The Real Life System

Adrian's mind raced as he fought against the exhaustion weighing him down.

470 meters.

12 minutes and 34 seconds left.

His heart pounded in his chest, sweat dripping down his forehead. His legs felt like they were made of lead, but he couldn't afford to stop.

Then, suddenly, he remembered.

" The services. "

The system had given him two services, but he wasn't sure if they would work in this simulated world. If they did… they might be his only way out.

Desperation clawed at him as he took a gamble.

"I want a service!" he shouted.

Nothing. No response.

His stomach sank. Was it useless?

Panting heavily, he skidded to a stop and pressed his finger against the glowing text in his interface:

[ SERVICES NUMBER: 2 ]

A new message appeared instantly.

[ DO YOU WANT TO USE A SERVICE? Y/N ]

His heart skipped a beat. It worked.

He could use them. But should he use one now or save them for later?

His eyes flickered to the distance counter.

[ 400m ]

[ 11m:58s ]

They were still gaining on him. Too fast.

Adrian clenched his fists. Not yet. He needed to wait until they were close enough, until he had no other choice.

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to move again, pushing his body past its limits.

One step. Another. And another.

The system updated.

[ 340m ]

[ 10m:42s ]

His lungs burned. His muscles screamed for him to stop. But he couldn't.

[ 300m ]

[ 9m:40s ]

[ 250m ]

[ 8m:04s ]

[ 200m ]

[ 6m:52s ]

[ 100m ]

[ 5m:00s ]

Suddenly, he heard something.

Footsteps.

Loud. Fast. Closer than before.

Adrian's blood ran cold.

They were almost on him.

Now or never.

He slammed his finger onto the system message.

[ DO YOU WANT TO USE A SERVICE? ]

[ Y / N ]

Without a second thought, Adrian slammed his finger down on the screen.

[Y]

The system flashed again, this time with the message he'd been waiting for :

[The service is: Time stopped for 2 minutes].

Relief washed over him as the world around him suddenly froze. The men chasing him were frozen in place, their footsteps halted mid-stride. Adrian quickly took a deep breath, catching his breath for the first time in what felt like forever.

He counted to thirty in his mind, allowing the precious time to pass as he gathered the strength to continue. The countdown ticked on in his mind, marking the final moments before the pause would end.

The message appeared again, this time with urgency:

[100m]

[4m:24s]

He started moving again. Slowly at first, but then faster. He could see them, still frozen, but he couldn't waste too much time. He had to get as far as he could before the time restarted.

The numbers on the screen began to tick by again:

[300m]

[3m:39s]

[400m]

[3m:00s]

[ the service timing 3 2 1 ... ]

His legs burned, but now, with the time advantage, he was feeling more confident. He could hear the system counting down, but this time it didn't feel like the end was near.

The final stretch was within his grasp now, his focus clear. The system flashed again, showing:

[330m]

[2m:20s]

[233m]

[1m:17s]

[123m]

[0m:30s]

[20m]

[0m:05s]

With a final burst of energy, he forced himself to sprint, his feet pounding faster against the ground. He could see the finish line now, so close, just a few more steps.

The system's message flashed one last time:

[0m:00s]

His body felt like it was collapsing, but somehow, he reached the end.

Adrian's heart still pounded in his chest as the simulated world began to fade around him. The colors blurred, and the sounds of his footsteps slowly dissolved into silence. He blinked, disoriented, and found himself back in the kitchen where it all began. The familiar surroundings of his home were a sharp contrast to the harsh, adrenaline-fueled world he had just escaped.

He instinctively looked at the clock on the wall. It read 11:30 PM, exactly the same time he had entered the system's training zone. His mind raced as he processed this.

The real world time hadn't moved a second. He realized that when he entered the system's zone, the real-world time had been fixed, frozen in place, while everything in the simulation had played out. He felt a strange mix of relief and confusion.

The system's voice broke through his thoughts, its calm, mechanical tone cutting into the silence. A new message appeared on the screen before him:

[Congratulations, you won a gift because you survived your first exercise. Open the gift? Y/N]

Adrian stared at the message for a moment, unsure whether he had truly escaped or if this was part of the simulation. But his curiosity got the better of him. He pressed Y.

Instantly, a small package materialized in front of him, as if from thin air. He opened it cautiously, and inside, he found ten small bottles, each perfectly sealed and labeled. The system chimed in again:

[You won ten protein bottles for your next exercises. Each contains 4000 calories and 150g of protein.]

Adrian blinked, his mind struggling to wrap around the information.

"What? 4000 calories? That's double what a normal person eats in one day,"

He muttered in disbelief, holding one of the bottles in his hand. The weight of it felt strange, almost unreal.

Adrian stared at the system's message, his mind still trying to absorb everything. The protein bottle he'd just drunk felt strangely heavy in his stomach, but that was nothing compared to the weight of the rankings now flashing in front of him. He had advanced a bit in the Fitness ranking, but the other factors had barely moved. It was both encouraging and discouraging at the same time.

His finger hovered over the final line.

[ Services number: 1 ]

Only one more service left. Adrian clenched his fist, frustrated but determined. He quickly scrolled through the rankings:

STATUS: CRITICAL

[ Original Appearance ranking: 6,183,836,635 → Updated Appearance ranking: 6,183,836,631 ]

[ Original Intelligence ranking: 1,236,376,278 → Updated Intelligence ranking: 1,236,376,277 ]

 [ Original Knowledge ranking: 3,076,665,378 → Updated Knowledge ranking: 3,076,665,382 ]

 [ Original Power ranking: 5,066,654,324 → Updated Power ranking: 5,066,654,320 ]

[ Original Richness ranking: 5,165,352,987 → Updated Richness ranking: 5,165,352,971 ]

[ Original Fitness ranking: 6,364,734,843 → Updated Fitness ranking: 6,364,734,803 ]

[ Original General ranking: 5,346,745,839 → Updated General ranking: 5,346,745,837 ]

The small drop in the rankings for the first few factors didn't seem significant, but the Fitness ranking had noticeably improved 40 places up. It wasn't much, but it was a start. Yet, the distance between him and his goal felt endless. Adrian's eyes scanned the message again, then he noticed a new line under each factor:

[ Open the zone training ]

He pressed the first one, and a new set of options popped up:

[Exercise 1: Unlocked]

[Exercise 2: Unlocked]

[Exercise 3: Unlocked]

[Exercise 4: Unlocked]

[Exercise 5: Unlocked]

The same message appeared when he pressed the other rankings. But when he pressed "Open the zone training" under Fitness, a different message flashed:

[Exercise 1: Available]

[ Target scoring: 1000m ]

[ Your score: 16m ]

[Exercise 2: Unlocked]

[Exercise 3: Unlocked]

[Exercise 4: Unlocked]

[Exercise 5: Unlocked]

Adrian's eyes widened as he processed this new information.

"What? 16 meters? That can't be right,"

He muttered : "It must be the distance between me and the killers when the time finished."

The realization hit him hard. The first exercise had been challenging enough, but now, to unlock the second one, he had to maintain that same distance, 1000m until the end of the exercise. It felt impossible. It wasn't just about completing the challenge; it was about surviving long enough to move on.

He sank into a chair, rubbing his temples, trying to think logically.

"This is too much," he thought, feeling the pressure mounting.

The system wasn't designed to make it easy, and the distance required to advance felt impossible.

"It seems like it will take forever to move to the next exercise," he muttered to himself, feeling overwhelmed. He couldn't afford to make any mistakes, and yet everything was set up to push him to the absolute limit. Every exercise was designed to make him prove himself, each one harder than the last.

Adrian took a deep breath. He wasn't sure how he was going to handle the next exercise, but he knew one thing: if he was going to survive this, he needed to focus. He needed to plan carefully, because it wasn't just about how fast he could move, it was about outlasting the system's tests and staying one step ahead.

The challenge had only just begun, and Adrian had no idea what lay ahead. But whatever it was, he was going to face it with everything he had.

To be continued …