TLWD 13

Chapter : 13. The Rogue Has Changed (2)

Panting heavily, Adrian ran behind Kai.

He maintained a distance not too far from Kai.

Adrian, who had taken off his shirt, was drenched in sweat.
It seemed he had started the physical training alongside the soldiers from the very beginning.

In other words, Adrian had been running for over three hours.

And yet, he kept going.

Though his breathing was rough, his legs did not falter as he continued to run.
While the soldiers, captains, and instructors had all collapsed, Adrian remained upright and kept running.

Suddenly—

Adrian overtook Kai.

Their bodies overlapped for a brief moment, and as they passed, Adrian’s eyes flicked toward Kai.

Their gazes met briefly.

Kai could sense the emotion in Adrian’s eyes.

It was the look of a victor.

The relaxed confidence of someone who had won.
The sneer of someone saying, “You’re just a loser.”

That was the look in Adrian’s eyes as he passed Kai.

Crack!

For an instant, Kai felt something snap in his head.

Without realizing it, he picked up his pace drastically.

He ground his teeth.

…I will never lose.

He couldn’t bear to lose to Adrian of all people.

Kai surged ahead, quickly closing the distance.

Again, their bodies brushed as he passed Adrian.

Kai glanced at him with indifferent eyes as he passed by—

Crunch!

There was a loud grinding noise from behind.

He must have clenched his jaw so hard that it sounded like he wasn’t grinding his teeth but destroying them.

Boom boom boom!!

An enormous noise erupted behind him.

There wasn’t even time to check what it was—nor did he need to.

Adrian came tearing past Kai like a bullet.

…Full speed.

Adrian, too, seemed unwilling to lose to Kai, drawing out every ounce of strength to accelerate.

Of course—

He couldn’t afford to lose either.

Kai pushed off with strength in his thighs.

BOOM!
The ground caved in with a loud crash as his body rocketed forward.

Adrian, startled, looked back.

Upon seeing the quickly closing gap—

BAM!

…The ground beneath Adrian gave way completely.

“What the hell is that…?”

“Insane…”

The soldiers watching were dumbfounded.

Adrian and Kai, neck and neck, pushing and shoving each other at full speed—

Their intense battle resembled nothing short of a blood-soaked fight.

* * *

The endurance war between Adrian and Kai quickly spread across the count’s estate.

Eventually, people even started betting on who would win.

“Obviously Sir Kai will win!”

“Of course! Do you know who Sir Kai is?!”

Most bet on Kai to win.

The top knight’s reputation hadn’t been earned through mere gambling luck, after all.

But some placed their bets on Adrian.

“But… Adrian might actually win, don’t you think?”

“He’s not just keeping up—he’s overtaking him!”

That’s how close their contest had become.

Their duel instantly became the biggest topic within the estate.

* * *

◆ “It’s impossible to tell how long they intend to keep running!!”
◆ “One thing’s clear—they’re completely out of their minds!!”

A flurry of translucent messages floated before my eyes.

I couldn’t understand how the system worked, but these texts cluttered my vision.

I wanted to wave them away, but I couldn’t.

“Huff…! Huff…! Huff…!”

…Honestly, I felt like dying.

My lungs were on fire.
I was on the verge of collapse.

I had hit the absolute limit of my stamina.

I felt my energy drain out of me without realizing it.

Suddenly, my legs gave out.

They trembled and refused to move—just then—

◆ “You can use the skill ‘Regeneration [C+]’ to restore cardio endurance.”
◆ “Required nutrients – Carbohydrates, Fats”
◆ “Do you wish to consume carbs and fats to recover cardio endurance?”

More translucent messages appeared.

Without hesitation, I accepted.

Fat stored in my body ignited, carbs rapidly converted into energy, and my stamina was instantly restored.

◆ “You’ve surpassed your stamina threshold!”
◆ “Stamina stat increased by +2!!”

A message indicated my stamina stat had increased.

It confirmed that, like strength, stamina also operated on the principle of “overload.”

Exceed your limits, and your body gets stronger.

But just like with strength, there was a price to pay.

◆ “Due to massive nutrient consumption, you are experiencing extreme hunger!”

Grrrrrrgle…!!!

My stomach roared with hunger.

My stamina had returned, but I felt dizzy.

I hurriedly pulled out a preserved meal from my inventory and stuffed it into my mouth.

The tutorial quest reward, the inventory—

Simply put, it was a spatial pocket.

A virtual space separated from reality, engraved into me, allowing me to use it freely.

Because it was engraved into me, only I could see it.
A private vault and storage only I could use.

Crunch, crunch.

As I chewed the entrails, the dizziness subsided.

While the primary nutrient was protein, there were enough carbs and fats to help.

I regained strength in my legs and continued running.

Kai, refusing to lose, also picked up speed.

Just as I used “Regeneration,” Kai was using “Aura.”

In other words—cheating.

…Not that I was one to talk.

Regardless, I could feel Kai’s burning desire not to lose to me.

Thus, their back-and-forth continued for hours.

Even the soldiers watching began to tire and started to leave one by one.

Eventually, only Kai and I remained in the Frost Trial Grounds, still running.

…This wouldn’t end like this.

The Frost Trial Grounds were too small to settle this match.

We needed a harsher environment to decide the victor.

I turned my head slightly to look at Kai.

He seemed to have the same thought, as he looked back at me.

Naturally, we ran out of the Frost Trial Grounds.
We expanded the battlefield to the entire county and continued running.

Snow clung to our ankles.
Stamina drained even faster.
The frigid air froze our leg muscles.

And just like that—

A whole day passed.

* * *

“They’re… still running…?”

Seraphia looked beyond bewildered—she looked like she was about to lose her mind.

Of course, she had heard about Adrian and Kai’s running contest.

That was just yesterday.

“Are you saying they haven’t even slept?”

“Yes.”

Bernard nodded lightly.

That meant Adrian and Kai had been running all day.

It wasn’t a metaphor—it was literal.

24 hours.
Technically, it had been about 21 hours, but still, it was insane.

“N-no… that’s just…”

Seraphia felt like her soul was about to leave her body.

More than anything, she was deeply worried that they’d harm themselves.

Especially Adrian.

Adrian hadn’t exercised at all in the last ten years.

Only recently had she heard he’d started working out.

But even so, it had only been about ten days.

Wasn’t he pushing himself too hard?

She was very worried—but also secretly pleased.

‘Brother really has changed…’

Since Adrian returned home, Seraphia hadn’t had a single proper conversation with him.

He would always avoid her the moment he saw her.

Even though they lived under the same roof, she couldn’t talk to him—barely even saw his face.

Gossip from the estate was her only way to hear about him.

Maybe that’s why…

‘I’m jealous…’

Just a little jealous.

Of Kai, who had been with Adrian the whole day for this competition.

Seraphia wondered when she would finally be able to have a proper conversation with Adrian.

Even just seeing his face properly would be enough.

It was a bit selfish, but one day—

She wanted to eat with him like a normal family.

So just for a moment—

‘Maybe if I learn to exercise too, I can…’

Seraphia allowed herself that small fantasy.

* * *

Two days had passed since the run began.

I didn’t know the exact time.

But the sun had set and risen twice, so I assumed it had been two days.

The meals in my inventory were all gone.

I couldn’t use the regeneration ability anymore—but thankfully, neither could Kai.

His aura must’ve run out too; his speed had dropped significantly.

From now on, it was pure physical strength and endurance.

“Huff…! Huff…!”

My lungs felt like they would burst.

My heart thundered, pumping blood so fast it rang in my ears.

My throat, dried from breathing the cold air, was like ice.

And yet my dry mouth desperately craved another breath.

Each breath stabbed my ribs with icy pain.

Meanwhile—

“Hoo…! Hoo…! Hoo…!”

Kai’s breathing didn’t waver.

Perfect diaphragmatic breathing.
His legs pounded through the snow without faltering.

‘That lunatic.’

Seriously, he was insane.

‘Is he even human? Is he a lich or something?’

It was a reasonable doubt.

There were limits to how far mind could dominate body.

He was even wearing metal armor!

And he’d been running non-stop for two days. Was that even human?

Of course, stamina was one of humanity’s natural talents.

All living creatures evolve by optimizing traits for their environment.
In other words, each race has a special trait—like the regeneration of Ice Trolls.

Humans also had their unique strengths:

Intelligence and Stamina.

No explanation needed for intelligence.

But even human stamina was unmatched by any other species.

Not just comparable—overwhelmingly superior.

That’s why I didn’t need to consume stamina-type traits from others.
I only needed to train what I already had.

Back in the Special Ops days, I survived missions by running for six days straight without rest.

I clenched my teeth and kicked through the snowy ground.

In any case, I couldn’t lose.

To be honest, I hadn’t planned to go this far.

But now that I had, I had to see it through to the end.

Kai thought the same.

As I caught up, he pushed himself harder.

And then—

Grrrrrrr…!

A monstrous roar made both Kai and me stop in our tracks.