He finished the running within five hours. It drained him that he could not move his body because of the repeated Weakened State on him.

Shen was laying at the entrance of the village and his mouth gaped, opened and closed like a koi fish out of the water. He felt numb on his feet and his back.

[You have worked your body to the limit!]

[Congratulations! You gained +3 Endurance and +1 Agility!]

"Hah… Hah… Hah…" Shen looked at the interface, blinking his eyes a few times to make sure he did not see it wrong. He doubled the laps and he added the weight. At least the attributes should be double, especially Endurance.

He thought about the issue deeply, "Maybe the training becomes less effective as my attributes grow…" Shen made the conjecture that was most likely possible to happen to him.

If he kept increasing the attributes constantly like that, there was no need to level up. There must be a certain limit to what this training could do.

"Understandable… the attributes from the training are not unlimited…" Still, out of breath, Shen tried to get up. He dragged his body to the village, "This game is frustratingly so real…" This caused Shen to recall the day in the boot camp of the national team.

The hell training for the international competition to represent his country. This gave a similar vibe just like that time.

As soon as he entered the house, he threw his body onto the bed. He closed his eyes as he stabilized his breathing. The soft bed was so comfortable for his sore back.

Without Shen realizing it, he fell asleep. Yes, he fell asleep in the game.

*** ***

Wen's Bun

"Will Shen come to the shop, Mom?" Yu Mei filling the dough and closed the filling into a bun shape before she put the bun in the basket.

"I don't know, the new game is just released. Maybe he's busy with the game. Why don't you bring the buns to his apartment instead?" Auntie Jun shook her head. Lately, Shen only came two-three times a week. She was not sure either, especially after last night's dinner.

"Doesn't he always jog in the morning?" Remembering this, Yu Mei put back the dough and came outside. It was still five-thirty in the morning, the street was still empty.

She stood in the middle of the road and looked toward Shen's apartment. She hoped to see Shen come out from the apartment building.

"Shen lately jogs in the evening instead of morning. You may not see him…" Uncle Wen yawned as he rubbed his belly. He wore a white tank top and did a stretch in front of the shop.

"Why don't you visit his apartment instead? It's not like Shen will drive you out. He is not that narrow-minded," he told his daughter as he stretched his legs.

Yu Mei wanted to apologize for last night. She truly did not know that her boyfriend had that side of his. He never showed it once in front of her, rarely talking bad about someone behind as well. She thought he was nice hence she was willing to go out with him.

Letting out a sigh, Yu Mei returned to the shop, 'Maybe I should consider my relationship with Tao Qiao…' There were many stories online that their partner changed once they got married. She was afraid Tao Qiao was one of them. He would change once they married.

*** ***

Shen opened his eyes because of his dream. Yes, he was dreaming while sleeping in the game. He dreamed of his mother cooking him one of his favorite dishes, mapo tofu.

Without him realizing it, tears trickled down from his eyes. Because his father died while he was still a few months old, he did not have memories of his father but a photo. That was why he had strong memories of his mother.

"I can even cry in the game," Shen smiled wryly as he wiped away the tears. He remembered the sleep mode of the gaming pod. Of course, not all gaming pods had this feature. But the platinum one had this feature.

If the system detected the player sleeping in the game, the gaming pod would automatically enter sleep mode, and it was no different than actual sleeping.

Shen woke up and sat, he stretched his body on the bed and checked the time. He slept for an hour, it was a good rest as the stamina had fully recovered.

"Fortunately I only slept for an hour," He stood up, the exhaustion was gone. Shen was not used to such a feeling. The soreness from such heavy training usually would be gone in one or two days, after all.

"It seems I will have mapo tofu for lunch," Shen came out of the house. Before he went out, he looked at the statue. He bowed his head slightly before going out.

"Six in the morning, let's see how long it takes for me to finish a thousand strikes," He took out the sword and went to the side house.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

He repeated the three strikes, following his memories with his best.

*** ***

Dok! Dok! Dok!

"Shen! Shen! Are you home?" Yu Mei knocked on the apartment door. She tried to press the bell, but she received no response. She tried to knock on the door but to no avail. There was no response.

Meimei panicked, 'Does Shen hate me now?' She could not help but think so.

She took out the phone from her pocket and called Shen. The call connected but he did not pick up the call.

Of course, Shen was not intentionally ignoring the call. He was inside the game and he decided to shut off the phone with his gaming pod. He did not want to be disturbed during the training.

There was something he was afraid to confirm, what happened if he stopped halfway? Would he need to repeat the whole process from the start or could he just continue the training from where he stopped?

Would he gain less attributes or even gain nothing if he stopped midway? He did not know this and also he did not dare to try that.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

"891… 892… 893…" Shen whispered as his hand kept moving. Six hours had passed, but he had not finished it yet. The strikes became much slower and less powerful, but he kept in mind to push the strike to the limit.

His clothes were soaked in sweat as his face was also flooded with sweat. Despite the numbness in his arms, Shen kept swinging the sword.

Another half an hour passed…

"991… 992… 993…" Shen kept whispering, he did not lose his focus as he was almost there, "...997… 998… 999….. 1000….!"

Shen released the sword from his hand and let his body fall to the grass as he breathed roughly. He almost could not feel his hand anymore, but he finished the training given by Master Yosu.

[You have worked your body to the limit!]

[Congratulations! You gained +5 Dexterity and +1 Endurance!]