Chapter 23 Blackout
The next day, Iris braced her elbows on the floor, legs pressed together, toes dug in, and core locked tight. Every muscle in her body was coiled to the limit as beads of sweat poured off her forehead like rain.
She had held the plank for nearly an hour.
She was drenched in sweat from head to toe, as if she had just been hauled out of water.
In just ten short days, even while eating like a horse every single day, Iris had slimmed down noticeably.
But it was not the number on the scale that changed. It was her body itself.
She looked leaner from head to toe. Her muscles were tight and sharply defined, her body fat had dropped fast, and clear abs had already formed. All the soft, loose flesh was gone, replaced by a coiled strength that felt ready to explode at any moment.
At the same time, her entire demeanor had undergone a complete transformation.
Regular training kept her mind razor sharp and fired up.
Ana Iris had always been the ruthless type. Her bright, cutting10
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gaze stood in stark contrast to the fear and exhaustion written on the faces of ordinary people outside.
A single look from her was enough to cow a crowd.
This was the difference between a beast and a flock of sheep.
She clenched her teeth and pushed through the final stretch on the mat.
Every muscle felt like it weighed a ton, the burning ache sending sweat streaming down her face.
It hurt.
It hurt so much it made her muscles tremble.
But she could not give up.
She had to hold on.
Every extra second was a breakthrough in endurance, and more importantly, the reward time was about to run out.
Just as her jaw went numb from clenching and she felt herself scraping against her absolute limit, a familiar voice echoed in her mind.
Beep. Physical enhancement period complete.”
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With a dull thud, Iris collapsed onto the yoga mat, gulping for air.
It was over.
She could finally rest.
At this moment, she was so completely spent that not even a single finger would obey her anymore.
All that bone–crushing pain finally paid off.
“Rating in progress. The host’s physical conditioning upgrade is 100% complete.
“Speed upgrade: 100% complete.
“Endurance upgrade: 100% complete.
“Strength upgrade: 100% complete.
“Congratulations. You have received an S–rank reward.
“Rewards granted. Physical strength doubled. Speed doubled. Endurance doubled. Injury recovery speed doubled. Bonus reward: Advanced Combat Arts ×1. Lifespan greatly extended in the absence of major injuries.”
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Iris was surprised.
The moment the rewards were issued, she felt her body change in a violent rush.
The strength that had just been drained from her came flooding back in the blink of an eye.
Power surged through her from head to toe, more than she knew what to do with.
Iris sprang up from the ground and immediately noticed how much lighter and quicker she felt. She walked outside the base, stared at her beloved armored vehicle, and an absurd urge rose up inside her. She wanted to lift it.
And she actually did.
Grabbing the edge of the frame, Iris planted her feet, dropped into a solid stance, and put her back into it.
To her disbelief, she lifted one corner of the cutting–edge 8×8 armored vehicle off the ground by half an inch.
This is incredible, as the vehicle weighed over 20 tons.
She tested her speed next. When she broke into a full sprint, she could hit world–champion levels without breaking a sweat.
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At the limits of human performance, even the smallest improvement usually meant an unbridgeable gap.
And the system rewards had doubled everything.
Her strength and speed had reached the absolute limits of the human body.
Iris even felt that if superpowers became widespread in the future, her current state alone could already rival ordinary speed–type and strength–type metahumans.
This reward was the real deal.
After testing her new physical limits, Iris entered her space.
The combat manual was still lying there.
She opened it at once.
After skimming just a few moves, her eyes lit up.
Every technique was sharp, brutal, and deadly, all designed specifically to destroy the human body or something like a zombie’s frame. The moves were full of unexpected angles and lethal tricks that caught opponents off guard.
No wonder it was said to be far ahead of its time. Each move was thegdistilled wisdom of veteran fighters, decades of hal–earedo
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experience packed into a single strike.
Iris treated it like buried treasure and immediately threw herself into studying it.
In the blink of an eye, another five days passed.
For the past few days, Iris had stayed holed up in the base, doing nothing but training.
Every morning started with a routine run around the mountain to warm up. After that, she practiced combat techniques.
While she trained, the rice cooker handled the meals. After eating with Summer, she fed the chickens, ducks, and sheep, then checked on the vegetables and fruit trees.
She had more eggs than she could eat. The chickens and ducks were producing around 20 eggs a day.
Iris only took a few for her daily meals and left the rest in the pen for the hens to brood.
The vegetables in her garden were thriving as well.
She figured that in about ten more days, fast–growing crops like lettuce and spinach would be ready to harvest.
The base was flourishing, steadily moving in a very promising:10
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direction.
But over the past few days, the outside city had gone through another drastic upheaval.
Yesterday evening, Iris stood on the tower of her home, scanning the surroundings and looking out toward Aster City. A little past eight o’clock, the scattered lights across the city flickered once, then went dark in sweeping stretches from front to back.
The power had been cut early.
Previously, electricity had lasted much longer. This time, it barely held on for half a month.
With the zombie virus breaking out ahead of schedule, too many variables had spun out of control. The power plants were likely finished for good.
It was clear that this life was far harder than the last.
Electricity was a basic lifeline. Previously, when the gas had been cut off, she had relied entirely on electricity to cook and survive.
At night, she had also depended on motion–sensor lights and surveillance outside the gate to keep an eye on the zombies.
Now that the power was gone, the difficulty of survivi in the 10
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city had shot up by another notch.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
