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[User, Hoku]
[User, Hoku]
[User, Hoku]
[!Warning Combat Without Alphasuit Detected!]
"I'M AWAKE!!!"
"System..."
Hoku yawned.
He sat up and peered out at the endless sand.
In the distance, there was a dot that was approaching; it looked to be a sled of some kind, being led by some kind of creature.
"Cavalry's still pretty far out, huh?" He commented, drinking a drop of water from the draining can, inspecting the migrating bud inside.
"I'm dying out here, can't they come any faster?"
[The Closest Signal is Now 1 Lixos away]
"...Can you convert to meters?"
[ERROR: No Such Measurement]
"Figures," he said, scratching his head.
"Well. I can try to approximate," Hoku assures, squinting at the dot, with his hands over his eyes. "I would say they're about 2 kilometres away now, though I'm probably completely off"
[Incorrect Assumption]
"Huh?"
[The Approaching Entities Are Not GAngel-9 Units]
Hoku's shrank his eye, as he almost let out a sigh.
"What are they then?"
[That Cannot Be Determined]
[This Zone Is Outside Of The Kingdom's Territory]
[An Assumption Can Only Be Provided Based On Probabilistic Data]
Hoku rose to his feet, gazing at the words of light forming in the air.
[They Are Most Likely Scavengers]
"Give me a frick'n break."
"Just when I barely got out of that hellhole."
[I Can Recommend You A Course Of Action]
"Sure."
[Avoid Being Spotted]
Hoku sighed, stretching his back, "Figured as much."
"Fine."
"I'm pretty sure they've already seen me; since they're barrelling towards me, but that's completely fine."
An evil smile started growing on his face.
"You wanna play?"
"I got the perfect level"
He lunged back towards the cave. But before he could get past the entrance:
His head flew back.
"ARGHH!! What the?!"
Hoku scowled at the cave entrance, that lied to him with its open cavity. He then stretched his arm out, which similarly recoiled.
A glimmering wall flickered before him. Hexagons of purple translucent energy spread across.
[!Warning Restricted area!]
"These penalties are starting to tick me off," Hoku growled.
[Incorrect Assumption]
[This Barrier Is Not Included In The Penalty System]
"Semantics."
[This Barrier Is A Hex Construct Created To Prevent Passage Into A Restricted Area]
[Unrelated To System Protocol]
"You just don't want to take responsibility"
[Apologies, User Hoku. I Do The Best I Can]
Hoku, stepped away from the barrier, scouting out the rest of the cave entrance. Under his breath, he mumbled. "Sorry, I guess that was a little out of line."
The mound of stone sheltering the entrance to the cave was deceptively small; it was about 14 feet high and 20 feet in width and length, leading downwards into the much greater system. It was like a little mole house in the middle of the desert.
Hoku circled to the back of the mound out of the line of sight of approaching scavengers.
He dropped down behind the mound and bathed in the boiling sand, breathing out, stretching his arm in all directions.
"Not being able to see them is a little unnerving," he stated.
"System, can you tell me if they come close, so I can book it?"
[That Is Unwise]
Hoku sat back up with his arm on his knee, closing his eyes.
"Yeah, I'm kidding, gotta do something to calm my nerves, ya know."
[Please Remain Calm]
[The Scavengers Will Most Likely Pass By]
[They Have No Reason To Come Here]
"Ok, ok...hmmm," Hoku started lowering his head in thought ", What about the distress signal? That's why they're here, right?"
[No, Only GAngel-9 Systems Can Access That Distress Call]
'So, there are others with this system.'
Hoku sighed, lying to his side in the sand.
"Here I thought I was going to be a unique op mc who hides all his power and scores 0 or infinity in one of those power testing devices, surprising all the NPCs"
"Oh uh"
"System, what about the cave?"
[Please Elaborate]
"This cave is the only thing out here for like a million miles. If nothing else, that's probably why they're heading this way."
[No One Can Enter This Cave]
[There Is No Reasonable Motivation To Come Here]
"How did I get in?"
'How did she get in? And where did she go?'
[That Is Irrelevant As Of Now]
That last part was a little concerning, considering Systems' propensity for dishing out penalties, but Hoku chooses to focus on his current predicament
"Seriously though, can you tell me if they start getting closer, then we'll know for sure?" He repeated sincerely.
[Negative: There Are No Signals At Their Positions]
He sat up and once again peered at the endless sand.
"Hmmmmmmmmm, I think I should run."
[User Hoku, Please, Do Not Make Any Hasty Decisions]
"No, you're right, that's stupid."
"I'm hungry and tired, I can barely think straight."
"I just gotta clear my head." He rubbed his temples and shut his eyes.
"Ok, got it."
"I'll bury myself in the sand."