Location: The Desert

-OMNISCIENCE-

The roving clouds obscure the moonlight as the wind dances beneath a lifeless sky. The endless field of golden grains moves in the wind's direction. Yet unmoved from all of this is a huge stone pillar sitting alone in the middle of the vast terrain.

A man is seated on top of the rock; his body is covered in thin, torn clothing, through which the chilly wind could easily pass. Under the breath of the sky, he curled up with his back against the chipped edges of the rock. heating up his body.

As he slowly opened his eyes, he groaned in pain and lightly rubbed his forehead with his thumb.

The man murmured, "That dream again."

His pitch-black hair and eyes matched the night sky. His pale skin is hidden by his torn clothes. He stood up and turned to face the endless stretch of sand. He quickly became depressed.

He looked carefully around the area, but as it fell, his eyes were all but vacant. Only the deteriorating remnants of the past buildings and the desert are visible as far as his eyes can see.

He has only ever seen these things as he has wandered since the day he awoke: "I've been wandering this land for however long."

He called out a name while waving his hand across the area in front of him.

"SAI, show me the coordinates."

A transparent board with numerous graphs and data about the land suddenly materialized in front of him. He couldn't recall whether it had been a few months or even years since he had last used the AI. But for him, giving orders to it comes naturally.

He added, "What about life signatures."

[Notification, vitality found]

He was ecstatic at those words, and a broad grin spread across his entire face. At the same time that his hand began to tremble, he could feel his emotions starting to bubble up inside of him.

"Uh, where?"

Raising his voice with glee, he immediately stood up. His body could no longer hold the excitement he was feeling.

[Northwest, indicating the coordinates]

And the more he saw of the location before him as red dots on the holographic board, the less he thought he would like to waste time.

His legs began to feel relentless, and he felt the rising blood flow from his heart. "At last!! I might be able to meet someone," he thought.

And without waiting for a second, he hurried off in that direction. He leaped up and shattered the very stone he was sitting on, using it as a stepping stool as he did so.

He leaped across the sky, seemingly unconcerned with the force of gravity. Then, in just a few seconds, he had already cut the distance in half.

He caught a glimpse of the show that was waiting for him at the far end of the horizon from above. "Wow! The sun is rising much clearer there."

like a projectile falling in an arch, he started to lose speed. He immediately slammed his body to the ground and stood up straight. Even though he made a mess of the sand when he landed, his joyful grin was impossible to hide. Then, getting to his feet, he eagerly started running in the direction of the coordinates, realizing that he was still several dozen kilometers away.

He ran while chuckling. What might the life signatures be, he pondered. It didn't matter to him whether there was danger or just excitement, but he did think about both of those possibilities. But more than anything else, he finds comfort in the knowledge that, like the rest of the world, something or someone is out there.

The seemingly endless stretch of desert ended in an instant as he reached a land of dried soil and building ruins. He reached the destination and slowed his pace as he saw crumbling buildings and enormous stone cliffs.

"SAI, where am I now?"

[Scanning a geographic area, 20 km, 19 km, and 17 km]

He kept running toward his destination as the meter depleted. He became aware of the sun as it started to rise, revealing an amazing view of the ruins, feeling the cold breeze bracing against his skin. He stretched his hand out as he ran, savoring every touch of the warm sun, "It feels so different; the clouds in the desert are always blocking the sun when it's rising."

The sun, rising from the east, started to cast a stunning shadow on the clustered buildings and the massive bridges spanning the entire area. He paused to take in the scene before continuing.

He stopped and swung the hologram away from him while standing atop a cliff. It displayed a clear view of the location. He observes in silence, keeping his eyes fixed on this historic city.

The crumbling structures, each of which still has a distinct color, stand tall in his eyes. The sun shines directly on the palette, which is fading but still vibrant. Some of the colors even reflect the sun's light, making for a stunning and eye-catching scene.

Despite the breathtaking view, there was a light but persistent smell of blood in the air as the warm breeze began to dance around the man. That alone informed him that he should proceed with caution if he wanted to enter the ruins. He inhaled deeply before setting off to explore the ancient city.

After some time spent exploring, he returned his attention to the hologram.

The only way is to slide down from one of the cliff platforms into a sizable tunnel. He entered cautiously.

He walked past the enormous road entrance leading him in and thought to himself, "What is this place?" It took him some time to exit, but once he did, he immediately started to look around, entranced by the novelty of what he was seeing.

When he is inside, the view is very different from the outside. Although the surrounding buildings made him feel small, the view still gave him a good feeling.

He began his journey inside, and after some time spent looking around, he eventually arrived in the center of the city. The things he saw around him managed to catch his eyes even more, diverting his attention from what had excited him before. It appears that his mind is too capricious, tantrum-like in nature.

He was successful in turning on something in SAI.

[Project Sightseer was activated. Examining a 40-kilometer circle of land will be used to gather geographic data.]]

He started to hear a ticking sound and a photographic sound as the mysterious AI inside started to analyze the data around him. Then all at once, a ton of information about the area flooded his mind.

His mind is suddenly filled with images of the entrance and the places he has been, down to the specific weather cycle and the soil he stood on. All of this is all of a sudden etched into him. causing a minor headache in his head.

He began accepting all the information—from the desert he had just visited the unfamiliar land—at once while still frozen in place. His brain is now filled with all the pertinent information.

His legs began to tremble, and his vision blurred as everything finally hit him. But he manages to pull through when things return slowly to the way they were before.

As he struggled to stand up straight, he exclaimed, "SAI, what was that?"

[Answer: The SIGHTSEER program was launched after the requirements were satisfied.

[The host shall record information about new land through exploration.]

[Hold on a second, the side effect will automatically go away.]

He moaned, "Next time, could you warn me."

[Noted]

He could only sigh after the AI's monotonous response.

Soon after, he kept carefully inspecting every building he came across as he walked around the area. And every time he went there, nothing was there, leaving him disappointed. Disappointed he is, he continued this for a while until now.

He went inside one of the tiny structures, but there wasn't much to see it appeared to have been thoroughly looted. When he noticed a mask that immediately caught his attention—a fox mask that could cover his entire face—at the opposite end of the room, his mood almost immediately improved. He attempted to reach out for it, but SAI stopped him.

[Warning! As a result of the material losing its elasticity, the plastic object has become brittle and may break with contact.]

He looked at the mask and clicked his tongue in disappointment, "I see, due to time and numerous heat exposures, adding to it the various kinds of weather it may have experienced, it became fragile."

"What a pity. "It looked interesting, though."

[Detecting that the host has gained a liking for the object, a repair can be done.]

"Wow, really, how? Tell me."

[Host blood contains state-of-the-art nanomachines; SAI can instruct these to automatically repair the mask.]

"I see, wait, nanomachine?"

[Would the host want to proceed?]

"Of course, I want to."

[The task can be done by drenching the object with the host's blood.]

When he heard this, he stretched one arm over the mask and ripped his flesh without any hesitation. Instantaneously, blood began to fall, slowly dousing the mask in crimson.

He didn't feel tense or flinch when he tore his skin because his attention was only on fixing the mask. Instead, his gaze was fixed on it.

Now that his blood has completely covered the mask, the blood covering it starts to move as though it were a separate living thing.

[Command, causing the nanomachine to start an automatic modification]

The mask started to become permanently red as the blood began to seep in.

The young man experienced an immediate connection with the mask, as though it were pulsing and making an effort to match his heartbeat.

He was slightly startled by the strange feeling, which was unfamiliar to him; it felt like a different version of him was hiding behind the mask.

His body experienced an energy surge as soon as he touched it, making him feel weak in the knees and his heart beat even faster than usual.

He began to regain his breath.

*Cough! *

When things started to calm down, he sat down and relaxed his body, muttering, "Ugh! What is it this time SAI?"

It is his first time feeling the energy in his body leave him.

[Notice, the host, code name Zero, is detecting active electronic devices possessing compressed and unstable energy fluctuations.]

Out of nowhere, a loud explosion was heard from afar. A massive building fell to the ground and disappeared from Zero's sight.

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