A week passed.
Same routine.
Wake up. Work. School. Work again. Study.
Barely five hours of sleep. But it was nothing new.
For Jed, this world was still too slow. Too soft.
After all, he'd survived Akasha—a world that devoured weakness.
He didn't remember much.
But his body did.
His instincts… sharpened.
---
Then one ordinary morning, during a boring second-period class, the intercom crackled to life.
> "Attention students! The Intramurals Festival will be held one month from now! This year, we'll have CASH PRIZES for the top 3 in every event. Students from all levels can register!"
That last line echoed in Jed's ears.
> Cash prizes…?
Jed sat up straight and locked in, his eyes narrowing.
This was his chance.
---
After school, Jed rushed to the bulletin board where the event sign-up sheets were posted.
Football.
Chess.
Basketball.
Track.
Boxing.
Powerlifting.
Arm Wrestling.
He scanned each list—watching as muscular students huddled, joked, and flexed while signing up.
He didn't blink.
> "...Arm Wrestling and Powerlifting. That's where I'll do best."
Two sports. One goal: win.
He grabbed a pen and wrote his name on both lists.
That's when he noticed something.
All the students that registered had huge forearms, thick back, and most of them were taller than him.
And on the powerlifting poster:
David Ahn.
Jed's expression stayed calm.
But deep down, something stirred.
A silent challenge.
---
Later that night, Jed returned home with a bag full of groceries:
Eggs for protein. Bananas for magnesium. Milk for calcium. Vitamin C. Iron.
He dropped the bag on the table and took out a crumpled notebook.
Inside: scratched-out hybrid workout routines, makeshift meal plans, rough sketches of muscle anatomy.
> This wasn't knowledge from school.
This was an instinct that makes him interested in researching the science about the human body. And the training burned into his bones from another world.
Akasha.
Even if he couldn't recall it clearly, his body never forgot.
---
The next day marked the beginning of his new routine.
Class by day. Work after school.
Then, as the city slept, Jed trained.
Weighted push ups.
Brick-loaded squats.
Pull-ups from the steel pipes.
Grip training.
He wasn't just training hard—he was training smart.
Hypertrophy, strength progression, recovery cycles.
> "This world's weaker… but my body's not."
During lunch, he napped under the shade of the trees. For muscle recovery and growth.
During class, he'd drift off when teachers droned on too long.
> "Let them think I'm lazy. Let them think I'm average."
What mattered was when the time came—he'd be ready.
---
In the gym, the other students bragged and posted their maxes on social media.
Jed trained in silence, in the dark corners of the city, where no one watched.
Reina passed by the bulletin board one afternoon and noticed something strange.
> "Jed… signed up for two events?"
David saw it too—and smirked.
> "He doesn't stand a chance."
But neither of them knew.
Jed wasn't just another student.
He was a survivor of Akasha.
And in one month, they'd all see what that meant.