Athanasia: My Hacker System-Chapter 198: The Vector Nudge and Latency Injection Abilities!
[Ding! Congratulations! You have successfully completed the sub-quest!]
[Ding! You have completed the ’Endure and survive the attack of the Fog Wrathers’ Sub-quest!]
[Ding! You have earned a Bonus Reward!]
[Ding! Congratulations! You have completed the main quest!]
[Ding! You have completed the ’Establish the first-ever human base in the Source Code World’ Quest!]
[Ding! Congratulations! Your map has been updated to cover the entire pocket trial!]
[Ding! Congratulations! You have gained the Vector Nudge Ability!]
[Ding! Congratulations! You have gained the Latency Injection Ability!]
[Ding! Congratulations! You have gained +100 Mental Points, +10 to all stats, and +3% Cyborg Synchronisation!]
John remained motionless on the scorched earth for nearly an hour. The accumulated toll of the past week finally surfaced, crashing over him like a physical weight.
Every muscle fibre hummed with a dull, lingering ache, and his mind felt frayed at the edges. He felt as though he had walked through the deepest pits of hell and, by some miracle of grit, had finally crawled back to the surface.
"I gained two more abilities... It’s a regret I only got them after going through my limit of those cores," he muttered to himself, his voice raspy and tired. He forced himself to sit up, inspecting the new abilities. As he opened their descriptions, he noted their grade with a mix of curiosity. Both were categorised as Basic, the standard starting point for his unlocked abilities.
[Vector Nudge Ability: (Basic – Active - Compound)]
[Description: Once activated alongside the Frame Recognition ability, it allows the user to intercept incoming attacks. By physically making contact with the attack’s trajectory code, the user can manipulate the vector, forcing the attack to change direction and veer away!]
[Cost: 25 Mental Points per activation.]
[Conditions: Requires Frame Recognition to be active.]
[Duration: 60 seconds.]
[Requirements: Intelligence = 210, Strength = 350, Defense = 325.]
[Latency Injection Ability: (Basic – Active - Compound)]
[Description: Forces a lag period over targets selected by the user within an area covered by Wireframe Sight! Selected targets suffer mental lag lasting for 1 minute, resulting in significant delays in all physical actions and cognitive processes. Maximum targets: 10.]
[Cost: 30 Mental Points per activation.]
[Conditions: Requires Wireframe Sight to be active.]
[Duration: 20 seconds.]
[Requirements: Intelligence = 320, Strength = 150, Defense = 215.]
John scrutinised the two new tools, his brain already simulating combat scenarios. The first was clearly a defensive masterpiece, designed to let him redirect the attacks of his enemies.
"This Vector Nudge... It’s the answer to high-velocity projectiles," he realised. His mind flashed back to his desperate struggles against the D-1000 units. Their laser fire had been nearly impossible to dodge through raw reflex alone.
But with this, he wouldn’t need to outrun the beam; he just had to be fast enough to touch the incoming attack and nudge the shot into the dirt. "I can finally rest easy against sneak attacks or ambushes."
As for Latency Injection, the utility was more abstract. "Does it make them move slowly or just think slowly? If it’s purely mental lag, they might still follow through with a swing, just... A bit late..."
He rubbed his chin, contemplating the effect of this ability. "Either way, I need to give it a proper field test before I decide its worth. And now... For the big trophy."
His eyes shone with a fierce light as he pulled up the map. Of all the rewards, the map update was the one that could change the fate of his entire group. However, when the interface expanded to show the full scope of the pocket trial, he wasn’t met with clarity. Instead, he found a massive tactical hiccup.
"All these red dots... It’s a literal sea of red!"
The first thing that greeted him was a topography blanketed in hostile markers. As he looked closer, he realised the red dots were primarily concentrated in four massive clusters, with only a few scattered scouts wandering through the remaining six territories.
From his conversations with the Bulltors, John knew the pocket trial was partitioned into ten distinct territories where four rival races competed for dominance.
His own presence, along with his friends, in the eleventh territory, remained a glaring anomaly. He had several theories, most of them involving the machines’ interference with the trial rules, but he lacked the hard data to prove it.
He tried to zoom in on a hostile cluster, hoping to identify the specific race, whether it was the Hivemind or another unknown threat. But as his mind swiped across the holographic interface, a sharp system chime stopped him cold.
[Ding! Warning: Detailed data is restricted. You must physically venture through these territories first to update the local map assets!]
[Ding! Tip: Using the Ping Route ability while traversing new zones will significantly enhance map detail and reveal hidden structures!]
"Nah, forget it," John muttered, looking at the limited solution the system provided. He didn’t like the physical exploration caveat one bit. "I have a better alternative... Let’s see what you’ll say about this!"
He reached into his inventory and pulled out a heavy, weathered roll of parchment. When unfurled, it was massive, large enough to cover a standard dining table with room to spare. This was the original map he had acquired long ago from Lanmar. Back then, the system had asked him to merge it with his map, but John had stubbornly refused.
What had stopped him then was the cost, the system had demanded burning half his total Mental Points. He had experienced a Mental Burn once before, and the resulting state of semi-catatonic exhaustion had terrified his friends. He couldn’t risk that vulnerability while the threat of the newly gained Bulltors back then, followed by the Wrathers and yellow monsters, loomed later.
But now? The territory was silent, safe, and secure. There wasn’t a single enemy around anymore. His friends were safely tucked away in comas, and he finally had a moment of absolute peace.
However, as he held the parchment, the system’s prompt had shifted significantly since their last interaction.
[Ding! You have come into possession of a valuable, highly detailed map!]
[Ding! Analysis: This document contains deep-layer topographic data of the ten territories.]
[Ding! You can pay 400 Mental Points to absorb this map and update your tactical interface!]
[Ding! Do you wish to proceed? Y/N]
