Unknown how much time passed—perhaps only a few minutes, yet it felt as long as a century—when the humming of the pressure cooker finally stopped, and the pressure vanished.
The shell, compressed like a shriveled mummy, gradually swelled back up, restoring the curvy figure that protruded in all the right places.
However, Amamiya Rin, lying prone on the ground, remained motionless. He felt a burning pain all over his body; every breath pulled at his nerves, making them tremble.
It was hard to imagine that his internal organs hadn't shattered. Was he actually still alive?
This torture-like fitness method caused pain to the human body no less than, or perhaps even exceeding, Kayako's brutal slaughter of Tomie.
After all, even Kayako couldn't compress Tomie's heart into a sheet of paper while allowing Tomie to retain clear consciousness and a living body.
The hatch was opened from the outside, and light flooded in. Seeing the students lying in disorder across the floor, the Coach revealed a satisfied, savage grin.
"Drag them out. Ten minutes rest."
At the command, staff members immediately entered the pressure cooker, dragged the students out, and settled them against the wall to rest.
"I didn't die?"
After resting for a few minutes, Amamiya Rin finally recovered the ability to speak.
"You'll get used to it. Once you're used to it, it feels quite comfortable."
The male student sitting nearby struck up a conversation with Amamiya Rin. He cheerfully rolled his sleeve up to his shoulder, displaying his arm to Amamiya Rin and speaking triumphantly.
"Hey, that's muscle, right? I've only trained three times."
"Three times?"
Amamiya Rin took a look and couldn't help but let out a gasp of admiration.
The muscle lines on that arm were fluid, the contours distinct, the mass even and not overly bulky. Every bundle of muscle fiber contained abundant vitality, like thick steel cables wrapped around the bones, the taut skin filled with a sense of explosive power.
In Amamiya Rin's understanding, even the peak condition of top professional bodybuilders couldn't possess such strong muscles; this was already surreal.
"Don't be envious. Just persist a few more times, and you can do it too."
That male student's face was full of pride. While showing off to Amamiya Rin, he was also encouraging him.
It was amazing he could even say that. Who would encourage a beauty like Tomie to develop a body full of solid muscle?
Amamiya Rin twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing a smile.
"Thanks for the encouragement. I look forward to it."
He urgently needed Kawakami Tomie to have the power of self-preservation. This way, she wouldn't end up being killed, nor would she drive other men insane.
Moreover, if Kawakami Tomie's strength became greater, he could also control her to attempt some trials and explorations.
Before the world-ending natural disaster arrived, he had to master stronger power and secrets.
The ten-minute break passed in a flash. The Coach stood in the center of the venue with hands on hips, urging the students to participate in the second round of training.
Several staff members wheeled over a few torture instruments that looked somewhat familiar. Their structure was simple and crude, composed of two thick wooden beams and ropes. If three more sticks were added and they were scaled down, they would be the torture devices used to crush fingers in period dramas.
What was it called again? It seemed to be a zanzi.
"Seiza! Bend over! Stick your upper body in! Put your arms behind your back!"
Following the Coach's command, the students did as told.
Two logs: one inserted between the abdomen and thighs, one inserted between the back and the arms.
A staff member stood behind Amamiya Rin, stepped on the wooden log on the back, and gripped the ropes tightly with both hands.
The next second, the ropes tightened violently!
Intense pain erupted. The wood at the abdomen ruthlessly oppressed Amamiya Rin's internal organs, as if trying to squeeze out his stomach and intestines.
At the same time, a strong aching sensation came from his femurs.
The wood on his back felt like it was going to crush his shoulder blades and spine. His arms, twisted behind him, were sandwiched between the wood and his torso; the joints made creaking sounds, as if they were about to dislocate and shatter the next second.
In an instant, the bones of Amamiya Rin's entire body were wailing. Huge pressure acted from both front and back simultaneously, as if trying to fold his body in half and shear it into two pieces.
At this moment, without needing contemplation, Amamiya Rin could clearly feel the shape of every rib as they bulged from beneath his skin.
And the ropes were still tightening bit by bit. The squeezing force continued to increase, and the pain, like stormy seas, crashed against his nerves in waves.
This sensation was no better than the pressure cooker just now; it was purely another form of torture.
Amamiya Rin sincerely admired those students who had persisted two or three times. Their willpower... No, that's not right! It had nothing to do with willpower.
Amamiya Rin suddenly realized.
His [Dhyana] could stabilize the mind and enhance tolerance to pain, but no matter how deep the [Dhyana], it could not be maintained during this kind of intense execution.
It had nothing to do with his spiritual cultivation. It was this gym that had a problem. This gym kept the tortured—no!—the training students constantly awake and maintained their vitality.
This gym was also a type of curse!
Unknown how long passed, the ropes finally loosened.
Amamiya Rin collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath, feeling as if his body had been run over.
However, after the ten-minute rest, Amamiya Rin discovered that he was truly about to be crushed.
The venue for the third round of training was a flat, thick, massive stone slab. Amamiya Rin and the other students were thrown onto it. Accompanied by a humming sound, the ceiling actually slowly descended!
That was actually also a thick stone slab!
When the stone slab fell, tens of tons of weight were evenly distributed, pressing heavily on his head, chest cavity, abdomen, and limbs. That incomprehensible pressure was already indescribable, simply like it was going to crush the human body into a sheet of paper!
Time became blurred and long amidst the immense pressure and the pain of hypoxia, but the pain was etched incomparably clearly into Amamiya Rin's brain.
After an hour, the stone slab above finally stopped descending and began to rise slowly.
Amamiya Rin collapsed on the cold concrete floor, gasping for breath. He felt as if the bones of his whole body had been taken apart and put back together; every inch of muscle was wailing.
However, under this extreme exhaustion and pain, Amamiya Rin keenly perceived the changes in the body.
The body was heavy.
Not the kind of heaviness from collapse and weakness, but a tangible, sinking heaviness as if the body weight had truly increased.
He vaguely realized that under those repeated compressions, his body was being compressed, and his density was rising. Muscle fibers were forcibly squeezed tighter, and bones seemed to have undergone a thousand hammerings in a forge. Skin, internal organs, even bone marrow!
From top to bottom, from inside to out, every part produced a sense of solidity.
He lowered his head and looked at his arm.
Although it still belonged to Kawakami Tomie's slender silhouette, muscle lines were already visible, and power far exceeding the appearance was harbored beneath the skin.
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