Morning had arrived. The usual morning atmosphere, once filled with the chirping of birds in the sky and the crowing of roosters in the cold dawn, was now replaced by the sounds of monsters roaming everywhere and the screams of humans being brutally killed by them.
Khai woke from his deep sleep. After freshening up, he looked for Ilyas in the convenience store.
Not seeing him inside, Khai stepped out to look for Ilyas. He spotted Ilyas outside the store, doing handstand push-ups.
"497...498...499..."
Even though Ilyas was still wearing his training clothes, Khai was amazed at his muscular physique—it looked as if he'd been training his body for three years.
"...500"
"Oi Ilyas, let's have breakfast."
Ilyas finished his morning training and cleaned himself up, wiping off the sweat before joining Khai for breakfast.
While they were eating, Khai asked Ilyas,
"Il, how did you get your body to look like that? Are you using some kind of doping or what?"
"Once your body fully adapts to a different environment, it naturally changes shape..."
"...Because this virus needs a strong and healthy host to survive, it automatically reshapes our bodies to make them more suitable..."
"...But you still have to take care of your body and keep it fit. If you don't, the virus inside you will slowly die..."
"...Because once your body no longer has the virus, it won't survive in this world, and it will rot like a corpse."
"I see."
After finishing breakfast, Ilyas and Khai went out to find a suitable place to train Khai in controlling the virus inside his body. They arrived at a nearby park.
"Alright, this place is perfect for you to train."
"But I feel like something's missing."
"Hm?"
"Doesn't this virus have a name? It feels weird just calling it the virus all the time."
"It doesn't really have a name. No one ever thought of naming it, probably because they didn't care much about that. You can call it whatever you want."
"So, they have time to name the monster, but not the virus?"
"Yep"
"In that case, I, Khai, hereby name this virus… theEvo-Virus!"
"What kind of name is that?" Ilyas asked, thinking it sounded a bit childish.
"Hey, it sounds cool, okay? Evo as in evolution. Fits the nature of the virus."
"Whatever."
"Alright! Il, now teach me how to control the Evo-Virus!" said Khai enthusiastically.
"Before that..."
Ilyas pulled something out of his bag.
"...Here."
He handed Khai four bracelets made of wood reinforced with metal.
"What's this?"
"Put them on your wrists and ankles."
Khai put on the bracelets. Almost immediately, he felt a heavy weight pressing down on both his arms and legs.
"Il, what the fuck did you just give me?!"
"Weights." Ilyas replied calmly.
"Huh?! What kind of weights are these? When I held them earlier, they didn't feel heavy at all!"
"Those are special bracelets I made just for your training..."
"...When you wear them, they automatically adjust their weight based on the amount of Evo-Virus in your body."
Ilyas grabbed and lifted Khai's arm.
"Whoa, looks like there's quite a lot of Evo-Virus in his body."
"How did you even make these things?" Khai asked.
"You don't need to know it…"
"… And if you think this training is unfair, don't worry—I've been wearing the same kind of bracelets since this morning…"
"… Now, I want you to run three laps around this park. No jogging."
"What! Are you crazy? I can barely stand up straight, and you want me to run?"
"Do you want to control this Evo-Virus or not?"
"Ergh!"
"Then just do as I say."
"Yeah, yeah!" Khai replied, clearly annoyed.
With all his strength, Khai tried to move his body. Eventually, he managed to move his left leg forward. He then struggled to move his right leg.
While Khai was busy trying to complete his training, Ilyas went off to look for something.
After three hours, Khai finally completed the training, even though he had felt sharp pain in his lower back and had thrown up several times during the session.
"Ugh, is this supposed to be training or torture?"
Ilyas walked up to Khai, who was lying weakly on the ground.
"How do you feel? Relieved?"
"If only I had the strength to punch you in the face."
"Go ahead, if you can."
"Fuck you."
Ilyas handed Khai a bottle of water. After regaining some of his strength, Khai asked.
"Il, is this the kind of training you've been doing your whole life?"
"Honestly, compared to what I went through, the training I'm giving you is probably ten times easier..."
"...But if you want to try the training I did, I can definitely arrange it."
"Nah, I'm good."
"Alright, get your ass up. That was just the warm-up."
"What!"
Khai felt like he was going through hell as he was made to do 200 push-ups, 200 burpees, 200 squats, 200 handstand push-ups, a 2-hour plank, and 1 hour of high knees—all while wearing Ilyas's weighted gear.
After completing the brutal physical training, Ilyas told Khai to begin his mental training: three hours of meditation.
Once the meditation session ended, Ilyas told him to remove the weights. Khai did as instructed—and immediately felt something flowing through his body.
"Feels like something is flowing inside you, right? That's the Evo-Virus in your body entering a semi-active state."
"Semi-active?"
"The bracelets I gave you aren't just for adding weight—they also serve to contain the Evo-Virus in your body..."
"...When someone pushes their body beyond its limits, the Evo-Virus inside slowly becomes active to help the body adapt to the intense training..."
"...So, while you were struggling and pushing yourself through all the heavy activities I made you do, the bracelet you wore forcibly suppressed the Evo-Virus inside you..."
"… It prevented it from fixing the broken part..."
"... After you remove the bracelet, the Evo-Virus that has been accumulating spreads quickly throughout your body, repairing any damage at an accelerated rate..."
"...This allows your body to rapidly adapt and learn how to control the Evo-Virus inside you."
"So, how long will it take for me to activate the Evo-Virus?" Khai asked.
"At the fastest, one month. At the longest, one year."
"WHAT! A WHOLE YEAR?!"
"But if you train hard, it'll only take three weeks."
"Alright! Il! Give me the weights. I want to continue training!"
"Excessive training will just break your body down. Look at the time."
Khai looked at his watch.
"Woah! It's already 4 PM?! Time flies!"
"Time moves like it always does. You're the one getting lost in your own world..."
"... Alright, let's head back. We'll continue your training tomorrow."
"Okay, boss!"
They headed back to the convenience store, their place of rest. Ilyas decided to stay there for a week just to train Khai.
For the next week, Khai diligently trained with the weights, determined to activate the Evo-Virus inside him.
Even though Khai occasionally thought about quitting, his resolve to become stronger kept him from giving up.
One week later
The day had turned to night. The sky stretched out beautifully, adorned with thousands of stars twinkling like gems in the vast black ocean. The full moon cast a soft light, illuminating the surroundings with a golden glow that was calming.
The night wind whispered gently, carrying the fresh scent of nature, while the vast sky seemed to invite every eye to gaze up, to enjoy the peace filled with wonder. But that was once upon a time.
Now, the night sky was filled with an oppressive darkness, decorated with thick smoke from burning cars and the ruins of destroyed buildings.
Ferocious monsters, in overwhelming numbers, roamed the streets, killing everything in their path mercilessly and indiscriminately. The thunder sounded like their cries, shaking the earth that had been torn apart.
Black smoke swirled in the air, obscuring the moonlight, while fire and dust filled the sky, creating an atmosphere of unavoidable destruction.
The city that was once bustling and lively had now turned into an ocean of ruin, with every corner brimming with fear and devastation.
Ilyas and Khai enjoyed their dinner while gazing out at the ruined scenery. Khai chatted with Ilyas about a few things.
"Il. I just want to ask something. Do you have a family?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Aren't you worried about your family?"
"No. Because I know they're fine."
"Wow. High-level confidence."
"No, literally, they will be fine."
"What about you? Aren't you worried about your family? You always talk about your sister. What about your parents?"
"Oh. I've never seen my parents. My sister told me that my mom passed away giving birth to me. My dad died before I was born..."
"...So, my sister raised me until I grew up."
Hearing this, Ilyas felt that he and Khai shared a bit of similarity.
After dinner, Khai fell into a deep sleep while Ilyas meditated outside the convenience store.