5: steam

Ning didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but to him, it was only a moment. After waking up, he heard some of the system's notification sounds.

He suddenly felt that gravity no longer existed. He could distinguish which direction was down, but he could feel himself completely ignoring gravity and flying upwards.

His temperature sensor also told him that the surroundings were very hot, even much hotter than the warm water he felt at the waterfall.

The strangest thing was that he felt a peculiar sensation around him. It was as if he was surrounded by something very soft.

“Why can I feel this?” he wondered. “Status,” he opened the status page to check his progress in collecting energy.

[Status

Energy: 5298

Mission: Collect 4702 more energy

Reward: You gained Pressure Sense

Shop: Locked

“Wait, what?” he exclaimed in surprise. The last thing he remembered was just gaining Gravity Sense less than a minute ago when his points were 2000. Now his points were over 5000.

He quickly opened the unlocked list and found that he had unlocked a function called “Texture Sense.” “Hey, System, what is this Texture Sense?”

he asked.

<Texture Sense: Allows you to know the texture of objects in contact with the object you inhabit.>

“Hmm… so it’s like a normal human’s skin. I can already feel temperature. Thanks to this, I can now feel what objects I’m touching. What else can human skin do?” He began to mimic his sense of touch from when he was human.

“Temperature, texture… pain. Yes, that’s another one. Oh God, I hope I haven’t unlocked pain. That would be terrible.”

“As for the other one… hmm… being able to distinguish how much force something is exerting on your skin—wait, is that Pressure Sense?” He quickly checked his status again.

“Hey, System, is Pressure Sense like skin, where it can sense if something is pressing on you?” As soon as he asked, a huge gust of wind blew him upwards. He could barely hear the system’s confirmation to his question.

“By the way, System, where am I? What am I?” he asked.

<You are currently in the sea between the South Continent and the Central Continent>

<You are currently in steam>

“Steam? Wait, go back. You said I’m in the sea? How long have I been asleep?” he asked.

<You have been unconscious for 12 days and 17 hours>

Ning tried hard to understand what the system had just said, but he couldn't comprehend it at all. He stopped thinking about other things and focused only on what the system had just said.

“Twelve and a half days? I’ve been asleep for almost 13 days? Why didn’t the system wake me up earlier?”

<The condition for the host to wake up is that the host is no longer in water>

<It took 12 days and 17 hours for the host to leave the water>

Ning thought, ‘Didn’t I say that?’ Then he thought again and realized something was wrong.

“Hey, System, why is my energy so low? I should have accumulated a lot of energy during these days of unconsciousness, right?” he asked.

<Most of the energy you gained evaporated due to the high external temperature of the Glacier>

“Oh God, when will I have enough energy not to worry about losing them?” he thought. Then he realized he hadn't directly asked the system for its opinion on the matter.

“Hey, System. Is there any way to gather more energy?” he asked.

<Water is not suitable for acquiring energy>

<Please switch to another object to better conserve energy>

“Hmm… I hadn’t thought of that. How do I switch to another object?”

he asked

<Wait, or unlock Body Switch>

He was afraid to hear the answer to the question he was about to ask: “How can I unlock this Body Switch?”

<Please accumulate more energy>

“Are you f*cking kidding me?” He couldn't help but scream internally. He felt like he had made some progress, but he was back to square one.

The air carried him high, and he began to feel cold again. From the sound, he could tell he was in a very, very vast sky. Although the surrounding air was getting colder and colder, his energy steadily increased.

When he asked why, the system told him that the friction between the air and the steam generated heat energy. Moreover, it was sunny outside, and he was being fiercely irradiated by the sun.

As he flew higher and higher, he found that his energy loss was not as great as it was in the water, and even when condensed in the air, the steam still gathered together in the form of water droplets.

Slowly, he began to feel cold. In fact, he could feel himself getting colder and colder. “No, it’s not me, but the steam.” He needed to learn to distinguish himself from the object he inhabited.

He couldn't see everything happening outside, only hear some sounds. Although the cold didn't harm him, he began to feel uncomfortable.

Slowly, he began to feel gravity more and more. Suddenly, he no longer felt gravity, and he began to rise, then fall again.

This continued for several times, where he would start to fall, but then suddenly fly up again.

“Hey, System? What’s happening to me?” he asked.

<You are caught in a super thunderstorm>

<The steam you inhabit has turned into ice particles, and a large amount of supercooled water has begun to accumulate>

<The updraft in the thunderstorm is keeping you afloat, but it won't last long> Ning didn't understand what the system meant. He asked, “Can’t you describe what’s happening in simpler terms?”

<Yes. Simply put, you will now fall to the ground like hail.>