My Pro Boxer System

I squinted my eyes and mumbled the words as I stared at the screen.

"You must join the boxing club at your school."

"What?! How do you expect me to do that? They already said they weren't taking on any new recruits."

[Figure it out.]

Alexa's voice was unwavering; she spoke without the slightest sympathy for my dilemma and almost sounded amused by it.

[The boxing club will be crucial to your development as a boxer. Without joining that club, your path to becoming a pro boxer will be much more difficult.]

"That still doesn't change the fact that it will be nearly impossible for me to get in."

[As I said, figure it out. Or you can choose to take the punishment instead. Not that I recommend it, it will be far worse than last time.]

Dammit! I have no other choice. How will I even convince them to let me join?

[I don't know, but you have a week to figure it out.]

 I stared at the ground, watching a group of pigeons peck at leftover seeds. That was when I noticed the horrible condition my shoes were in. The sides were torn open and the bottom was so worn out that stepping on a pebble would leave me wincing in pain. 

Running in sneakers was a bad idea.

I needed proper running shoes but the only money I had was from a little savings I had set aside for a new game I was planning to buy. Come to think of it, I'd also need boxing shoes, a pair of gloves, and boxing shorts.

[All of which will be provided by the school if you join the boxing club. The only thing you definitely need to buy right now is the running shoes.]

I hated to admit it, but she was right. With a heavy sigh, I pried myself off the bench and jogged home. I met my sister at the door when I arrived home. She was dressed in her school uniform, just heading out. A frown appeared on her face when she saw me.

"You're going to be late for school, and why are you all sweaty?"

"I went for a jog. Don't worry; I'll have a shower and then head out. It'll be fine."

"Tsk. Whatever. But if Mom finds out you're going to school late, she's going to be mad." She crossed her arms and squinted her eyes. "You aren't doing anything… weird, are you?"

"Er… weird like what? I just went for a jog."

"..."

"Anyway, I'll see you later."

To end the conversation short, I ran inside the house and went upstairs. On my way to school, I loaded up another boxing match on my phone. I had been doing some research on the type of fighter I wanted to be. I found that there were two major styles of boxing: infighting and outboxing.

Infighting is a fighting style where the boxer fights at close range to his opponent, usually within arm's length or even chest to chest. Just thinking about it felt suffocating. I think the goal of this fighting style is to stay in the opponent's face, smothering their punches while applying pressure.

Outboxing, on the other hand, uses a different approach. In outboxing, you fight from a further range, using your speed and footwork. This was the style I was leaning more towards. The pro boxers who used outboxing were a sight to behold; their foot and hand coordination was far superior to mine.

Compared to them, I was just bumbling around.

[By the way, I have a surprise for you.]

"Hmm? What kind of surprise?"

[The kind you'll like. I'll give it to you later.]

I was curious about what the surprise was, but knowing how she is, she wouldn't reveal it that easily.

…

Somehow, I had gotten worse at staying awake during class. It used to be because I spent all night gaming, but now it was because I stayed up all night shadowboxing and watching boxing videos.

"This single move acted as a trigger for starting the war, and in the year 1886…"

While Ms. Dalton was busy teaching us history about all the wars that had been fought in the past, I was fighting my own war against the drowsiness that was trying to suck me in. My grades were already bad, but at this rate, they would get worse.

The cool breeze gushing in through the window, made me even more drowsy. My eyes were burning just from the strain of keeping them open, and my head was bobbing up and down as I fought off the remnants of sleep. 

The class seemed fairly engrossed in what they were learning so the class was moderately quiet. Except for Cassian and his friends. They seemed to be having a party of their own. You could hear the muffled sound of their laughter as they whispered among themselves and just for a brief second, Cassian's eyes drifted to me.

He then whispered something to his friends and their eyes also turned to me before a smirk appeared on their faces. 

Learning about wars and what led up to them was like a pacifier for the students. I had no idea what was so funny. It annoyed me but I refocused my attention back at the lesson.

The sound of the lunch bell ringing and the sound of my own stomach grumbling jolted me awake. With the teacher's dismissal, I got up to head to the cafeteria.

[Okay, it's time for your reward.]

Alexa spoke as I walked through the hall, her voice was tingling with excitement.

[Go where no one can see you.]

"Huh? But why?"

[Just do it. It's a system order; there will be dire consequences if you don't.]

"Alright, alright, I'll head to the bathroom."

With a resigned sigh, I went into the bathroom and entered one of the stalls.

"Okay, so what is this gift you're giving me?"

[Hold out your hands.]

I held out my hands, and a golden light encased my palm. The light seemed to get brighter and brighter before it dispersed, leaving me holding a rather large lunch box. It was made of metal and square shape, resembling a small briefcase.

[I prepared lunch for you. Open it, open it!]

I slowly opened the box, dreading what kind of health hazard she might have cooked up. Inside the box was a single banana, a bottle of water, a small bag of almonds, and another ominous-looking box.

[Open that one; come on, hurry up!]

Her excitement was palpable, which left me even more worried, though what I had seen so far wasn't so bad. Opening the other box, I gazed at its contents: brown rice, steamed broccoli, and a grilled chicken breast.

"What is all this?"

[Your lunch.]

She responded smugly.

[A proper diet is essential if you want to become a boxer. If you don't consume the proper nutrients, then all your training will amount to nothing. So from today onwards, I'll be preparing your lunches and strictly monitoring whatever you eat.]

It made sense; athletes had to strictly maintain their diet. Just having her take care of all my lunches would be a huge help.

"Thank you."

[It's a reward. I've seen how hard you've been working, putting in all the extra effort even when the system didn't require you to. I just wanted to reward you for the extra effort you've been putting in; it's no big deal.]

"It is to me. Thank you, Alexa."

I closed the lunch box and left the bathroom. The cafeteria was packed full of students. For a second, I thought about leaving and having my lunch inside the classroom, but then I saw a completely empty seat in the back of the cafeteria; it was the only seat that was left empty.

I placed the lunch box on the table and opened it again. 

"Mmmh, wow. You came prepared; that's the lunch of a pro athlete."

I glanced back to see the school's yellow varsity jacket and the handsome face of a blond, greeting me with a charming smile—Cassian.

"Do you mind if we sit here?"