[Beep. Host detected.]
"What was that?" Sakura blurted out, looking around wildly.
"Did you hear something, Sakura?" Captain Yamato said immediately, drawing a kunai from his weapons pouch. "Karin, do you sense anything?"
Karin closed her eyes, biting her lower lip in concentration. After a few seconds, she opened them again and gave the smallest shake of her head— they were alone. The only living things for kilometres around were scorpions, insects, and snakes.
[Beep. Signal Weak. Searching for Host…]
Sakura's eyes widened in shock.
"Nothing? We should still hurry, in any case," Captain Yamato said. "The sooner we get this over with, the better. We aren't welcome in these lands any more."
Yamato, Karin and Tenten pressed onwards, as they passed through a series of archways and corridors, with Sakura trotting a few metres behind them. "System!" she whispered to herself, but there came no response. Calling out for her attribute panel produced the same frozen, bugged-out interface that had been staring at her for the past few months.
"What in the world is going on?" Sakura grumbled under her breath. "My cheat is still glitching out! I'm going to lodge a complaint with the reincarnation committee, next time I die…"
Sakura quickened her step to keep pace with the others.
After some time, she came out into an enormous circular chamber— or rather, a cylindrical one. They must have entered one of the larger towers she'd glimpsed from outside. There was no floor here; when she leaned over the edge and looked down into the dizzying depths, not even the faintest hint of a bottom showed through the gloom. The same was true when she looked up— the walls climbed endlessly until they vanished into blackness. Across the void ran a narrow passage, leading to the centre where a small altar stood upon a circular platform at the walkway's end.
Sakura stepped onto the walkway, trying her best not to let the vertigo get the better of her. Was stone really the best material for something like this? It hardly seemed safe. Weren't the others at all worried it might give way? Looking at them, it was as though they didn't see the same gaping void beneath their feet that she did.
In any case, Tenten was already hard at work, studying the jutsu formulae scrawled across the platform. The markings converged on a small mound, where a Flying Thunder God kunai stood planted, like a stick of incense set into a bowl of rice at a funeral. The others kept watch around her, alert for any unwelcome arrival.
[Beep. Host signature found. Boosting signal.]
"What the!?" Tenten suddenly exclaimed. "What's happening!?"
The black jutsu formulae began glowing ominously, turning from black, to purple, to red in quick succession. They began writhing like eels out of water, emitting high-pitched squeals and smoking… like eels on a hot pan.
"Everyone, grab on to me, quickly!" Tenten shouted. "Sakura, catch!"
By this point, Sakura had reached the halfway mark of the bridge leading to the central platform suspended above the void. She broke into a sprint, hand already outstretched to catch the Flying Thunder God kunai that Tenten had just hurled towards her…
The ground rumbled, and without warning, the bridge shattered.
Sakura jumped as Tenten, Karin, and Yamato teleported to the kunai she'd been reaching out towards. Yamato's arm turned to wood, stretching out to her as she began to fall, and she reached for him in turn, her fingers just missing the branches unfurling to catch her. But before she could transform her own arm, gravity reclaimed her, and she plummeted into the darkness below.
"Onee-samaaaa!" Karin shrieked, before vanishing as Tenten teleported them away once more.
[Ding! The System has initialised! To communicate with the System, please call out, System! Or if you wish to view your current condition, please call out, Status!]
"DAMN YOU, SYSTEMMMM!" Sakura screamed as the wind rushed in her ears. "I'LL SEE YOU IN HELLLLL!"
Just how deep did this void go?
Sakura already felt as though she had been falling for hours. The air was getting warmer, and the darkness was growing… purplish. If this was indeed hell, it was a lot less red than the last time she had visited.
In any case, she was far too distant from the edge to throw a kunai on a wire to halt or slow her fall. And even if she did manage to anchor it to the wall, the wire would either slice through her hands at the speed she was dropping, or fling her against the stone so hard she'd end up a Sakura crêpe.
Her only hope was to summon her Susano'o, sprout wings, and fly away!
[Host has received newbie's starter pack. Open?]
"Yes!" Sakura screamed. "Save me!"
[BEEP. Error. Host has already received newbie's starter pack. Rewards will not be distributed.]
The purplish aura emanating from the bottom of the pit suddenly grew harsh, and Sakura closed her eyes as pink chakra blossomed around her, her Susano'o encasing her in a protective armour, and then… nothingness.
…
"The first shall be lost to hatred."
"The second shall be lost and found, finding freedom, and be lost forever more."
"The third shall lose everything, and in turn, be lost to all."
"The fourth shall ascend to godhood, lost to the infinite sea of stars."
…
Sakura awoke with a start, a half‑formed scream dying in her throat. In her mind's eye flickered the afterimages of some dreadful nightmare, and she opened her eyes cautiously, afraid of seeing more. She blinked. It looked as though she'd fallen to the very bottom of the pit, and somehow survived. She looked around at the greenery. Had someone cultivated a garden down here?
"I'm… still alive?" she croaked. "Ugh…"
Sakura swallowed hard, the lump in her throat refusing to go down. Her eyes stung fiercely. She brushed the back of her hand across her cheek, finding it to be slick with tears. Had she been crying in her sleep? Her memories of the strange dream were already beginning to fade…
[Host?]
"Took you long enough to reboot… that was one long crash, System," Sakura said hoarsely, staring with empty eyes at the walls stretching infinitely above her. "I could have used your help, these past few months…"
[Past few months? Does not compute. The System has only just attached to the Host. Querying backup databanks saved on the Host's soul body… error, corruption detected. Recovering salvageable data…]
"Hah?" Sakura groaned. "Then, who, or what, are you? I've already had to suffer through one of your updates, so what is this? The version 3.0 System?"
[System Version: Alpha 0.7.1. A new version is available. Currently updating to latest software found on the Host's soul body. Please do not turn off…]
"Try not to die until I finish updating, is that what you're trying to tell me?" Sakura grumbled, as she rolled her aching body onto its side, and pushed herself to her feet. "Still, version alpha… that's before beta, isn't it? In IT terms, doesn't this mean this System's still in its early testing phase?"
The System did not respond.
"Not this again…" Sakura sighed, glancing around. "Oh well, first things first… I've got to climb out of this hole and regroup with the others."
She looked up, frowning. The top of the shaft didn't seem all that far away, not for how long she'd been falling…