Chapter 3: Multiple Unlocks
'Status'
[Status
Energy: 10
Task: Collect 15 more energy
Reward: You gain Directional Hearing
Shop: LOCKED]
'Hey system, what is this directional hearing?' he asked.
<You can tell the directions of sound>
'Oh, that can be quite helpful. Right now every sound feels like it's coming from everywhere.'
<You have gained 3 energy>
'3 at once? Nice.' The gathering of energy was getting faster and faster now that he had overcome the initial hurdle. Slowly, the energy started to accumulate and he completed the tasks easily.
<You have unlocked Directional Hearing>
The all surrounding sound suddenly got separated and he could now hear them as if he were using his own 2 ears to hear them.
'Yeah, I'm definitely underwater. And I don't think it's flowing very fast too, or at least the sound should have been louder if I were,' he thought.
'Ah, the system did say I was in a glacier. Makes sense if I am moving slowly.'
He waited for more notifications to come up, but nothing happened. 10 minutes passed, but still, nothing happened.
'Hey, system. Why am I not getting any more energy?' he asked.
<The amount of Heat energy in the glacier is very low>
<And the sun just went down so you have lost your primary source of Heat energy>
'Wait, does that mean I will have to wait until the sun comes up tomorrow morning?' he thought. The system said nothing, so he assumed he was right.
'Oh god!' he dreaded having to waste 12 hours just listening to what sounded like someone gargling.
'Is there a way I can sleep?' he asked the system.
<You can turn off your consciousness until a condition is fulfilled, in which case the system will wake you up>
'Oh, then can you wake me up when the sun comes up?' he asked
<Confirmed>
Suddenly, he lost consciousness.
<......ou up from your unconsciousness>
He woke up to listen to part of what the notification had said.
'Why did you wake me up so soon, system? I thought I said to wake me after the sun comes up.' he hadn't even been able to get a wink of sleep before the system woke him up.
<Your consciousness has remained shut for 11 hours and 45 minutes>
'Huh? Did I sleep for so long? But I didn't even feel like I was asleep?' he said.
<You cannot sleep. The system only shuts down your consciousness on your demand>
'Oh,' he hadn't realized that. 'God, why is everything so cold?... cold?' he said as he realized what he had just said. Cold.
'Huh? I can feel cold? What's going on?' he asked.
<You can feel temperatures thanks to your Thermoception>
'What is that? And how do I have it?' he asked.
<Thermoception lets you know the temperature of the objects around you>
<You unlocked it 5 hours and 23 minutes ago>
'What? Status' he quickly opened the status page.
[Status
Energy: 253
Task: Collect 247 more energy
Reward: You gain Movement Sense
Shop: LOCKED]
'203!?!?! How did I get so much energy?? Didn't you say I wouldn't get any more energy since the sun was down?' Without him knowing, overnight, his numbers had grown tenfold.
<The sun is only the Primary source. There are other residual energies in the glacier itself>
'Why can't I see what I have unlocked yet?' he asked.
<You can. Would you like to?>
'Yes, show me!!'
[Unlocks
Energy: Unlock
10: Auditory Senses
25: Directional Hearing
50: Rotational Movement
100: Auditory Spatial Sense
200: Thermoception]
'Rotational Movement? Auditory Spatial Sense? What does that mean? Can you explain?' he asked the system.
<Rotational Movement: You can turn yourself around in any direction.>
<Auditory Spatial Sense: You can tell how spacious your environment is by the sound they produce.>
Ning heard what the system said and started to feel around him. He could tell he was still in the glacier by the gurgle of water and the cold temperature around him. However, being inside the water, he couldn't tell exactly how large the glacier was.
'Hey system, does movement sense mean I will be able to tell if I'm moving?' he asked.
<Yes>
'Alright, since the sun is up, I should be able to gather enough energy now' he thought and waited for more energy to gather up. Suddenly, he got a notification. 'Here it is,' he thought as he checked.
<You have lost 2 Energy>
'What? Wait… W-What? What do you mean I lost Energy? Why am I losing energy?' He started shouting. Why would he lose energy when the purpose of the system was to absorb and grow more energy.
<Part of the Energy in the water left you when the water evaporated >
'So, I can also lose energy and not just gain it?' he asked.
<Yes. Your purpose is to use the system to grow as Energy despite constantly losing it>
'I see. But, wouldn't it be hard for me to gain energy if I keep losing it?' he asked.
<No. At some point, you will start absorbing more energy from the environment than you will lose it>
<As you keep gathering more and more energy, the energy you lose due to the environmental factors will start to become negligible>
'That's a relief to hear.' He gained 4 more energy as he said that. As the sun started to grow higher and higher, he both gained and lost a bunch of energy.
Around 5 hours later, a little before noon, according to the system, he completed the task.
<You have gained Movement Sense>
'Oh, I can feel it. I can tell I'm moving somewhere. Why can't I tell the direction though?'
He checked his status and realized why. 'This stingy system. Why is it making me do so many tasks to unlock the simplest of senses.' He thought.
The next unlock at 1000 Energy was Directional Senses. 'Well, at least I should be able to tell which way I'm moving using the sounds for now' he thought.
He let the water in the glacier carry him away to hopefully reach warmer climates where he would be able to gather more heat energy.
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