The woman glanced at him. "He'll live. Overused his ability."
"Prophetic," the young man rasped, tilting his head back to slow the nosebleed. "I can get some hints about the instance I'm in. B rank ability, though, so it won't let me know anything about future instances. Upgradable."
"Looks like it costs a lot."
"You have no idea."
"12 out of 37 SURVIVORS"
"THIS INSTANCE IS BRUTAL, I CAN'T WAIT"
"They're turning on each other already"
"Looting corpses??? We're hitting Walking Dead territory"
"That woman's grief is heartbreaking"
"Ming-jie is the body he passed RIP, click here for her life montage <-----"
"This is so dark for C-rank"
"C-rank INVESTIGATION instances are known for high mortality"
Many of the comments by the audience viewers were about the dead woman, and the conflict currently happening. A couple others were discussing collecting people like gacha cards.
"PROPHETIC ABILITY??? That's OP"
"Costs blood though look at that nosebleed"
"High risk high reward"
"5 star character, upgradable, holy shit"
The spear-user eventually got everyone to calm down enough to function.
"Alright, LISTEN UP!" He pointed at Ah'Ming. "New guy. I'm Kael, temporary leader because nobody else wanted the job." Someone coughed out a quick 'stfu, everyone wanted the job', "Quick summary: We're stuck on a cursed island. Zombies attack anyone who gets close. Water—ALL water—can't be stored in inventory. Systems are being... restricted."
"Restricted how?" Ah'Ming asked, eyebrows raised and suspicious.
|System can confirm: External interference detected
|Higher authority has limited system functionality in this instance
|System is... bound
"Wait, Steve, you're being BOUND? Like, Bondage?"
|System does not appreciate the terminology
|But yes
|System is operating under restrictions
"Are you okay?"
|...System is functional
|System appreciates broadcaster's concern
|Surprisingly
Several people stared at Ah'Ming like he'd grown a second head.
"Did you just... ask your system if it was okay?" Kael asked slowly.
"Yeah? Steve's been helpful. I don't want them getting hurt."
"You named your system?!"
"You DIDN'T?!"
"HE ASKED IF STEVE WAS OKAY I'M SOBBING"
"EMOTIONAL SUPPORT AI"
"Everyone else: our systems are tools""Ah'Ming: STEVE ARE YOU HURT"
"This is why we love him"
"Himbo energy strikes again"
"He's not a himbo he's just NICE"
"Himbo (affectionate)"
"The other players are SO confused"
"'You named your system' BRO EVERYONE SHOULD"
"Steve is best supporting character don't @ me"
Kael shook his head like clearing away confusion. "Okay. Moving on. What we know so far:"
He gestured to a woman with dirt-covered hands. "Min found a cave system about an hour north. Aboriginal markings inside. Murals, mostly." She gave an upset cough, clearly not very happy with Kael.
"Murals of what?" Ah'Ming asked.
"Turtles," Min said flatly. "Just... hundreds of turtles. Different sizes, different colors, different positions. We have NO idea what it means."
"Maybe it's symbolic?"
"Of WHAT?! We've been staring at turtle paintings for three days!"
"Also," Kael continued, "the water situation. We can drink it—barely—but we can't store it. It's still salty, so we have to filter it. The moment we try to put it in inventory, it just... evaporates. We have to carry it manually and drink it fast."
"And the zombies?" Ah'Ming asked.
"Waterlogged corpses. Slow until you get close, then they go berserk. The water they drip causes necrotic damage—" He gestured at Ah'Ming's bruises. "—which you've discovered. It stacks. Too much and you die. Sort of. People completely stacked run to the nearest source of water and are dragged in."
"Great. Love that."
"Turtle cult? Turtle god? TURTLE DIMENSION?"
"I'm losing my mind and I'm not even IN the instance"
"The water physics are so WEIRD"
"Magic island magic rules"
"Ah'Ming taking notes like a good detective"
"He's actually LISTENING for once"
"Character development!"
"Don't jinx it"
"The systems," Kael said, and his expression darkened. "Stupid fucking systems. They're being bound, they can't access most features, can't communicate clearly, can't provide significant help."
Ah'Ming could faintly make out a series of orange shimmers around the person.
"But they're trying," the woman supporting the prophet said quietly. "You can tell they want to help. They're just... restricted."
|System confirms
|System is bound by higher authority
|System cannot override instance parameters
|But system is NOT hostile
|System wants broadcaster to survive
"I know, Steve," Ah'Ming said softly. "I trust you."
|...System will do everything within its power to assist
|Even while restricted
More confused stares from the other players.
Ah'Ming ignored them and turned to the prophet. "You said you have an ability? Prophetic?"
The young man nodded weakly. "I can... see things. Glimpses of truth. But it's random. And the bigger the secret, the vaguer the information. And the worse it hurts."
"How does it work?"
"I ask a question. The instance answers. But the answer comes in fragments. Words. Images. Usually provided by the system." He wiped blood from his nose. "And the classification of the secret determines the toll."
"Classification?"
"A-rank secret: one word. B-rank: two words. C-rank: three words. And so on." He laughed bitterly. "The better the information, the less I get, and the more it destroys me."
"That's a terrible trade-off."
"Tell me about it."
Ah'Ming hesitated. "What did you ask about this instance?"
The prophet's eyes went distant.
"I asked: What is the true danger here?"
"And?"
"Three words." He met Ah'Ming's gaze. "C-rank secret. Which means it's important enough to know, but vague enough to be useless."
"What were the words?"
The prophet's voice dropped to a whisper:
"Sink. Replace. Surrender."
The clearing went silent.
"I HATE prophetic clues they're always so VAGUE"
Throughout the entire explanation, Ah'Ming kept getting distracted.
Not by the people. Not by the lake.
By... nothing?
He'd turn his head slightly, like listening to something nobody else could hear. His eyes would unfocus for a second before snapping back.
It happened four times during Kael's briefing.
The fifth time, Kael stopped mid-sentence. "Are you... okay?"
"Hm? Yeah. Sorry." Ah'Ming shook his head. "Just... thought I heard something."
"The zombies are silent," Min said suspiciously.
"No, not zombies. More like..." He gestured vaguely. "Background noise? Voices? I don't know. It's weird."
"HE CAN HEAR THE BARRAGE"
"OH SHIT HE CAN HEAR US"
"NO WAY"
"HE COULD ALREADY HEAR US YOU STUPID IDIOTS, HE HAS THE CHAT UPGRADE"
Ah'Ming nodded at the last one, confirming that he could read the chats. For goodness sake, he'd already interacted with them for an hour earlier.
The voices were getting clearer.
Like static resolving into words.
Fragments. Sentences. Excitement and speculation and—
"Okay that's definitely voices," Ah'Ming muttered.
|System detects anomalous signal reception
|Broadcaster's physiology appears to be picking up systemic feedback
"I'm WHAT?!"
|Broadcaster can hear the internal workings of the system
|This is... unprecedented
"Can I turn it off?!"
|Unknown
|System recommends trying to filter it as background noise
"BACKGROUND NOISE?! There's like a THOUSAND VOICES—"
The other players were backing away slowly.
"Is he..." Min whispered. "Is he having a breakdown?"
"Maybe the necrotic damage affected his brain?" Someone else suggested.
"NOBODY PANIC," Kael said, panicking.
Ah'Ming pressed his hands over his ears—it didn't help—and groaned.
"Steve, I'm begging you, PLEASE make it stop—"
|System is trying
|Implementing mental filter... now
The voices faded to a low buzz. Still there, but manageable. Like tinnitus, but made of human commentary.
"Oh thank god," Ah'Ming gasped.
"What just happened?" Kael demanded.
"I... might be able to hear the system? The messages? It's complicated." Ah'Ming waved it off. "Doesn't matter. What matters is figuring out what 'sink, replace, surrender' means before we all die."
The prophet smiled weakly. "I like him."
"He's insane," Min muttered.
"Perfect fit for this instance then," someone else said.
"Steve is MVP"
"'I like him' PROPHET GUY GETS IT"
"Everyone thinks he's crazy LMAO"
"He IS crazy"
"Crazy and AMAZING"
"Okay but can we help him now that he can hear us?"
"SINK = the water, REPLACE = the zombies replacing living people, SURRENDER = ???"
"That's... actually a good theory"
"AH'MING THE WATER IS CURSED"
"Someone YELL LOUDER"
"He filtered us out dumbass"
"Worth a shot"
Ah'Ming stood in the clearing, surrounded by exhausted, terrified players, listening to prophetic warnings and viewer commentary buzzing in his skull.
"Alright," he said, clicking his fidget cube nervously. "Let's figure this out before something else tries to kill us."
"Bold of you to assume we have time before the next attack," Kael said grimly.
In the distance, something splashed in the too-still water.
Everyone went silent.
"...What was that?" Min whispered.
Nobody answered.
Because nobody wanted to know. XD.