[Data Retrieved]
[Congratulations You Received A Rare Artefact]
"Woah, really?!"
A ball of light emerges from Hoku's palm.
The orb rises up, pulsating until it finally expands.
"Loot! Loot! Loot!" He chants.
It drops back into his hands, its form changing into an item with a plastic-like material.
It resembles a pair of white headphones with a blue double eighth note symbol on the outer sides.
"System!"
[Yes User Hoku]
"What's the deal with this Artefact. What can it do?" He says, inspecting the musical symbols.
[Rythm Tracker: Let's Its User Create A Visual Map Of Surrounding Sounds]
"Cool!" He gleams with stars in his eyes.
He pulls the sides apart and places the cushioned part firmly on his ears.
"Hmmmmm, "
Hoku looked aimlessly around, though nothing seemed to change.
He blinked, and in an instant, unexpected flashes of colour briefly met his retina.
In response, he started rapidly palpebrating until his eyes were fully closed. Phantoms of his environment lingered in his vision.
He leaned his head, looking past the bend, piercing into the next room., noticing faint motions on the ceiling. He saw occasional weak outlines and pulses. Conversely, the floor and lower parts of the wall were invisible. He took this as a good sign. It most likely meant that the buds stopped falling in that room.
Like a blind man, he stumbled around, birthing bright yellow rims of light that expanded beneath his feet. light steps turned to tap dancing, making the whole ground turn yellow and orange.
Suddenly, a large red beam of light touched the back of his feet, expanding throughout the whole area past him, ending his giddy performance.
Hoku gradually turned around. He saw it.
Hoku immediately opened his eyes. He was met with the inside of the collapsed stone formation that was dropped mere moments ago. His hands instinctively removed Rhythm Tracker from his head, holding it tensely.
He stood stunned for a while, then faced the other way.
"System do you have an inventory or storage of some kind?"
[Yes Would You Like To Store Rhythm Tracker]
"Yeah"
Jarringly, the white headphones vanished without making any kind of sound or shining any light. It was as if it never existed.
Hoku studied his palms. Then swiftly dove away from the stones.
He breathed out and calmly walked to the end of the bend.
"Uh, by the way, what's this alpha suit you kept going on about?" He asked solemnly.
"System?"
[Alphasuit: A Skintight Suit Made Of Special Fibres Known As RIGIN, Designed By The Company AlphaCorp]
System's voice made him jump a little.
[Specifically Made For Combat, It Can Enhance The Body's Performance And Protect Its User From Corruption]
"Okay, but why do I get a penalty without it? That's kinda unfair, no?" Hoky asked.
[GAngel-9 knights are not permitted to dispatch Unbound Class monsters without an Alphasuit]
"B-b-but I'm not a knight, I'm just a humble gamer."
[You Have Been Chosen]
'Chosen?'
Hoku thought back to his arrival.
"By that girl, I'm guessing." He speculated hoarsely.
It became clear that Hoku's voice was starting to lose itself. He cleared his throat, then glanced down at the can of water that had somehow survived this perilous journey.
He pulled it up to take a sip.
Then spat it out with a cough.
"The hell?!"
He glared inside, surprised to see a single survivor of the bud massacre bathing in the water, not making any kind of sound. Just sitting there, menacingly.
He was seriously starting to get tired of the buds, so he just cupped his finger over the can hole, ignored it and continued about his day.
Strolling to the end of the corridor, then swinging past the corner, Hoku entered the new open space.
To his satisfaction, the buds on the ceiling were no longer dropping down, just staying at the top, making occasional sounds. Additionally, the wriggling vines seemed to merge with the top of the cave, becoming still and dormant.
Hoku continued down the cave. Its overall layout was pretty simple; there was nothing unexpected aside from a few dead ends. The tunnels would bend and bend, but eventually he reached a point where all the tunnels were straight.
With the help of Rhythm Tracker and System's Insights, only 30 minutes had passed as he explored the cave.
Now Hoku weakly strode along; he couldn't feel his cold legs anymore, and despite the new guest in his can, he had no choice but to take a sip every now and then.
Eventually, he was barely moving at all. But as Hoku pulled himself forward, with his head held low, mumbling strange things. he could see a deep red light shining at his feet. He peered upwards as the light pierced through his eyes.
He couldn't see anything.
But he rushed forward regardless. He met a flight of stairs, which he started erratically crawling up, panting and heaving with each step and dropping to the soft orange ground that lay beyond. All his energy was spent. A rush of warmth entered his body, restoring his strength.
"System."
"System, I did it!"
"I'm out!" He shouted with his dwindling voice.
[Would You Like Me To Set Up A Distress Signal At Your Location]
"You're the best. I could kiss you." Hoku fell to the grainy floor.
He lay down on the warm sand and watched his surroundings. There was nothing but clouds in the red sky and sand for as far as the eye could see.
"System, is someone really gonna come for me?" He whispered, getting quieter with each word.
[The Closest Signal is Approximately 2 Lixos away]
[Please Standby]
The answer wouldn't have mattered anyway, as Hoku had already drifted into a deep slumber.