"Hey, you coming or what?" Mason called.
I nodded, adjusting the strap on my pack. "Yeah. Just… catching my breath."
The two of us joined the rest of the crew, boots crunching against the gravel path that wound back toward camp. Vargas's voice boomed behind us, barking at the slower workers to pick up the pace.
"Same drill tomorrow!" he shouted. "We move deeper on the south wall. No one slacks off."
Mason groaned. "Deeper means heavier stone. Can't wait."
I didn't respond. My thoughts were still back in the pit where that strange metal vein shimmered for a heartbeat before disappearing under the dirt.
The system had tried to scan it.
Then locked me out.
Error : Insufficient Access
Requirement : Level 3 or Higher.
I couldn't shake the feeling it had recognized something, something old.
The path wound upward toward the tents, the last of the daylight burning against the quarry walls. The crew's laughter faded behind me, replaced by the steady hum of the system's pulse.
Level 2.
A locked skill tree.
And a secret buried in the stone that even the system wanted to understand.
Whatever that metal was… it mattered.
And I was going to find out why.
The camp was quieter than usual that evening. The floodlights around the quarry hummed softly, casting long bars of pale light over the stone. Most of the crew had already turned in, too exhausted to talk, too used to the grind to question it.
I sat on my cot, staring at the thin fabric of the tent wall. The system's faint pulse still echoed in the back of my skull, steady as a heartbeat.
That message wouldn't leave me alone.
Requirement: Level 3 or Higher
Material Analysis: Incomplete
I'd seen the system scan things before: meat, debris, the ambient air but never the earth itself. That metal had meant something. The system had wanted it.
If it was waiting for Level 3 to analyze it, then fine. I'd bring the damn thing with me.
I pulled on my boots and jacket, quiet as I could. Mason was already asleep across the tent, his breathing deep and steady. I waited for the next exhale before slipping outside.
The night air is a bit cold. Floodlights swept the edges of the pit, but the inner shadows were deep enough to hide in. I moved slowly, crouched low, following the same path we'd taken that morning.
Every sound felt too loud: the crunch of gravel, the distant hum of the generators, the faint whistle of wind through the scaffold supports.
Use of Stealth Detected
Heart rate elevated
Instinct adjustment +2
I froze, half-expecting the system to announce a penalty or warning. Instead, it went silent again, as if watching.
The dig site looked abandoned in the dark. Shovels leaned against the half-filled trench, and the soil still carried the faint gleam of the exposed vein.
I knelt beside it, running my fingers along the edge. The metal was cold, unnaturally so, and smooth as glass. Faint lines ran through it, like veins beneath translucent skin.
For a moment, the HUD flickered without my command.
Unidentified Material Detected.
System Analysis Locked.
"Yeah, I know," I whispered. "You'll get your turn later."
I pried a chunk loose with the flat edge of my shovel. The metal gave way with a soft crack, like ice breaking. I caught the piece before it hit the ground. It was lighter than I expected, almost weightless.
The system pulsed once, crimson bleeding through the edge of my vision.
Item acquired: ???
Storage Unit accessed: Personal Dimensional Slot 1
Item secured in system inventory.
I froze, staring at my empty hands. The metal was gone, vanished the moment the text appeared.
"Where the hell did it go?" I whispered.
The system responded after a pause, almost smug in tone:
Dimensional containment : 1 / 5
A chill ran through me. Not fear exactly but something stranger. The realization that the system didn't just exist inside me. It was expanding somewhere else.
"Dimensional slot," I murmured. "You've gotta be kidding me."
Floodlight beams swept closer. Voices echoed faintly from the upper scaffolds.
I backed away, heart pounding, and slipped into the dark before the light reached me.
By the time I crawled into my cot, Mason hadn't stirred. The system's hum had gone quiet again, almost satisfied.
[Level 2]
[Experience: 5/50]
I lay there staring at the ceiling until my eyes blurred.
Tomorrow, I'd dig. I'd eat. I'd act normal.
But tonight, I'd stolen something the system wanted and somehow, it had hidden it inside itself. At least I wouldn't have to worry about someone finding it in my gear.
For the first time, I wasn't sure who was in control anymore.