"Huff, huff, huff!"
No, this isn't good at all. Too heavy... way too heavy...
His head felt dizzy, one became three in his vision, and his legs—no, his entire body—felt like molten lead had been poured into it. Every step weighed thousands of pounds.
Ha, this body did weigh that much. He wanted to ask how the original owner had even lived like this.
"How... how many kilometers already?" Joshua spoke to Nine in his mind.
A mocking laugh rang out. Nine didn't care much about saving its host's face:
[You've overestimated yourself. We've only run a little over 500 meters.]
Only 500 meters?! And here he was, so exhausted he was about to start panting with his tongue out like a dog. Was this mission even possible to complete?!
Joshua screamed in his heart, but his body still staggered forward. He forced himself to observe his surroundings, trying to distract his mind.
He realized this world looked almost exactly like his own before the apocalypse, except the entertainment here wasn't as abundant.
Moreover, although the body's home looked shabby on the surface, it was near the city center. Just now, Joshua thought he had run a long distance to reach the park... but it turned out he had only covered a tiny stretch.
The number "10 km" felt more and more unreachable.
Because it was close to afternoon, quite a few people were in the park strolling or exercising. When they saw a large, young man running in such slow, staggering steps, they couldn't help but glance at him, each gaze carrying a different emotion.
Joshua pressed his lips together, not paying much attention. On his way here, he had already endured countless street stares.
Instead, it was Nine who marveled:
[Unbelievable, truly, sir! Your calmness and confident display of personality deserve praise! That's right, there's nothing shameful about struggling even in running! We should only feel ashamed if we lie around doing nothing!]
Its tone grew increasingly impassioned, voice deep as though preaching philosophy. Joshua felt his ears—no, his brain—were about to sprout cobwebs.
"Yes, I can do it, I can do it..." Joshua muttered like he was chanting scripture.
Nine was a little stunned. It hadn't expected Joshua actually to respond that way. Something about this information exchange didn't seem quite right...
It frowned silently, about to say something, when Joshua suddenly staggered.
Maybe he had tripped on something or was too tired, but his front foot tangled with the back, and he fell flat to the ground.
"Huff, huff, huff!"
Joshua panted with his mouth wide open. This body was truly in terrible condition!
"Hey, are you alright?"
A gentle voice sounded, warm like a spring breeze. Joshua froze for a moment. In his vision appeared a pair of polished leather shoes—turns out he had collapsed right in front of someone.
Joshua couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
Meanwhile, Nine practically screamed:
[Oh my god, that voice is the legendary voice that can make people's ears pregnant! This is precisely the goal I've always pursued! Just one sentence and girls would be screaming because it sounds so good!]
Joshua endured Nine's shrieking. He lifted his head and saw a hand extended toward him—fair, slender, perfectly proportioned fingers. That hand definitely belonged to someone who could play the piano.
The young man stood against the light, yet Joshua could still make out his appearance. People often said that those with beautiful voices usually had faces that didn't match.
But that didn't seem to apply to this young man.
He was dressed in a three-piece black suit, with a white shirt and black tie underneath. His soft brown hair framed obsidian eyes that shone like onyx, a tall, straight nose, and lips curved into a natural smile. When he smiled, his eyes bent into the shape of a crescent moon, filled with warmth and tenderness, no matter who he looked at. Despite his mature attire, the youthful softness of his features still showed. He must only be around twenty years old, Joshua thought to himself.
[Aaaaaaa! That face—this is precisely what I want! Why couldn't I have been bound to someone like him?!]
Nine's disdain for Joshua didn't even need to be spoken aloud.
"Are you okay?"
Joshua's silence had gone on too long, making the young man tilt his head in doubt, his fingers curling slightly as though embarrassed.
Joshua snapped back to his senses. He hurriedly grabbed the offered hand, using it to pull himself up. Though Joshua was heavyset, the young man still stood nearly a head taller, forcing Joshua to look up at him.
Joshua scratched the back of his neck awkwardly and said with a shy smile, "Sorry, I spaced out because you're just too handsome."
The young man stared at him in surprise, not expecting such words from this chubby stranger.
Arthur looked into Joshua's eyes—bright, clear, without even a hint of jealousy. The words just now seemed completely sincere, a rare kind of sincerity.
Arthur smiled too, nodding. "Thank you for the compliment. Keep working hard, I believe you can do it. But don't push yourself too far."
Joshua nodded vigorously, his fist clenching tight. "Thank you for believing in me!"
Then he ran forward again, happily waving goodbye to this gentle, kind stranger as he left.
Nine muttered:
[I don't have the photo-capture function yet... someone that beautiful, we may never meet again! If I could record his face, once I upgrade and gain a body, I could sculpt myself to look like him.]
Joshua also nodded. "He really was gentle."
He felt that his looks weren't bad in his old world either. Of course, that was back then. In this world, with this overweight body, he wasn't even sure what his own face really looked like.
Nine quickly asked:
[Compared to me?]
Joshua: "?"
Nine sighed.
[That feeling of being adored and screamed at by girls whenever you appear... You wouldn't understand.]
Joshua: "..." He had no idea what to say. Nine wanted to complete this mission even more than he did.
Arthur listened to the heavy footsteps fading away, then calmly moved forward. He leisurely took out a small bottle of antiseptic spray from his pocket and misted his hands.
His eyes lowered, his face naturally gentle by birth, yet in truth, his gaze held not a single trace of emotion.
"Young Master!"
At that moment, a group of black bodyguards rushed over, calling out urgently yet respectfully. They quickly opened umbrellas to shield him, escorting him into a car. One of them kept repeating:
"Your sudden disappearance made Madam extremely worried, Young Master, you..."
The group surged away, swallowed by the shadows of dusk.
The park grew emptier and emptier, streetlights flickering on one by one. Only Joshua's sturdy figure remained, still stubbornly running through the night.
"Ugh! Huek!"
He stopped by a tree, retching violently, as though he were about to vomit out his entire stomach.
Nine, who had already braced itself to pressure its human host, hadn't expected this human to be so frighteningly determined. It couldn't help but comment:
[Anyway, the time limit is ten hours. Only seven hours have passed. We can take a break and continue after—don't push too hard. I don't want you to become my deceased host right after the first binding day!]
Joshua couldn't help but laugh at that. "It's not that bad." He wiped his mouth. Right now, though, he truly looked so disheveled and filthy it was hard to accept. He had never been this miserable even after surviving a year into the apocalypse.
"How many kilometers have I run?"
Nine quickly answered:
[9.3 km in seven hours. An unbelievable number!]
Joshua honestly couldn't tell whether Nine was praising him or mocking him.
He nodded vigorously. "Alright then, 700 meters more—here I come!"
He roared, as if shouting could give him more strength. In reality, his voice was stuck in his throat, weak and drained, sounding like he might collapse at any second.
One hour later...
[Congratulations on completing your first mission!]
The sound of fireworks mixed with Nine's voice resounded in Joshua's head:
[Your reward has been delivered to the system space. Please check and claim it!]
Joshua lay on the roadside, motionless, as if his soul had already left his body.