Camel shined the light on the three corpses in turn, and I saw that they began to glow. A low vibrating thrum filled the space, and motes of light drew up from the bodies and gathered in the air in strange, geometric shapes. Some were like shards of sea glass, and others were distinctly crystalline in appearance–all glowed with a neon hue.
It was beautiful in the low light, like fireflies at dusk, and I reached out to touch the dancing lights. Suddenly I felt their substance absorb into my body, leaving only a fading halflife in the room.
[Common Data Card Fragments obtained - Hellhound - 4/10]
[10 Crystals obtained]
I shuddered. Absorbing these materials felt like my stomach dropping out.
“Hey now. Why’d you take all the loot for yourself?” Camel asked, shining the light directly in my face.
I raised my hand to shield my eyes, still clutching the dagger. Was he going to shoot me?
“Relax. You didn’t know any better. Some advice–hunters that rabbit together typically split the rewards. All the rewards, not just the pretty polly.”
I apologized profusely. I told him I had no idea what those lights were, or what would happen if I touched them. He shrugged it off and lowered the light.
What were those things? Card fragments? Crystals?
“These monsters, they aren’t supposed to be part of the system yet their properties interact with the system in weird ways. We Volunteers have learned to use that to our advantage. Check your menus.”
I did as I was instructed, first accessing my Inventory menu.
[INVENTORY
* CARDS
* FRAGMENTS
* * {common} Hellhound 4/10
* CONSUMABLES
* MATERIALS
* * 3 {common} fern flowers]
Next I checked my Economy menu.
[ECONOMY
* CRYPT
* * 80
* CRYSTALS
* * 10]
When backing out of the sub-menus, I noticed that another tab had been added to the bottom of my list that I had not noticed earlier.
[STATISTICS
* ATTACK
* DEFENSE
* ABILITY
* MOVEMENT
* PROCESSING
EQUIPMENT
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* WEAPONS
* ARMOR
* ACCESSORIES
INVENTORY
* CARDS
* FRAGMENTS
* CONSUMABLES
* MATERIALS
ECONOMY
* CRYPT
* CRYSTALS
MEMORY
* STORAGE
* HISTORY
STATUS
TASKS]
Tasks. So that must be where the bounties, or Tasks, were tracked.
I selected the menu and searched forward until I found what I was looking for.
[TASKS
* ACTIVE
* COMPLETE
* * Remove Hellhounds from MAR Station Service Tunnels]
I understood by now that if I wanted to select that completed Task, I would be able to view more details. But I left it alone for the time being. I assumed Camel would walk me through how to cash the Task in.
With only 80 Crypt to my name (or lack of name, as it were), the prospect of earning 1,000 Crypt from a split bounty sounded nice. Although the searing pain in my left arm made it hard to think of anything positive right now.
Before closing out of my menus, I unequipped the push dagger, and it vanished from my hand, returning to its invisible storage space within my Equipment menu.
Fragments… materials… crystals. There was a lot to keep track of.
“A successful hunt calls for a smoke,” Camel said. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and lit up a cigarette. The tip burned bright in the dark. The smell of cheap tobacco smoke mingled with the lingering sulfur. “Want a cancer?”
No, thank you. I don’t smoke. Or, at least I don’t think I smoke. Either way, the offer doesn’t appeal to me right now.
Camel took a heavy drag from the cigarette that my rational mind told me was nothing but an artificial construct, but seemed in every way real. Then again, how could my rational mind conceive of stabbing a hellhound to death in some underground tunnel?
What happens next?
“We return to the Bounty Boards and deng in for our reward. 1,000 Crypt for each of us. An even split.”
He continued to smoke, and I waited patiently for him to finish. There was no way I was getting out of this place without him. I was completely dependent on both his sense of direction and his flashlight.
Strangely, I began to sense the smell of sulfur returning, even after the three bodies had dissolved into blotchy ink. Camel did not seem to notice. Maybe the odor was masked by the cigarette, or maybe it was normal for these scents to linger on after a kill.
But the smell grew stronger, and stronger yet. Then, emerging from the service tunnel that continued through the other side of the wall, I sensed a deeper darkness. A shadow within the shadow, swallowing up the light cast toward the ceiling from Camel’s rifle slung over his shoulder.
Camel, I think there is something…
“AGGHHHH!”
Too late. A dark form pounced on Camel from behind. His scream was silenced with a wet, sickening crunch. I saw his body fall hard to the ground, his rifle slamming into concrete. The flashlight detached from its perch and rolled in my direction.
Terrified, I grabbed the light and backed away from the shadowy form. I shined the light defensively, and a large, black head swiveled up to glare in my direction. It was another hellhound, yet larger than before. Fresh gore dripped from its jowls where it had torn Camel’s throat.
A system notification chirped.
[{uncommon} entity detected - Baskerville Hound]
I dropped the flashlight and heard the shattering of glass. Everything was dark, save for two burning eyes moving in my direction.