I sprawled across my apartment floor, breathing hard after my morning workout. Hikaru had left me in the dust during our run, but I’d kept pushing until my legs burned. Saturday morning and I was already soaked in sweat. What a life.

My thumb hovered over the system interface. Three days after the gate, and I still felt the aftershocks in my muscles. That Silver-rank boss had been a wake-up call. Even with the Overclock, I’d barely survived. One Reaper, and I’d needed to burn essence I couldn’t afford to lose.

What happens when we face two? Or something worse?

The others had skills and natural talent. I had milk-drinking and a ticking clock.

"Time for a shake-up," I muttered, pulling up my status screen.

◆ DIVINE MILKING SYSTEM ◆

JACE MONROE │ Height: 5’10" | Weight: 210 lbs │ Age: 18 | House: Obsidian

SYSTEM STATUS

Level: 5

Experience: 2,050/5,000

Lifespan: 9D 16H

Points: 1,907

PHYSICAL STATS

Strength [D] ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱▱ (7/10)

Endurance [D] ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱ (8/10)

Agility [E] ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱▱ (7/10)

I’d made progress. Two weeks ago, I couldn’t do ten push-ups without collapsing. Now I was keeping up with Hikaru for half our run before my lungs gave out.

But it wasn’t enough.

The girls were paying attention now. Belle, Naomi, even Aurora saw potential. But potential isn’t power. Potential is what people say when they’re looking at someone weak and trying to be nice about it.

I tapped the Strength stat and explored the upgrade options.

"How much to upgrade to C-Tier?" I asked the system.

[Strength [D7] → [C1] Direct Upgrade Available]

[Warning: Rapid advancement may cause temporary physical distress]

[Cost: 1,800 Points]

[Current Balance: 1,907 Points]

[Confirm Purchase? YES/NO]

Eighteen hundred points. Nearly everything I had. Ninety percent of my reserve.

The warning made me pause. Temporary physical distress? That could mean anything from mild discomfort to bone-breaking agony. System messages were never specific when it mattered.

"Fuck it."

I hit YES. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

[Purchase Confirmed]

[Strength Upgrading: [D7] → [D8] → [D9] → [D10] → [C1]]

[Warning: Physical Recalibration Beginning. Please Remain Still]

Pain.

White-hot knives stabbed through every muscle fiber in my body. My back arched off the floor, tendons straining against the sudden pressure. A scream built in my throat but couldn’t escape - my jaw had locked shut from the spasm.

This wasn’t discomfort. This was torture.

My bones felt like they were breaking and reforming simultaneously. Muscles tore and knit back together in seconds. I could feel individual cells rupturing, splitting, multiplying.

I curled into a fetal position, eyes squeezed shut as tears leaked down my face. Someone was hammering railroad spikes through my spine. Someone else was pouring acid into my veins.

This was a mistake. This was a mistake. This was a mistake.

The rational part of my brain - the tiny sliver not overwhelmed by pain - knew what was happening. Limit Breaker allowed infinite growth. But growth required breaking down and rebuilding. This was years of strength training compressed into minutes.

I bit through my lip. Tasted blood. The metallic tang kept me conscious when darkness threatened to swallow me whole.

Five minutes felt like five hours. The pain receded in waves - first from my extremities, then slowly from my core. My locked muscles released one by one until I lay trembling on the floor, sweat-soaked and gasping.

The system chimed softly.

[Strength Upgrade Complete: [C1] Achieved]

[Physical Recalibration Finished]

[Notice: 24-Hour Recovery Period Recommended]

"Recovery period my ass," I wheezed. "A warning would’ve been nice."

I stayed motionless for another minute before attempting to move. My arms responded sluggishly, like they belonged to someone else. When I pushed myself to hands and knees, the movement felt alien - too easy, too light.

Using the wall for support, I hauled myself upright. My legs shook but held my weight. Each step toward the bathroom felt like learning to walk again.

The mirror told a story I wasn’t prepared for.

"What the fuck?"

The person staring back wasn’t me. Or rather, wasn’t the me from this morning.

My face had thinned dramatically. Cheekbones now cut sharp lines where pudgy cheeks had been. My jaw was defined, almost severe. The double chin had vanished completely.

But the real changes were in my body.

I’d been steadily losing weight for days thanks to Limit Breaker’s passive enhancements, but this was different. My shoulders had broadened. My chest had expanded. My arms had definition that hadn’t existed an hour ago. The soft layer of fat around my midsection had shrunk, revealing the beginnings of actual abs underneath.

I looked like someone who’d spent years in the gym, not weeks.

"Holy shit," I whispered, poking at my new stomach. It was firm. Solid. "The milk vampire got hot."

The transformation wasn’t complete - I wasn’t suddenly ripped like some fitness model. But I’d jumped from "getting in shape" to "athletic" overnight. No wonder it had hurt so much.

I flexed experimentally. Muscles moved under my skin in ways they never had before.

"Worth it," I decided, even as phantom pain still echoed through my bones.

I took a quick shower, watching the water trace new contours on my body. When I got dressed, my clothes fit differently. My t-shirt clung to shoulders that hadn’t existed last week. My jeans hung loose around a waist that had shrunk.

I needed to test this. I dropped to the floor and started doing push-ups.

One, two, three...

The motion felt effortless. Where before my arms would shake by twenty, now I hit fifty without breathing hard. When I finally stopped at one hundred, it was from boredom rather than exhaustion.

My phone buzzed. Belle.

Where are you? Training started 10 minutes ago.

Shit. I’d forgotten Misato had scheduled a Saturday session.

On my way. Overslept.

Hurry up. I’m not getting yelled at because you couldn’t set an alarm.

I grabbed my gym bag and headed out. The walk across campus felt different too. I moved faster without trying. My stride lengthened naturally.

People looked at me. Not the way they used to - with pity or amusement. Their gazes lingered. A girl from Sapphire did a double-take as I passed.

Training was at the north field, where Misato had set up obstacle courses for agility drills. I spotted the team going through warm-ups - Naomi’s pink hair visible from a distance, Belle’s blue ponytail swinging as she stretched, Jordan looking half-asleep as usual.

Misato saw me first. Her eyebrows shot up.

"Monroe? That you?"