The next day, Alex woke up feeling extremely tired. He remembered what had happened yesterday and wondered if it had all been a dream. But the soreness in his muscles and the text floating in front of his eyes made him realize it wasn't.
[New day]
[Alert: generating new missions]
[Mission: Do 100 push-ups]
[Mission: Do 100 pull-ups]
[Mission: Run 10 km]
[Mission: Kill 100 bugs]
He stood up and thought to himself—so he wasn't dreaming. There really was an AI in his head trying to help him become stronger and save the world from the upcoming apocalypse. Suddenly, he wanted to go back to sleep.
But he forced his tired legs to move and got dressed, heading toward school. He checked his phone and noticed a call from Catherine. What? Why would she call him? He couldn't think of any reason.
Catherine POV
Yesterday, after class ended, Catherine decided to gather her courage and ask Alex for his number. If someone could hear her thoughts now, they might think she had a crush on him.
She thought to herself, "I shouldn't waste more time. The apocalypse is getting closer every day—we barely have one year left. To start my plan, I need to contact him."
As she saw him and his friend heading toward the door, she moved without thinking and stood in front of them, stopping them.
What? Why would I do that? What should I do now? she thought.
Relax, Catherine. You can do it.
She asked, "Can you give me your contact information?"
She looked at his expression and saw both his surprise and his friend's. Panic started rising inside her.
Was my question weird? Should I have talked to him first?
From a young age, Catherine had never been good at socializing. She grew up in the royal family, with a mother who taught her that showing emotions was a weakness. As a princess, she was expected to remain calm and cold at all times. She never learned how to make friends, talk to people, or read the atmosphere. For the royal family, such things were unnecessary—they only needed to learn how to rule effectively.
Even after the apocalypse, when the world ended and she was taken in by her master after her family was killed, she still didn't form any real friendships. So now, facing this situation, she didn't know what to say or do.
She was panicking, but after a moment, Alex smiled and answered, "Of course, no problem."
She felt a wave of relief as she took his contact information and replied, "Thank you."
After that, she walked away, her heart racing and her mind filled with thoughts.
I did it. I have his contact information now.
She felt happy as she began thinking about her next step.
She called someone and said, "I have his info now. Did you get the location of the others?"
A voice responded from the phone, "Yes, we confirmed their location and already invited them."
She replied, "Great. When will everything be ready?"
"The next week. Everything should be ready."
Then the voice asked, "Sorry, Princess, but I still don't understand why you were so concerned about recruiting Alex that you decided to go yourself."
She replied, "You don't need to worry about that. Focus on your own missions and don't think too much."
The voice answered, "Your orders are my wish, Princess. I won't ask again."
Catherine didn't waste time after her regression. She had already told her father about the upcoming apocalypse and helped him start preparing. He assigned her the mission of gathering an awakened special force. With her knowledge of the future, she planned to recruit the strongest talents before the end of the world and help them awaken early. This time, humanity wouldn't fall.
As for Alex—it was obvious he was different.
At the end of the world, if you asked any awakener who was number two, they might argue. But if you asked who was number one, everyone would agree—it was Alex. He reached the top early, and no one had ever seen his full power. Even during the final war against the gods, he was still holding back. If not for the traitor, humanity would have won.
Thinking about the traitor, Catherine felt a surge of hatred.
She had been one of the closest people to Alex, yet she betrayed humanity. Catherine still didn't understand why. But she knew one thing—she had to protect Alex and help him change his fate. With Alex, they had a chance against the gods.
Thinking about this, she planned how to get close to him.
Alex is currently injured from his last competition, so he can't compete. But that won't last long—once he awakens, his body will heal like most awakeners.
But she couldn't wait.
The best option right now is to create a martial arts club and invite him as a trainer.
She nodded to herself.
This is the best idea. Now I just need to talk to him after creating the club.
Alex POV
Today, Alex arrived at school exhausted. Training for three hours at midnight hadn't been a good idea—his whole body ached.
Michael came storming into the classroom.
"What did you and the princess talk about? Did she call you in the middle of the night? Or did you tell her you love her?"
Alex looked at him and said, "You should really stop playing those romance games. They're affecting your perception of reality. Like I told you before, she doesn't see me that way—and no, we didn't talk last night."
Alex ignored him for the rest of the day, but Michael didn't stop talking about the princess.
A few minutes later, Catherine entered the class and sat beside him.
As usual, she was stunning—white hair, black eyes, wearing the same uniform as everyone else, yet somehow making it look like a model's outfit.
The teacher arrived, and class began.
Everything went as usual, but Alex kept thinking about the system and his missions. He had finished yesterday's tasks, and now he had to complete today's—and repeat that for a week to awaken his power.
Even though he was unsure how to feel about all of it, he couldn't help feeling a bit excited at the chance to become something more.
After class ended, Alex headed home since he wasn't part of any club. Meanwhile, Michael went to the gaming club, planning to spend the entire night playing.
As Alex walked home, he saw Catherine standing in the road, looking at him as if she were waiting.
He approached her. "Hey, what are you doing here?"
"I came to meet you," she replied.
"Why not at school?"
"I thought the last time caused too much chaos, so it would be better to talk somewhere like this."
He nodded. "Yeah, you're right. If you want to tell me something, why not grab a coffee?"
"I would appreciate that," she said with a smile.
Alex took a step back—he had never seen her smile before. It was radiant.
At the café, he asked, "So, what do you want to see me for?"
She said, "Alex, a great talent in martial arts. Discovered by his trainer in primary school, encouraged to compete, and always winning. In middle school, you ranked second in the world among youth martial artists—until an injury forced you to leave the field."
He smiled bitterly. "Yeah… everything you said is true."
After a moment, he asked, "Why are you researching someone like me? I've done nothing this past year except fail classes and waste time."
She quickly replied, "No—sir Alex, I mean Alex—it's understandable. Anyone would struggle after such an injury, especially one that ended their career."
She smiled again. "I didn't come here for that. I came to offer you something."
She continued, "I'm planning to create a martial arts club at school, and I want you to join."
He looked confused. "And what do you want me to do?"
"I want you to use your experience to mentor and guide the students. I couldn't find anyone better."
Maybe that's true, he thought. There might not be another student with my level of experience.
"I'm in," he said.
"Then you can start tomorrow. I already have four members ready."
"And here is your salary."
He took the paper she handed him—and froze. It was a check for 100,000 dollars.
"In… what?" he said in disbelief. "My salary?"
"Yes. For teaching martial arts to the club members."
He wanted to refuse—he was just a student—but the thought of money stopped him.
"This is for the next month," she added. "If you're not satisfied, we can increase it."
Alex was speechless. Most adults worked years to earn that much—and he just got it like this.
Is life finally smiling at me?
First the system, and now this…
He smiled, grabbed Catherine's hand, and said, "It's more than enough. Don't worry—I'll take this seriously and train them properly."
A moment later, he noticed her face turning red.
"O-of course," she stuttered.
He realized he was holding her hand too tightly and quickly let go.
"Sorry—I was just really happy. I won't waste this opportunity."
Still blushing, Catherine looked down. "Of course… you're very talented. You deserve it."
After finishing their coffee, Catherine quickly excused herself and ran out as people began noticing her.
"Who's that beauty?""Why is her face so red?""Young love is beautiful…""Lucky guy…"
Alex felt awkward and left as well, heading toward the park to complete his daily missions.
It took him about two hours—one hour faster than yesterday. He felt stronger already.
He asked, "Did my power change since yesterday?"
The system replied, "Yes, user. Based on calculations, you have improved by 20%."
"That's not logical… did you do something?"
"No, user. It may be related to your awakening ability and my assistance in digesting soul power."
Alex couldn't figure it out, so he headed home, thinking about tomorrow.
And for the first time in a long while, he smiled.
I'm not broke anymore.