After seeing that his attempt managed to uplift their spirits, Elder Abraham decided to strike the iron while it’s hot and explain the next task.

“Alright give me your attention. This task purpose was only to give us a glimpse at your fitness level and to be frank, it’s horrible. So starting from today until you awaken, you will have to run 5 km on the treadmill, do 50 pushups, 50 sit-ups, 50 squats for the next 30 days.”

Elder Abraham continued his explanation, unbothered about the few whines here and there about the difficulty of the training.

“Each exercise is limited to 2 hours. That means the total hours of practice will be 8 hours each day in the week, except Sunday. You can take a break in them.”

They sighed in relief after hearing that. They truly didn’t have what it took to finish all the exercises every single day, without a break.

As he said, their fitness was trash and for them to start with those exercises were already more than enough to physically and mentally fatigues them.

“Finally each exercise you finish during the allowed period will provide you with 200 merits as a reward. That means, you can earn as much as 800 merits every day if you worked hard for it. On the other hand, if you failed to finish one exercise, the same amount will be deducted. We emailed the details of the merits system to your emails, you can read them later.”

“Now go do as you wish. If you want to train, do it. If you want to play, do it. Just be aware that everything is being supervised and monitored.”

He waved his hand and turned away, planning to leave with the rest of the elders. However, a junior question soon stopped him in his tracks.

“What about the 2nd-month elder?”

“Oh, that will be for your pain tolerance drilling. But you don’t need to hear details about it. Now leave my sight, I am too tired.”

He shooed them away and left with the elders and seniors hastily. They had an empire to run. It’s not like they could keep watching them train daily. No one had that much time.

The only elder left to supervise them was Robert who had a wide grin planted on his face, while gazing at Felix, like a hawk.

Noisy chatter engulfed the floor as youngsters all spread apart in groups. Some headed straight to the gym to start their training, while some went to clean up after vomiting their guts out.

Each to his own, the only thing that mattered was to finish the exercises in 8 hours every day.

Meanwhile, Felix decided to start training ASAP, so he could catch Solid Wall game tonight.

As he was walking absent-mindedly, thinking about tonight’s game, he bumped into Olivia who was waiting in front of the elevator.

“Ouch, watch where you are goin…..Kyaaaaa Felixxx!!”

Olivia didn’t even wait to finish her scolding before she bolted towards the stairs with her small legs like she saw a ghost.

‘What the fuck? I am not going to eat you, to run away from me.’

Felix’s eyelids twitched at this sight. ‘But since you decided to run, this is a clear approval of letting me chase after you’.

He glanced at his bracelet and saw that he still had some hours to kill. So, he gave a wolfish grin and sprinted after her.

Suddenly, everyone stopped what they were doing and just watched Felix chasing after Olivia around the building, floor after floor, room after room.

Olivia kept running with tears streaming through her cheeks. She constantly cried for help, every time she met with a cousin. But no one dared to assist her. The alliance had been broken by Felix’s sheer brutality. Everyone was on his own at this point.

Olivia’s friends could only pray in their minds for Felix to get bored and leave her alone.

Robert watched this scene in the monitors’ room while holding a popcorn bucket in one hand and remote control in the other. He zoomed at Olivia, who was sobbing while apologizing to Felix for provoking him earlier.

Then he zoomed at his grandson, who always kept a distance between him and Olivia to enjoy the hunt even more. His wolfish grin and evil laugh was clear evidence of pleasure over bullying this little sheep.

“This bastard truly never gives a break to poor Olivia. I guess it is time to save her, or else she won’t dare to leave her room anymore.” Robert brought a microphone near his mouth and ordered sternly, “Felix, you have three seconds to leave Olivia alone. Otherwise, you will have a date with my belt tonight.”

Felix clicked his tongue and changed his direction, heading towards the gym to start training properly.

Olivia glanced at her back, after noticing that Felix’s wolfish howls he used to scare her with stopped coming.

‘Did he really listen to Grandpa Robert?’

She chewed her lips while observing the area around her. She knew that Felix rarely listened to his grandfather’s orders. So, he could be hiding anywhere.

After a while, she relaxed her tense shoulders and dropped to the floor. She began massaging her sour legs in a gentle manner.

‘It seems like he truly left. I really need to stop provoking him. He is always looking for a reason to bully me.’

She clutched her fist and narrowed her eyes, ‘But things are going to change if I awaken successfully. He won’t be able to bully me anymore.’

She laughed foolishly, ‘It might even be my turn to bully him.’

Soon, she stood up and walked in direction of the elevator with that foolish cute smile, imagining herself wearing Wolf clothes while stepping on Felix who was begging for mercy.

Suddenly, her imagination was destroyed when she heard a teasing whisper in her ear, “Gotcha, little Oli.”

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

The moment she heard Felix’s voice she shrieked for a few seconds and fainted on the ground with her eyes rolled in her head.

“FELIX I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU TONIGHT IF YOU DON’T LEAVE HER ALONE!” Robert’s infuriated voice resounded throughout the entire building, scaring the shit out of the elders and juniors.

“Fine! Can’t one play a prank on fellow family members these days or what?”

Aggrieved and irritated, he lifted the passed out Olivia in a princess carry. But shortly, he switched to carrying her on his shoulder, leaving her arms and legs to dangle both sides.

‘It’s better this way. If I carried her like a princess, she might faint again if she saw my face.’

Afterward, he trod towards the elevator, planning to visit the gym, which was at the 10th floor.

This time for real.

….

3 minutes later…

The elevator door opened up slowly, revealing Felix carrying Olivia like a sandbag. Everyone froze whatever they were doing, and stared at Felix walking unhurried towards the bathroom like nothing was wrong with the current situation.

Felix noticed their stunned looks, but he didn’t bother explaining himself. He simply stepped inside the bathroom and locked it shut.

‘Cluck!’

The sound of the door getting locked broke them out of their daze.

‘Is he finally going to drop the facade and do the deed?’

‘I knew it; he always bullied Olivia, just to be with her, since he had feelings for her.’

‘Oh, I wish I could watch. Should I risk it and take a quick peek?’

‘What a monster, to do it while she is unconscious.’

‘….’ Noah

Their thoughts went wild, as they bore on the bathroom door, not daring to approach it or condemn Felix out loud on his misleading actions. If even Robert allowed it, why should they interfere?

It’s always better to mind your business.

…..

Felix put Olivia on the toilet chair and sprinkled cold water on her face. After seeing a positive reaction, he left the toilet and closed the door on her.

A few seconds later, her eyelashes quivered, and her button-like nose wrinkled as cold water drops streaming through it. She scratched it reflexively and opened her eyes groggily.

As she regained full clarity, she noticed her current strange position.

‘Where is Felix and who put me here? Is this one of his pranks?’ She adjusted her training outfit cuffs while chewing on her lips.

“Little Oli, come out, and stop chewing your lips, I always told you to remove that habit of yours.” Felix knocked on her toilet door two times and said, “We are in the bathroom without monitor cameras. I want to talk to you seriously about something.”

His voice wasn’t commending, or harsh. He simply soothed her with a gentle tone.

Olivia didn’t scream in fear this time. She just sighed helplessly and opened the door. She popped her small head first, surveying the area with wide eyes, trying to locate Felix whereabouts. She didn’t want another jump scare.

Soon, her watery blue eyes locked into Felix’s gentle eyes. She instantly lowered her head embarrassed, not daring to continue having eye contact with him.

However, Felix lightly knocked on the sink, bringing her attention back to him. He didn’t take her to the bathroom to exchange those lovey-dovey eye contacts, but for serious business.

“Little Oli, Don’t take what you are about to hear personally.” He faced the mirror, ignoring Olivia’s confused look and said, “You will die a horrible death if you awakened with your current bubbly none serious personality. Not just you, but at least 70% of our cousins will meet the same fate.” He sighed as he saw her parted lips and befuddled eyes, through her reflection on the mirror.

“Everyone believes that they are the chosen ones, who will surely pass the pain using only sheer will like they were in a fantasy novel.” He faced her, “But let me tell you something Oli. This is reality, where anyone who braved the awakening process with only their courage and determination, died horribly.”

Olivia took a step back, after being frightened by his serious look and stern tone. He didn’t seem like he was joking or pranking her at all, which scared her even more.

Felix didn’t care about comforting her, as he simply narrowed his eyes and asked, “Do you still dare to awaken now?” He added, “And if you do tell me why.”

Olivia didn’t answer him, as she was trying her best to process the fact that she would die during awakening. She always believed that she could handle the infamous painful process. Because she thought that since people could pass it successfully, why couldn’t she do the same?

Yet, Felix blatantly made it clear that was merely wishful thinking. What bothered her, even more, was the way he said so confidently and certain of it happening. She couldn’t help but have some doubts in her mind.

However, doubts were doubts; it didn’t mean she trusted his words entirely. She wasn’t stupid to believe everything that he said, especially the reality that 70% of her cousins would die as well.

“How do you know about all of this? And if it was true, how could you know it while the family doesn’t?” She fired her inquires while chewing on her lips again. A habit she always had since young.

“Don’t tell me you found out about it, during one night in UVR, because the family had them for over 5 months now. This meant, they would have already known about it long ago. But that’s impossible, as they won’t allow us to awaken if the majority of us will die just like you mentioned.”

She stared at his eyes defiantly, not daring to believe him and not wanting to. If she did, it signified one horrifying fact.

That was, the family had no qualms sending 70% of their children to certain death.

Felix gave a sinister smile and whispered in her ear. His breath sent a chill inside her earlobe. “Little Oli, You have no idea at all, what the temptation of Longevity can push one to do.”

“No Idea at all.”