After a tiring walk, Woon finally reached the inn. Upon entering, he saw Eric waiting at a table, sitting like a king.
'There he is!' Woon thought.
"Hey! At least help me!" Woon called out.
"Eyyy, there you are! Sit here, I'll order the food!" Eric replied, gesturing to a chair.
Woon sank into the chair near the table, panting and out of breath. "I'm freakin' tired, man!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. How's your condition?" Eric asked.
"It's bad!"
"Are you sure about that?"
"Of course I am!"
'Now that I think about it, my limbs aren't hurt or anything. It's just that I'm out of energy to move. That potion is really something!' Woon realized.
"How's that possible?" Woon questioned.
"Well, it's kinda hard to explain, but it forcefully gathers your energy in your body, forming a sphere while enhancing your body!" Eric explained.
'So it's like steroids, but a magical one!' Woon mused.
"Well, in that case, why don't I see you using it?" Woon asked.
"Oh, it's just a one-time use. It no longer has an effect on the body after that!"
"Ah, I see."
"Oh, the food is already here!" Eric exclaimed.
A waitress wearing an all-white uniform approached their table, pulling a cart laden with food. She greeted them as she handed over the dishes.
"Hi, sirs! Here are your ordered dishes: roasted chicken and grilled steak. Hope the two of you enjoy it!" she said cheerfully.
"Why did you order so much?" Woon groaned.
"Men need to eat a lot after work, ya know!" Eric retorted with a grin.
The waitress left. As they began to eat, it was noticeable that Woon's hand could barely move, the weights making eating much harder.
"These god-damned weights!" he grumbled.
"Chill out, bro. These are just little weights! When I was a kid, I used to wear twice the weight of that!" Eric boasted.
'What are you, a monster?' Woon thought.
"Let's just get this finished. I want to sleep already!" Woon declared.
Woon ate in a hurry, eager to finish and head straight to bed. Although he wanted to remove the weights, he couldn't because it was part of the training to keep wearing them all the time.
'This feels like shackles!' he lamented.
"Hey, Woon, get ready for tomorrow!" Eric said, breaking Woon's thoughts.
"For what!?" Woon exclaimed. 'What's this demon scheming?'
"Nothing. Just go to sleep and wake up early!" Eric said mysteriously.
Woon slept comfortably. While sleeping, he found himself in a white room. He looked around, but there was only nothingness, an endless space of white. He questioned where he was. The room felt cold and shivering; Woon's body trembled without him knowing.
'Why is my body shaking? It feels cold. It's similar to that lady in my dream last time, but it's different. What I felt there was warm and comforting, but this is cold and shivering!' Woon thought, confused.
"Hey, anyone here?" he called out. 'There must be someone here, just like last time!'
Suddenly, an unidentifiable voice was heard throughout the room. Woon heard it and felt shivers and coldness.
"Who are you?" Woon asked, his voice trembling. 'It's cold!'
"Me?" the voice responded. "I'm just something that gives wishes to anyone!"
"And you are the chosen one. You're not from this world, are you?"
'How did he know?' Woon wondered.
"What are you talking about?" Woon tried to play dumb.
"Want to play dumb?" the voice scoffed. "But let's get straight to the point!"
"Become my vessel!"
"I'll give you the ultimate power that can overwhelm anything—a power to be reckoned with. Didn't you want to be strong?"
"You want to help your friend, ain't it?"
"Shut it! I know there's a catch. What is it? And before that, who are you?" Woon demanded. "You didn't even show yourself. Do you want to play some anonymous, overpowered clown that gives power to people?"
'This clown! I already read a hella ton of novels with this kind of scenario. I already know there's a catch!' Woon thought, recognizing the trope.
"Well, just for you to know, I'm one of the Three Calamities, Monarch of Machinery and Corruption!" the voice boomed.
"I'm someone that stood at the peak once!"
"So, do you want to be my vessel and gain my power, or not? It's your choice!"
"Bruh, bro, you're that idiot who goes against the world! Yeah, let's say you reached the top, but you still got defeated!" Woon scoffed.
"What's the use of your power if the world turned against me, huh? You're an idiot clown who has eighth-grader syndrome, not me! Go now!"
'Eric said that the Monarch of Machinery and Corruption is a disaster that stands against the world!' Woon remembered. "Find someone else, clown!"
The mysterious voice grew angry at how much ridicule it received from Woon. Its voice cracked, and the whole space became colder and darker.
"You'll regret this. Mark my words!" it thundered.
"Yeah, yeah, piss off, clown!" Woon shot back.
The white space suddenly disappeared, and Woon woke up. He looked outside to check if he was really awake. As he confirmed he was, he noticed it was already morning and changed his clothes for the morning training schedule Eric prepared.
'This walk is really tiring. He's making me walk through the whole district!' Woon thought.
'By the way, that voice in my dream... he seems to be plotting something. I'm sure he'll come after me!'
"I have to get strong, so let's go, haaaaa!" Woon shouted, pumping himself up. He tried to run; the weights in his hand felt lighter than before and became more manageable.
"Already finished it! What will be the next?" Woon asked as he found Eric.
"Ohh, you're already finished, Woon! I thought it would be much later!" Eric exclaimed, surprised. 'The corrupt energy in his body is completely gone! What just happened overnight?'
"Feels lighter, ain't it?" Eric observed.
"Yeah, yeah, it feels much lighter!"
"So let's go to the old man's training room!" Eric suggested.
'It must be because the corrupt energy is gone; it had been restraining his body from releasing more force!' Eric realized.
Woon and Eric immediately headed to Ron's shop to borrow the training room. After entering the room, Eric instructed Woon to pick up a sword.
"Woon, pick a sword there!" Eric said.
"Ok..."
"Now try doing basic attacks!"
"Ok!"
Woon swung his sword vertically and horizontally, and stabbed in the air. Woon continued to swing his sword repeatedly until he was tired.
'I'm tired!' Woon thought.
"Hmm, now my assignment for you will be to try doing a horizontal slash for a whole two days, and let's see your progress. Only horizontal!" Eric instructed.
"Ok, do I need to keep these weights or not?" Woon asked.
"Keep it! It will help you strengthen your body!" Eric insisted.
"Two days, huh? I'll go beyond your expectations! You must be underestimating me!" Woon declared.
"Two days is not even enough for you, and this kind of training can be done in one day. You're just so untalented that you need to put twice the effort just to catch up!" Eric taunted.
"Damn it!" Woon muttered. 'I just picked the sword because it looks cool!'
"Hey by the way why are the training so fast? Is just walk and run yesterday although it build me some muscle I can't just go around and fight some monstrosity creature!"
"Don't worry about that now is just the only time you'll feel it's fast!"
"Soon you'll know!"