It was another dimly lit, eternally night kind of day in Hueco Mundo.
No sun. No clouds. No clocks.
Just endless sand dunes and gut-wrenching roars in the distance.
I was lying on my side, half-buried in sand after yesterday's failed race.
Aizen the Doggo — my loyal 3-meter-tall dog-shaped Hollow pet — was busy digging furiously near a random boulder.
"GURRUH…?"
(Translation: What you got there, mutt?)
Aizen pulled out something strange.
A glowing, eerie white bone, bigger than his head, humming with an unnatural light.
"Gufufufufu."
(Translation: Found treasure, boss!)
Not that he could actually talk, but I could tell by the stupid wag of his tail.
I stood up, dusted myself off, and lumbered over.
As I reached for the bone, it suddenly shot a burst of light into the sky.
"GUOOOOOOOHH!!"
(Translation: WHAT THE HELL, DOG?!)
The light attracted attention.
Very bad attention.
Within seconds, several Hollows — big, nasty ones — started peeking out of the dunes.
Eyes glinting.
Saliva dripping.
One Adjuchas, with long insectoid arms, growled.
"Give us the treasure, idiot Gillian!"
"GURAAAAAH!"
(Translation: Finders keepers!)
Without thinking — like always — I grabbed the glowing bone and started sprinting.
Well, as much as a 20-meter-tall skeleton can sprint.
Aizen barked and ran beside me.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: +400 EP for 'Looted Mysterious Glowing Bone']
The chase began.
I stomped through the sands, Hollows roaring behind me.
One tried to blast me with a Cero — it missed and hit a dune, which collapsed on another Hollow.
I tripped over a random buried skull, faceplanting into the sand, the bone still clutched in my massive hand.
"GUOOOH…"
(Translation: I'm gonna die, huh.)
The pursuing Hollows surrounded me.
Then, the bone glowed even brighter — and exploded.
Not a huge explosion, just a harmless flash of light.
Everyone stopped.
Awkward silence.
Then one of the Adjuchas muttered.
"That… was it?"
Another one scratched their mask.
"Why were we chasing this idiot again?"
And like that, one by one, they lost interest and left.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: +580 EP for 'Survive Glowing Bone Massacre Potential By Being Too Stupid To Die']
I lay there in the sand.
Aizen licked my faceplate.
[CURRENT EP: 24,840 / 1,000,000]
"GUOOOOH."
(Translation: Treasure hunt successful?)
Aizen barked twice.
Another day survived. Another dumb story added to Hueco Mundo's legends.