Divinity

--- [Leon’s perspective] a few minutes ago

“It’s you…” – Leon

What the hell happened?!

THIS is who was faster than me?!!

How!!?

“You’re that useless bitch who had to be saved by MY teammates.” – Leon

She opens her eyes and sits up.

She looks over at me with an empty expression.

“This ‘useless bitch’ still managed to get back before you.” – Lett

“You little…!” – Leon

She chuckles before lying back down and closes her eyes.

“I’m gonna go back to sleep, so don’t bother me.” – Lett

I can’t stand weaklings like her being cocky…!

I raise my hand, then slam it down towards her.

WHAT?!

What just happened?!!!

Right before my fist hit her, she suddenly disappeared…

What the fu-

“GUAH!” – Leon

Out of nowhere, her knee is clobbers me in the side of my head, making me fall over.

She casually walks over to the bench and lays back down.

“I said don’t bother me, I’m trying to sleep.” – Lett

“You fucking bitch!” – Leon

I throw another punch, this time as hard as I possibly can.

But…

“No fighting between rounds.” – Leanne

Before I’m able to hit her, Leanne has managed to grab my arm.

“Tsk.” – Leon

I walk over to some other benches a bit further away.

It makes my blood boil having to admit this, but she’s no weakling anymore.

She’s strong…

--- A few minutes later

Oh…

Another guy is returning.

Little does he know tho…

Aaaaaaaand…

There we go.

The guy who tackled me earlier continues to try the same trick on other people, and now he finally succeeded.

He grabs the flag and manages to get in before the guy can get the flag back from him.

That’s what would have happened to me too if I was weakling like him.

Leanne walks over to him and congratulates him for passing the first stage.

I doubt he’ll go far in the second round; someone who has to resort to tricks like that to pass is bound to fail sooner or later.

The guy who got his flag stolen storms off in a fit of rage.

Heh.

--- [Kuro’s perspective]

“The fourth contestant has returned. Only six flags remain.”

Hmm.

Six is plenty.

That’s five more than I need.

I suppose it’s time for me to go get one.

I’ve been messing around for too long; this is getting boring.

I’ll pick up the pace.

If another person comes back before me, I’ll do 10000 push-ups.

Should I find one myself, or take one from someone else?

Hmm.

I’ll take one from someone else, looking for it myself is a waste of time.

Any extra time I spend here, is time I could have spent working out.

If I haven’t returned within five minutes, I will do 5000 squats.

I run around for more than four minutes, but I see no other people, let alone anyone with a flag.

But then, just as I jump over a large boulder, I see a woman with a flag.

She’s sitting on the ground, with an injured leg, trying to hide.

I walk towards her.

“Please don’t take it, I need it!” – Woman

“That will unfortunately not be possible.” – Kuro

I continue to walk towards her.

The moment I got within two meters of her, she stands up.

“If you won’t listen to me, I’ll have to do this the hard way!” – Woman

I’ll let her attack me once.

If I flinch, I will do 1000 sit-ups before I pursue her.

I continue to walk towards her, and eventually she attacks.

She throws a straight kick, right on my kneecap.

She’s wearing heels, extraordinarily sharp heels in fact.

They were probably supposed to be a secret weapon, but the heel just snapped in half instead.

I didn’t flinch, so taking the flag right away is fair game.

“Uhh…” – Woman

She jumps up on top of the large boulder and attempts to run away, but falls to the ground due to a broken heel and an injured leg.

I quickly go after her and before she’s able to get back on her feet I have already grabbed her arm.

I lift her up; she tries to resist by punching me in the face with her free arm, but they’re too weak.

I take the flag, then put her back down.

“Oh, five minutes have passed.” – Kuro

“Huh?” – Woman

I hold the flag tight in my right hand, then start doing squats.

“One, two, three, four, five, six…” – Kuro

“What the…” – Woman

It doesn’t matter what situation I’m in.

If I give myself a condition, I must complete it.

Otherwise, I will never achieve true strength.

“… 240, 241, 242, 243…” – Kuro

She takes the opportunity she’s given and attempts to take the flag back.

“GAAAAAH!!” – Woman

She pulls as hard as she can, but my grip is too strong.

“… 823, 824, 825, 826…” – Kuro

She figures out that it’s useless to try to take it directly, so she goes on the offensive.

She punches me, she kicks me…

I don’t flinch.

“… 2838, 2839, 2840…” – Kuro

She pulls my hair, she chokes me.

I don’t react.

“… 4555, 4556, 4557…” – Kuro

She even tries to kick me in the balls, but it’s all for naught.

Her attacks have no effect on me.

She lacks true strength.

No…

She’s just weak.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU MADE OF?!” – Woman

“… 4998, 4999, 5000. There we go.” – Kuro

She takes a step back, assuming I will attack her.

I don’t.

Instead, I choose to go back to where I came from.

There’s no reason to step on insects…

She continues to attack me a few times while I continue to walk.

“Why aren’t you fighting back?! Is it because I’m a woman?!!!” – Woman

She runs around me and stops right in front of me.

I walk up to her but stop right in front of her.

She pokes me with her finger.

“So, you’re not going to fight back, huh!” – Woman

… But if that insect is in my way, I have no choice.

I lift my hand, preparing to attack her.

“You trying to scare me? If you were going to hit me, you would have already don- GUAHHHHH!!!” – Woman

I swat her away with the back of my hand.

Without wasting any more time, I continue to walk forward.

A little while later, I get back.

Leanne was already waiting there at the finish line.

“Congratulations!! You’re the fifth person to return! Feel free to sit down while you wait for the others.” – Leanne

Sit?

“That will not be necessary.” – Kuro

I walk over to a spot where I’m not in the way, then start doing exercises.

“Oooh, you’re training while waiting? That’s smart. Why are you doing physical exercises though?” – Leanne

“To build muscles of course.” – Kuro

“R-right… Well good luck with that.” – Leanne

I continue for a few seconds, while she watches.

“Actually, I could help you with that.” – Leanne

She raises her arms and large stone dumbbells are formed out of thin air.

“Use those.” – Leanne

Hmm.

Divinity may not be the key to true strength, but it looks like it can be helpful in obtaining it.