Baldervich barely had any response to what Hoku said, and if anything, just looked mildly confused. But before he could raise even a centimetre of eyebrow, Guppy excitedly pushed past him.
"What?! D-do you actually know something?" Guppy asked Hoku. Oblivious of the fact that Balvervich was now furiously gripping his head.
Hoku asked. " Where did you find it?"
Before Guppy could answer, Baldervich squeezed his head with the surface of his palm, stopping his blood flow, "Like I said, none of your goddamn business." Bladervich said.
Baldervich turned around to the box and picked up another item.
The item he picked up was yellow and cylindrical in shape with a larger expanded part at the end.
"Next up, we have blinding death"
Hoku preemptively closed his eyes this time and said, "That's... a flashlight."
"Hahaha, that's super lame! Did you come up with that yourself?"
"That's just what it's called, man," Hoku responded
"Guppy, you be the judge," Baldervich turned.
"Me?"
"That's right! Tell us who came up with the better name?"
"Well, flashlight... It's more descriptive and practical," Guppy started.
"b-but the blinding death is so punchy, I think I'd go with that for sure," he said.
Baldervich's ominous glare retreated into a smile. He embraced Guppy under his arm. "AHAHA!!! I knew you had good taste!"
Spurred on, Baldervich kept taking items out of the chest.
"Meathead Basher!" Baldervich announced.
"What? That's just a remote," Hoku said.
"Sound torture!" Baldervich announced.
"That's a megaphone!" Hoku shouted.
"Are artefacts commonplace in the academy?" Guppy asked.
"Hell if I'd know, they're household items where I come from."
"House...hold?" Guppy inquired.
"He's just blabbering nonsense," Baldervich said, rummaging through the box.
Guppy turned to Baldervich, "hey don'tcha think there's something weird about this guy? He's not like any of the other knights we've met."
"Yeah, they could actually put up a fight," Bladervich chuckled.
"Forget that. You said these artefacts were one of a kind," Guppy said.
"They are, and you're a bigger idiot if you're seriously gonna fall for his idiot ruse," Baldervich said.
"Besides, he's not got a single one of their names right," he commented.
"You're the one who named them", Guppy remarked. "Baldervich, just listen, if he really does know what they are..."
Guppy continued. "Isn't it possible he could tell us about the others. Especially the 'you know what'"
Baldervich's eyes suddenly opened wide. Without any warning, He slammed his forearm into Guppy's chest, sending him into the side of the sled. The sound of him colliding with the wooden surface made Hoku wince.
"Don't talk about that in front of him! Are you stupid?! Baldervich screamed. "Huh!?"
Guppy slumped against the wall. He felt sharp pain stinging his back.
Baldervich bared his teeth, ready to shout again.
Hoku sighed. "I couldn't care less about any of that crap.
I'm not gonna be your little object identifier. So you can forget about that," He continued.
Baldervich paused. He scoffed and turned back around to the chest.
Guppy got up off the floor. He briefly looked up at Hoku, who turned away with a bashful smirk.
The pile of miscellaneous objects on the floor next to Baldervich was growing, and conversely, the treasure chest was becoming increasingly empty.
Baldervich peered in and picked up another item.
"This one's called the Mind Invader."
"Hm?" Hoku stared at the object "That's-"
"That's..."
"Actually. What the hell is that?"
"You don't know?" Guppy asked curiously, limping to Baldervich's side.
"Guess we got ourselves a winner!" Baldervich proclaimed.
"Makes sense that this is our deadliest artefact."
"Alright, Guppy! Get to work!" He tossed the device to Guppy.
Guppy caught the device, whispering, "Careful."
He looked at Hoku and then started to move towards him.
"N- now that I see it up close, it does look kind of familiar," Hoku said. "Maybe you could tell me what it does; it might jog my memory,"
Guppy subtly looked at Baldervich for approval.
"Go ahead. It won't matter in the long run," Baldervich's voice took on a slightly deeper tone.
"Well, the thing is you knights got some kind of thingy in at the back of your head"
"I-I don't really know what it is, but-"
"It's worth a hell of a lot!" Baldervich interrupted.
"Hold on now, I don't have any kind of thing in my head," Hoku said.
"Well, it worked every other time we did it," Guppy murmured.
"He's just trying to trick us," Baldervich commented.
Hoku ducked his head low and whispered, "System, do you know what they're talking about?"
[...]
"System?"
[User Hoku, this is a severe breach of GAngle technology. I assure you that these criminals will be punished]
"What is it?" Hoku asked earnestly.
System didn't answer.
Hoku raised his head and said. "Ok, fine, if I give you what you want, you'll let me go?"
"I'm serious here. I don't have anything else, so what's the point of keeping me prisoner?"
Baldervich chuckled, "Sure, kid, we'll let you go"
The other scavengers behind him didn't look surprised upon hearing this, only Guppy.
"Really?" Hoku asked.
Guppy looked at Bladevich, who furrowed his eyebrows at him, he looked like he wanted to say something.
"We'll let you go on one condition."
Hoku waited for elaboration.
"You have to say something."
"You have to say that the king should choke on his next meal."
"T-that easy, huh?" Hoku gulped.
"Sure, kid."
"And you'll let me go?" Hoku asked.
[Warning Upon Completing This Action A Penalty Will Be Issued]
"What?!"
Baldervich gave a look of suspicion.
Hoku's voice lowered in volume. "Ok, I'll just bare through it like before."
[This Penalty Will Result In The Immediate Shut Down Of Bodily Functions]
"What does that mean?"
[It Is Comprible To Being Reduced To A Vegetative State]
"I-I can't. Isn't there anything else I can do?" Hoku pleaded to the scavengers
"It's pointless", Guppy said, making Hoku turn to him.
He held up the device in his hands "When we use this, you'll die."
'Die... ?' Hoku's expression couldn't quite express the dread he felt.
Baldervich frowned "Gerrr! Why do you always gotta ruin the fun? Whatever, I'm tired of both of you wimps, just get it over with."
Guppy nodded and approached Hoku
"No, stay back!"
If there was any time to reveal his hands were untied and fight, it would be now.
Guppy was one problem he might be able to take him with the element of surprise, but... Hoku looked at Baldervich, who was much bigger than the both of them combined. And then all the scavengers behind him.
'I-impossible, there's no way I could beat that guy.'
'No way, no way, no way'
'Is this really the end?'
'The end, the end of what exactly?'
'What's even waiting for me out there?'
'More of this? I can't take it anymore. I did good for a while, didn't I? Everything I did back in the cave, that's something to be proud of, right?'
'It's not like I have much reason to keep going, is there?'
'What the hell was my life even about?'
I lost all my friends from high school, I screwed things up with the only girl I ever liked, and wasted time doing nothing, and now I get sent to this shitty world.
Hahahahaha!!! right god? What a cruel joke
'Damn it damn it all.'
Hoku tried to hold it back, but his eyes were watering up.
Hoku looked up to see Guppy standing in front of him, holding the device with a look of slight confliction on his face as he saw Hoku's tears.
'Don't you dare take pity on me, damn it!' Hoku thought his face scrunched in despair.
"Guppy, what's the hold up!?" Baldervich asked
Hoku looked to the floor, knowing he would be mocked and humiliated further.
"One sec, the... zentrix ion modifier is... slightly out of tune, gimme a moment" Guppy said. His back was blocking Baldervich's view of Hoku. He reached into his pocket and retrieved something.
He averted his eyes and stretched out his hand to present a worn piece of cloth to Hoku, who looked up "Here," Guppy said.
"A man should hold their head up high-"
"even in the face of death."
Hoku cynically chuckled, "Did you get that from him?" nodding behind him.
"Huh no, it's something my granddad told me."
Hoku looked at Guppy with ambivalence.
Guppy bounced his arm, beckoning Hoku to take the clothe
Hoku's eyebrows lowered "Um, I'm still tied up, remember."
Guppy's eyes went to Hoku, and he stared uncomfortably for a bit.
"Oh, right, I forgot," Guppy said.
Guppy's tone was always so earnest-sounding that Hoku couldn't tell if he was telling the truth and needed to wait for the cogs in his head to start spinning or he had actually found out and had to decide whether he should lie.
Regardless, it made Hoku lose further hope in his counterattack and the element of surprise. Despite that, he smiled and felt strangely at peace.
The burden of choice that weighed on his heart was lifted. He couldn't help but feel pathetic in his comfort. He wished he were different, someone with guts like the hero of an anime or action movie, but reality was never ideal.
Hoku thought back to how it was when he used to play sports as a kid, he understood that a person's heart or good nature didn't make you special; it wouldn't give you powers or make you stronger than anyone else.
That realisation slowly eroded his drive for anything. He felt that he needed to be special or nothing at all. And upon the inevitable realisation that he was closer to the latter, he felt like there was no point in anything. He drowned himself in stagnation and lethargy, with only the illusion of hard work tuning out the world around him. Because within this lonely universe, he was special.
Once Guppy finished wiping Hoku's face with the cloth, he returned it to his pocket.
Guppy prepared to fit the device to his head.
"It takes about an hour before the thing is fully extracted. You'll be unconscious, though most of it, you may have brief moments of vivid consciousness."
"It won't hurt-", Guppy assured.
"Have you tried it yourself?" Hoku joked grimly.
Guppy gave a slight smile and continued, "Unless this back part comes out prematurely. So try not to move too much."
Hoku gulped.
Guppy looked to the floor "Though that only happened once in the past, so don't worry, for the most part, it'll be like having a dream."
"How many times have you done this?" Hoku questioned.
"3"
Hoku grimaced.
Guppy turned around to Baldervich. "Everything's ready"
Baldervich walked forward and stretched.
"Welp, it was nice knowing you, esteemed knight."
"Fuck you."
"Hey now! Don't curse us. Curse your fellow knights for sending you here to die."
"They never cared for a weakling like you. in the end, you're just cannon fodder for them."
"Any last words?"
"Kill yourself."
"Do it", Bladevich nodded.
Guppy flicked the switch on the device.
Hoku's head flew back, and he started shaking. Before long, his face became blank and his head straightened; his nose started bleeding.
His head felt cold like a fever only a pervasive numbing feeling remained as all his senses dimmed until there was nothing left.
Hoku's mind sank deeper and deeper
Until all he saw was snow.