Multiple weeks go by, the agonizing routine had fully set in.
Night had fallen over the wasteland, and Noen lay down on the hard, wooden floor to sleep. This small, suffocating house, squeezed tight with several hundred people, served as their only sleeping quarters. Privacy? Showers? Basic human hygiene or taking care of oneself? There was absolutely none of that here.
The air was thick with the stench of dried sweat, dirt, and exhaustion, mixed with the faint metallic scent of old blood and rust. Every square inch of the floor was covered by a tangled mass of limbs, ragged clothes, and bruised bodies.
Somewhere in the darkness, somebody coughed violently for several seconds before the sound faded again into the heavy silence. Thin moonlight leaked weakly through cracks in the walls, barely illuminating the miserable scene.
Noen carefully shifted his arm in the cramped space and swiped the air, opening his System Overlay in the dim light:
[System-Class: Noen]
[Title: The Absolute Zero]
[Role: 0]
[STR: -47.5 / 0]
[AGI: -45 / 0]
[END: -35 / 0]
[VIT: -44.5 / 0]
[FOC: -44 / 0]
[AFF: -44 / 0]
Noen stared at the numbers for a fleeting second before quickly flicking the screen closed. The faint shimmer vanished instantly, swallowed by the darkness around him. As he shifted, a younger boy next to him accidentally pushed against his side, trying to find a few inches of comfort on the unforgiving wood. Noen wasn't mad. He didn't push back. Everyone in this claustrophobic hellhole was just trying to survive these horrible conditions somehow, one miserable night after another. Everybody here is.
Noen exhaled deeply, the hot, stale air filling his lungs.
"For this inhuman training, not much has happened yet..." Noen whispered to himself in the dark. "100% because of my damn Affinity Stat!"
He hit the floor with a closed fist, the dull thud masked by the collective breathing of the room. Frustration gnawed at his chest like a parasite that refused to die.
– Last night someone tried to escape... he was mercilessly shot.. there are guards here 24/7. You can't get out of here.–
He stared up at the dark wooden beams of the ceiling, his tired eyes tracing the cracks in the old timber while his mind drifted to the horrific rumors he had pieced together from the silent desperation of the crowd.
–Apparently, people with a stat-limit that is too high even let themselves get shot on purpose..–
To have a stat cap in the high thousands meant spending years—maybe decades—in this agonizing cycle. For some, the bullet of a guard was a kinder mercy than enduring this hell until their bodies gave out on their own.
Some had stopped speaking entirely after hearing their own limits. Others simply stared blankly ahead during training, like empty shells waiting for collapse. Even the guards occasionally looked disturbed whenever someone revealed absurdly high numbers.
Suddenly, a shadow stumbled in the darkness. A girl, trying to navigate the sea of sleeping people, tripped over a stray leg and tumbled directly over him. She crashed down, her head smacking painfully against Noen's forehead with a sharp thwack.
Noen winced, rubbing his brow. The girl immediately dropped to her knees, her eyes wide with terror as she bowed her head in a frantic, silent apology. Her breathing trembled nervously, as though she expected to be beaten for even this tiny mistake. Noen just sighed, raising a hand and brushing it off to signal that it was fine.
Relieved, the girl stayed hunched over and carefully squeezed her way further through the dense crowd, disappearing into the shadows to find her designated spot.
Noen watched her go, rubbing his sore head. Not a single word of apology had left her lips, and he hadn't expected one.
Talking... was strictly forbidden here.
The next morning, everyone lined up outside once again, their battered bodies forming rigid lines along the painted red marker. The cold morning wind swept dust across the empty yard while dozens of exhausted faces stared lifelessly ahead. The heavy silence of the training grounds was broken as the instructor stepped forward, and the well-known question was asked...
"HAS ANYONE REACHED THEIR STAT CAP ?"
Nobody raised their hand at the beginning. The crowd remained dead silent, staring straight ahead into the dirt. But then, a hand suddenly shot straight up into the air. A young woman, around twenty years old, stepped forward out of the ranks. Several heads turned toward her immediately.
"Show!" the training leader said.
With a swipe of her hand, her system overlay flickered into existence for everyone to see:
[System-Class: E]
[Role: Guardian]
[STR: 2,000 / 2,000]
[AGI: 2,000 / 2,000]
[END: 2,000 / 2,000]
[VIT: 2,000 / 2,000]
[FOC: 2,000 / 2,000]
[AFF: 2,000 / 2,000]
A quiet wave of tension spread through the rows. Some people looked at her with envy. Others with pity.
The man patted her on the shoulder. Then, two armed guards stepped out from right behind him, their faces completely expressionless.
"Just follow these 2 nice men, okay?"
The woman cheered, her voice bursting with absolute relief. "Yes! Omg finally out of this hell!"
She collapsed down, kneeling on the ground, crying uncontrollably as she was completely overwhelmed with joy.
–Lucky one...– Noen thought to himself, staring at her shaking shoulders. –The higher the system class, the longer it takes to reach its max, of course. Maxxing out an E-Class System is already quite an achievement.–
Noen watched her as she was led out of the training grounds by the two guards, the heavy metal gates opening just wide enough to let them pass. For a brief second, sunlight from outside pierced through the narrow gap before the gates slammed shut again with a deafening metallic boom that echoed loudly across the yard.
–If there is no escape without reaching it–
Noen clenched his fists tightly at his sides.
–then i guess... i have no choice...
but to...reach it.–