'This is worse than I thought.' Alex thought, feeling nothing but pain.
Alex had been in pain for the last eight hours, and he only knew that because of the system voice that kept ringing in his head after every minute, which he had started after he was four hours into the cleansing process.
The first two hours were bearable as Alex felt pain, but his mind was still conscious of what was happening to his body.
After the third hour, the pain had reached such a level that Alex was losing grip on his senses, but knowing he needed to stay conscious, he didn't give in to the feeling of slumber.
After the sixth hour, Alex's eyesight was gone sending him into a world of pitch darkness and overwhelming pain, which genuinely gave him the feeling of despair.
Alex had lost control over his body and could not move, and only his mind was conscious, while the only thing he could feel was pain, but after eight hours, he had no idea which part of his body was in pain.
If Alex could see his body right now, he wouldn't even recognize it as his once 6.6 feet muscular body was nothing but bones and shriveled and dried-up skin covered in dark gooey blood.
Alex's body inside was nothing better than outside, as all his organs were a mess, and the only thing keeping him alive was his healthy brain covered in starry red liquid.
'I feel like the pain has lessened, or I might have grown numb to it.' Alex thought, keeping his mind occupied with anything he could think of.
Alex knew that the pain was only increasing with every passing moment, but he understood that accepting it would only make his situation more miserable.
So to keep his sanity in check, he was self-hypnotizing himself for the past eight hours, and it was working well for him.
While Alex was talking to himself to keep his sanity, the four people in the room were having a conversation about him.
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"Lady Elmara, Don't you think something is wrong? It's been four hours, and the healing process for the body has yet to start." Lady Margaret said with evident worry in her voice.
"I am seeing this for the first time, so I don't know if something is wrong or right, but all I can say is he is alive, and his brain is more active than it was in the start." Lady Elmara replied, standing right next to Alex.
"I have seen the cleansing process two times, and each time it lasted for less than ten hours but from the looks of it, this time it would take some extra time," Darrien said, looking at Alex's dried-up body that was in the same condition for four hours.
'I hope the kid is half as mentally gifted as he is physically,' Darrien thought, knowing that the cleansing process could go wrong if Alex's willpower was not strong enough.
"Domain Ruler is not just a nobody, so there is nothing to worry about." Lady Elmara, while looking at Alex with shining silver eyes.
'I hope so.' Varon thought, standing in the corner with his eyes turned black and white.
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[8 Hours Later]
It had been sixteen hours since the cleansing process started, and the first fourteen hours were just pain and misery, but things had started to improve from the last two hours.
'I can finally see.' Alex thought, seeing the lab ceiling with his cloudy vision.
Alex was still in a lot of pain, but that was also the only thing keeping him sane because, after staying eight hours in pitch darkness without feeling his body, he was starting to question his sanity, and the recovery of his eyesight was a tremendous relief for him.
'I am feeling better.' Alex thought, feeling his strength and senses improving gradually every moment.
'My body is really messed up.' Alex thought with a slight mental chuckle, looking at his slim bony arm through his cloudy vision.
Alex's body on the outside was still dried-up skin and bones, but it looked much better on the inside as all the messed-up organs were returning to their original state.
Alex's organs were regaining their natural form as they absorbed the stary red liquid from the magical fruit, while the same was happening to his skeleton.
The healing process continued, and after six more hours, the inside structure of Alex's body was completely healed, while the recovery of the muscles and skin had also started one hour ago.
After four more hours, Alex's body had regained a lot of its muscle mass back, and his skin looked more lively while his eyesight was much clearer.
Alex had regained enough strength to look around, but he was still looking at the white ceiling, waiting for the process to end as he was mentally and physically exhausted.
Alex could feel that once abundant energy in his body was getting weaker and weaker with every passing minute and knew the healing process was close to completing, and even the pain had lessened significantly.
'I hope the results would be worth going through this torture.' Alex thought, exhausted from all the pain and mental torture.
It took two more hours before the energy from the magical fruit was completely consumed, and Alex's body was back to its previous healthy condition, and now it looked much more refined.
'The process should end in some time.' Alex thought as he closed his eyes, feeling very little pain.
The only thought in Alex's mind right now was to log out from the game and go crash on his bed and take a long nap, and while Alex was lost in thoughts, he heard a familiar voice.
"Domain Ruler, The cleansing process has been completed."
'The process is done?' Alex thought, feeling happy as he looked toward Lady Elmara standing next to him.
'Let's get the hell out of here.' Alex thought as he opened the system window and clicked the logout button.
[System Notification]
[Player is advised to rest for at least twenty-four hours and visit any nearby hospital for a complete health check-up.]
Alex felt relieved when he heard no warning and just some health advice indicating the cleansing process was completed.
Alex could log out while the cleansing process was continuing, but the moment he did that, the process would end all the energy from the cleansing fruit would be removed from his body by the Zero, and all the damage done to his body would stay the same.
Zero placed these harsh restrictions to stop players from exploiting things like logging out in beneficial conditions that came with a price of unbearable pain.
Alex logged out of the game world, too exhausted to even check the gain he got for enduring the mental and physical torture for hours.
"Domain Ruler, Drink this potion, as it will help you recover quickly." Lady Elmara said as the cuffs holding Alex in place retreated into the workbench.
"Domain Ruler?" Lady Elmara said again, but Alex was already gone from the game world.
"He is Gone," Varon said with a bright smile.
-------------------
After exiting the pod, Alex crashed on his bed and went into a deep slumber, not caring about anything.
Alex spent the next thirty-two hours sleeping like a log, and after waking up, he took a cold shower and went to the hospital for a check-up.
Alex's health check-up came out perfect, and other than mental fatigue, there was nothing wrong with him, but to be safe, he still took one Life Serum treatment.
After leaving the hospital, Alex went to the gym, where he spent the next few hours before returning home, eager to return to the game world.
'Let's see if the torture was worth the rewards.' Alex thought as he closed the lid of his VR capsule.
After staying in the dark for a few seconds, Alex opened his eyes, looking at the black and gold adorned ceiling that he was familiar with, and looking to the side, he saw the beautiful head maid.
"Domain Ruler, Welcome Back." Lady Ealirel said with a bright smile.
"Domain Ruler, I will be waiting outside, so If you need anything, please ring the bell." Lady Ealirel asked and left the room.
'What happened to my body.' Alex thought as he clenched his hand repeatedly to feel his strength.
Alex quickly left the bed, removed his white robe, only leaving the underwear, and walked toward the giant mirror in the corner of the room to check the changes to his physique.
'I was not expecting such major changes.' Alex thought, looking at his chiseled body and thoroughly changed appearance.
Alex's height was 6.6ft same as before, but his muscles had grown in size and density, but the most significant change happened to his face as before the cleansing, his appearance resembled a mature version of his real self, but now it looked completely different.
'Let's check the status window.' Alex thought as he took a deep breath and opened his character information.
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