Chapter 72

“Arang, let’s try moving a bit.”

“Fighting!”

Hyeseon unnie touched my prosthetic right hand and spoke, while Anna unnie cheered me on enthusiastically from the side.

Encouraged by their support, I focused on the prosthetic arm connected to my severed limb.

The prosthetic hand clenched into a fist.

“Ugh…!”

What I realized during my rehabilitation training and time in Leore is that it’s not just Arang’s emotions interfering with controlling the prosthetic arm.

My body just isn’t accepting it. The prosthetic.

As my senses and nerves have developed exceptionally, the basic prosthetic refuses to connect with my body.

It’s like my brain is so used to my current body that it won’t accept the prosthetic.

It feels like this prosthetic just doesn’t belong with my body!

But.

Combining this body’s physicality and judgment, this prosthetic is nothing.

Hup!

“Oh! Arang, it’s moving!”

The fingers started to move, and one finger extended from the prosthetic hand that was clenched into a fist.

“I did it…!”

“Arang. But why did you have to extend the middle finger?”

“It’s the coolest finger… so…?”

“Tch.”

Anna unnie folded the extended middle finger of the prosthetic hand back down.

There was a 1mm progress in the prosthetic arm and leg rehabilitation training. Until now, it was just slight movements, but today, I managed to move a single finger.

After rehabilitation training, it was time for exercise.

Well, it’s called exercise, but it’s still rehabilitation training.

No matter how freely I can control the prosthetic arm and leg, without a body to support it, it’s impossible, so exercise is essential.

According to Hyeseon unnie, my body is normalizing, so we’re planning to start exercising soon.

Ultimately, when moving the prosthetic arm and leg, my body needs to move directly.

The problem is how to build muscle without limbs.

The hospital is taking care of the nutrition perfectly. The food doesn’t feel like hospital food at all; it’s so delicious, it feels like restaurant or hotel food.

Moreover, they know Arang’s eating habits perfectly. I don’t, but Arang hates eggplant, mushrooms, and broccoli.

In all the meals I’ve had at the hospital, I’ve never seen eggplant, mushrooms, or broccoli even once.

It shows how much the staff here care for me. Of course, they’re probably being paid well for it.

The exercise started with moving the limbs as much as possible.

After years of bed rest, the muscles had completely disappeared, so we started with the basics.

“Alright. Let’s lift your right shoulder. Slowly, that’s it. You’re doing great.”

First, the right arm.

An arm missing half from the elbow to the shoulder.

Following Hyeseon unnie’s instructions, I slowly lifted my shoulder.

“Ugh…!”

Just lifting my arm toward my ear is exhausting.

“Slowly. Little by little. You’re doing well.”

In Leore, my arm moves swiftly, but in reality, it doesn’t move as I want.

Even though Hyeseon unnie gives me massages after every shower, staying in bed for so long and not moving my body in the virtual world has inevitably reduced my muscles.

“Let’s try the left arm too. There… that’s it.”

Even with three-quarters of my arm missing, it feels incredibly heavy, which is seriously concerning.

The same goes for my legs. With three-quarters of my leg missing, moving my pelvis to move my leg, it fell limply within a minute.

“Whew… whew… it’s tough…”

“Just a little more, Arang!”

“Ugh…!”

This time, it’s lying-down arm-spreading jumps.

Not actual jumps, but lying down and moving my limbs. I did as much as I could, slowly.

But by the fifth time, I was exhausted. Not five sets, just five limb movements.

“You did great, Arang! Let’s build up your stamina a bit more while you’re healthy!”

“Okay…”

My real body… has much lower defense than an assassin.

At this rate, even a level 1 beginner could kill me with a wooden sword by accident.

How much did I move to be drenched in sweat?

Sweat is streaming down, making my body sticky and my hospital gown cling uncomfortably.

“Arang worked hard, huh? You’re sweating a lot.”

As I tried to wipe the sweat off my face with my arm, Hyeseon unnie wiped the sweat off my face with a towel.

The problem is my whole body.

This is the first time I’ve exercised as Arang, and I realized Arang sweats a lot.

My whole body is drenched.

Moreover, with my senses and nerves so developed, I can feel every drop of sweat running down my body, giving me goosebumps.

“Unnie… please… take off my clothes…”

“Ugh…! Arang, saying that with that expression is too dangerous. I feel like I’m becoming a bad person…!”

“…Huh?”

I checked my body’s condition.

My first exercise as Arang.

Sweat is pouring from my entire body, my face is naturally hot, and I’m panting.

It’s clearly the look of someone who just worked out hard. Of course, the workout was just flapping my severed limbs while lying down.

“You’re already sweating so much. Let me wipe you down.”

“Am I… the type with a lot of water…?”

“Ah, Arang!”

“Ah, my bad…”

I meant to say I’m the type who sweats a lot, but the way the sweat runs down my body reminded me of getting caught in the rain, so I accidentally said “water.”

“Before showering, one last thing—”

There’s more!?

“Don’t make that face. We’re going to do sit-ups. But don’t worry, since you’re not used to it yet, we’ll just do a little. Can you do it?”

“Ugh…”

Following Hyeseon unnie’s gestures, I tensed my stomach and lifted my body.

Even though it’s just a simple sit-up, my body doesn’t cooperate well. I ended up bouncing my waist slightly to get up, but I did my best not to give up on the exercise.

It went from flapping to fluttering.

Hyeseon unnie carried me into the bathtub.

Since I sweated so much, she washed my body more thoroughly than ever today.

I hate exercise, but post-workout showers… feel good…

Plus, after soaking in warm water, I get to do my second favorite thing.

Which is…

Hyeseon unnie’s massage time.

For someone who has to lie down for almost 22 hours a day, massage is an absolute necessity.

No matter how exceptional a person’s body is, if it’s not used, it dies.

So, the massage stimulates and prevents my body from stiffening, helping blood circulation while I lie down.

“Huff…! Huff…! Huff…! Haa…”

Before, Arang’s emotions were so strong that I couldn’t speak and just received the massage, but after my period, things changed.

I can’t speak loudly, but I can speak slowly now. Enough to communicate without discomfort.

That’s why various sounds are coming out.

Even though my body is weak, the massage after pushing myself to the limit was more painful than I thought.

“Arang, just bear with it a little. If we don’t loosen you up today, you’ll suffer more tomorrow.”

“Ugh…! Okay…ugh…!”

“B-but Arang… c-can you… not moan…?”

“Ugh…? Moan…?”

“No, no. I’ll keep going…!”

Today’s massage was painful, but after it was over, the feeling of all the tension leaving my body and the drowsiness felt good.

It’s like becoming an octopus. Of course, I have 10 fewer legs than an octopus.

==

After finishing rehabilitation training, exercise, showering, and massage, I returned to the virtual world using the access device.

I would have logged into Leore right away, but I was so exhausted that I went straight to bed and lay down.

After years of lying in bed, even the slightest movement leaves me breathless and my body numb.

It feels exactly like sprinting as a level 1 beginner in Leore.

Later, when I can control the prosthetic arm and leg, I’ll do real exercise to check stability…

I can already feel the hardship.

But if all this is part of normalizing my body, I have to do it.

‘I hate exercise so much…’

Rehabilitation training is fine, but exercise makes me sweat buckets.

I hate sweating because I can’t wipe it off when I want to.

The sweat runs down my body, giving me goosebumps, but without limbs, I can’t wipe it off.

Anna unnie wipes my face diligently, but during exercise, she can’t wipe my body.

Plus, the sweat makes my hospital gown stick to me, which is uncomfortable. Next time, I’ll just ask Hyeseon unnie to let me exercise naked.

It’s embarrassing, but there are no men here, just Anna and Hyeseon unnie.

Anyway, why am I working so hard on rehabilitation and exercise when I’ll be in the virtual world? But I saw something.

On Ryutube, an augmented reality theme park.

Moreover, the most popular game in the augmented reality theme park is Monster Hunter.

I was so shocked when I saw it.

The sequel to the game I used to enjoy so much has continued to this day, now in augmented reality. And it’s also in virtual reality games.

This is a major event.

I like RPGs, but I also really enjoy Monster Hunter. There’s no leveling concept, and you can feel the improvement in your weapon proficiency.

I plan to work hard on rehabilitation and exercise to enjoy augmented and virtual reality more perfectly.

To play games!

Before that, I need to hit PVP challenger.

It’s a matter of male pride.

==

No situation to include, but I added Arang because she’s cute.

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