Athanasia: My Hacker System-Chapter 79: The Sandbox Ability

The expansion had given them a temporary sanctuary, but a new reality manifested. Beyond the initial hundred trees, there was no more.

The massive, charcoal-grey trunks didn’t appear again at the perimeter, leaving their cleared area looking like a central gathering of towering woods. That spoke volumes about how finite their food and water supplies truly were.

"We now have a problem," Ricky said, his eyes scanning the edge of the sanctuary. "The orchard stops here. Shall we expand further and see if there are more trees deeper in, or is this all we get?"

"After the monsters stop coming, I’ll venture deep into the fog and look," John said. In his exhaustion, the words slipped out with a heavy sense of certainty, as if he were privy to a deadline the others couldn’t see.

"I don’t believe they’ll keep coming endlessly. I expect a larger number to hit us at the last wave—perhaps a thousand monsters in one go—and then we’ll finally have time to rest."

"Fingers crossed," Luke muttered, patting John’s shoulder. His hand was trembling slightly; the fatigue was stripping away.

"In the worst-case scenario," Cissel interjected, her sharp eyes giving John a meaningful, piercing glance, "we’ll have to find their den and exterminate it!"

"Den?!"

The word hung in the air, leaving the others speechless. It was such a basic, natural conclusion that it made everyone question why they hadn’t thought of it before.

"Yes," Cissel continued, her face twisting into a bitter expression. "These monsters, being in such large numbers and so relentless... They must have a den nearby. And for some reason, it feels like we didn’t just arrive near it; it feels like our movement to this gathering of blue fruits and large trees has actually brought us closer to their front door."

Her words were grim, yet they carried a weight of logic that far surpassed John’s hopeful theory in the eyes of others. John remained speechless at her wild imagination, but he knew she had a point. These Fog Seekers were being funnelled toward them from a specific coordinate.

"What will we do if that’s the case?" Elena started to ask, but her question was drowned out by a fresh chorus of roars. The fog at the perimeter rippled violently. "Let’s kill them and talk later!"

"Let’s stick together this time!" John shouted, waving his sword to gather the group. "Let’s not exert too much effort from now on. We have the trees on our side now. We can simply fight them inside the grove, using these massive trunks as natural shields and chokepoints."

"Nice idea," the others agreed, retreating into the shadow of the Blue Serpentile trees.

The strategy worked perfectly. By using the trunks to break the monsters’ momentum and split their numbers, the team managed to slaughter six hundred Fog Seekers without the frantic, heart-pounding exertion of previous rounds. Yet, the victory didn’t make them feel better. The weight of their exhaustion was pressing down on them.

"Can we just take turns?" Elena asked, letting out a long yawn. She was leaning against a tree trunk, her eyes half-closed. "Like, two of us go up into the branches and sleep for a few hours while the others hold the line?"

"That would just make the three left behind even more tired," John sighed inwardly. He looked at the timer in his vision. "Plus, sleeping for only two hours won’t help at all. We need at least five hours of deep sleep each to recover."

"Tsk! I was just making a suggestion," Elena pouted. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to be in her cosy, warm bed back at the academy, far away from the smell of black blood and damp rot.

John kept his eyes on the countdown. There was less than an hour left before the twenty-four-hour survival quest was officially marked as complete. By his estimation, there would be exactly four more waves, increasing by one hundred monsters each until the final climax.

And that was exactly what happened.

The next wave crested at seven hundred monsters. Then came eight hundred, then nine hundred. Finally, the last wave hit the one thousand mark.

"Our dear John guessed it right this time," Ricky gasped, his breath hitching as he spotted the sheer wall of grey shapes emerging from the fog. It was a literal tide of monsters, enough to fill the entire five-kilometre area. "Let’s kill these bastards and hope this is finally the end of our torture!"

His words acted like a shot of pure adrenaline. For the other three, it was the hope of the finish line; for John, it was the anticipation of the rewards. He knew the system wouldn’t force a 24/7 combat loop without respite, or else the quests would be impossible to complete.

"The last monster is mine!" Cissel laughed, a wild, slightly unhinged sound, as she dove into the fray.

She looked like a mess, as did the rest of them. Fighting this final wave proved to be the most gruelling challenge they had ever faced. They were at their absolute wits’ end, pushed to the very brink of collapse.

When the final Fog Seeker fell to Cissel’s blade, no one cheered. They didn’t even hurry to collect the cores. They simply found the nearest tree and collapsed against the bark, their chests heaving in the sudden, heavy silence of the world.

Then, the long-awaited system notifications began to flood John’s vision.

[Ding! You completed the quest!]

[Ding! Your assessment is extraordinary in this quest!]

[Ding! The quest rewards have increased!]

[Ding! You’ll have 12 hours of peace period!]

[Ding! You gained +30 Mental Point cap!]

[Ding! You gained +2 stat points!]

[Ding! You gained 1% Cyborg synchronisation!]

[Ding! You gained Sandbox Ability!] 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

[Sandbox Ability: (Basic – Active)]

[Description: Covers an area of ten metres radius around the user, creating an illusion that is shaped according to the user’s will. It can cover up an area of 5 metre radius at a distant point, not exceeding 100 metres away, and create an illusion there.]

[Cost: 2.5 Mental Points per activation for the area around the user – 3 Mental Points per activation for the area away from the user.]

[Duration: 5 minutes for the area around the user – 3 minutes for the distant area.]

[Requirements: Intelligence = 3, Strength = 2.]