Time passed as Alice spent a few more days in the cave shelter doing the same repetitive daily quests.
The difference was that each day, the duration or distance of each quest increased by a margin, slowly pushing the little girl’s body limits within a tolerable range.
Each day, as Alice watched her attribute points in the status window slowly increase, she also gradually felt the more and more obvious changes in her body.
The feeling of slowly becoming stronger was exhilarating!
Alice did not simply lock herself in practice.
She was fascinated by the scenery inside and outside of the village, despite knowing they were not real.
But she knew that this scenery must exist somewhere in the world, and Alice, who had only seen the vicissitudes of the devastated world, naturally wanted to look more at such a vibrant scene.
Whenever Alice wanted to take a break, she would painstakingly lean on the wooden crutches, limp until she was outside the cave, and enjoy the lush greenery and flowers in the village.
She would look up at the sky, marveling at the fluffy clouds that changed into various colors during sunrise and sunset.
She enjoyed the peaceful wind brushing through the grassy plains and wondered what the distant mountains were like.
At some point, Alice even seemed to hear children’s laughter in the air, along with the vague sound of adults talking, as if the village were truly occupied by villagers.
The tranquil scenes brought much comfort and peace to Alice.
She knew that her defenses were slowly relaxing again.
But she just wanted to indulge herself right now.
On the third day since the simulation started, Alice was finally able to walk some distance on her two trembling legs without falling down.
Through the constant miraculous adjustments by her new golden cheat, the nanofluid, Alice felt that her body had prepared well enough.
Happily gazing at the sunset, she decided to challenge the main quest the next day.
The next day, Alice woke up and sat up from the straw mattress.
She raised her arms, moved her legs, and finally smiled with satisfaction.
I definitely look much better now.
To Alice, who did not have any aesthetic sense, what she considered beautiful or looked good was a strong and healthy body.
The more muscular, the better.
Right now, as a little girl who was currently in recuperation, Alice definitely had no decent muscle on her yet.
However, compared to the very thin and bony frame the little girl used to have after waking up in this world, her current body had now filled out, and Alice no longer looked so fragile, as if a mere flick would send her flying.
Alice touched her face.
Look at that, undoubtedly, her cheeks were much softer and plumper, and her legs looked a lot more normal now, no longer just bones.
In the morning, Alice tried to practice walking again through the daily quests, and indeed, she was able to finish all three quests before lunch even arrived.
Alice could stand more stably now.
As for walking, Alice could walk a little distance, although she resembled a shaking leaf in the middle of a storm, quite unsteady.
Still!
It had not even been a whole week yet since she first took a step forward, and Alice could already achieve this much.
Even Alice, who did not know much common sense, knew that it was definitely a miracle.
After having lunch and resting a little, Alice finally began her challenge.
Outside the augmented reality but actually just a few meters away in reality, the medical staff gathered around to watch her attempt.
Standing by the cave entrance, Alice let go of the apprentice healer’s hands and slowly took one step toward the village square.
After the foot rested firmly on the ground, the little girl kept looking down and carefully took another step.
And another.
She patiently planted each foot firmly on the ground, waited for her trembling legs to settle, and slowly closed the distance.
[Distance: 4 meters]
[Distance: 3 meters]
Oops.
Alice almost stumbled.
She raised her arms to balance herself and stopped.
Seeing that she was more than halfway, the little girl mustered up her strength again.
She took a breath and, after resting for a while, began taking another step.
Her knees were trembling, as if they were about to give out at any time.
It felt like Alice was traversing a distance much longer than it actually was, but she knew it was all just in her mind.
[Distance: 2 meters]
With her back completely soaked in sweat and her small face flushed red, Alice had to stop again to steady herself.
Because her body was too tense, Alice felt like her muscles were cramping a little.
It might also have been because the nanofluid was at work, she told herself.
[Distance: 1 meter]
[Distance: 0.4 meters]
[You have arrived at the Hero’s Recruitment Hall.]
[Please register to become an Apprentice Hero.]
Alice looked at the group of therapists in front of her.
No, they were a group of instructors right now.
They promptly handed her a form.
“Young hero, just write your name and you will be registered as an Apprentice Hero.”
Alice tremblingly took the pen and wrote on the form, her handwriting barely legible at this point due to exhaustion.
[Congratulations!
You have completed the Main Quest: “The Road to Recruitment.”]
[Rank promoted to Apprentice Hero.]
[You have leveled up.]
[Vitality +1]
[Mobility +2]
[Balance +1]
[Endurance +2]
[You have taken your first steps toward becoming a true hero.]
[New Features Unlocked: Village Exploration, Hero Training Grounds, Village Market, Healing Hut, Wooden Hut]
[Reward: Apprentice Hero Badge, Residence Upgrade, Free Daily Massage, Cream Puff x 10, Water Pouch x 1, Storage Pouch x 1, Light Leather Armor x 1 Complete Set, Copper Coins x 50]
Alice’s face finally showed a silly smile.
She just needed to do it more, and soon she would be running through the grasslands.
[Congratulations, young hero, for finally stepping into the ranks of the heroes.
You are now an Apprentice Hero under the tutelage of the Village Instructors.
The Village Instructors will be assigning you daily quests in order to temper your body.]
The next main quest appeared.
It was exactly within Alice’s expectations—the new main quest’s objectives were focused on letting her walk as much as possible.
There was no time limit, just like the previous main quest, but Alice needed to go to various locations in the village to complete it.
[Visit the Village Square]
[Visit the Healing Hut]
[Visit the Training Grounds]
[Visit the Village Market]
Considering the large size of the underground gym and the zones scattered in different places, Alice did not know how many days it would take her to finish paying them all a visit, but considering the rate of her recovery, she was confident that she could do it in less than a week.
…
…
The medical staff took the initiative to stop the AR simulation to celebrate the completion of their program’s first and most important milestone.
The patient could finally walk!
Although she still needed practice.
When the simulation ended, Alice only blinked once, and the entire illusory world shattered into glimmering dust that disappeared into the air.
What came into view afterward were the familiar white walls and ceiling of the underground gym, along with the modern, state-of-the-art rehabilitation facilities scattered everywhere in an organized manner.
The shift from an open, fantasy world into a large, modern room was a rather disorienting feeling, like waking up from a light sleep after accidentally dozing off while standing.
The medical staff did not let Alice walk this time and allowed her to sit in the wheelchair so the little girl could rest.
In the recovery suite, Alice was pushed back inside the neuro-medical pod, and only then did Alice realize why it was called a medical pod.
Soothing music and ambient lights enveloped Alice gently, and her entire body, from her head, shoulders, back, waist, and legs down to the soles of her small feet, was gently massaged.
Alice could feel various acupuncture points on her body being poked to loosen the tensed muscles and meridians.
It was so comfortable that Alice ended up taking a nap.
When she woke up, Alice felt completely refreshed, and the little girl’s body was no longer sore.
In the gym lounge, the tantalizing scent of food filled the air as the tables were covered with all kinds of food, almost all of which had never been seen before by Alice.
She had already graduated from soft foods and was now able to eat normally, although her meals still consisted mostly of fish and chicken for meat, along with all kinds of vegetables and soups.
They were all delicious, but the impact was not nearly as great as this feast in terms of smell, color, and variety.
Hoping to reward the hardworking child, Vitto had mobilized himself and his assistants since early morning to prepare all kinds of foods that children usually loved.
It helps me a lot.
Also, just like rosestone215 had noticed, I’ve been dropping a lot of hints along the chapters.
Some details you think are just off-handedly written are actually purposely written to foreshadow the novel’s lore.
Like in this chapter, I mixed in some world-building details, but there’s a big one related to the lore that I think no one will notice, hahaha!