GODGAME

Beyond The Limits

The training platform was a chaotic mess of pixelated debris from the sudden, direct punch that had shattered the Shadow opponent.

Ren's arm was still outstretched, his breathing ragged and uneven.

His eyes were wide as he struggled to process what had just happened.

"Eh?"

He slowly pulled his fist back to study his hands, his brows furrowing. "What just happened?"

He stared toward the edge of the abyss, trying to understand how his strike had completely thrown back an enemy that had continuously broken him down seventy times in a row.

During his first ten attempts, he had been violently ejected back to his conscious mind within a second.

Every attempt after that had been a repetition of the same brutal loop.

He couldn't even register the shadow's movements before getting punched back to reality.

Every time he thought he finally understood the combat logic of the shadow version of Za, the simulation would somehow adapt and move even faster.

DING!

[ADRENALINE RUSH UNLOCKED!]

[MUSCLE MEMORY GAINED!]

"Adrenaline Rush," he murmured. "Muscle memory gained... that's going to help a lot."

[Level 1 Opponent Defeated.]

"Level one?" Ren rubbed his eyes until they were bloodshot. "You're telling me that terrifying thing was only level one? If that's the baseline, what the hell does a level five look like?"

A cold sweat rolled down his face. "If I'm getting pulverized by a low-level holographic copy of a beast, a level ten would be my absolute execution."

[LEVEL TWO OPPONENT UNLOCKED!]

[Perks: Warrior may now choose to switch between unlocked tiers of opponents.]

A long exhale escaped Ren's lips. "That is the first sentence this damn screen has generated that actually makes sense. If it had forced me to jump straight to level two right now, I'd never close my eyes again to come into this sparring void."

[Notification:]

[Warrior can now voluntarily choose when to enter the Sparring Void. Warrior must partake in the Sparring Void at least once per 24-hour cycle. Maximum participation is unregulated.]

Ren nodded slowly, a wry smile forming on his lips. "This System is genuinely evil."

[Do you wish to exit the Sparring Void?]

[YES / NO]

"Of course, yes!"

The moment his finger selected the option, Ren's eyes snapped open.

A deep sense of peace washed over him as he realized that closing his eyes normally would no longer trigger a sudden, violent pull back into the Sparring Void.

"...That was horrific."

"What was horrific?" Takeda asked, his deep voice echoing through the quiet room.

The sudden presence jolted Ren upright. "What?! How long have you been standing there?"

"I just came in," Takeda answered flatly.

His eyes remained fixed on Ren, scrutinizing him as if trying to look straight through his skull. "Are you alright?"

"Well... yes." Ren offered a small, defensive smile.

Takeda continued to stare,

'Did I miscalculate, or is there something profoundly strange about this boy?' he thought, his sharp gaze tracing every line of Ren's posture. 'There is a change in his energy that I can't quite pinpoint, but...'

"Is something wrong?" Ren asked, genuinely uncomfortable with being interrogated by a completely silent stare.

"No," Takeda replied. "I came to check on you before the doctor arrives to remove your IV cannula. Once that's done, you can finally move freely around the penthouse."

Ren processed the words, the reality finally clicking in his brain. "Wait. Am I really staying here with you? In this place?"

Takeda adjusted his glasses. "We've already discussed this. I dislike repeating myself like a broken record. Consider this penthouse your official training ground from this moment forward. Later on, you can go back to pick the things you need from your house, so you can settle here."

Ren nodded slowly.

'The man is a stone wall,' he thought.

"You are starting far behind the line in almost every category," Takeda continued, pacing toward the window. "The ZZE treaty dictates a major tournament every five years. Normally, individuals with a capable Essence worth developing are identified and recruited years in advance."

"Wait," Ren had to ask, "There are others with the Essence?"

"Yes, a handful. But the vast majority possess low-yield thresholds that aren't worth developing for a real combat scenario," Takeda said with a heavy exhale. "We maintain dossiers on everyone who carries the essence, just like we did with you."

Ren's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "That's incredibly creepy."

"Anything tied to the higher-ups and the survival of our species is going to be creepy," Takeda countered, dismissing the complaint entirely. "The reason we chose you, comes down to a single factor: your Essence baseline was highly volatile and worth developing. Originally, I intended to recruit you personally yesterday afternoon, but an emergency council meeting delayed me. Before I could reach you, Za launched his attack. Frankly, it is a miracle you survived."

He added in a quiet mutter, barely meant for Ren to hear, "If you had died before the awakening, it would have been catastrophic."

Ren let out a slow sigh, which drew Takeda's attention back to him.

"Okay, you've explained the stakes," Ren said, testing the waters. "But I assume I'm not under house arrest here?"

Takeda didn't answer immediately. He allowed a heavy minute of silence to fill the room before speaking.

"We have to ensure you aren't targeted a second time. If Za explicitly planned to assassinate you, then you are a high-value asset we cannot afford to lose."

Before Ren could protest, Takeda raised a finger, then continued. "If you wish to leave the penthouse, you must inform me first so we can make the necessary 'security adjustments.' You are not a capable fighter yet, Ren. Moving around without constant monitoring is out of the question."

'So they really aren't joking about this human versus monster stuff,' Ren thought, his mind racing with questions. 'If an awakened Essence holders can't even walk down the street safely, there's a systemic problem. Are the monsters actively trying to eliminate the fighters before the ZZE even starts?'

He decided to ask Takeda,

"If—"

A sharp knock cut Ren off before he could voice his theory.

Takeda didn't acknowledge the interruption to Ren's thoughts, simply turning toward the door. "Come in."

The doctor stepped into the bedroom.

He was a middle-aged man who looked significantly more physically fit than most men Ren had seen on the streets.

Wearing a pair of reading glasses that perfectly matched his stoic expression, he pushed a stainless-steel medical trolley loaded with first-aid materials.

"Mister Takeda, I am quite certain I explicitly stated my patient requires absolute rest," the doctor said, his voice with professional annoyance.

Takeda's response was sharp. "Ren is perfectly fine. He's upright, and his pain levels are clearly subsiding."

The doctor gave Takeda a dry, dismissive look. "The boy does not possess your veteran physiology," he said, his eyes dropping toward Takeda's chest before rising back to his face. "He requires the two-week recovery window I ordered. Do not disturb his stasis."

Takeda turned his gaze toward the window, yielding slightly. "Understood."

The doctor let out a tired breath, looking more like a patient parent dealing with a stubborn child.

He turned his attention to Ren, the stern expression softening into something more compassionate and Doctor-like. "Please, relax. You do not need to overexert yourself. Ensure you take appropriate rest during this recovery period, and do not let Takeda force you into early training!"

Ren's eyes darted back to Takeda, who remained frozen by the glass, completely lost in his own thoughts.

He looked back at the doctor, who pulled on a pair of latex gloves and began preparing to slide the plastic cannula out of Ren's arm.

Ren kept his eyes anchored on his benefactor. What exactly is going on inside his head?

Takeda's mind, however, was locked onto a single, brutal calculation.

'By the gods! How am I supposed to train this boy in such a compressed timeframe? These two weeks of mandatory medical rest are going to eat straight into our five-month window. In reality, we only have four and a half months left to prepare. If he truly understood the absolute terror waiting for him in the ZZE arena, he wouldn't be nearly this relaxed.'

Takeda turned around, his eyes locking onto Ren, and gave him a long stare, the kind that sent chills down one's spine.

Before Ren could say, "What did I do?"

"You are hungry," he stated, treating it as an absolute fact. "When the doctor is finished with you, he'll lead you to the kitchen."

Without waiting for a reply, he strode out of the room, the door clicking shut behind him.

The moment Takeda walked out, Ren let out a massive breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"Man... he is incredibly stern."

"When you have fought inside an arena like the ZZE, you tend to view the world through a different lens. That is simply his default defense mechanism, don't mind him," the doctor said, applying a clean piece of medical tape over the small puncture wound on Ren's arm. "Beneath the armor, he is actually a decent man who cares deeply about the younger generation."

The doctor smiled, "He actually loves children!"

"Really?" Ren looked skeptical. "He certainly doesn't act like it."

"He puts up a front out of necessity," the doctor replied, straightening up and clearing his tray. "I will show you the way to the kitchen. But before we go, Ren..."

"Yes?"

The doctor stopped, his expression turning entirely serious. "Have you ever actually been in a scenario where you had to fight for your absolute survival? Like a blood and sweat kind of fighting situation?"

Ren blinked, the question catching him entirely off guard.

"What? No. If you mean saving a kid from getting his head kicked in by bullies, then yes. But an actual life-or-death struggle...?"

The doctor looked toward the window. "The ZZE is a competition where you're not just fighting to stay on your feet, or trying to keep yourself from getting knocked out," he said, his voice heavy. "You are representing the hope of more than five billion people on this planet. In other words, their survival rests on you."

He turned his gaze directly to Ren. "No matter what happens when you enter the ZZE, you have to go beyond your limits. Don't let fear hold you back. Not even for a second!"

Ren stared back, a sudden warmth spreading through his chest at the doctor's words. "Go beyond my limits..." he murmured, "And I shouldn't allow fear to hold me back. I'll keep those words at the back of my mind."

"Alright," the doctor said, gesturing toward the door. "Let me take you to Takeda."

Ren followed him out, silently locking those words deep inside his heart.

'Go beyond the limits.'