[LVL 5 - Sandworm] [LVL 8 - Sandworm]
One of the beasts, a medium-sized specimen with ocher chitinous scales, emerged just a few meters from me. Its circular jaw rotated with a metallic screech. At any other time, I might have felt a hint of doubt; now, I only felt the need to vent my frustration.
Despite my [LVL 4] status, my body responded with superior technical agility. I activated the hilt's sonic motor, and the blade vibrated with a cyan hum that distorted the air. I dodged the worm's first lunge with a millimetric sidestep—a warrior's move that didn't waste a single gram of energy.
—Efficiency, not emotion—I whispered to myself.
I delivered a diagonal slash that capitalized on the monster's own momentum. The sword sliced through the level 5 worm's armor as if it were paper. Biological fluid sprayed across the sand while I was already pivoting to face the next target: a [LVL 10] specimen, notably larger and more aggressive.
The level 10 beast thrust its frontal hooks forward, but my response was purely pragmatic. I didn't look for a clash of strength; I looked for the joint. My cyan blade traced an arc of light that severed the worm's defensive limbs in a single motion. As the creature writhed, a sonic projectile from Ha-jin's rifle slammed into its central core, finishing the execution.
I didn't give him a look of gratitude. My lethality was cold, mechanical, and devoid of compassion. Every strike was a response to Ha-jin's secrets and Zero's pressure. The Ichika who yearned for her room in the real world had been buried under the sand; what remained was a warrior who understood that, in Aetheria, levels were paid for in blood, and trust was a luxury we couldn't yet afford.
The sand erupted once more, but this time the ground didn't just ripple; it fractured into tectonic plates under massive pressure. Four [LVL 12 - Sandworm] specimens emerged simultaneously, surrounding us with a predatory coordination that didn't belong to simple parasites. These were healthy worms, a brilliant obsidian hue, their chitinous plates screeching as they ground against the wind.
No orders were needed. The instant the first specimen projected its sonic jaw, Ha-jin was already airborne, using the recoil of a short burst to position himself atop an elevated rock. His suppressive fire wasn't meant to kill, but to blind. Rail rounds slammed into the beasts' ocular sensors, forcing them back just as my sword sprang to life.
I slid beneath the second worm's body with a fluidity that defied inertia. I didn't need to look back to know where Ha-jin was; I could feel the heat of his projectiles passing mere centimeters from my shoulder, clearing attack lanes between the monsters' maws. It was a macabre dance of surgical precision. My cyan steel severed tendons while his rifle disintegrated armor, the two of us moving as a single organism with perfectly synchronized wills.
However, the air suddenly grew thick and putrid.
The earth vomited three deformed shapes, shrouded in a violet mist that burned the eyes. The [Infected Sandworms - LVL 15] didn't move with the elegance of the healthy ones; their bodies were covered in ether pustules and irregular bone growths that dripped corrosive fluid.
"Protocol shift!" Ha-jin roared, his voice acting as the anchor that kept panic from paralyzing me.
I lunged toward the nearest infected target. The monster lashed out with its segmented tail, but Ha-jin fired an impact round that deflected the blow's trajectory at the last millisecond. I seized the opening and activated [First Blood]. Reality fragmented. My sword didn't just slice through flesh; the sonic vibration detonated the internal pustules, disintegrating the infected biological mass from the inside out.
Behind me, the other two specimens surrounded Ha-jin. Without a word, I performed an acrobatic leap and drove my sword into the ground, releasing a resonant shockwave that stunned the attackers. Ha-jin seized the split-second advantage to fire a maximum-power shot that pierced through both monsters in a perfect line of kinetic destruction.
Silence returned to the desert, broken only by the hiss of acidic vapor rising from the remains. We stood back-to-back, breathing heavily, our uniforms drenched in dark ichor. We didn't look at each other, but the synchronicity we had just displayed made it clear: despite the secrets and arguments, our souls had recognized one another on the battlefield long before this game had ever begun.
Before our eyes, the system windows flickered with the golden glow of victory.
[SYSTEM: PLAYER "ICHIKA TAKAMORI" HAS REACHED LEVEL 8]
[SYSTEM: PLAYER "HA-JIN" HAS REACHED LEVEL 6]
The golden radiance of the notifications faded, but the sensation it left in my body was permanent. It wasn't just a number on an interface; it was an electric surge, a tide of heat that rushed through every nerve ending. The exhaustion weighing on my shoulders vanished in a heartbeat. My lungs, which had been burning from the desert's fouled air, filled with renewed vitality. It was absolute relief—my minor bruises healed, and my muscles, fatigued by the tension of battle, regained their peak vigor as if I had just woken from a deep, restful sleep.
I stood still, absorbing the surge of artificial energy that only a level-up could provide in this hell. I looked at Ha-jin; he also let out a long sigh, and his rigid posture softened as the system's glow reflected in his eyes. From level 1 to level 6 in a single deployment; the experience gap he closed was staggering.
"It looks like the infected counted this time," I murmured, breaking the silence as I sheathed my sonic sword. "Zero was right about efficiency, even if the system is fickle."
Ha-jin nodded with technical deliberation, never looking away from the smoking remains of the worms.
"It wasn't luck, Takamori-san," he replied hoarsely. "It was the way we eliminated them. The system processed the internal damage and kinetic precision as direct kills, not ether decompositions. This time, the code had no choice but to give us our share."
The tension between us was still there, vibrating beneath the surface, but the satisfaction of shared progress built a momentary bridge. We had killed creatures with triple our level, and the game rewarded us with a surge of power that made me feel, for the first time, that maybe we weren't just simple sacrifices.
Zero walked toward us through the purple mist still rising from the corpses. His mechanical and perfect presence brought us back to reality.
"Don't get used to this pace," our captain warned, adjusting his glasses with a coldness that cut through my brief euphoria. "Enjoy your new strength today; starting tomorrow, the desert will charge you interest for every experience point earned."
I climbed into the vehicle, feeling every step on the sand grow lighter, more certain. I didn't speak to Ha-jin again, nor he to me. The secret of his identity remained hidden, but now we both carried something more: the weight of an increased level that was our only guarantee of not ending up like the team in the hollow.