My System has a Glitch

"Damn it! It's not him," Ben said as he looked down at the face of the man that had been pursuing Nod.

One of the men Ben was with stepped out from behind the tree and said,

"How could you know,you never even made sure."

"i thought it was him, they've got a similar build," Ben said.

Two more men came out and Nod looked around and sized everyone up, then he turned to Ben and asked,

"Who are you looking for, Ben?"

"Don't worry about it," Ben said. "it's none of your business, I've just got some one to take care of."

"Take care of?"

One of the men leaned into Ben and whispered something in his ear, the look on Ben's face turned fierce and he shoved the man away.

Nod could guess a few things, the man had probably told Ben to steal his time but Ben didn't entertain the idea, which was great news for him.

Still he felt uneasy, there was a strangeness lingered in the air as Ben seemed a bit different than he had remembered but still he tried to remind himself that he really didn't know him that well to begin with.

"Looks like you've found some capable friends Ben," Nod said and as he got up Ben waved it off with a chuckle.

"Not friends, just people eager to survive that's all, we're all just better off together."

"Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Well I better be going, my sister's waiting for me."

"Now wait a moment, why were those guys after you?"

"Time, what else?"

"Yeah," Ben nodded along. "I heard them talking about a loot."

"A loot? Just how long have you been watching?"

"Long enough to know,"

"Well you could have at least helped out a lot sooner, perhaps before I was grazed."

Nod whips off the blood on the side of his face where the bullet had grazed him.

"Just watch your back out there," Ben said.

"Yeah."

Nod felt a bit worried turning his back to them. He could sense something was off with Ben, he seemed sharp and focussed like a man on a mission and they were moments Nod felt like a stranger in his presence.

Nod took off running when he had a good distance between them, he glanced back and saw the men stumping on the unconscious man.

"They'll strip him for parts."

Nod felt the sting on his face where the bullet had grazed him.

"Well, it's not like I pity him or anything."

*****

Ingrid was in a world of trouble, the crazed man had his hands wrapped around her but she couldn't do a thing as she had her hands on the vine.

They had already slipped a bit down, now she was doing her best to keep them from falling off.

"You see! I knew you wouldn't let go," the man said. "All you lovely girls are so strong."

[STEAL -20]

'What's this!? He's stealing my time!'

[STEAL -20]

[STEAL -20]

[STEAL -20]

They crashed into the rope bridge and she let go of the vine and grabbed hold of the ropes but the crazed little man didn't even bother letting go of her.

"See! I knew you could do it! I believe in you silly!"

"What the hell is this thing!"

The man laughed and she swung her head back and struck him on the nose. The man screamed and tightened his grip on her.

[STEAL -20]

[STEAL -20]

He pressed his head against the side of her face so she wouldn't attack him again.

"Isn't it quite romantic? Hmmm? Hanging on for dear life, I find it quite romantic, it's just you and i….. "

[STEAL -20]

"You son of a bitch!"

The man laughed and began rubbing his head on her face in a twisted affectionate way.

'Damn it,' Ingrid bit her lip and a trail of blood trickled down her chin.

[STEAL -20]

She didn't know whether to pull both of them up on the ladder or just keep hanging on to it, he would have to leave at some point, hopefully before her grip slips.

"You bloody thief, I'm gonna kill you."

He laughed and sunk his black teeth into her neck. She screamed and tried to shake him off but all that did was make him laugh harder.

'Alright let's see how funny you find this?'

Ingrid let go of the rope but only on her right hand, she still held on tightly with her left then suddenly the man panicked as he saw her fingers coming directly at his eyes.

She pressed her fingers into his eyes and he screamed and tried to fight her off. He took his hand off her to cover his eyes but his short legs were still wrapped around her waist.

But not for long as she reached down and unhooked his legs from each other and sent him falling down towards the pool of snakes.

The man screamed as he fell then a blue light shot out of his back and a kite flew out. The kite had a sting at its end tethered to the man, it pulled him up.

This was one of the special tools provided for this game, it could be in the form of a kite or a paper airplane but it was meant for quick getaways and not for long distances.

The kite pulled him up and he directed it with his intent and landed on the same rope bridge Ingrid was struggling to get on.

*****

Two men stood over the unconscious William.

[Poison Progression: 20%]

The poison had spread quite far and now black veins lined Williams face.

"Hey, looks like he doesn't have any special abilities," the one with his hand on William said.

"Doesn't matter, just take everything, clean house," the one who kept watch said.

"But if we take everything, he's gonna blow up, blood will be all over us then it'll be hard to camouflage."

"True, leave him ten seconds then, that'll be like a head start for us to get clear of the blast."

Alright, that's good. The other guy said then he activated his STEAL(-) and Williams time began counting down so fast he was losing tens of minutes in mere seconds.

[GUIDE Suggests]

[ SpeCial ABILITY : NONE(GliTcH) ]

[ACTIVATE!!! ]

"What the hell?"

The system notice threw the man for a loop then the other man asked.

"What's the problem?"

"I don't know, I thought he didn't have a special ability."

"Yeah, does he?"

"I'm not sure."

[ (-) STEAL Counter - 3hrs]

"What!" The man screamed. "Three hours in an instant? But how? He's unconscious!"

"What's going on!? Tell me damn it!"

"My time he's stealing it!"

"What are you talking about? he's practically dead!"

The guy tried to pull back his hand but he couldn't.

"I'm stuck, I'm stuck," he cried.

"What!?"

"He's killing me."

The other guy tried to pull him away but suddenly what looked like a spark of electricity shot out William and struck them both. It didn't hurt them all it did was leave them a system notice.

[-6hrs] [-6hrs]

"No!" The other guy said. "What the hell is this?

He tried to pull his hand off his friend. And lucky enough he could and immediately he took off running.

"What are you doing, don't leave me, he's gonna kill me!"

The man left him behind and when he glanced back he saw his friend explode in a spree of flesh and blood.

"I'm sorry Gunther, I'll kill him, I kill that guy for you."

********

Ingrid had managed to pull herself up on the rope bridge. Now they were standing on opposite sides, separated by fifteen feet of wood and rope.

Ingrid shuddered just looking at him, she wasn't scared of him , she was just disgusted for two reasons, one that the little ugly man had gotten the best of her and two that he had dared to touch her.

She sighed and said under her breath, "now he has to die"

"You still want to play silly?" The man said. "You know you're not good at this."

'How much time have I wasted on this thing? Just hold on William, I'll end this quickly.'

'She pulled out the sharpened bark. If I use a booster I'll have enough strength to drive this through his heart in one strike.'

She took off running and the man did so as well. She prepared for a frontal attack.

[BOOSTER ×1]

But the man responded by throwing the kite directly at her, blinding her and using it as a distraction for his real attack.