The Calm Before the Storm

[I've got the end-of-day report]

-

<End of Day Report>

Total resources gathered:

- {x2375} wood

- {x21} leaves

- {x23} meat

- {x901} rocks

- {x12} Ultra-Hardened Stone

- {x62} iron

- {x11} gold

- {x65} coal

Other:

- {x59} Scout Minions Crafted

~

As night slowly approached, Chloe also returned from gathering resources and made her way over to me. She didn't look tired at all, I guess that was the nature of her ability. Smiling and bouncing, she walked over and sat down next to me.

"Hey, William~"

"You're back."

"Do you want to see what I collected?"

"Yeah."

She took some resources out of her inventory and handed them to me. In total, she gave me 50 iron, 4 diamonds and 1 platinum. I took them out of her hands and added them to my inventory. I now had 124 iron in total; I'd still need 376 more iron until I had enough to craft all of the {Hardened Iron} I needed for the Power Flux.

I guess I'd have to wait a few more days.

"By the way, Chloe, what rank are you on the Global Rankings?"

"Ah, me? I'm currently 278th."

"I see."

I wasn't sure whether she was lying or not but the rank sounded pretty accurate, if not a little too high. In relation, there were some things that I wanted to clear up with her.

"Chloe, what's the real reason for you following me?"

"What? Are you saying that I'm lying to you~"

"All I'm saying is that your original reason was pretty superficial."

"Aw, don't you group up with people because you find them interesting?"

"I also do that to an extent, but not in the same way as you."

I recruited people based on my assumptions of their strengths, so you could technically say I group up with people I find interesting. However, Chloe was not at all similar to me in that respect, she appeared to have grouped up with me due to some personal whim which I am still not aware of.

"Ah, I guess there's no point lying, but are you sure you want to know?"

"What do you mean?"

"I was going to tell you everything sometime in the future, but now you're jumping the gun~"

"Well, I don't really care that much, but I'd prefer you tell me."

"Okay then~ I guess I'll satiate your curiosity for now."

Beside the flickering fire, Chloe looked me in the eyes.

"Like you, I also worry about life here; it's not all easy for me either, you know~"

"So you grouped up with me because you thought I was strong?"

"That's what I said the first time we met, didn't I?"

"I still don't believe it, you had no proof that I had any strength."

"I could tell by your personality."

"I don't believe I acted very confidently or in a way that would make you think that."

"Well, it was mainly because of your expression, it was cold and unchanging, you're definitely not normal."

"That's not a very nice thing to say."

"It's the truth, you know it too, don't you?"

I thought about it for a little. It wasn't the first time someone's said that to me.

"But even so, maybe I'd just given up."

"Well, I was willing to take the gamble. At worst, I could've just left if it turned out you were a suicidal maniac."

"I suppose."

"Actually, William, I have a question for you~"

"What is it?"

"Who are you?"

"I don't understand the question."

"Yes, you do."

The night fell upon us as the sky became practically pitch black. The fire was illuminating the area and providing warmth for us. It was quite a magical atmosphere for such a conversation. My Minions had returned and were guarding the camp.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Why do you always play dumb? You know I can tell, right?"

"I mean, I'm not sure what you want me to say."

She sighed.

"I used to think I was pretty apathetic and borderline psychopathic, but compared to you, I feel as if you fit those categories much more."

"Just because I look at things pragmatically."

"I mean, I guess... but it's not just that, your behaviour, your decision-making, it all feels distinctly... heartless."

"Well, you were the one that asked me to leave a girl out to die in the woods."

"But I had good reason for that. I didn't tell you at the time, mainly because I assumed you wouldn't believe me, but that girl was seriously trying to kill me."

"It didn't look like it."

"That's because she was new to combat and couldn't wield her Knife of Kali effectively. If she was proficient in martial arts then I would've been in big trouble."

"If so, how did she manage to fulfil the condition to get a Knife of Kali in the first place?"

"There are many ways to kill someone, you know? She could've murdered someone in their sleep or killed someone who was weak and injured."

"If she was so incapable at combat, why would she try to fight you in the first place?"

"It was likely because she saw my system and thought I'd be an easy target and easy resources."

"That doesn't explain her relationship with Rosie."

"Hey now~ I still don't really know much about Rosie, you should understand it much more clearly, you were the one who was easily able to deduce that she was a traitor after all."

"Eh, we'll leave it at that for now."

I realised that I hadn't begun cooking dinner so I took out some meat and began roasting it on top of the fire as usual.

"William..."

"Yes?"

"What was your life like back on earth?"

"It wasn't that interesting."

"I'm sure it was."

"Basically, I went to school, got decent grades and got bullied."

"Now that's a lie."

"What makes you say that?"

"I've been around you long enough to know that that's simply not true."

"Well, I guess we'll never know then."

"Hey, aren't we trying to build trust with each other right now~"

"Are we doing that?"

"Why did you ask me for my reasons for joining the group if that was not your intention?"

"I was just bored."

"Ah, you're so hard to read."

"I'm really not."

After that, I did some reorganisation of my Minions as we prepared for the night. The next difficulty increase hadn't come yet so I was still pretty relaxed in terms of sleeping through the night.