The daily routine of this place called Hell Island was simpler than one might think.
PHWEEEEEEEE!
Early morning.
At the hour when the sun was just beginning to rise, the sound of a whistle that struck the eardrums spread throughout the entire dormitory.
“Everyone, get up! We have to go, now!”
Perka, the room leader, said as he woke Theron, Renil, and Tioren.
Of course, Theron, who was already up and getting dressed, simply nodded.
“Hey, Renil! You want to get the shit beaten out of you again today?! Aren't you getting up?!”
“Ugh…… My, my body…… hurts so much.”
Seeing Renil unable to get up, Perka frowned.
He certainly had been beaten too much yesterday.
But that did not mean he would be granted an indulgence.
“If we're late today, you'll be beaten until your bones break. I'll help you, so let's hurry.”
“Th, thanks.”
When Perka pulled Renil up, Tioren also supported Renil from the other side.
The two of them bickered every day, but their relationship itself was not bad.
The four quickly passed through the corridor and headed outside.
What they did every morning, as soon as they opened their eyes, was a run around the building.
The instructor, whose eyes were open like a demon's, looked at the gathered trainees and said.
“The last five will be excluded from breakfast. And whichever bastard comes in last will be beaten to a pulp, so grit your teeth and run.”
“Yes!”
The trainees answered loudly, venom filling their eyes.
Thoroughly, the weak were meat and the strong ate.
If one came in last here and got beaten, it would cause problems for training again tomorrow.
The one bit of luck was that the mana cultivation method had given them about two days of breathing room, but.
“……Can you run?”
“I have to.”
Renil, who had been badly beaten for failing to memorize the formula of the mana cultivation method, had become a problem.
‘……No.’
Not just Renil, but most of them had been beaten, so were the conditions about the same?
Theron let out a small breath and looked ahead.
Sorry as he was, right now he had no room to help anyone.
‘……Right now, my physical condition is at a complete trash level.’
While learning the mana cultivation method over the two days, Theron had checked the current condition of his body.
Muscle strength, endurance, stamina.
Not a single one was better than the others'.
Come to think of it, until nearly the time he escaped from here, Theron had not been a particularly noticeable trainee.
If anything, he had been treated as cowardly trash who had survived by using the sacrifices of others as a stepping stone.
‘But…….’
Theron's eyes flashed sharply.
This time, he had no intention of that, not even as much as a speck of sleep in the eye.
The training method here thoroughly imposed risk to drive competition, but if one thought about it the other way…….
‘The rewards for doing well were certain, too.’
It was just that few knew how to make proper use of those rewards.
“Run! Run, you pieces of trash!”
At the instructor's shout, the trainees began to run for all they were worth.
Because of where they had been beaten, few of them could run properly.
Theron ignored them and silently ran ahead.
“Huff…… Huff…… Huff…….”
He had only run about one lap, yet he was already out of breath.
He was close to getting angry at this state of his body.
‘Building up stamina comes first, above all.’
Because whatever he did, without stamina, there was nothing he could do.
That was why Theron did not stop running, using no mana and only pure stamina.
Because he knew all too well that this pain now would become growing pains.
And…….
“Theron, first place.”
“Than……k…… you, haah…… haah…….”
His stamina was not good, but because he had revived his old memories and focused on his breathing and pace as much as possible, he was able to come in first.
Of course, a few more trainees came in right behind him, but all of them, gasping for breath, looked at Theron curiously.
Then Perka came over.
“You…… are you doing some kind of training on the side?”
“What do you mean?”
“It's just weird that you're suddenly running so well. You always landed near the bottom and missed breakfast.”
“……Forget that. A lot of things are going to change from now on.”
As Perka had said, because he had fallen behind in training during this period, he had not been able to get proper nutrition.
‘Thanks to that, my growth was really slow.’
It was a very small thing, but it was important to start by changing even that one thing.
Theron calmed his heart, which felt ready to burst, and slowly steadied his breathing.
Just then…….
“Haah…… Haah…… Haah……!”
Renil, who had been running in last place, passed in front of Theron and Perka, gasping madly.
At the sight, Perka looked at Renil and shouted loudly.
“Hey, Renil! You have to run faster! At this rate, you'll be last!”
Because he still did not want to see a guy from his own room come in last and get beaten.
But…….
“Haah…… Haah…… I…… f……ucking, kn…… haah…… ow…….”
Renil was running with difficulty, step by step, gasping, unable to even steady his breathing.
He could be seen struggling desperately, but at this rate, just as Perka had said, Renil was certain to be last.
“…….”
Theron turned his head to look at the instructor.
He was lying down with his cap covering his face, as if he had no interest in the trainees running.
At the sight, when Theron got up from his spot, Perka made a puzzled face and said to Theron.
“Where are you going?”
“To help.”
“……What?”
Who was he going to help, when he could not even properly manage his own body?
Perka looked at Theron while sprawled on the ground, as if he could not move a single step.
TAP-TAP-TAP!
Theron quickly approached Renil.
Renil, seeing Theron approach.
“Wh, what?”
“Look straight ahead and focus on your breathing. Listen to my voice, but you don't need to pay attention to it.”
“Haah…… Haah…… What?”
“Eyes ahead, and focus. If you don't want to come in last and get the shit beaten out of you.”
At Theron's firm words, Renil unconsciously looked straight ahead and concentrated on his breathing.
His breathing, which had been heaving madly, very gradually began to take on a regularity.
Then Theron immediately looked around.
Renil had been falling behind by nearly ten meters.
Those running ahead were only looking forward, so they were not looking this way.
So the moment they entered a blind spot where those who had already finished could not see them, Theron placed his hand on Renil's back.
SWISH!
“Huh?!”
Renil was so startled by the sudden sensation that he nearly jumped, and he looked at Theron.
Because along with a warm energy entering his body, he felt as if his body had become lighter.
“Y, you……!”
But Theron.
“Eyes ahead, focus on breathing!”
“Hff, hff, hff!”
Renil quickly looked forward and focused on his breathing.
At the sight, Theron chuckled.
“Imagine sending the energy I just injected toward your legs. You moved it once yesterday, so it should be easy.”
NOD.
Renil immediately moved the mana Theron had injected toward his legs.
The best thing would have been to spread it evenly throughout his whole body, but.
‘That'd be too much for him right now.’
For now, focusing on what he could do was what mattered.
Soon, as the mana moved toward his legs, Renil's running speed picked up considerably.
And the moment they left the blind spot where those who had finished could not see them.
“Run, Renil.”
Theron stopped running and said to Renil.
Because if he kept running alongside Renil here, they might get caught.
“Huff, huff, huff, huff, huff!”
Just as Theron had said, Renil kept his breathing steady and put strength into his legs.
And…….
“Huh? Huh?!”
Renil began overtaking the ones ahead of him, one by one.
Those who had fallen behind could not hide their bewildered expressions as they looked at Renil.
Did it make any sense that a guy who had been staggering as he ran just moments ago could run so steadily?
And so Renil safely made it into the safe zone and completed the run.
“Huff! Haah! Haah! Huff!”
Having met the target, Renil lay sprawled on the ground, his chest heaving madly.
But soon he looked at Theron, who was standing in front of him, and raised his upper body.
“Th, Theron…… Than…… Thank…… you. Haah…….”
He held out his hand with effort to express his gratitude.
With this.
‘Have I…… paid back a little of what I owed before?’
Theron looked at his three roommates with a faint smile on his lips.
But…….
“Everyone, assemble!”
Training was not over yet.
At the instructor's shout, the trainees gathered in perfect order, like ants.
As stated in advance, the bottom five were excluded from breakfast, and a big guy who came in last had to take a thrashing for the second day in a row.
And then, mealtime.
“……Theron, that bastard's been glaring way too openly since earlier, you know?”
The one who had come in last in the run and taken a thrashing was glaring at Renil as if to kill him, his face puffed up and swollen.
There was no evidence, but it was a gaze that seemed to suspect something.
But Theron did not even spare him a glance and focused on his meal.
“Ignore him. There's nothing he can do anyway.”
“Y, you don't think he caught on to what happened earlier, do you?”
“Don't worry. Nobody saw.”
“……What are you two talking about?”
Tioren, who had been listening beside them, asked. But Perka, too, only shrugged.
“Be careful. That bastard's got a dog of a temper.”
“What did you do to get marked by Falcot, of all people?”
He was a guy notorious even within Section 5 for his foul temper. But Theron paid no attention and finished his meal.
Training resumed right after that.
It was a method that allowed the body to be trained systematically, but the suffering was the trainees' share.
“The lower body is the most basic of basics. You must be able to sleep in this stance.”
It was called the horse-riding stance, and also the invisible chair pose.
A stance in which one bent the knees to nearly ninety degrees and held the position as if sitting on a chair.
On top of that, bowls of water were placed on their thighs.
‘Hold on…… hold on…… hold on……!’
Theron bit down hard on his lip and held on with all his might.
A mere training like this.
‘Compared to the training ahead…… this is downright happy.’
Because Theron knew everything about the situations that would unfold here, he clenched his teeth even harder.
Because if he could not raise himself to at least the minimum level, it would all become meaningless.
‘When that time comes…….’
He could not make excuses like weak muscles or poor stamina.
Theron finished the training without his stance wavering in the slightest.
There was still a long way to go, but it felt like he had moved forward at least one step.
But just then.
“Hey!”
The short break given after morning training ended.
Falcot, who had taken a thrashing for coming in last in the morning run, approached Renil with an extremely angry expression.
“Hey, you fucking bastard. What cowardly move did you pull?”
Falcot glared at Renil, his eyes bulging.
At that, Renil made a flustered expression.
“Wh, what are you talking about?”
“You fucking bastard! I saw this bastard go up to you this morning, and you're trying to back out of it?!”
Falcot was notorious even within Section 5 for his strength and his foul temper.
At his threat, the trainees nearby gathered around.
“What's going on?”
“That bastard Falcot. Why's he making a scene again?”
The trainees around them each muttered a word. But Falcot pointed at Renil and Theron and shouted.
“This bastard helped this one during the morning run! Otherwise, how does a bastard who was running dead last, looking like he was about to croak, suddenly surge ahead like that?!”
At Falcot's words, those who had received low marks nodded as if they agreed.
“Come to think of it, Renil, that bastard…… he was definitely last.”
“Way behind, too.”
“It was kind of weird how he suddenly shot out ahead…… Don't tell me he got help?”
As public opinion formed in an instant, Renil said, flustered.
“N, no. That's not it…….”
“What do you mean it's not?! This bastard definitely gave you a push, no doubt about it!”
Falcot grabbed Renil by the collar and hoisted him high into the air.
Even after training like that and getting beaten, he seemed to have strength to spare.
But at the sight, Theron said in a low voice.
“All I did was tell him to keep his breathing steady. Can't I even do that much for a roommate?”
“Don't lie, you cowardly bastard!”
Falcot looked at Theron with a murderous air.
At that, Perka hurriedly stepped in front of Falcot.
“Falcot, calm down. It's already over, and all Theron did was advise him to steady his breathing. Don't you know you could end up in the Punishment Room if you cause trouble for nothing?”
“Shut up. It's those bastards who pulled a cowardly move first who are in the wrong!”
No words got through to the thoroughly worked-up Falcot.
At the sight of him, his eyes half turned from the thrashing, not only Perka but the other trainees were flustered as well.
But just then.
‘……Ah, the Punishment Room.’
Something flashed through Theron's mind for a moment.
When that thought took shape.
‘Maybe things could work out faster.’
A small arc formed at the corner of Theron's mouth.
Tab 5