As the sand cloud approached, Lucas observed the details of the creature generating it. It resembled a tuna from his world but stood over 3 meters tall with poorly aligned teeth in its mouth.
— Damn System, I barely know you, and I already hate yo. — he muttered, blaming the System for what was happening.
With no chance of escape, the young man closed his eyes and remained still, resigned.
— Please, let it be painless...
Soon after, he felt the impact of wind and sand against his body, accompanied by the sound of something tearing. Unable to open his eyes due to the sand, Lucas stayed motionless, feeling the vibrations of the sand and the beats of the fish.
— What is happening? — he questioned himself, confused.
When the sand finally settled, Lucas slowly opened his eyes and saw the enormous fish in front of him, with its mouth open and thrashing about. It was impaled by a harpoon attached to its side, and blood was dripping, staining the sand red. The fish was being pulled by a rope tied to the harpoon.
— I'm alive!? HAHAHA... I survived! — the young man celebrated, feeling the momentary euphoria of survival. — But... what saved me? — he wondered, looking towards the harpoon.
At a certain distance, there was a sailboat sailing on the sands as if it were on water. Upon closer observation, Lucas noticed that there was only an old man on board, with dark skin, white beard, and hair.
— $&#;#&$@_#? — the old man spoke, as if asking something.
— ...System, why can't I understand him?
[Settings adaptation required]
— Why wasn't this ready from the start!? — he complained indignantly but soon gave up questioning. — Just open the settings.
As requested, Lucas saw the options before his eyes.
[General]
[Missions]
[~~Map Settings~~] (Idk why the strikethrough text looks like that.)
[~~Network Settings~~]
— ... — the young man stared at the screen in silence for a moment. — ...Network settings? Do you have internet connection!?
[Obtaining the option is necessary for further information]
—...Let's leave that aside then. Show me the general settings. — he said, accepting the fact that the System wouldn't explain the crossed-out options.
[General]
[Show time: Disabled]
[Auto-reader: Disabled]
[Opacity control: 75%]
[Volume control: 100%]
[Spoken language: Portuguese]
[Listening language: Native]
— Better not comment... For now, change the spoken language to native and the listening language to Portuguese. — he said, exhausted.
After adjusting the language, Lucas tried to communicate with the old man on the boat, who looked at him with pity, thinking the young man was crazy for talking to himself after getting lost in the desert.
— Um... Can you repeat what you said? — Lucas asked, feeling uncomfortable under the old man's understanding gaze.
— Oh, of course, young man. What are you doing in a place like this?
— I'm lost!! Don't you... — as he began to explain, relieved to have escaped death and exhausted from running through the desert, he started losing his strength.
— Hey! Hang on, I'm...
The accumulation of fatigue and lack of sleep caused the young man to faint, unable to resist.
[To be continued...]
??? — Lucas already started the story moments before going to sleep, so considering everything that happened, it was expected that he would reach his limit.
??? — Yes...
??? — Hm? What's wrong?
??? — It's nothing... I just noticed something strange.
??? — What would that be?
??? — Why does a system need settings?
[In response to the question, the settings are enhancements that the owner can acquire in the future and adjust according to their preferences]
??? — Ah, so it's to help him in the future!
??? — No, it's more like a DLC sale, where you can only have the best experience by buying the rest.
??? — ...This system tries to take advantage of everything.