard it'll prioritize pain simulation, which will