Chương 39: Solo Mission - Maya (2)

The word 'competition' might have been an understatement. Maya had just stumbled upon a group of Hoppers who were prowling around the planet like wild wolves. She instantly realised that she would be competing with those guys, and that didn't sit well with her. Just a few weeks ago, she was just an ordinary teenage girl who went to school, took exams and lived a very normal life.

However, she had awakened not that long ago, and she was now up against a group of Hoppers who were just one bush away from her; they might have ten, twenty, thirty, forty, or maybe even fifty years of Hopper experience behind their belts. And now she had to play a game of hide-and-seek with those Hoppers.

If it ever got to that point, Maya might have to engage in a life-or-death fight with that group of Hoppers, where whoever wins claims the planet and whoever loses ends up as a corpse stranded on the planet with no way to leave. The loser would be offered to nature and end up as a pile of bones that will be showcased as a relic from when Hoppers fought on the planet. She instantly regretted pitching the tent and pulling off branches from some of the trees.

That was attention-seeking behaviour in a way, which would only increase the chance of her being spotted by those Hoppers. That was something she didn't want. Upon closer inspection, Maya realised that there were only two people in the group of wanderers. Although there were only two Hoppers in that small group, Maya had no way to figure out what their level was.

There was a possibility that they were beginners like Maya who were still at the basic level, but there was also a possibility that they were at the legendary or infinite levels and they just wanted to be the kings of yet another planet. Maya's head fell into her hands. The sweat from her forehead began to create a puddle on her palms. Maybe solo missions are harder than I thought, Maya said internally. Maybe I underestimated its difficulty, and maybe they really are harder than they seem.

If she wasn't careful, the seekers might find her and she could get herself killed. The worst-case scenario was that the two Hoppers were both at the legendary or infinite level. If that was the case, then she would end up being fish on the frying pan. Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap! Maya repeatedly cursed in her head. Her life had changed drastically since she became a skill user. She had escaped from the jarring wrath of her friends-turned-bullies, made new friends, travelled to different planets and levelled up.

And if she wasn't careful enough, all of that work might end up going to waste and she might die in vain. And that was something she didn't want; if that ever happened to her, it would be her biggest regret and something she would never forget, even when she was in a deep slumber deep in the depths of the afterlife. She remembered what Cayman said about the planet before she left.

Unlike Theo, she had been given at least some background information about the planet she was going to, although that information didn't include the temperature difference and the surroundings. He definitely mentioned something about Hoppers going to this planet previously and failing the missions. But what did he say specifically?

"Maya, you will be going to Planet 504," Cayman had said proudly.

"It's a planet that has been explored before by Hoppers in the past, but none of the Hoppers that went have completed all the missions. The planet is still open to Hoppers wishing to claim it. I have specifically chosen this planet not just because it is at the advanced level, but because there is an opportunity for you to be better than the rest, which is something I know you like to do." Maya smirked when she remembered the phrase 'be better than the rest'.

That was something ingrained into her personality; she had an arrogant and competitive side which juxtaposed her bubbly, effervescent personality. And that was exactly what she wanted to do. She wanted to overpower the two intruders and be the queen of this infinite land. [Skill, 'Mind Reader (basic)', has been activated.] During the few weeks that Maya was a skill user, she had conducted numerous experiments on this skill.

She had tested how far she had to be in order to read people's minds as well as how to activate the skill without it interfering with her normal life. She had to make sure that the skill gave her more rewards and less risks. The reason why her friends had bullied her on that fateful day was because she didn't know anything about the skill and how to effectively control her use of the skill. But now, with ample experience, she was only going to use that skill for righteous purposes and not annoy anybody with it.

'We've been walking around for ages with no sign of the portal room. There aren't any mana beasts around for us to defeat either. We might be lost.' That was what was going through the mind of one of the Hoppers. The mind reading skill Maya possessed enables a person to hear the thoughts of the people nearest to them. The person hears other people's thoughts in their head, and these thoughts cannot be heard by anybody without the mind reading skill.

This means that a person who is unaware that they have the mind reading skill might think they are hallucinating. Of course, that was exactly what Maya thought at the start when she first got gifted the skill. But over time, she managed to adapt and make compromises, and this allowed her to live a fairly normal life despite possessing the skill. From the thoughts of one of the Hoppers, Maya could tell that she wasn't the only one struggling on this planet. It was unlikely that those Hoppers were at a high level.

They might be at the basic or advanced levels, but according to their thoughts, it was highly unlikely that they were above the advanced level.

'Screw the missions, I just want to get out of here and go home. I haven't stumbled upon a single mana beast yet.' Even for Maya, that was true. She had not stumbled upon a single living being on this planet apart from the two Hoppers. Clack, clack, clack. The sound of the Hoppers' footsteps was gradually getting louder. When Maya realised this, she jumped, almost letting out a loud scream that would surely get her caught. Clack, clack, clack. Maya's breathing rate increased.

She knelt down and peered at the Hoppers through a gap in the bush she had been hiding behind, and sure enough, the Hoppers were inching closer and closer towards Maya. Maya didn't know how to react. Instinctively, she curled up into a ball behind the bush and buried her face in between her knees. Her wet hair flopped lifelessly on her sides. She prayed that the Hoppers wouldn't see her through the numerous gaps in the bush.

She hoped that the Hoppers didn't see her tent, her bag and the stack of sticks that were only a few feet away from where they were standing, behind a few trees and bushes. She didn't want to think about what would happen if she was caught. Clack, clack, clack.

'Is there any way we can just get off the planet? Do we have to complete all the missions first before we can leave the planet, or can we leave at any time?' Clearly, according to their thoughts, the Hoppers beyond the bush weren't that skilled, nor did they have much knowledge about the skill user world. This all but confirms the slim chance of them being at the legendary level or higher. They seemed to not know that it was possible to enter and leave a planet even without completing all the missions.

After all, the portal is always active, and it never switches off even if there were incomplete missions. Her heart was pounding. Sweat dripped down her forehead and onto the ground, making her rewarding shower in the stream seem futile. She couldn't stay calm. The two Hoppers weren't showing any signs of moving away from Maya's location. Maya wished that she had packed a set of camouflage clothes. Then she could seamlessly blend in with the vegetation and foliage around her.

Thoughts began to pour into Maya's brain all at once, forming a long conversation that she really shouldn't be hearing. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. After all, private thoughts should be kept private for a reason.

'It's useless though. Are you sure someone hasn't already claimed the planet?'

'We should give it a few more hours. We might find something if we stay here for a bit longer.'

'It's too hot on this planet. I think I've lost at least ten gallons of sweat just walking around.'

'I need water really badly.'

'I need a shower really badly.'

'I just want to get off this planet.'

'Someone please help me!'

'I'm dying! I think I might really die on this planet!'

'Why did I agree to become a Hopper in the first place? I should've just rejected the question outright!'

'Mana crystals! Where the fuck are the mana crystals?'

'There are no beasts on this planet! We should just get out of here before we boil to death!'

'There is no food on this planet!' Endless thoughts crowded Maya's brain with no signs of stopping. The two Hoppers were lamenting about their lives and how they might end up dying on this planet. It was driving Maya crazy. At that point, Maya felt infuriated; she wanted to scream and shout and rip out all of her hair and tear it to shreds. However, if she wanted to keep her cover, she would have to stay silent.

So rather than screaming until her vocal cords were torn apart, she grabbed onto her hair tightly with both hands and scrunched up her face in pure rage. Listening to the woes of two low-level Hoppers was too much for Maya to handle. It was completely different to when she heard the thoughts of her friends on the day she gained her skill. Those disheartening thoughts were making her suffer as well. [You have disengaged skill, 'Mind Reader (basic)'.] Clack, clack, clack.

Luckily, after Maya disengaged her skill, she could hear the two Hoppers walking away from the bush she was hiding behind. The seekers hadn't found the hider. Maya breathed a quiet sigh of relief as the Hoppers continued walking away from the bush. She got up from her foetal position, brushed several strands of wet hair away from her eyes and continued to fix her eyes at the Hoppers, not letting them get away from her vision. That was too close for comfort, Maya said in her head.

She knew that she had been extremely lucky to not have been caught. The Hoppers hadn't seen her tent, her bag of supplies and the sticks that she had gathered to make a fire. If they had seen all of that, then the outcome might end up being dramatically different. Clack, clack, clack. The Hoppers were vanishing into the distance. That was when Maya had another idea. What if I follow them? Maya thought in her head.

Maybe I might find traces of mana beasts if I follow them, and maybe I might find signs of a possible mission. But that idea carried a myriad of different risks. First, Maya didn't know which planet the Hoppers were from. It was very unlikely that the two Hoppers she had encountered were from Planet Earth, like her, since there were only a handful of skill users on Planet Earth. Second, Maya didn't know if the Hoppers had any killing intent directed towards other Hoppers.

If those Hoppers showed vicious and nefarious killing intent towards a feeble teenage girl, then she could be in grave danger and lose her life. Third, Maya couldn't confirm whether the Hoppers she had encountered were at the basic or advanced level. There was a small chance that those guys were putting up an act and they had seen Maya hiding in the bushes, but that was only a microscopic probability. There were so many other risks associated with Maya's idea.

"I'm doing it regardless," Maya said aloud.

"Those guys might have been on the planet longer than I have, so they might know where they're going." Unlike Maya, who had already gotten lost whilst finding water to drink. Clack, clack. Clomp. Tentatively, Maya jumped over the bush she had been hiding behind and wiped off the sweat from her forehead. The shower she had just taken in the stream had indeed been futile; the sweat that poured down from her forehead like rain had turned the dirt near where she had been sitting into mud.

"I need to be as stealthy as possible," Maya mumbled as she walked back to her camp and took out her bag from the tent.

"I can't get caught. I'll be in danger if those guys turn out to be high-ranking Hoppers." She stored the bag in her system inventory and headed in the direction she saw the two Hoppers walking in. Clack, clack, clack. She was in a luscious rainforest, but there were no signs of wildlife anywhere.

"Maybe all the animals turned into mana beasts," Maya said to herself; the Theory of Mana Transfer was still fresh in her mind.

"Then, once someone claims this planet, they'll all be gone. Such a shame." Maya had been taught that eavesdropping on other people was not a good thing, but in this situation, there might be benefits attached to watching what the other Hoppers were doing. There might be mana beasts. There might be a mission window. There might be a way off this planet. That would truly be amazing since Maya couldn't tolerate the heat and the humidity of this equatorial weather.

However, as always, if the rewards were greater than the risks, it was worth it.

"I really could choose to live here if it wasn't so hot and humid," Maya mumbled.

"This place is like a place of unexplored beauty." As she walked, she truly admired her surroundings whilst running her hands through her hair to fix and untangle it. Everywhere she looked, there were tall trees, bushes and grass. It was a paradise of green. It was a city where the trees were the skyscrapers, the bushes were the houses and the grass paths were the roads. It looked like a place where the current issues on Earth, such as global warming, didn't exist.

And Cayman had tasked her to claim the planet for herself. Maya wanted to escape reality and think about all the possible uses for this planet if she were to claim it, but before she could fully zone out, she encountered the two Hoppers again, ready to enter what appeared to be a large cave. Her surroundings had changed. Instead of being on flat land with trees all over, Maya could see small hills in the distance and the large cave which looked like it led people to another dimension.

Vines hung freely from the land above the cave and swayed from left to right in the breeze like Maya's hair. [Skill, 'Mind Reader (basic)', has been activated.] Time to do some eavesdropping.

'This has to be a lead. There has to be something in there.'

'There might be mana beasts in there. They might be hard to defeat.'

'Don't worry, I won't die from this. I'll complete all the missions and claim the planet.' The two Hoppers were then sucked into the eternal darkness that lay ahead of them. That means I have to go in, Maya said to herself. It's going to be dark and scary, and I will have no support from Theo or Cayman. Maya's facial expression changed to depict a look etched with determination and confidence. I'm no scaredy cat. Although there's nobody here to help me, I can do it by myself. Those were wise words of encouragement.

Clack, clack, clack. With her heart thumping like it was when she was hiding from the Hoppers, Maya chose to get sucked into the same oblivion the Hoppers were dragged into. There might be clues to potential missions in there. But then the harsh reality hit.

"Shit," Maya cursed, realising her mistake.

"I forgot to bring a torch. Oh well; it will be like wandering around the house at night." Drip, drip, drip. Water droplets fell from the ceiling, creating little puddles on the floor. Maya chose to stay near the middle of the cave since she couldn't see anything, and there was the possibility of sharp rocks jutting out from the cave walls. If she got stabbed by one of those rocks, it might be game over for her. Clop, clop, clop. Soon, Maya saw a source of light. Is that them? Roar! Stab!

Yes, that was definitely them. And it looked like they were defeating wild mana beasts. You have a new mission! Mission 1/2: defeat the beasts Finally, a source of light, Maya said internally despite the fact that the system window was undeniably a rubbish source of light.

'These beasts are easy!'

'I can defeat more than a hundred of these at once without losing a ton of mana!'

'More, more! Give me more of these beasts!'

"Shit," Maya cursed again.

"I forgot I still had that skill active." [You have disengaged skill, 'Mind Reader (basic)'.]"Looks like I have to fight these things," Maya said. But then she had another thought.

"Wait," she continued, pondering over the situation.

"If this mission is like the one on Planet 501 where all the Hoppers contribute to the total score, then I can just sit back and just let them do the work." That was probably the most ingenious idea she had thought of since arriving on Planet Rainforest. With her system window open, Maya walked over to one of the cave's walls which didn't have any sharp rocks protruding out from the wall. She then slumped on the floor with her back leaning against the wall. This is quite fun to watch, Maya thought. Stab! Slash!

Who would guess that Maya had been sent to a planet where she could just watch two Hoppers from another planet fighting basic-level mana beasts in front of her? These were basically front-row seats to a spectacle. However, reality wasn't going to let Maya live the easy life. Clomp! Clomp! Clomp! Shit, Maya cursed for the third time. Is that a mana beast?

With glaring, luminous eyes, and with ferocious pace and killing intent, one of the mana beasts the two Hoppers were trying to defeat charged at Maya, who was perplexed and didn't know what to do. This is it. I'm going to get caught. The beast was going to expose her location. Maya reached into her system inventory and brandished her sword. Then, reflexively, she thrust her sword into the body of the mana beast. It fell from just one stab. However, the consequences were more dire than what she had thought.

As soon as the mana beast fell on the ground as a corpse, the two Hoppers who had been defeating the other beasts turned to look in Maya's direction. Oh no, Maya thought to herself, absolutely screwed. I'm going to be caught.