Chapter 296 56.3 Map Awareness?

Being alone in the dead of night can really make a lot of things shift into perspective sometimes. Lazing around on the bridge, I found myself thinking back on all of the things I've done and could've done, playing hypothetical scenarios in my head as if things would've been different if I had done things correctly. Well, for one, of course, they'd be different. And secondly, it was kind of fun to think about random scenarios just to pass the time.

"I wonder..."

With a small breath, I stood up and walked towards one of the many massive windows lining the bridge. Looking out into the darkness of the open seas, I let my mind wander as I imagined something happening right here and now.

What if a giant sea monster suddenly appeared? There were those Vermes still out there, I think, and from what I could recall, they lived out in these warm waters where they could grow massive depending on how long they've lived. Then again, we've already encountered one of their kind, and they were pretty much dispatched quickly and without much of a fuss. So the logical conclusion for such an encounter would be that we'd be able to beat it off without even breaking a sweat.

"Okay? Next scenario..."

I let my gaze wander toward one of the many empty kiosks scattered across the bridge. Maybe one of them would be damaged or something? Or maybe the [Rig] actually had another function that we hadn't discovered yet? Who knows? Knowing just how little we've managed to do something about this thing, I'm actually certain that we haven't fully utilized everything that the [Empire's Wrath] had to offer.

Or maybe that was just because our engine was so bad that we were limited in what we could do...

"We have Nicole and Shen to worry about that now though," I ruminated to myself, the silence making my voice echo across the room. "If there's anything we've missed, they'll be the ones to handle it."

Shrugging to myself, I casually paced across the bridge. Making my way back to the main console, I sat back down and closed my eyes. There was really nothing I could do other than to wait for the rest of the party to wake back up. It's not like I could wait for a sun that will never come, and bizarrely enough, this world still ran on the normal twenty-four-hour clock system like in the old world. I probably should've questioned Guidance about that actually. Like, how would that even work for a world that didn't have a sun or a moon to base their day and night cycle in?

"Then again, this is a game world," I mumbled to myself as I replied to my rhetorical question. "Why bother with common sense when it just works?"

I chuckled at the obvious answer. Of course, that was the one conclusion that Occam's Razor would give anyone that was stuck in this world. it was a man-made world, after all, one that didn't have to go through millennia of trial and error to discover new technology and get things right. No, this was a world Guidance made in the span of possibly a few years, maybe even less than that as a way to express her artistic visions and dreams. Built with nothing more than sweat, hard work, and a whole lot of willpower and patchwork, this world was a standing ovation for one woman's ambition to become something more than she currently was.

And of course, that meant that the world suffered for it.

"Although, the amount of glaring glitches I've seen are starting to really peter out," I mumbled aloud. "That's good for our general health, but I kind of want to see more outlandish stuff happening again..."

When was the last time I've even seen a glaring error? Well, other than the fact that I somehow have a dire predisposition to not getting [EXP] with each fight? There was that one time the entire port glowed white for some reason until we set foot in it... There was that time that... Hmm...

Yeah... It really feels like the world is starting to feel more and more real as time went on. In fact, when was the last time I even saw a prompt for every little thing I had to do? Hell, when was the last I even opened one of my many option windows?

"[SS1]"

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[STATS SCREEN 1][SS2][SS3]

[Somatic: Moriya]

[Level 36/99]

[HP: 347/347]

[MP: 276/276]

[STR: 5+3]

[AGI: 18]

[DEX: 27-4]

[VIT: 40+3]

[INT: 8+3]

[LUK: 5]

[AVAILABLE STATS: 0]

Absently, I decided to open my stat screen, cracking my eyes open just to see if anything had changed from what I remembered. Sure enough, it's been so long since I opened it that I even had unspent points that I had to allocate to. With a lazy finger, I dumped it all to [VIT] as was per usual. It was pretty much the only stat I even cared about at this point, and it wasn't like I was going to need the other stuff in here. They were pretty much just flavor text to me now.

[VIT: 40+3]

With that done, I closed the window and looked at my HUD. It wasn't much, but at least my health went back up again.

[Moriya: Level 36]

[EXP TO NEXT LEVEL: 1,551,040/5,734,400]

[HP: 347/347]

[MP: 276/276]

[0 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE FOR ALLOCATION]

The massive amounts of [EXP] I had to get to even level up didn't faze me anymore as I stared at one of the few reminders that I wasn't back in the old world anymore. The HUD itself hadn't changed in the slightest. Only the numbers remained ever-changing, and even they didn't really change much unless the world arbitrarily wanted to give me some of the [EXP] it owed me. Well, I could needle Guidance again to give me [EXP], but I doubt that would work if it hadn't already done so the first time, so I was really stuck with nothing but the shirt off my back and a few of the [Moves] I've already unlocked.

"Is this even a game anymore?"

I sighed as I closed my eyes once more. Maybe a bit of rest will get me out of this spiral of random thoughts. God knows I had a tendency of thinking myself into a corner, and I really didn't want to greet everybody feeling like sh1t. I had to be presentable at the very least, especially now that we had what was essentially a mercenary couple only wanting to feel safe. One wrong move and they'll probably jump ship and leave us for dead. And while I respected their kind of lifestyle, I still didn't want to be on the receiving end of their eventual backstab.

That was unless we get their daughter to get attached to us?

[*creak...*]

I was shaken out of my thoughts as I heard the door to the bridge open. I didn't think that anybody would be awake at this time of night though...

"Moriya."

"Guidance?" I called out, craning my head back to see my girlfriend walking towards me. "Can't sleep?"

"Yes," she scoffed. "And I'm not the only one."

Blinking, I turned my head to the other person standing right beside her. To my surprise, Shizu greeted me with a radiant smile, far from the doom and gloom that she had just a few hours ago.

"That happens, I suppose," I chuckled as I turned my chair around to face them. "So, what can I do for you two?"

As if knowing more than she let on, Guidance smirked as she replied, "I'll let Shizu go first. I think that'll be for the best anyway."

Ookay? "And how about you?"

"I'll explain once we've both heard what Shizu has to say to us," Guidance vaguely replied, the mischief in her tone a welcome change from her previous depression. "I have a feeling we'll both be needed here."

"Right..." I skeptically trailed off before turning my gaze to the princess in question. "Alright then. Let's hear it. Guidance here says you have something to say to us, so we might as well get it over with."

I waited with a smile as Shizu shuffled on her feet. Her gaze held a sort of longing to it as she stared at us, her lips parting ever so slightly as if she was hesitating.

"Well, remember when I said I wasn't going to take no for an answer anymore?"

I blinked at her words. All of a sudden, I remembered the promise Guidance and I gave to her that we would... let her share our bed...

Turning to Guidance, I almost glared at her as soon as I saw the smug look on her face. She had expected this, and I'm sure that she would also like for it to happen.

"You planned for this, didn't you," I sighed at my girlfriend.

"Not only did I plan, but I was also even looking forward to it," Guidance chuckled. "Besides, you also have a bit of stuff you promised to do for me. Specifically, me."

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