"Sage, the life you gave… I wonder, where did you take it from?"
That was what one of the commoners said to me.
"You always revive the dead, yet do you not think about the consequences?"
…I didn't know how to answer.
"I'm grateful for your power, but I always wondered—what's the price of using something like that?"
The more they questioned me, the more I began to doubt my own ability.
[ Let's go back to where it began. ]
---
When I was sixteen years old , I dreamed of traveling the world—seeing wonders I had never seen, experiencing things that felt impossible.
That dream fueled me. By the time I was nine, I pushed myself beyond what any kid should do.
400 push-ups
400 sit-ups
400 squats
And a 10 km run, every single day.
No rest. No excuses.
Yeah, everyone thought I was insane. But I didn't care. My motto was simple:
> "A strong will creates strong muscles!"
…That was my life until I turned twelve.
---
One day, an old bald man wearing priest's robes came to our tiny village. He spoke with an absurd calmness:
"I sense the power of the gods here. That's why I came personally to investigate. May I know who the village head is?"
My father, who happened to be the village head, nearly pissed himself. He bowed and stuttered:
"I-I am! I'm so sorry for not preparing a grand welcome, Priest!"
"Relax. I only came to investigate. Allow me to visit every house in your village."
"O-of course! This way, Priest!"
Listening from the back, I realized something very important.
I was screwed.
So naturally, I did the only logical thing: ran straight to the mountain and trained like a lunatic.
"1998… 1999… 2000 push-ups! Finally done!"
That's right—I increased my daily hell-training even further. It may sound ridiculous, but I was dead serious.
grrrrrooowwl
"…Damn, I'm starving. Time for some Adobo."
But when I returned to the village, I saw black smoke.
For a second, I thought it was a festival.
I was wrong.
"WHYYY!! My Super Secret 0.9999 Great Gym of Olympus™ is burning!!"
[What a stupid name.]
"Damn you, whoever did this! You'll pay for destroying my masterpiece!"
Tears fall dramatically
"Goodbye… my beloved gains…"
[Okay, let's cut the melodrama.]
"F*ck you, Author."
[Wait, what?]
---
While I mourned my gym, my childhood friend appeared. She was also sixteen, a girl with a mouth filthier than the village's sewer.
"You ashole, fcking piece of sh*t! Where the hell were you!?"
(Yeah… her tongue's possessed by demons.)
"Shut the f*ck up, you demon witch! As you can see, my masterpiece is gone!"
Her furious face twisted from "demon" into "ugliest-monster-bitch" mode.
"YOU MUSCLE-BRAINED FREAK! OUR VILLAGE GOT WIPED OUT BY THAT FAKE PRIEST AND YOU'RE CRYING ABOUT YOUR STUPID GYM!?"
"W-wait… did you just say the priest was a bandit?"
"YES, you dumb f*ck!"
"DID YOU JUST CALL OUR VILLAGE DIRTY, YOU BITCH?! I CLEANED EVERY CORNER—EVEN YOUR SH*TTY OUTHOUSE!!"
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY, YOU PILE OF SH*T!?"
"BITCH!"
And so, they fought for two hours straight.
And the author is too lazy to write all the details and uploaded this chapter