Free Web NovelChapter 12: 20 Reps Or Nothing
A flicker of genuine surprise crossed both their faces at once. Holly reacted first, blinking. "Wait—" She started to say something else, then visibly caught herself, waving a hand like she was erasing the sentence mid-air. "No, I mean — that’s great! Good choice."
David caught the hitch in her voice anyway, the half-second of hesitation before she smoothed it over.
[Alert!]
[Info: Holly Houston
Temptation level: 14+2]
’Mmm? Her Temptation level went up?...that should be a good thing...right?’ He pondered within his brief puzzled state.
"Anyway," Holly said, already stepping back, tone brightening a shade too fast, "I should go get my reps in before my shift actually starts. You two have fun." She gave Mrs. Walbury a small, easy smile that didn’t quite reach all the way to her eyes, then turned and headed off toward the gym floor.
David watched her go for a second, something uncertain sitting in his chest. ’Was that... jealousy? Or am I just imagining things because I want it to be jealousy.’ He couldn’t be sure either way, so he let it go and turned his attention back to Mrs. Walbury, who was still looking at him with an expression somewhere between flattered and stunned.
"Wow," she said finally, shaking her head slightly. "I did not see that coming."
"Is that a problem?" David asked, half-joking, half-genuinely checking. "I can pick someone else if it’s weird—"
"No, no, it’s not that," she said quickly.
"It’s just — I mostly handle admin stuff these days. Scheduling, covering the front desk. It’s been a while since anyone’s actually picked me to train them."
"Well, that seems like a mistake on everyone else’s part," David said, surprising himself a little with how smoothly it came out. "You’re clearly qualified. And, for what it’s worth, extremely easy to look at while you explain gym contracts to me."
Mrs. Walbury laughed, genuinely, a little color rising in her cheeks. "Smooth. I’ll give you that."
"I try."
"Well," she said, reaching for the pen again, "since it’s you — I suppose I can dust off the old skills. Consider yourself my test run back into actual training."
"A guinea pig," David said. "I can work with that."
"Don’t push it," she said, though she was smiling as she said it, sliding the contract across the desk and tapping the signature line. "Sign here."
David took the pen and signed without really looking, his mind still half-caught on the easy back-and-forth between them. "So," he said, glancing up as he capped the pen, "how long’s it actually been since you trained someone?"
"Long enough that I might be a little rusty," she admitted, taking the form back. "You’ll have to be patient with me."
"I think I can manage that," David said. "Rusty’s fine. I’m starting from zero anyway — you really can’t make me look worse than I already do."
Mrs. Walbury laughed, watching him for a moment with something genuinely warm in her expression.
"You’re funny, you know that? I appreciate that. Most people who walk in here are either terrified or trying too hard to look tough."
She shook her head slightly, a small smile lingering. "Glad I picked — or, well, glad you picked me, I guess." ƒreewebɳovel.com
"All that’s left now," she said, tapping the form.
"is picking a time for your first session."
"How about right now?" David said, a little too quickly.
Her eyebrows shot up. "Right now? That’s — that’s pretty abrupt. Most people take at least a day to, you know, mentally prepare."
"I’m not most people." he said, immediately regretting how that sounded out loud.
She studied him for a second, something amused flickering behind her eyes, then shook her head, laughing again.
"Alright, prideful woman that I am, I’m not starting my comeback session on zero notice. How about tomorrow instead? I’ll actually be ready for you then." She scribbled a time on a card and slid it across.
"Be here by ten. And eat something beforehand — I’m not carrying you out of here on day one."
"Fair," David said. "Can I still get some reps in today, though? While I’m here?"
"Sure, long as you’re paying your fee." she said.
Paying for it turned out to be an understatement more painful than David had prepared for — paying felt less like a transaction and more like a small, quiet funeral for his savings.
He handed over the hundred and fifty anyway, wincing internally the entire time, and finally made his way onto the gym floor.
It was nicer than he expected — clean equipment, motivational posters plastered along the walls in the same slightly-too-earnest font as the sign outside, decent lighting that didn’t buzz like the fluorescents back home.
"Not bad," he muttered, glancing around.
"Actually not bad at all."
[Query: would player like to increase stats through completion of repetitions unrelated to previously assigned exercises?]
’Wait, seriously? Any reps count?’
[Affirmative.]
"Yeah," David said out loud, mostly to himself.
"Let’s test that."
He checked the timer floating faintly at the edge of his vision —
[30 days: 11 hours: 47 minutes: 23 seconds]
He felt a small jolt of urgency at how much of that first day had already burned away.
’Okay. No wasting time.’
He made his way over to the barbell rack, grabbed a weight that looked reasonably manageable for a guy who considered a flight of stairs cardio, and loaded it onto the bar — nothing heroic, just enough to feel like a genuine beginner’s weight. He gripped it, braced, and pulled off one full rep.
"System — is this weight actually enough to count?"
[Current weight sufficient for present stat level. Recommend gradual increase as Strength improves.]
"Right. Cool. Good talk."
He then stripped his shirt off before starting — mostly out of necessity, since sweating through fabric twice in two days felt like a crime against laundry — though he made a point of not looking too closely at himself in any reflective surface nearby.
This wasn’t his bathroom mirror, where a certain angle and enough imagination could make his flexed muscle look respectable. Out here, under real lighting, in front of actual witnesses, he could finally plainly see the truth.
He kept going, one rep at a time, no one spotting him, which he decided was either encouraging or deeply reckless depending on how his arms felt in another ten reps.
He hit five, took a short break, pushed through five more, repeating the pattern until the numbers blurred together in his head and he genuinely lost count somewhere past fifteen.
Face red, sweat dripping steadily down his jaw, he finally hit twenty and dropped the bar back at it’s holder with a loud, undignified groan of relief.
[Strength increased: +1. Current Strength: 11.]
David wiped his forehead, breathing hard, and let out a short, disbelieving laugh. "One point...For all of that."
Still, he didn’t stop — no version of this stat grind was going to move fast, and he didn’t exactly have thirty spare days to waste feeling sorry for himself.
Over near the entrance, unnoticed until now, Mrs. Walbury stood watching him, arms crossed, eyes narrowed slightly with something that looked a lot like suspicion, or rathee uncertainty.
’Hmm... That’s... weirdly a lot of effort for day one.’ she thought, watching him grind through another set with far more effort than any first-timer usually bothered with.
’What’s your angle, David?’
***
Hey guys, I want to thank you for your support and due to that, I thought of a friendly challenge for both of us.
For every 200 powerstones I’ll release 10+ bonus Chapters...so, if you find it worth while, you can make your decision. Thank you.🫠
