Dual World Apocalypse: My Harem Gives Me 10x Rewards

Chapter 97: Step 97 to Greatness: Never Ignore A Warning From Your Ancestors

A few minutes later...

"Fuck!" Adrian cursed loudly.

He thought that with his stats, doing push-ups would be too easy. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Adrian’s arms trembled whenever he pushed against the ground. Sweat poured down his face, dripping onto the surface below. On his back rested a medium-sized boulder, making every movement a struggle.

Soon, each push-up felt like an eternity, and it was a matter of time before his muscles began to give up on him.

"How did it get... so bad...?" he grunted.

At first, everything was fine. He was doing push-ups like usual, but after the fifteenth one, he began to feel the weight of the grain of sand growing heavier and heavier on his back.

The boulder’s weight wasn’t the only thing he had to be concerned about. His stamina was also critically low, which should not have been the case given his class and high endurance.

Yet, it was happening. It almost felt like the grain of sand was siphoning his stamina to increase its size.

However, he knew he had to keep going. Partially because he wanted to curse the supreme ancestor and partially because he wanted to grow even stronger.

Unfortunately, his mind wasn’t in sync with his body. Adrian had the willpower, but that didn’t mean he had the strength to match it.

"Keep going," the Supreme ancestor’s commanding voice echoed in his ears. "You need to be stronger."

Adrian gritted his teeth, his breath coming in ragged gasps. It was easier said than done. His body wasn’t in a state to continue, and he wanted nothing more than to give up.

"I... I can’t... it’s too heavy," he panted, his arms shaking uncontrollably.

"You can do it, kid," Brute ancestor insisted as he cranked out push-ups alongside Adrian. "You’ve faced worse. Remember the boars you killed? What about the wolves? Wasn’t that feeling exhilarating? Think about why you’re doing this and keep going!"

"Argh... FUCK!"

With a groan of determination, Adrian forced his body upward again, even though his muscles screamed in protest. The boulder grew even heavier, but he refused to give in.

"This brat isn’t useless after all," the Supreme ancestor nodded with a hint of approval.

Honestly, Brute ancestor kind of felt bad seeing the young guy go through it. He was already performing better than the others he had seen.

Besides, the training was more to bend his mind than to mend his body. Since Adrian had a habit of chickening out, the Supreme ancestor wanted to turn him into someone who wouldn’t hesitate before claiming women or beating those who stood in his way.

That way, he wouldn’t have to wonder about what he was doing and could just focus on spreading more of his seeds.

"Push through the pain," the Supreme Ancestor commented.

Adrian didn’t bother replying. His sole focus was on the push-ups as he kept pushing through the pain until he couldn’t feel his numb body anymore.

Eventually, Adrian’s vision blurred, but he kept moving. One more push-up. And another. His body was on fire, but he didn’t stop.

Finally, with a roar of effort, Adrian pushed up once more, only for the boulder’s weight to increase substantially. He collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily. A moment later, he passed out from exhaustion.

The Supreme ancestor stepped forward. With no visible effort, he lifted the massive boulder off Adrian’s back and set it aside. Then the Supreme ancestor knelt beside Adrian and gently patted his head.

"You’ve done well," he said, his voice sounding gentler now. "Rest now. Tomorrow, your training shall resume."

With that, the Supreme Ancestor stood and walked away, leaving Adrian lying on the ground as he returned to the real world for once.

A few seconds later, Adrian’s eyes shot open, and he was back in the real world.

"What just happened...?" he mumbled. "Fuck it, it was probably a dream."

Saying so, he tried to get up, only for a sharp wave of pain to hit him all at once.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Not a dream! It was not a dream!" he groaned in pain.

Every part of his body felt like it had been put through a grinder. He did not feel so much pain even when he had to lift those gigantic fence segments back on Savage Earth.

"...thankfully, I have these."

He reached into the inventory and brought out some healing salve. Regardless of his condition, it was an excellent time to see if the rewards he had obtained were of any use in other realities as well.

He scooped some of the thick green paste and began applying it to his sore muscles, rubbing it into his shoulders, arms, and back as best as he could.

The salve worked quickly. A cooling sensation spread through his body, easing the worst of the pain. The redness and swelling began to fade, and his muscles felt less tight.

He continued applying it until most of his body was covered, then lay flat on his stomach, which caused an issue with his.. privates.

[Having a big tool isn’t great always, now is it?]

The Playboy ancestor’s voice echoed in his head.

Jealous, are we? Now, why don’t you shush and focus on fixing your system?

Exhaustion finally caught up with him. Adrian drifted off to sleep. If the salve does its intended work, he will be fine by tomorrow. Which was a good thing, since he needed to get some money and had little time to waste.

[Boy, as much as I would love to see your tongue rest. I’m afraid I have to be the forebringer of bad news.]

What is it? Did you all realize that the system isn’t working properly?

[Unfortunately, no. It is working too well, in fact. I’m just here to give you a little warning. Don’t get used to the normalcy of this world. For in three days, all hell will break loose.]

"What do you mean?" Adrian asked, unable to hold back.

[You didn’t mistake this place for your original world, did you?]

"...why?"

[An apocalypse is headed your way. I don’t think your original world was destined to die in three days, was it?]