***********************

The silence between the system and Kurt made it seem to him as if the system was, in a way, laughing at him.

But when the system's next words appeared in the holographic window in front of Kurt, accompanied by the already extremely familiar, somewhat robotic voice, Kurt was even surprised by the apparent empathy that the no longer game-like system seemed to possess.

[I CANNOT HELP YOU MUCH MORE THAN I HAVE ALREADY HELPED YOU, OR THEY MAY END UP DETECTING ME HERE]

[BUT I WILL WARN YOU IF YOU ARE REACHING THE MAXIMUM USAGE TIME OF THE SKILL]

Kurt furrowed an eyebrow, perplexed.

'How do you know I'm going to use the skill, regardless of what you're telling me?'

At that moment, the system actually laughed at Kurt.

A somewhat computerized, almost mechanical, emotionless sound.

But Kurt felt like there was some emotion there.

As if the system REALLY found what he had just said funny.