Narrator:Nikolai had another free day, let's see what he decides to do with it.

*Nikolai got his usual coffee, and started walking around the outpost*

Nikolai(mind):Now that I think about it...there's still a lot of buildings that I haven't looked at in the outpost.

Nikolai:"Let's see what's around here?"

*Nikolai looks at any nearby buildings*

Nikolai(mind):Let's see...there's a hotel, an armory, a library, and a hospital nearby...who the heck designed these locations?

Nikolai:"Oh, there's a gym nearby! I haven't gone to one in ages, I should try it out."

*Nikolai walked towards the gym, and saw nobody in the building*

Nikolai:"Huh? That's weird, is it closed?"

*Nikolai went to the door, and opened it*

Nikolai(mind):It's unlocked.

*The gym looked new, and had a bunch of functional exercise machines. However, nobody was inside*

Nikolai:"That's a little weird. Hello? Anyone here?"

*Nobody responded*

Nikolai(mind):Maybe nobody goes here? Or maybe nobody's here at this time? It's still kind of early.

Nikolai:"Maybe I'll come by another time."

*Nikolai then heard a door open. He looked around and saw a brown haired girl walk out of the restroom*

???:"Phew, alright. Time to open the gym-"

*The girl spots Nikolai*

Nikolai:"Uh...hello."

???:"May I ask what you're doing here? The gym's closed."

Nikolai:"Then why is the door unlocked?"

???:"I unlocked it before getting everything set up."

Nikolai:"Oh, I see."

Nikolai(mind):So she took a bathroom break right after opening?!

???:"So...are you here to workout?"

Nikolai:"Actually, yes. I've haven't worked out in a long time, so I wanted to check it out."

???:"I see. Well, let me help you then."

Nikolai:"Huh? Oh, no. It's fine."

???:"I insist, it's my job to help anyone who wants to workout. If you want, I can be your personal trainer."

Nikolai:"I'm thankful, but you really don't have to-"

???:"It's fine with me. What would you like to try first?"

Nikolai:"U-Uh..."

Nikolai(mind):I don't think she'll take 'no' for an answer.

Nikolai:"Uh...I don't actually know where to start first."

???:"That's fine, let's start with one of the machines first."

Nikolai:"Ok then."

*Nikolai worked out with the woman, and afterwards he was out of breath*

Nikolai:"Hah...no more...please...have mercy..."

???:"O-Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I overworked you too hard."

Nikolai:"I-It's fine...just let me...catch my breath...phew..."

*The woman handed a water bottle to Nikolai*

???:"Drink up."

Nikolai:"Thank you."

Nikolai(mind):I thought I was going to pass out!

*Nikolai took a couple swigs of water*

Nikolai:"Much better...phew."

???:"Great job, mister."

Nikolai:"Oh, that's right. I haven't even told you my name. I'm Nikolai, thank you for training me."

???:"I'm Rumani, thanks for let me help you."

Nikolai:"Well, I guess I'll see you next time."

Rumani:"Yes, please come by whenever. Oh right, we're having a sport event tomorrow. You should drop by and say hi."

Nikolai:"A sport event? Sure."

Nikolai(mind):I haven't been to a sport's event since middle school. Maybe it will be like that, but with adults instead of middle schoolers.

Nikolai:"Well, see ya."

Rumani:"Bye."

*Nikolai exited the gym, and headed back to his dorm*

Nikolai:"Alright, I guess I'm going to that sport's event tomorrow."

*The next day, Nikolai walked over to the gym, and saw that the building was closed*

Nikolai:"Hmm..."

Nikolai(mind):Rumani never told me where the event was...maybe there's a flyer somewhere?

*Nikolai saw a flyer on the side of the gym. It had the location to the event, and Nikolai walked over to the area*

Nikolai(mind):Alright, let's see.

*Nikolai saw a couple tents set up at a park. There were a few young adults standing there with tape tied around their waists with numbers on them*

Nikolai(mind):Wait...is this a marathon?

Rumani:"Nikolai! Over here!"

*Nikolai saw Rumani standing under one of the tents*

Nikolai:"Hi, Rumani."

Rumani:"Good to see you, Nikolai. Are you going to try the marathon? It's going to start in a few minutes."

Nikolai(mind):Oh god, I'm still sore from yesterday.

Nikolai:"I mean, I was planning to just say hi-"

Rumani:"There's a prize to whoever finishes first."

Nikolai:"Well, congrats to whoever gets first, because it wouldn't be me."

Rumani:"You can meet some really nice people."

Nikolai:"I'd love to meet them later, just not while running."

Rumani:"Think about the exercise you'll get from doing this activity."

Nikolai(mind):She isn't going to take 'no' for an answer...wait, I've thought this yesterday. I should've known better!

Nikolai:"Fine, I'll enter it."

Rumani:"Great! Write your name here."

*Rumani pulls out a paper on a clipboard*

Nikolai(mind):She planned to make me join from the start.

Rumani:"Here's your number and a water bottle. You can head over to the starting line."

*Nikolai wrote his name on the paper, and handed it back to Rumani*

Rumani:"Thank you, and have fun Nikolai."

Nikolai:"Thanks."

*As Nikolai was about to leave, somebody was calling to Rumani*

???:"Ugh...Rumani, can I have another water please?"

Rumani:"Huh? Seriously? This the 20th time you asked for water."

Nikolai(mind):Huh? Who the heck needs 20 water bottles before a marathon?!

*Nikolai looked back, and saw a girl with lavender hair and blue eyes. Her face sweating immensely*

???:"I need to cool myself off somehow, I'm sweating like a storm over here."

Rumani:"You always are though."

???:"This is too much though. it's really hot out."

Rumani:"The high for today is 25 degrees Celsius!" (77 degrees Fahrenheit, you're welcome fellow Americans.)

???:"Ugh...hey, mister. Can I have some of your water?"

*The girl turns toward Nikolai*

Nikolai:"Huh?"

???:"Please! I'm dying here."

Nikolai:"Uh...ok, here."

*Nikolai handed the water to the sweaty girl, and she immediately poured it on her*

???:"Phew..."

Rumani:"You shouldn't have given your water to her, Nikolai."

Nikolai:"Why?"

???:"...Ugh...I'm still sweating like crazy!"

Nikolai:"What the?"

Rumani:"Yep, it just happens to her. She just never stops sweating."

Nikolai:"That's..."

Nikolai(mind):Really freaking gross!

Rumani:"Here, take another one, Nikolai. Don't give it to her this time."

???:"Hey, can I perhaps-"

Nikolai:"S-Sorry, the race is about to start. I've got to go!"

*Nikolai ran away from the girl. A few minutes later, the marathon finally started, and Nikolai was unsurprisingly being left behind by the other contestants*

Nikolai(mind):Yeah, well. At least I didn't want to win anyway.

Nikolai:"I guess I'll take my time now-"

???:"Hey! Mister!"

Nikolai:"Huh?"

*Nikolai turned around, and saw the sweaty girl from before running after him*

Nikolai(mind):Oh no, why is she running towards me?

*Nikolai started to run away*

???:"W-Wait, mister! I just want to ask for your water!"

Nikolai:"Why?! I already gave you one!"

???:"Please! I don't want to be sweaty anymore!"

Nikolai:"I'm sorry!"

*Nikolai ran for his life, and started to catch up to the other contenders. After non-stop running for few minutes, he finally reached the end, taking first place*

Rumani:"Nikolai?! Y-You did it!"

Nikolai:"Please! Get her away from me!"

???:"Mister! I'm sorry for bugging you like this, but please! I need your water!"

*Nikolai continued running around the park, until he finally ran out of breath*

???:"Mister...please, I beg of you-"

*Nikolai opened the water bottle, chugged half the water, and dumped the rest on his head*

Nikolai:"Hah...no...more...water..."

*Nikolai passed out on the ground in defeat. Rumani and the girl helped him into the shade under the tents, and he woke up after an hour*

Nikolai:"Ugh...what happened?"

Rumani:"Thank goodness you woke up. You shouldn't have overexerted yourself too much."

Nikolai:"Sorry...so, now what?"

Rumani:"You go and claim your reward, you won the marathon."

Nikolai:"Huh?"

*Nikolai got up, and saw Rumani with a card in her hand*

Nikolai:"What is this? A gift card?"

Rumani:"Nope, you get an unlimited pass to get trained by the best athletes in the Ark. We call ourselves Nepenthe."

Nikolai:"Huh...ok then? So I ran my butt off to receive the option to workout more?"

Rumani:"Don't think of it that way, think of it like you get to get stronger with me and the two other members."

Nikolai:"Ugh...alright fine."

Rumani:"Great, we'll start your training tomorrow. That way you'll get to meet the rest of the team."

Nikolai:"Sure, tomorrow sounds good then."

Nikolai(mind):Man...I didn't even want to run the marathon, but she's so happy that I won. I guess I'll take her up on her offer.

Nikolai:"Well, see you."

Rumani:"See you later, Nikolai."

*Nikolai walked back to his dorm, and immediately fell asleep on his bed*

Nikolai(mind):I'm so exhausted. I never want to do something like that again. That girl was really weird too. Why was she constantly sweating? Oh well, I probably won't see her again anyways.

Narrator:And so Nikolai started his athletic training arc, stay tuned to see what happens...next time!

Hey bros, it's me, the author. Sorry that this episode was 2 weeks late, I've been very busy the past couple of weeks. Thankfully, now I've gotten extra time to write, so I'll work on these chapters more, and hopefully will be all set with the next chapter or two. I have no announcements in-game other than I'm playing the events, so here's the meme of the week:

And I'll see you guys next time!