Some time later~
…
Ryu slowly opened his eyes…
The first thing he noticed was the sky…
The in the next second, it was Hiroki’s face hovering above him…
“…Ugh.” He bellowed.
Hiroki leaned back slightly, breathing out in relief: “Finally.”
Ryu blinked several times before trying to sit up.
His body felt strangely heavy, but not nearly as painful as it had been after their previous fights…
“How…
How long was I out for?” By now he would be in the infirmary.
“Few minutes.”
“That’s…
it?” Ryu asked surprised.
“Yeah.
You kind of just passed out.
Pretty much out of nowhere.”
Ryu rubbed his head before slowly pushing himself upright…
Then-
Grrrrrrr…
His stomach growled.
Loudly.
Ryu froze: ‘…A-Again?’
The sensation was different from ordinary hunger.
It was far more intense, almost instinctive.
His entire body seemed to be demanding something.
Food.
Not because he simply wanted to eat.
Because he needed it desperately.
Ryu placed a hand over his stomach: ‘What the hell…?’ It happened earlier, but much, much worse now.
His body was practically screaming at him;
“Do you have any food?”
Hiroki stared at him: “…Food?”
“Yes…
I-I need it…!”
The urgency in Ryu’s voice made Hiroki’s expression change: “Alright, alright.”
Hiroki stood up: “Wait here.”
He disappeared for a few minutes, leaving Ryu sitting against the nearby tree.
Ryu could feel the hunger growing worse by the second: ‘This is insane.’
His body felt empty.
Like he’d burned through everything inside of himself.
…
Eventually, Hiroki returned carrying some food: “Here.”
He held it out: “You can eat half of this.
That should be more than enough.”
Ryu barely heard him.
The moment the food reached his hands, he practically tore into it.
He discarded the chopsticks without a second thought and began eating with his hands, shoving food into his mouth as quickly as he could.
Hiroki stared: “…Dude.”
Ryu didn’t respond.
He couldn’t.
He just kept eating.
Every bite seemed to settle something inside him.
The frantic sensation in his stomach slowly began to fade, while the tension throughout his body gradually relaxed. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
His breathing steadied.
His muscles loosened the spasaming earlier had eased, but still persisted…
Even the exhaustion seemed to become slightly more manageable.
‘Ah…’
Ryu slowed down for the first time: Ohh…
yeah…
That’s better.’
He looked at the remaining food before continuing to eat at a more reasonable pace.
Thinking to himself a bit before eventually finding the cause of this intense hunger…
‘That, might have been what happened.’ His thoughts became clearer: ‘I guess overcome isn’t just making me tired…’ Ryu remembered all of the fight.
The longer he’d fought, the more he’d felt his stamina being drained.
At first, he could keep going.
Then his body started feeling heavier.
Then weaker.
And eventually…
He’d simply collapsed: ‘I’ve been burning through my body’s reserves.’
Ryu frowned.
It wasn’t just normal exhaustion either.
It felt as though Overcome had been forcing his body to keep operating beyond what it naturally had available…
Still it made sense se when he thought about it, stamina could only be reolinished by sustenance.
The body wasn’t an infinite energy generator, so why his natural reserves depleted, the ability started burning through his back up…
‘Srill…
If Hiroki hadn’t been here, I…’ The thought made him pause.
He’d been too weak to even move.
If nobody had been around, he might have remained there for who knew how long.
Worse…
‘If I hadn’t gotten food…’
Ryu looked down at his hands.
He didn’t want to think about what could have happened.
He’d been pushing himself so hard that his body had practically run out of fuel: ‘So that’s the cost.’
Ryu finally understood something important.
Overcome could push him beyond his limits.
It could force his body to adapt.
It could make him stronger while he was fighting.
But it couldn’t create energy from nothing.
If he kept pushing after his reserves were depleted…
‘I’d eventually destroy myself.’ Ryu swallowed another mouthful.
Yet there was something that bothered him…
He hadn’t felt the danger coming.
Not until it was too late.
Throughout the entire fight, he’d been focused on that one singular sensation.
That absolute urge to simply push forward.
To overcome Hiroki…
It had been so overwhelming, that he’d barely noticed how quickly his body was running out of energy: ‘Likely the scariest part of my ability…’
Ryu then glanced toward Hiroki.
The red-haired youth was watching him eat with an expression that was somewhere between confusion and disbelief.
Ryu looked back down at the food: ‘If this keeps happening, I need to learn where my actual limit is.’
Because Overcome apparently didn’t care about that limit.
It only cared about whether he could continue.
And if he wasn’t careful…
Ryu sighed: ‘One day, “keep pushing” might really be the thing that kills me.’ He confirmed that today.
Not just the drive for growing, but now its after effects were brutal, at least, for prolonged use…
He continued eating, this time much more slowly. Find the original chapter at g.com.
Still, despite that realization, a small smile crept onto his face…
‘But…’
He remembered the fight.
How much stronger he’d become.
How quickly his body had adapted.
How he’d actually managed to follow Hiroki’s movements better than before.
‘It’s working!’ Ryu thought, looking at his clenched fist…
He’d finally found a clue to what Overcome could do.
Now he just needed to figure out how to use it without completely running himself into the ground…
How…
Even he had no idea…
“…”
Ryu finished the last few bites before leaning back against the tree, letting out a long breath.
His stomach finally felt settled, and the strange emptiness that had been consuming him was gone.
He looked down at his hands for a moment before remembering something.
‘Right…’ His status.
If Overcome had really been working throughout that entire fight, there was no way his stats hadn’t changed…
Right?
Ryu raised his hand slightly: ‘…Status.’
The familiar translucent panel appeared before him…
…
_____
[Name: Ryu Takane
Age: 17
Height: 171.3 cm » ???
Weight: 62.5 kg » ???
Health: 21.2%
Stamina: 12%
Condition: Badly Injured & Extremely Exhausted
Physicality: 1.1 » ???
Abilities:
-Overcome – Lvl MAX: ??????
-Pain Tolerance – Lvl 4 » 16
-Willpower – Lvl 5 » 16
-Enhanced Stamina – Lvl 4 » 14
-Bone Toughness – Lvl 2 » 13
-Muscle Quality – Lvl 1 » 12
-Blunt Force Resistance – Lvl 3 » 12
-Recovery – Lvl 1 » 4
-Combat Instincts – Lvl 1 » 7
-Hand to Hand Combat – Lvl 1 » 7: Increases hand to hand combat skills.
______
…
Ryu only had a single thought;
‘…Is this, me…?’
.
.
.
End