Dawn Training

In a room shrouded in thick darkness one early morning, a small window pierced the wall, keeping the air from feeling too heavy. At its center sat a single worn chair in quiet solitude. I settled into the chair and calmly reviewed my situation.

Because I'd stabbed that boy Marco's hand with a fork, I'd been punished—sent to this place called the Silence Room to sit and reflect for three hours.

'Even if they tell me to reflect on my own...'

Honestly, I still didn't really know what I'd done wrong. If the same thing happened again, I'd probably act the exact same way. You have to know how to protect what's yours. If you can't and it gets taken, shouldn't you be the one reflecting on your own weakness?

And what baffled me even more was...

'How is this even a punishment?'

It wasn't suppressing my body or inflicting pain. I just had to sit here quietly... They really thought this could force kids to change their behavior?

'Isn't it a bit too soft?'

Well... if it worked, I didn't mind. Either way, I had to stay put for two more hours... I briefly considered just taking a nap, but that might get me in more trouble, so I scrapped the idea. Even I wasn't that oblivious.

"Hmm..."

I pondered for a moment, then opened my status window.

The noticeable change was that the stat penalties from malnutrition and underweight had dropped from -2 to -1 each. I could definitely feel my stamina and strength improving as the stats recovered. If I kept eating well and taking care of myself, I'd shake off malnutrition and underweight in no time.

As for what I'd learned about the system lately, it was mainly how the stat system worked. I dove into the detailed view on the stat screen.

As shown, each stat had its own experience points, and you needed to hit a certain threshold to level it up. Higher stats seemed to require exponentially more exp to increase. From what I'd figured out, you earned this exp by completing quests or performing specific actions.

For example, my intelligence exp was 440 this morning, so the 20 gained from that recent lesson made sense. Gaining just 20 exp from three hours of study made the daily quest—50 exp in strength and stamina from light morning training—a total steal.

Simple math: 1300 exp to raise a stat like strength meant 25 days of steady daily quests would do it. Efficiency would drop as stats rose, sure, but at this stage, I didn't know any better way to farm exp.

...

..

.

One or two hours passed like that? Suddenly, the door creaked open, and a nun slipped quietly inside.

"Have you reflected enough?"

I bowed my head, feigning deep remorse.

"...I'm sorry."

I had no idea what for, but... what good would arguing do?

"Good. Seems you've reflected plenty. Time's up—come on out."

I stood quietly and followed the nun out. As soon as we stepped through the door, Marie rushed over, her face etched with worry. She'd clearly been waiting for me.

"Were you waiting?"

"Of course! Do you know how worried I was!?"

Getting mad while saying she was worried... wasn't that a bit contradictory?

"Then head back carefully. And no more trouble."

The nun gave me a light warning and left first. Marie turned back with her worried expression.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, nothing happened."

"Huh? Nothing? You were locked in the Silence Room all that time! Wasn't it awful?"

"...Oh, yeah. It was bearable."

"I see... If it were me, stuck alone in that cramped, dark room for three hours, I'd be terrified and crying."

Was it that bad?

"Here."

Then Marie pulled out a small basket and offered it to me.

"Seemed like you liked these... I kept them safe."

The basket held several hania berries.

"More than one?"

"Yeah, the other kids Marco used to bully said to thank you too."

"Thank me? Why?"

"You put those Marco jerks in their place! You were so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cool earlier."

"Cool? Me?"

"Totally! A frail little thing like you scolding boys older and bigger than us! Seeing them cry and run off after you chewed them out—pure satisfaction!"

Marie waved her arms dramatically, her face lit up with excitement, barely containing her joy as she rambled on.

"And they always played innocent in front of the nuns despite bullying kids, but this time it was big enough that even the abbess stepped in. From stealing hania to their usual harassment— all exposed. So they got punished too."

"They got punished, huh."

"Yeah, probably longer than you. Serves 'em ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right, those jerks."

Punishment length varied by the offense, then. In that light... mine had been pretty lenient?

...

..

.

The next morning, I woke a bit before reveille and quietly sat up, careful not to disturb the others. I changed into the clothes I'd prepped by my bed and slipped out of the room on tiptoe.

'Getting caught outside would mean trouble.'

I decided against risking it... and instead claimed a quiet, out-of-sight corner of the monastery courtyard.

I started with light stretches to warm up—slowly loosening muscles and joints... then dropped into push-up position.

Still knees-on-ground beginner form, but with my improved stats, my posture was better and it felt way more doable than my first tries.

"1... 2, 3, 4... 5...!"

I couldn't quite finish a full set of ten yet. I caught my breath, wiping a bead of sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand.

After three minutes, I planted my palms and went down again.

"6, 7... 8... 9, 9... 9, 10."

Thud—I collapsed to the ground and panted for a bit.

'One more rest first...'

In the meantime, I checked the quest window.

'Push-ups done...'

Next: sit-ups. Push-ups were the toughest; the rest were a tad easier. Squats were the easiest by far. I'd thought they'd be tricky at first, posture-wise, but this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠girl's body made them surprisingly straightforward.

After sit-ups and squats, I broke into a run around the courtyard. One kilometer was quick work. A few laps in, the alert chimed.

I immediately checked my status.

Plenty of stamina left... Strength just needed 80 more?

'Day ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠after tomorrow, I can level strength.'