Marvel: Shadow Monarch

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Marvel: Shadow Monarch

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.....

"Sixty-eight... sixty-nine... seventy..."

Anna's voice provided a steady rhythm as I continued my sit-ups, my core working efficiently through the motion.

The concrete floor was cold against my back, but I'd gotten used to worse discomforts over the past seven months.

First daily quest, I thought, keeping my breathing steady as I lifted my torso again. No idea what kind of rewards I'm looking at here.

This was uncharted territory for me. The quest itself had been interesting when it first appeared.

In the Solo Leveling novel, Sung Jin-Woo's daily quest had been sit-ups, push-ups, squats, and running. Mine was similar but adapted—sit-ups, push-ups, squats, and leg raises instead of pull-ups and running.

Makes sense, I mused as I completed another rep. Can't exactly go for a jog in a cell, and there's nowhere to do pull-ups.

It was like the system had taken my environment into consideration.

The reason I was not sure about the rewards was due to the different quests. Since the quests had changed, it was possible that the rewards might be different too.

The original quest parameters called for a hundred of each exercise.

Simple enough, especially with my enhanced physique making it feel like a warm-up rather than a real challenge.

But I remembered something crucial from the later parts of the story—Jin-Woo had eventually figured out that he could exceed the criteria of a hundred reps for more rewards.

Since I had that knowledge from the start, I decided to test it immediately.

Two hundred push-ups and two hundred squats were already done and proved me right about the above hundred limit.

I completed them easily over the past few minutes while Anna watched with growing amazement.

My enhanced physique made the exercises feel almost effortless—what would exhaust a normal human was just good conditioning for me.

"Eighty-five... eighty-six... eighty-seven..."

Anna's counting continued, though I could hear slight concern in her voice. She'd already asked twice if I was sure I wanted to keep going past a hundred, clearly surprised by my stamina.

Well, the reason for her concern was genuine as well, we weren't exactly being fed to the full here.

Almost done with this set.

I was aiming for two hundred sit-ups as well, doubling the requirement of the quest.

This was probably the only good workout I had in the past few months I have been here.

Well, I had my motivations for doing it, too, and they were both the rewards and the punishments.

In my quest window, both sections were marked as [CLASSIFIED], which was similar to the novel.

In Jin-Woo's case, the punishment for failure was scary as hell—getting dropped in some desert dimension filled with hostile monsters.

I really hoped my punishment wouldn't be something similar, but I hoped that the rewards would be.

"Ninety-five... ninety-six... ninety-seven..."

"One hundred and ninety-eight... one hundred and ninety-nine... two hundred!"

I completed the final sit-up and sat up, barely breathing hard.

A light sheen of sweat had formed on my forehead, but nothing excessive. 

"Jesus, Lucien," Anna breathed, staring at me with wide eyes. "Are you even human? I've never seen anyone push themselves like that."

If only you knew, I thought, but just gave her a tired smile. "Guess I had more in me than I thought... plus, we are mutants."

She shook her head in amazement, then her expression shifted to something I couldn't quite identify.

There was concern there, yes, but also something else. Something that made my pulse quicken for reasons that had nothing to do with exercise.

"Damn, sugar..." Anna's voice came from the adjacent cell, and there was something different in her tone. Softer. More intimate. "You look hot during a workout."

I blinked, turning my head to look at her through the transparent barrier. She was watching me with an expression I couldn't quite read, her cheeks slightly flushed.

There was something in her eyes that made my brain short-circuit for a moment.

What do I even say to that?

I'd never had much interaction with girls in either life—too busy surviving in my original world, and the original Lucien had been too focused on hiding his developing powers to pursue romance.

This kind of comment left me completely out of my depth, like trying to navigate a minefield while blindfolded.

"Uh... thanks?" I managed, my voice cracking slightly.

I gave what was probably the most awkward laugh in the history of awkward laughs, the kind that made it obvious I had no idea how to handle compliments about my appearance.

Anna's expression shifted immediately, and she turned her face to the side with a definite pout. Her lips moved as she spoke, but her voice was so quiet and muffled by the barrier that I couldn't make out the words.

"At least compliment me too," she muttered under her breath, just loud enough that I could see her mouth moving but not hear the actual words.

I caught the movement of her lips but couldn't make out what she'd said through the combination of the transparent barrier and her deliberately quiet voice. "What was that?"

"Nothing," she said quickly, still not looking at me directly. Her cheeks were definitely redder now, and she was doing that thing where she pretended to be interested in the ceiling tiles.

Okay, she's definitely pouting about something.

I had no idea what I'd done wrong this time. Anna's moods could be a complete mystery sometimes, and seven months of friendship didn't mean I understood everything about how her mind worked.

Women were apparently complicated in both universes.

I sat up slowly, still feeling the aftereffects of the intense workout.

My muscles ached a bit in a way that felt productive rather than painful, like they were already adapting to the new demands I was placing on them.

"Can you count my leg raises?" I asked, getting ready for the final part of the quest. "This is the last exercise, then I'll be done."

"Hmph. Fine," she replied, finally turning back to face me but still maintaining that slightly offended expression. Her arms were crossed, and she had that stubborn set to her jaw that I'd learned meant she was determined to stay annoyed about something.

I shook my head at her antics, a small smile tugging at my lips despite my confusion.

Anna could go from flirtatious to pouty to helpful in the span of thirty seconds, and I'd learned to just roll with it. Better to focus on finishing the quest and figure out whatever I'd done wrong later.

Lying back down, I positioned myself for the leg raises. 

"One... two... three..."

Anna's counting resumed, though she still sounded slightly irritated about something I couldn't identify. I decided to focus on the exercise and let her work through whatever was bothering her.

The leg raises were definitely more demanding than the previous exercises. Each repetition required control and core strength.

"Fifty-one... fifty-two... fifty-three..."

Halfway to the minimum requirement.

My legs were starting to feel the effort, but nothing like the exhaustion I would feel in my previous life.

"One hundred!" Anna called out. "Okay, that's it. You're done."

But I kept going, maintaining the steady rhythm.

"Lucien!" Anna's voice carried concern now. "What are you doing? You've already done more than enough!"

"Just want to push the limits," I replied, still maintaining perfect form. "See what I'm really capable of."

She looked like she wanted to argue, but resumed counting. "One hundred and one... one hundred and two... You're absolutely crazy, you know that?"

The next hundred reps tested my endurance more than raw strength.

I could feel my body working harder as I approached the limits of what even my abilities could maintain effortlessly.

"One hundred ninety-eight... one hundred ninety-nine... two hundred!"

I let my legs drop to the floor, feeling pleasantly worked out rather than exhausted.

And then I saw it.

A notification appeared in my peripheral vision, clean and simple but somehow carrying a weight of significance that made my heart race:

DAILY QUEST COMPLETED REWARDS GRANTED

.....

Want to read ahead of the public release? Support me on Patreon at "https://www.patreon.com/FreakyHaru" and get access to:

5 and 10 chapters of all my fanfictions.

Ongoing Projects:

Marvel: Shadow Monarch

Upcoming Projects:

DC/MARVEL: The Kryptonian Emperor(Under editing, shall be released next Monday)

Your support helps me keep writing and brings you more content faster!

Thank You