Regress

Vero woke up in an unfamiliar space, but he felt like something sharp cut through his entire body this time. It pierces through his entire skin, making Vero scream out in pain.

"AGHGHGHG"

His body sprang off the pill-shaped pod in an unnatural motion. Squirming on the floor with how much pain he's taken.

[Welcome back, Subject.]

"Haha... ha, why am I here.?"

[The subject was brought back here from the effects of the Chronus project.]

"What even is that?"

Vero was more confused than panicked at this point. He thought he was a dead man once he saw that that ruin tracker's mouth swallowing him. Even now, he could feel its teeth sinking into his skin, ripping it apart like a hot knife through butter.

[Chronus project is a project created by our best team of scientists. Their goal is to create a point in time where you can return at any time. Predicting the future by being in the future with 99.99% accuracy.]

Vero is not even familiar with the concept of normal food, let alone a time-traveling method.

"I don't know what you mean."

Vero asks the A.I. again, thinking that this is another sick joke from it. Another way of torturing him and getting amusement out of him.

[Is the subject familiar with the concept of time?]

"No."

[To put it simply, if you eat something and you want to eat it again, you can activate the Chonus effect to go back and eat it again.]

"What!? Can you do that!?!!?"

This time, Vero is amazed by the promise of a meal that he could eat anytime. He could buy a nutrient pack and eat it forever. But sadly, Vero thinks that this is too good to be true and the A.I. confirms it.

[However, the subject can't keep doing that forever. Every time you go back to that point in time, you will use up a fixed amount of energy from this pool.]

A blue line directs him to a bright blue glass container. This glass container is as big as a truck. Inside is a blue liquid that squirms around like it's a living being.

[This is a Fluoas tank containing Fluoas liquid, the most valuable substance known to mankind. This liquid can be harvested from the brain of the monster dubbed "Ruin Tracker" by this era. This substance is required for the Chonus program to be activated.]

"A ruin tracker? What's that? "

A slum kid that never ventures out into the wasteland has no education, and no parents to tell them a story about a scary monster. Vero doesn't know what a ruin tracker is.

[... It appears that the subject lacks knowledge].

"...." Although Vero can't see the A.I.'s face, he can feel that it's mocking him through its metallic voice.

[Well, for your information, a ruin tracker is a living organism comprised of biomass and fluoas. Its diet consists of a metallic substance and any kind of biomass. A ruin tracker is a six-legged creature that uses four of its main limbs for travel and two for grabbing. They also appear in different sizes, and forms, but the most common type of ruin tracker is scouts. The ruin tracker scout is mostly white in color, with some variants having a red stripe. They average around 4 meters in length and 2 meters wide. Its main hunting abilities are its powerful beak moth and its monstrous tenacity. If you are not trained and prepared, we do not advise engaging with this creature.]

Vero can't handle the information dump. The only thing he got from this is that it's a monster who can chew him up easily.

"Can't you sum it up for me?"

[.... It's a big white monster that can eat you at any time. How's that sound?]

"OK, that's the same as what I got from your explanation, but why would you use the Chronus thing on me if it's so valuable?"

[We deem you acceptable to carry out our mission.]

"You're not going to torture me, right? " Vero got a bad feeling about his.

[Negative. We would like to task you with exploring the world and killing ruin trackers.]

"Hah... But why me? " He sighs in relief.

This puzzles Vero even more than before. He's just a slum boy with little to no experience killing monsters in the wasteland. Why would the A.I? select him to do it? More questions seem to pop up in his head every minute that passes. The A.I. went silent for that duration and resumed without an answer.

"Anyway, since the incident earlier, we would like to apologize. Please accept this gift. "

Shorty, the robot, came in with a bar of brown substance. Vero was wary of this item, but his curiosity got the best of him and he picked it up.

[This is a chocolate nutrient pack. Luxury in the wasteland In this era]

"A what!?"

Vero always heard about these chocolate things from the gossip going around. This thing is a sort of luxury item enjoyed by the most wealthy inner wall people. One bar could get him a whole year's worth of cheap nutrient packs. Now that the luxury item is in his hand, he could do anything with it.

[We advise you to eat it while its nutritional value is still preserved.]

Vero looks at the brown bear that has been popped out of the package by the robot. He swallows his saliva and grabs the bar and bites into it. Instantly, the chocolate aroma flushes his mouth, making his tongue tingle with excitement.

Upon eating more of it, Vero could feel some milk inside. Comparing it to the nutrient bar in the slum is a disgrace for this old-world nutrient bar.

[Is it that good?] The A.I. question came out of the blue.

"Yes, it's not like anything I've eaten before. The most I've tasted is a cheap nutrient pack that tasted like dirt and a narcotic that's a little sweet."

[That must have been pretty rough.]

"Yeah..." For some reason, the metallic voice sounds a little more human.