Chương 3: Something in the Sand

Jack immediately put the baseball bat down.

"System." His voice turned serious for once.

"You're crazy powerful, right? So you've gotta have some way to deal with this." The system replied coldly, "I am the Limitless Omniversal Supply System, not a weather-control system." Jack swallowed.

"Okay, but can't you, I don't know, do something? Push it away? Make it go around us?"

"No." Jack started to panic.

"Then what am I supposed to do? Just stand here and wait to get sandblasted into jerky?"

"The Energy Shield can block physical impact," the system said.

"But whether it can withstand the full duration of this sandstorm depends on the storm's intensity." Jack stopped and narrowed his eyes.

"So you do have a way."

"I already distributed the relevant item."

"You made it sound like I was dead."

"You may still die if you activate it at the wrong time." Jack had no good answer to that. He picked up the can from earlier and took a sip, mostly to calm himself down.

"Fine. So the Energy Shield works against sandstorms?"

"If the damage comes from physical impact, yes."

"And a super sandstorm is physical impact."

"Yes." Jack pointed outside the window.

"Then why not just say that from the start?"

"Because you asked whether I could control the weather. I cannot." Jack stared at the ceiling.

"You are the most literal thing I have ever met."

"Accuracy is not a flaw."

"It is when I'm trying not to die." The system did not answer. Jack shook his head and looked outside again. The sky in the distance had clearly darkened. Layers of gray-red sand swept across the wasteland, and the dead trees and cracked ground that had still been visible earlier were slowly disappearing behind it. The super sandstorm was getting closer. That Energy Shield sounded impressive, sure. But whether it was actually that good? Jack didn't know. And honestly, he wasn't sure the system knew either.

"The Energy Shield I distributed can withstand high-intensity physical impact," the system said, as if reading his doubt. Jack smiled without much humor.

"Yeah, well. We're about to find out." The system: "…" Jack spread his hands.

"If it doesn't hold, I guess I'm getting wiped out in the tutorial."

"I do not participate in tutorials."

"That's even worse." Jack said seriously, "If the player gets wiped out, who are you gonna argue with?" The system fell silent again. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Jack gave a small laugh and stopped provoking it. The gray-red wall of sand was already pressing closer to the front of the convenience store.

"Alright," Jack said.

"How do I turn the shield on?" The system's mechanical voice sounded.

"Under the cashier counter. There is a red button." Jack looked down. There really was one.

"That's it?" Jack had originally thought that activating something like an Energy Shield would require at least a line like, "Confirm activation of defense system," followed by a countdown, blue lights, electronic sound effects, and maybe some dramatic beeping. But no. It was just a red button. The system said coldly, "I told you to watch fewer sci-fi movies. Instead of checking what actually changed after the evolution, you kept imagining cold lights, floating screens, and defensive armor."

Jack had no comeback for that. He could only take a deep breath and hover his hand above the red button. He stared at it and muttered under his breath, "God, Mary, Buddha, Zeus, Thor—whoever's got signal out here, now would be a great time to pick up." The system: "…" Jack slammed his palm onto the button. The moment it was pressed, his entire body tensed. He stared hard out the window, waiting to see the kind of blue barrier that only appeared in movies rise from the ground.

Ideally, it would come with electric patterns and a few satisfying mechanical clicks as it sealed the whole convenience store inside. But nothing happened. Jack stared.

"Where's the shield?" The system did not answer. Jack couldn't help raising his voice.

"Hello? Shield? Aren't shields in movies and games supposed to be, you know, visible?" The system finally spoke, its tone carrying a hint of disdain.

"What exactly were you expecting?"

"A cold blue dome around the whole store?" Jack nodded instinctively. The system said coldly, "Human, do you just let every bad idea live rent-free in your head?" Jack turned stiff on the spot. He was just about to fire back when the system suddenly said, "Look."

"The special effects you wanted are here." Jack snapped his head toward the window. In the next second, his scalp went numb. The super sandstorm had arrived. A gray-red wall of sand, mixed with grit, shattered stones, and broken branches, slammed straight toward the convenience store. The first things to hit were countless tiny grains of sand. They struck the shield all at once. For a split second, the air outside the glass was still empty.

Then yellow sparks burst across it, spreading so fast that Jack could barely follow them. They flashed across the front of the store, packed tightly enough that Jack finally saw the shape of the shield. It looked less like the blue dome he had imagined and more like an invisible wall wrapped around the convenience store, only showing itself where something hit it. Jack stared.

"Okay," he said.

"I take it back." The system asked, "Take what back?"

"The special effects complaint." Another wave of sand crashed against the shield. This time, the entire front of the store lit up in pale yellow flashes. Jack's eyes widened.

"That," he said, pointing at the window, "is straight out of a movie." The system replied coldly, "Those are impact reactions."

"Whatever it is," Jack said, still staring outside.

"It looks awesome." The system: "..." Then the stones came. One after another, they were carried by the wind and hurled forward with brutal force. Each impact exploded into a larger patch of pale yellow light in midair. Some stones shattered the moment they hit, breaking into smaller pieces that scattered across the shield and sparked again. For a moment, the outside of the convenience store looked as if someone was throwing fireworks at an invisible wall. Jack opened his mouth.

Then, for once, he decided not to complain. The light was actually pretty cool. Then a broken branch spun out of the storm and slammed into the shield. A long yellow ripple spread across the air. The branch broke in half and disappeared into the sand. Jack's smile faded a little.

"Okay," he muttered.

"That one would've gone straight through the door."

"Correct."

"And probably through me."

"Also correct."

"You don't have to sound so calm about it."

"My emotional tone does not affect the result."

"No, but it affects my mood." The system ignored him. Outside, more debris struck the shield. Sand hissed against it nonstop. Stones cracked against empty air. Yellow sparks appeared and vanished so fast that Jack could barely follow them. The shield was holding. For now. Jack stood behind the cashier counter, silent for a long time. He finally understood why the system had said that without protective measures, he might not even last four seconds.

If something like this hit the convenience store directly, there was no need to even think about the glass door. Even the walls might not hold, let alone the person standing inside. The world outside went completely dark. From the outside, the entire convenience store had probably already been swallowed by a sea of sand. The sound of sand and debris striking the shield was dull and dense, like countless hands slapping an invisible wall at the same time. Jack stood in the center of the storm.

All he could see were the scattered yellow flashes lighting up whenever the shield was struck. He stared for a long time before slowly letting out a breath.

"People always think we're so advanced. So powerful." His voice lowered.

"But in front of nature, humans, monsters, whatever else is out there… we're all the same."

"When it really gets angry, there's not much we can do." This time, the system did not immediately argue. After quite a while, the mechanical voice finally sounded.

"Human."

"That might be the most reasonable thing you've said all day." Jack let out a dry laugh.

"Thanks. I think." And at the edge of the storm, where Jack could not see, the sand suddenly shifted. A claw covered in gray-brown tough hide slowly reached out from beneath the sand. Soon, a second claw emerged. Then a third. Low shapes crawled out one by one, keeping close to the ground as the storm roared above them. They turned toward the convenience store. And waited.