The darkness near me was illuminated by a lone star which spiralled around my levitating body. Unlike the other few instances of being trapped in the void, my body accompanied my conscience. The star moved in front of me as if it was making eye contact.
「 Your Stellar Aspect greets you warmly. 」
"Hello."
My voice was disconnected from my body and it spread around the void. I put my hand out to touch the star but it was too far away. The infinite expansion distorted my perception of distance.
「 Your Stellar Aspect is prepared to join you in the games. 」
The star moved to my hand and its surface felt cold yet warm, rough yet smooth, stiff yet soft; it felt like everything and nothing. Its body spread out into stardust and it wrapped around my hand like a glove. Each speck, one by one, sunk into my skin and then into my blood. It moved through my blood stream towards my heart which pumped it all around my body.
I didn't have to see the glow to feel it emit from my limbs with the highest concentration at my heart. Even if the light coming from me was finite, it still battled and stood against the infinite darkness.
「 You and your Stellar Aspect are now one entity. 」
「 ■■■■■ accepts the Stellar Aspect. 」
The darkness started to crack away to reveal my previous scene.
------
Khai was still laying asleep on the ground, though with more sweat than I remember. Why couldn't he be gifted a medallion as well? Maybe he was gifted one but he wasn't able to claim it in this state. I reopened my menu to see what my ability was.
﹁
Name || Wyatt Sightseer
Level || 2
Stats || [OPEN]
Stellar Aspect || Astral Wanderer Lvl. 1
Stellar Abilities || N/A
Equipment || Rejuvenation Medallion Lvl. 1
﹂
"Astral Wanderer? What the &%"$^ does that mean?"
﹁
Astral Wanderer
From the stars fell an entity with boundless knowledge but limited emotion.
----
Stellar Form 1 || Stellar Aspect Analytical Communication (Aspect Insight)
View the simplified or comprehensive evaluation of anyone's Stellar Aspect. At a higher level, this form will allow direct communication with other Stellar Aspects to view the evaluation of the human bound to it.
Stellar Form 2 || A View of the Boundless Galaxy (Sky's View)
Disconnect your sight from your body and move it freely within 150 kilometres as long as you are either: a) sleeping b) stargazing or c) under mental manipulation. You are also able to link your sight to the Stellar Aspect of other people, allowing a first-person point of view from their body.
Stellar Form 3 || LOCKED
Stellar Form 4 || LOCKED
[MORE]
﹂
For some reason, I wanted to press 'MORE' although it was plain obvious everything else was locked, and my current abilities were useless in the present scenario; though that didn't stop me from trying the first one on Khai.
「 Stellar Form, Aspect Insight, has activated. 」
「 Aspect Insight has been cancelled due to an error. 」
「 Target's Stellar Aspect is still locked. 」
I wasn't sure why I thought I'd be able to read his Stellar Aspect, after all, he'd only unlock it after he woke up. My other ability was just completely useless at this point as I wasn't planning on sleeping and the stars were nowhere in sight. The rummaging monsters were starting to get closer to us so I slid the medallion under my shirt and wiggled my hands in the air. I crouched back down and grabbed onto Khai's shoulders, dragging him down the street.
"If you don't pay me back generously after this.."
Although my strength stat was higher than it was previously and he was no longer resisting, I still struggled to drag him along; on the bright side, it was sort of easier. If only life previously was this simple when it came to strength.
I pulled him for what felt like an hour until there were no more screeches, rummaging monsters, or corpses. The street I was now in was either quickly fled or people were hiding. The former was the most favourable option as I didn't plan on fighting with anybody for the next few millenniums.
"Jesus Christ.."
After a moment of wheezing and panting, I regained some energy and looked around for any point of rest. I noticed an abandoned dental clinic with a simple waiting room and I dragged Khai towards it. I rested him on the small sky-blue couch. Compared to the killer I was faced with previously, this Khai was surprisingly vulnerable. His face showed signs of pain, or at least some sort of nightmare, and his limbs were frail.
Khai's temperature was higher compared to the last time I checked, leaving me with no choice but to look for medicine.
"You're lucky I don't need to pay otherwise I'd smack you awake."
If only I had the strength to do that in the first place.
Leaving the dental clinic, I found a convenience store about 2 minutes from it. If I could've, I would've used the second ability to look around but that obviously wouldn't work right now as none of the conditions were met. If I fell asleep now, I wouldn't wake up for a long time. Plus, the sun hasn't even set and I wasn't planning on baiting a mind manipulator.
I headed inside and, fortunately, the shelves were still stacked with food and water so hopefully the medicine would still be up. This also meant everybody was most likely gone for now so I'd have to collect as much as possible later before others get to it.
"Where is it?"
The medicine cabinet managed to avoid my sight for a few moments. Once I finally found it, it was locked so I searched the drawers for the key. They were filled with random prescriptions, invoices, other documents, packets of gum, keys, pens, and more. It was saddening to think about the lives that these people lived prior to today and how different they would become now.
I opened the cabinet after finding the key and searched through the different medications. Reading through the different names and ingredients my brain got fried as I understood nothing. Not like anything was made specifically for this type of situation anyway.
"I should've paid more attention in biology..."
After taking some acetaminophen out and shoving it into my left pocket, I looked around the store for some snacks. First I grabbed a few bottles of water as Khai would definitely be thirsty after waking up. Second I picked out some snacks with a large variety. I didn't know his likes, dislikes, religious rules, or allergies so picking something certain would be a bad idea. When I packed it all into a white plastic bag that hang behind the counter, I hid some of the other foods in case someone came here after me.
「 You have unlocked an achievement: 'Top 7,900,000,000 Participants.' 」
「 50 gold has been awarded. 」
"Does that mean 100 million people died already?"
I stared at the ominous hologram that bared grim news.
"The apocalypse truly changes people."
Trying to ignore the hologram, I continued to hide the food under shelves, behind the slowly dying fridges, behind dusty paraphernalia, and in the drawers I searched previously. I drank some of the water I grabbed after finishing. My body was tired from all of the things happening today; more happened today than ever in my life.
The coolness of the water brought back my energy. If not for the emergency generator, the water would surely not be this cold. It felt like my whole body's temperature shifted with every sip, and - although wasteful - I poured the water onto my head as it was unreasonably hot. The same thing that happened to Khai most likely happened to me but on a weaker level.
Finishing up, I left the convenience store and walked back to the dental clinic I left Khai in. To my fortune, his body was still there and there was no sign of other people in the area. Khai still showed no chances of properly waking up and his temperature was scorching hot.
"How am I meant to have you take this?"
I looked at the supplies I brought and decided to waste one of the bottles in an attempt to cool him down and also wake him up. I unscrewed the cap and let the water flow freely down onto his face and I could swear I saw water vapour rise up.
Some life returned to him and his eyes slightly opened.
"Hey~ take this medicine."
Speaking in a light tone, I helped him sit up and take the acetaminophen. The moment I let go of his body, he flopped back onto the couch and went back to sleep. I sat down on the small bit of space and found out the couch was stiff and uncomfortable although it looked soft.
Exhausted from today, I fell asleep quickly without realising.
「 Stellar Form, Sky's View, has activated. 」
Instead of seeing the darkness of sleep, I saw a beautiful nebula that rested in space before my sight returned to my body. It looked the same as if I was in a third-person game except I could move my screen freely. With nothing else to do, I searched around the area.
------
"They seem weakened, let's take them out now and take their stuff."
A woman with short blonde hair spoke to the man that came up behind her. They were both on the roof of the building opposite the dental clinic Khai and I were in.
"Not yet. We don't know what they are capable of."
I witnessed their exchange thanks to this ability, but what am I meant to do now?