Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 5: Chapter 3.1: Schwartzenbadger (pt. 2)

Read chapter 5 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Chapter 3.1: Schwartzenbadger (pt. 2) Alex woke up with a groan, and pushed himself onto his elbows. He blinked through his sleepiness, able to look around and find himself still in the camp they had created. A blanket was over his body and a plate of cooked meat, cut into child-friendly strips, sat on the ground next to him. He tore into the meal like a steroid jacked badger beast. "Pierce, you're up." Alex turned towards the voice, finding the captain looking over at him from the cock-eyed camp log. Alex slurped up the meat he currently had in his mouth and nodded. "Hall patched you up. She said the wound was big, but not deep. Only worry you need to have is possible infection. We had some antibiotics in the kit though." Allie fixed him up? Oh, she was the medic after all, of course she was the one to patch his wound. Alex looked at his right thigh, seeing his trousers were cut open and a bandage now wrapped around his thigh. It looked pretty neatly done too. Professional. "I'll have to thank her later," Alex mumbled, he unceremoniously shoveled more food into his mouth quickly after. "Sure, sure." Thompson stood up and walked over to Alex who was now kneeling again. The captain dropped down to eye level, giving him a once over. "You okay Pierce? What happened last night? That badger was huge, I’m impressed you took it down." The captain pointed to the meat Alex was eating when he said the last part. So they cooked it huh? Alex should have realized, he'd never tasted anything like this before. Given they hadn't found any food yesterday and Alex had practically given it the two-face treatment already, he didn’t blame them. "It just came out of nowhere. Kind of had to, kill or be killed situation, you know? Anyway, that doesn't actually matter. I have to tell you guys, captain, I-" Alex stopped, not sure what to say exactly. Was he going to say about the system messages? They wouldn't believe him. Could he tell them he thinks they are in a computer program? That’s insane. What the hell can I say and not sound absolutely crazy? He looked at Thompson, and the man stared back at him, just waiting. Ready to listen. Maybe I am crazy though. I'm the only one who saw it right? I could literally be seeing things. Maybe the Ion gear didn't protect me completely, the radiation messed with my mind? I’m going to start seeing yellow brick roads and asking Wizards about ruby slippers next, aren’t I? He sighed, shook his head, and dropped the food back on the ground. If he was crazy, then telling everyone wouldn't hurt. They would just think the stress of the situation got to him. The blast, going Hansel and Gretel in the forest, then the badger. All of it. Or they would tie him up and keep him locked in one of the tents for the rest of his life, Allie feeding him tranquilizers like a damn magic baby-doll-Alex, coming to retailers this holiday season. If he wasn't crazy though and he didn't tell them, then that could mess up everything. Whatever plan this program had, what they were supposed to do. The more information everyone had, the better. He definitely had to tell them. "Listen Pierce, it's okay if you-" "We are in a program!" There, he said it, no going back now. Lunatic or not, he was going to tell his team what he saw, and what he thought just in case it could save their lives. "What?" "I saw a screen. During the blast, before we came here. And then again, right after killing the badger. It was a panel, gold and blue, saying welcome to something or other. The first time at least. The second said 'you have killed a forest badger, plus fifty experience'." Alex sucked in a breath, trying to get through everything before the captain could cut him off. Before he could call for a straight jacket from Allie. "I think its a program message. A message from the computer or whatever. So I think we are like, in a system of some sort. Like that really old movie with the green screens, and the machines. The guy dodged bullets and stuff." The capt