Tainted Sewage - 9

I took the shortest route to the sewage entrance while trying to activate the new skill I've just got. Sometimes I stop my feet and concentrate on activating the said skill,『Enhance Sense』.

I don't know how but somehow I menage in activating the skill. The first sense enhance successfully was my vision, with it I can see further and clearer than I normally could. The only weakness is, I need to focus on enhancing my eyes never to lose focus for minuscule of seconds. And the longest I can hold on was 5 second at best.

The next thing I want to enhance is my sense of hearing. By using the experience I've gained, I focus my attention on hearing the conversation between two NPCs tens meter away from where I stand. It proves to be more difficult than enhancing my vision. I enhance my vision by trying to read words that I can barely see and then it just happens, like an old camera with an old zoom feature.

I fixed my focus on hearing what they said, I even hold my breath to boost my focus. To my surprise, I hear nothing, none, I was deaf and almost lose my balance even though I standstill with perfect footing. My vision went dark for a moment and then I hear a lot of sounds from everywhere overlapping which I can't even make sense of.

With all the problems shows up, I let go of everything. Consciously hoping it will resolve my current predicament. And then an explosive sound of buzzing replacing the overlapping sounds I have heard. It was like I put my ears beside a propeller machine.

After my success but failed experiment I assume there is a need for adjustment, from the input to the output. Previously I put too much focus on enhancing my hearing that I lose my vision and possibly all my other senses as well.

Like they said; failure is delay not defeat. Failure is a success in progress. No matter what, just don't give up on what you were doing. You'll succeed eventually.

This time I don't stop my feet and keep walking while putting my concentration on the sound I'll bypass at some point. From the sound of quarreling to sizzling sound of grill meat from food stall at the side of the road.

Unknowingly I already arrive at the gate and yet to master the way to enhance my hearing perfectly. Passing the crowded gate I see fewer people and hear fewer noises. The farther I am from the gate, the clearer my hearing becomes.

Based on the clarity of the sounds I've heard, I wrap it up as small success. By stress testing it, I can barely pass the 5-second mark. I felt like enhancing my vision was easier than enhancing my sense of hearing.

How many senses do we have again?

If I recall correctly by some definition there should be nine human senses: vision (sight), audition (hearing), olfaction (smell), gustation (taste), tactition (touch), thermoception (heat, cold), nociception (pain), equilibrioception (balance, gravity), proprioception (body awareness). Excluding Extrasensory Perception of the ESPers and the powers of the supers.

While jogging towards the sewage entrance I contemplate which sense should I enhance next. If I follow it by order the next one should be the sense of smell and I'm not far from the underground sewage system entrance.

Slowing down my step, I began to sniff the air, here and there. Astoundingly, I can only smell the grass and mud and some animal waste. Moving on, I don't stop my act of sniffing around. Each step I take I would sniff at least three times before taking another step forward. The dominant scent I perceived was still the green and blue-grasses, they had their own personal odor. Some grass had a soothing smell while some had distinguished bad smell of dirty wet cloth.

No matter how hard I put my effort into inhaling the air which contains the preferred (sewage) scent. It still gave no results yet. Not even a whiff of the unexplainable smell of the sewage thick liquid like tar.

Then… the savage smell punches me on my olfactory receptors. The punches felt like it was delivered by a professional fighter and it caught me unprepared; making my stomach churn upside down forcing me to throw up but nothing came out. Then again, I realize that I am in the virtual world. My reality getting blurred the longer I stay in this too realistic of world, it felt like I have two different life and reality altogether.

The odor that was carried by the wind assault me relentlessly, until the wind changes its direction. The unbearable smell finally stops until the wind change direction.

Instantaneously an idea struck me, what if I combine every sense I can and with the experience, I've got on my hands I think I could probably pull it off.

After I arrive at the stairs to sewage entrance I still can't pull it off as I thought. Yet when I want to stop everything became clear, I feel omniscient of the sort. I know everything around me absolutely in 360 degrees.

As soon as that absoluteness feeling enter my body's it left me in a blink of an eye. Afterward, my visions turn hazy and my ears are ringing. I can hardly breathe as well and each air I inhale feels like swimming in a muddy swamp while my whole body feels hot inside and extremely cold outside. The ground and the sky feels flipped over and over I felt like in a boat in the middle of the ocean in the mids of storm ready to capsize my boat at any moment. Not all of that is the end, the pain that assaulting every inch of my being was a first for me. In all that mids of chaos, I'm collected like I always am and thinking will death truly come in its true essence here in this virtual world.

『Anomaly detected! Erratic brainwaves detected… emergency protocol activated… notifying the closest emergency department... 』

I open my eyes because of the sudden feeling of darkness and falling of the cliff brought a sudden jolt of awareness to my body. I look around and sat on my bed while thinking 'What the hell just happened?' taking a breath out I recalled the horrible experience I've just had, the surreal feelings… and there is System warning or something before I got pulled out of the game.

"Boom!"

A loud crashing sound was coming from the back of the house. Alerting me and probably the surrounding people as well. Getting on my feet I tried to stand and "Proaam!" another breaking sound strikes but this is from the backyard wooden door.

Opening my door, a striking white and red painted Exosuit signifying as a medic stands in front of me. With its 2.4 meter height dwarfed me by almost one meter.

"Mr. Oura I've come from the emergency warning of your headgear. Please stand still for a second, I'll do the minor scanning on your health."

The suit began spraying my body with laser all around for its scanning purpose. While I'm still bathed by the harmless laser a hurried footstep comes from the second floor.

Eve arms herself with a penetrating laser gun and aims it to the intruder. Realizing it was a medic Exos she put her weapon down but still ready to aim and shoot if somethings happen. By the Alliance (galactic) law a medic Exos can't be shoot or harm in any way nor can they harm others. So the law protects and binds them at the same time. And we all know that law can't protect us all the time, mostly the crime happened even if they knew they're bound by the law but what is the use of that for the victim who already met death?

That's why we need to be wary and conscious about what happens in our surroundings.

Still, I know what she had in her mind. No matter what, the Exos far outclassed a person's capability, even armless they can still kill a person easily with their strength.

"No anomalies are detected, except for build-up fatigue. Sir, you should take a rest and not diving into the game too soon or did you want me to call for transportation to the nearest hospital?"

"No thanks, I'm good."

"Sir, in case of something undetected by my scanning system had occurred you may need to get yourself check into the hospital. Then my mission here is complete. Have a nice day and have a good rest, sir."

The man then leaves through the door he broke in not saying anything to Eve who still holds a weapon in her arms. After he's outside he simply flies away to his base.

"What just happened, brother?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but it happens while I play the game and it triggers an emergency protocol or some sort. I know that the company had insurance for an emergency if something happens to their customer but this is not what I expect from their free emergency arrangement."

Now I get it why they ask for 10K after the health insurance expired in two months.

"Ohh… I thought it was an intruder or something. So are you okay?"

"I'm okay, still he broke our backdoor into pieces. Right, I heard that one headgear can store to 3 different accounts at the same time did you want to try playing it? It should be good for a change of pace, maybe if you like it we can have another headgear soon."

"Maybe later."

We continue our chat in the living room with a cup of tea.

And, I forgot to give Rudy a heads up.