4: Human

Throughout the day, the sun hung in the sky, and the water temperature around Ning gradually rose, providing him with a bit of energy.

However, the heated water also evaporated, taking some energy with it.

It was a constant struggle of give and take.

Gradually, fear began to creep in.

“Uh… System.

As energy, I guess I don’t have my own body, right?”

“You are correct.”

“You currently reside in a few drops of water.”

“You can only stay inside objects with mass.”

“That’s what I thought.

So, for example, what happens if, out of the few drops of water I inhabit, only one drop remains?

Will I lose all my energy?

Because the water vapor will drift away from me?”

he asked.

“Your consciousness is not linked to a specific energy.”

“If most of the water you inhabit turns into vapor, your consciousness will fly away with the vapor, as it always resides in the body with the highest energy.”

“Oh, so I don’t have to worry about losing all my energy then?”

he asked.

“Correct.

You can lose at most half of your energy at one time.”

This relieved a lot of pressure on his head.

Well, his metaphorical head.

Even after the sun set a few hours later, he still hadn’t gained 1000 energy.

Status’

“Status”

“Energy: 928”

“Quest: Collect another 72 energy points”

“Reward: You gain a sense of direction”

“Shop: Locked”

“Well, I’m not far from my goal.

I’ll just sleep until tomorrow.”

he thought, asking the System to let him sleep until the sun rose the next morning.

As the System prompt sounded, he felt his consciousness disappear, only to reappear as the System prompted him to wake up.

“This way I can pass countless centuries.”

He was glad he didn’t have to sit through moments where nothing happened.

He suddenly noticed that he could tell which direction he was moving in.

He could hear a lot of water around him and could determine the direction of the water flow based on the directional information provided by his senses.

“Finally, I can know which direction I’m moving, not just that I’m moving.”

He opened the status page to see what the next quest was.

“Status”

“Energy: 1288”

“Energy: 1288”

“Quest: Collect 722 energy points”

“Reward: You gain a sense of gravity”

“Shop: Locked”

He suddenly began to notice a change in the surrounding temperature.

“The water here is warmer than the water in the Glacier.

Hey, System.

Have we left the Glacier?”

he asked.

“Yes.

You are now in a river formed by the Glacier.”

“Yes, finally,” he thought.

“By the way, what is gravity sensing?

Can I sense gravity?

Technically, doesn’t every object have gravity?

I hope I won’t be bombarded with information about various different gravities,” he said.

“No.

Gravity sensing will tell you the direction of the greatest gravitational pull.”

“Simply put, you’ll know which way is down.”

“Oh.

Now that I think about it, I really didn’t know which way was down.”

He had been tossed around in the water so many times that even if he could distinguish which way was down, it would have been impossible.

“You gained 2 energy points.”

“You gained 1 energy point.”

“You gained 2 energy points.”

“You lost 2 energy points.”

“You gained 4 energy points.”

“You lost 1 energy point.”

“Uh… System.

I’m glad I’m gaining so much energy, but is there a way to not receive a notification for every single energy gain?”

he asked.

The constant bombardment of notifications was starting to annoy him.

“Why am I angry?

My emotions should be suppressed.”

he thought.

But then he realized he might just be mimicking, as he was used to getting angry about such things.

“The System cannot hide notifications of energy received.”

“The System can delay notifications so that they are only sent to you after the total reaches a certain amount.”

“Hmm?

Then set the amount very high?

Can I do that?”

He wondered if he could exploit a loophole to bypass the System’s restrictions.

“Yes.”

“Would you like to set a minimum energy?”

“Yes,” he replied.

“Please select the minimum energy value for notifications.”

“Hmm… Let’s make it 30 for now.

If I really want to hide it, I’ll increase it to a higher number.”

“Notification modification successful.”

“Now, the System will only display notifications when you gain 30 energy.”

He felt very peaceful once the notifications stopped.

Occasionally, he would receive a notification that he had gained 30 energy points, but that was all.

Before he knew it, in the warm seawater, his energy reached 2000 points.

“Congratulations.

You have gained Gravity Sensing.”

Suddenly, he felt a violent impact inside his body, pulling him downwards.

“Ah ah… What’s happening?

I’m falling!!

Help me!”

Clan

He heard the sound of water hitting the surface.

He unexpectedly unlocked Gravity Sensing as he fell down a waterfall.

“Oh my god, I was so scared.

For a moment, I forgot I wasn’t human.”

he thought.

“Yosely eawnlo wer penqla bir”

“Oelson iegsn eihs wor guen heisjer”

Suddenly, he heard some voices.

He heard the sound of splashing water, and at the same time, he heard some voices speaking.

“Are those people?

Hey System, are those people near me?”

“Yes.”

The System did not elaborate.

“Can they see me?

Can I see them?”

He started to become more and more anxious.

He turned towards the source of the sound.

From the voices, he could tell they were just children.

“Are they children swimming here in broad daylight?”

he thought.

“They can see the water you inhabit.

But they cannot see you, the energy.”

“Please collect more energy to unlock vision.”

As the river continued to flow, he heard the children’s voices fading into the distance.

He heard the voices of several other people along the way, but he was never able to stop and listen to them long enough.

“Oh dear.

This is starting to get a bit frustrating.

Hey, System.

Can you wake me up when I’m not in the water?”

he asked.

“Confirmed.”

He lost consciousness.