Well, it's about time.

I pressed my finger on the picture of ETM.

[Purchase…

Point Deduction: 31-30=1

Purchase completed.]

That's it.

I sighed and tried to feel the difference in my body. At first, there was nothing.

Did it even work?

I guess I should give it a try.

I licked my lips and got under the barbell. I placed my hands on it and lifted the thing up… Then down. I managed to do it ten times before my hands gave in. I placed the bar on the rack.

No one was paying attention to me anymore in the gym.

My hands were sore and tired.

Strange… Shouldn't it be the other way? Does this ETM even work? Well, it should. Maybe I am no getting something.

However, what exactly?

"Hey, see the bench there? Switch the places, will you? I want to use the barbell," suddenly, I heard a voice from the side. I lifted my gaze and saw a guy with an egg-shaped head. The captain of the team was standing just behind him.

Seems like they wanted to drive me away.

I ignored them and once again placed my hands on the bar.

"The hell. Did you hear what I said?" the guy raised his voice and lifted his fist. However, the captain stopped him and whispered:

"Don't bother with him… He will get tired soon… You can kill him if you punch…"

The guy winced and walked away. Yet he still was looking at me attentively.

I ignored them and tried to lift the bar once again without much hope of doing it even once.

And right away a strange thing happened.

My tired and sore hands managed to lift the steel bar high above my hand.

It was surprising.

I just looked at it for some time and then tried lifting it up and down. I managed to do it ten times. Then I let my hands rest for a moment and started lifting again...

After a minute or so I heard a surprised gasp from nearby. I didn't pay attention to it.

Every time I needed just a few seconds to become fully rested and full of energy.

Only the feeling of exhaustion and pain was not going away. At some point, I felt as if thousand red-hot needles were piercing the flesh of my hands. I barely managed not to scream.

Now I knew what exactly the description of ETM meant. While in this mode, I had limitless endurance and recovery rate, and yet the pain was still there. The pain of me destroying my own hands with insane pressure.

Once again, I rested for a few seconds and was about to continue my workout, when suddenly the captain approached me. I looked around. It was very silent in the gym. Everyone was looking at me.

"You," he said with a complicated gaze. "You better give it a rest… Or you can injure yourself. It's enough, really."

I felt genuine concern in his voice. He wasn't trying to drive me away. He was giving me a piece of advice.

"It's okay. It can do it," I said with a smile and started lifting again.

The captain frowned, visibly displeased with my answer, and walked away.

Soon, I heard the following talk:

"Is he angry? Because we were…"

"He will injure himself and start crying soon… Should we stop him?"

"Doesn't matter. He can do whatever he wants. Idiot…"

Soon, however, it didn't bother me anymore. The pain swallowed all my other feelings. I ground my teeth and closed my eyes. I was simply lifting up and down, up and down… Again and again without a care in the world.

At some points I again heard some voices:

"How long will he last? What do you think? I bet 500 yen that no more than two more times!"

"1000 that he will fail on his next try."

"Deal!"

Soon, however, these voices also went silent.

I lost count of how many times I had lifted the damn bar.

I felt as if I was roasting my hands on fire.

At last, a pleasant, warm current of strength appeared in my hands out of nowhere…

I opened my eye and looked at the steel bar.

I placed it on the rack and checked the magazine which I had opened on the page with my profile:

[Str: E+

End: E

Int: B+]

I smiled, got up, and, while everyone in the gym was looking at me with eyes wide as saucers, I picked up two more 5kg weights and placed them on the bar.

Then, I started lifting it again…

…

…

…

When I came back to the Dojo, I almost crashed at Takeshi who was standing just behind the door.

He was holding a chocolate protein bar in his hands.

"Ah… Something happened?" he looked at me with confusion. A worried expression appeared on his face.

I returned only after twenty minutes. It was too early.

I took the bar from his hands and gazed at Shirogane.

He was standing in the middle of the hall, holding a wooden sword in his hands. He looked at me too. Soon, an unpleasant smile appeared on his face:

"What, got tired already?"

I didn't answer him. Instead of that I bit the bar and asked Takeshi while chewing:

"So… Hundred push-ups, right?"

He nodded with a visible confusion on his face.

I walked toward the middle of the hall and placed my hands on the ground…