Propagate: A survival litrpg #46th | Apnea - Read Propagate: A survival litrpg 46th

46th | Apnea

Day 104

"Y'all are already packing up the camp?" I hear a voice from my left. I was steeped over the fire, scattering the ash into the grass and whittling down the larger chunks with my hands. I swiped off the final bits of charcoal and dug the glowing fire source out of the black and white dust.

"Ah, Oldren, nice of you to join us." Focusing on the fire as I was, I didn't turn to look at him. Though, I'd be lying if I said that wasn't the only reason. I'm surprised he didn't sneak back in while we were asleep. Guess he slept in a tre- oh wait he doesn't need to sleep, nevermind.

He walked to the center of camp, seemingly with the intent to help. However, he stood there helplessly floundering as he looked for something to do. I chuckled. "Yeah… you're a little late."

"We're just about finished, right Lily?"

"Yep!" She said after slinging the noticeably upgraded green backpack over her shoulders. Despite the amount of stuff packed inside, she didn't sway at all from the weight, nor show any signs of strain at all. I swallow my jealousy and turn back to Oldren.

"Do either of you know where Gnosis is?" Lily nodded, then tilted her head upward thoughtfully. "Kinda? I know his general area." I shrugged. "Well, I can track him anyways." She reached into the green bag and pulled out a dark sack and tossed it to me. I stuffed the glowing orange triangular prism into it and tossed it back to her.

She positioned the backpack so it would fall right in. She promptly closed the flap, turned, and began walking off. I waited a second before following her, Oldren doing the same.

As we walked, Oldren ran up beside me and passed a stiff dark blue mesh in the shape of a shirt. "Here. I cut off the long sleeves. I plan on just fusing them with the gauntlets and greaves for ease of use."

"Oh, yeah, I was gonna ask. What are you doing with my armor?"

He nodded thoughtfully. "When we got hold of your body, blood kept spilling out of the openings in the armor. It was pretty grotesque, actually. Since I hadn't developed a way to easily remove it, we had to literally tear it off you piece by piece. It got pretty much destroyed after that. Besides, I realized that I needed to do some renovations."

"What are you planning on doing?"

"This upgrade will focus on ease of use. Easy fitting, manual and solo removal, and enchantments built to last. I'll focus less on protection enchantments, and more on material regeneration and durability."

"Sweet. When do you think it'll be ready?"

"No clue. But I have the greaves ready whenever you want them."

I looked down at my bare feet sinking into the grass.

"... Now please."

About three miles of walking later, I began having questions. "Good lord, how far did he go?"

"This is actually our original path, we're retracing our steps right now. I believe it was another mile or so before Gnosis split off from us." Lily explained.

"Wow."

"Don't think badly of him for it. He did carry you the whole way after all. I'm guessing his skills are super stamina intensive, cause we haven't heard a peep from him in chat since he broke off."

"I see… Oh yeah, Oldren, have you gotten any good stuff from your gacha?" He was sporting a professionally neutral face. Unfortunately for him, he'll never do it as well as I do. "I did! I got a bunch of cool stuff, nothing in high volume though." He nodded.

".. Like what?" Come on man, give me the deets!

"Well! I got this chunk of craggly lookin fools gold type rock infused with some sort of temporal interference. Time gets all wonky near it. Another one was this marbled white hedron that felt like nothing, and was as light as air. Then I got this small pile of Dragon Silt, and I have absolutely no clue what it is, where it comes from, and what it could even be used for, but the name is cool! And! And, I got this big bucket of metal shavings that stick together magnetically, but when they make contact with anything other than themselves or the plastic bucket, they lose their pull! And there was another one-"

I listened to his rambling as we walked further down the natural pathway. Huge slabs of rock rose up from around the forest, propped up by huge rolling hills and tall mossy patches that my feet would sink almost a foot into. Trees reminiscent of pine conservatively dotted the landscape, thriving thanks to the local nutrient rich, moist, and fluffy dirt that my greaves are currently sinking into.

I found Oldren's ramblings actually quite interesting, after all, I almost took on a production class in the beginning. I let my mind sink into the sounds of nature, birds chirping, bugs singing, plants singing, dirt singing. Okay, what the hell?

Weird nature aside, having both halves of my intelligence focus on something besides fighting or immediate survival did wonders for my mental health. My focus unnarrowed, I lost track of time, and I began walking on autopilot. I started slipping on the loose dirt and tripping on some stuck up roots as reward for my lapse in attention.

All such minor things, but in the moment, I felt wonderfully human. We soon stopped, Lily inspecting a gap in the tree line. "Hey Max? Can I get a second opinion?" I walked over to her and triggered [Seeking]. Lots of smaller details that I had already perceived, began piecing together a story in my mind.

I shook my head left and right, collecting all the data in the vicinity. "Hmmm. Yeah, this totally looks like a pathway. You didn't see where he walked off when he split from you two?"

"No. He just kinda stood here for a while after we left."

I waved off an annoying bug and started walking through the gate made by the two thin trees. "I see." I replied distractedly. This part of the forest was covered in red and brown leaves mottling the dirt, a stark contrast to the otherwise lively forest.

The trees were white and thin, with naked finger length branches extending liberally from the trunks. Despite the spread of the tree and their unobtrusive shape, they still managed to filter out much of the light of the sun, now dimming behind a band of clouds.

The bird song grew dimmer, while the incessant buzzing of something reminiscent of a cicada began droning ear piercingly loud. "Gnosis took a nap in a place like this?" I glanced at Lily questioningly. She shared my expression and just shrugged in response.

"I'm sure he went further in than this. This section of trees could be a barrier between the regular forest and a more alien biome." Oldren piped up.

"You know something we don't?" I asked, more accusatory than I intended.

"Not really," He shrugged. "Just an educated guess." Me and Lily exchanged a look, but otherwise continued walking forward. Twenty minutes later, I got bored with the endless expanse. "Let's speed up." I broke off into a run, Lily and Oldren following immediately.

Static electricity traced between my neck hairs as energy started dancing between the land and the sky. I could sense the clouds darkening with thundering potential. Sensing a complete lack of any rain or ice building in the thunder head, I neglected to mention it to my companions.

Minutes later and lightning cracked in the clouds. Despite the lack of visual stimulus, the power of the sky far above instilled me with a feeling of awe. Although nature is a source of danger, and shouldn't be underestimated, that doesn't detract from its beauty in the slightest.

I shook my head quickly. How in the world do I have a tier four focus skill, yet still posses the attention span of a gnat? Guess the system can't fix everything, aye?

I stiffened mid sprint as I suddenly gained an eerie feeling from the distance. I stopped my endless distracting thoughts and focused fully on the forested expanse beyond. The strange feeling was, at this point, not really that strange.

This world is already well known for being dangerous. Detecting something off was in and of itself, not all that odd. While it required the appropriate reaction, it wasn't something to start screaming about.

Eventually, we came across an abrupt change in the biome. The copse of trees transformed into a dense blanket of dark oak that tangled into each other. In sections, they were so close that the pathway became completely sealed off, forming a tunnel of smooth wood.

I stopped in place, producing a quiet crunch. I looked down, to see that the lawn was covered in millions of blades of grass, stuck upwards like nails and barely shivering in the wind. I lifted my armored foot upwards, revealing the dust and shards of a clump of verdant spikes.

I knelt down and snapped off one of the grasses like ice, and tested it against my skin. After a bit of sawing, it made a small incision, not enough to draw blood, but plenty to draw my suspicion. "The hell? These blades of grass are… literally blades. They're sharp." I iterated.

Oldren transformed his hand into metal and tested the tips of the grass. "Huh. You're right." Can he feel through his metal? "This whole slice of forest is weird." Lily said.

"But why?" Oldren asked, more to himself than to anyone else. The question left open, Lily answered with her own thoughts. "I think the change between the white trees and these are way too drastic. Fast?" She tested for the right word.

"Yeah." I agreed. "The change between biomes tends to be pretty subtle. Of course, I've seen relatively short changes, but nothing as 'drastic' as this." I gave Lily a meaningful look. She smiled. Oldren however was not amused.

"So what?" He asked. "Why does it matter?"

"It's suspicious." I said. "I imagine Gnosis is in there somewhere. Those facts combined with this weird feeling I have, I'm thinking there's something going on here."

"You think it has something to do with the thunderstorm?"

"Maybe" I said thoughtfully. I doubted it internally, though I didn't say anything.

"Whether it's weird or not, we still have to go in. Well, me and Lily."

"Yes, but if we can discern any oddities before we go in, it could- wait what do you mean 'you and Lily' I'm obviously going too."

"So," Lily clasped the palms of her hands together. "About that." She moved them downward, towards me. "Uh uh." I dismissed immediately. "You guys are not sidelining me."

Oldren and Lily shared a look. "Oh fuck off, don't do that. Look it's obvious what you're going for here, but I will not stand for it. Besides, you physically can not stop me if you wanted to. Enough of this, let's get moving."

I started walking past them into the strange forest. I felt heat all around me as eyes stared at me, little glimmers of energy pierced through the veil of shadows. Some kind of stealth? That'll be interesting too- wait, WHAT THE HELL?

I suddenly felt something hard clamp onto my wrists, keeping them both stationary and latched together. A rough force dragged me from behind and slammed me into a tree. "Ugh!" Before I could even process what was happening, a large metal horseshoe slammed into my neck, pinning me to the tree behind me and pressing painfully against my throat.

When I shook off the whiplash, I saw Lily and Oldren staring down at me, both looking guilty. "What the FUCK are you doing!!!" I tried desperately to shatter the cuffs, but felt the strength leave my arms as I did. I bucked in the metal embrace as I tried to dislodge it, but was unable to.

"The fact you can't break out of those cuffs is reason enough." Oldren answered my unasked question. I glared at both of them hatefully, my strength actively being sapped from my arms as I continued to writhe in place.

While the weakening enchantment certainly isn't helping, he might have a point. "Get this off me! Aren't we supposed to be a team? WHY are you doing this???"

This time, Lily spoke. "Relax, Max. We don't know the ram.. Ra- whats the word?"

"Ramifications." I said. She coughed, embarrassed. "Yes.. We don't know the ramifications of your healing process. What if we meet an unexpected foe and you collapse mid fight? We won't be able to get you out in one piece, if at all!"

"Look," Oldren said. "It'll be quick. In and out, twenty minute adventure." He smiled reassuringly. I glared wrathfully, wiping the smile off his face like a windshield wiper.

"Just uh.. Stay put, okay?" I pushed against the cuffs and violently lashed in place, ending with a heavy bang of my head on the tree behind me. Oldren quickly shuffled away and urged Lily to follow.

"...!!! OLDRENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed in frustration once they stepped into the strange biome. I knew they heard me, but they didn't even react. I slumped in place, enraged and humiliated.

The white driver spun extremely fast, but once it hit around 80% of it's max speed, that disconcerting grinding feeling began to tear away. Before I could react, I felt a horrible pain in my gut. Something warm erupted from my throat and poured from my eyes and ears.

I coughed and sputtered the blood onto the grass, the maneuver made more painful by the metal pushing into my neck. It took multiple minutes to regain my breath. I slumped against the tree, defeated.

Humiliated by the people I trusted.

Fitting.

The feeling of embarrassment hurts. The pain of my body is mostly secondary, but more than anything? This sense of betrayal hurts more than anything else.

"I trusted you.." I muttered, looking down like a dog in the rain.

Perhaps I'm being overdramatic.

Perhaps not…

A suspicion bloomed into possibility in my mind.

Anything could have happened in those 'Alleged' three weeks. What if they've been brainwashed by some monster? Or a person? What if it's only been a few days, or years? Could everything have been a lie? Or… have they been lying from the start? Was Lily's seeming affection for me a way to lower my guard? Have they been planning this since the beginning?! Those fuckers! To do this after everything!!! All the time we spent together, it was all in act! I was a fool! Can I truly trust no one? How many times must this happen to me? Just what divine lesson are you trying to teach me, God! Why-

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Oh calm down, it's not that serious.

They're just worried for you. This whole act is just a show of how much they care. Isn't it heart warming?

So I should thank them for stapling me to a tree!?!?!

No. I'm saying you shouldn't jump to conclusions. Not everyone is out to get you man, you've cultivated so much trust over the weeks. Don't tell me that was all for nothing!

Can you really look at this and tell me there isn't something wrong here?

What else could they do? Use drugs to knock you out? I think that's arguably worse! And don't try and delude yourself into thinking talking would work, cause it wouldn't. We are a stubborn, prideful bastard. We would have sauntered in there, and possibly gotten ourselves killed.

We are our own master. It's not their place to take command of my life like this. Gah, I hate this feeling of weakness!

I don't mind it too much. Reminds me of how we used to be. Passive, kind, friendly-

Incapable, ignorant, a blight on our fellow man. We were completely worthless. Nothing! And now, we are something! How glorious! And yet, they've humiliated me like this… The people I put my trust in.

It hurts, you know?

…I do. I understand, but I trust them all the same. Won't you keep your faith in them?

We've forgotten the lessons from our past. By raising these expectations, imagine the heart break when they fall flat!

And imagine the euphoria when they hold strong for years to come?

I'm afraid too. But we need to be their pillar. We will be the first brick. Seeing our initiation, they will pile theirs on top, into an unbreakable, incorrigible wall.

Wouldn't you like to see it?

I'm afraid to fail. We could hide away back home, bury the shame and embarrassment. Here, every mistake puts our lives on the line. I just want us to survive.

I know.

Don't give up on them just yet.

…Okay,

Well that was weird.

Fifteen minutes passed. Nothing, silence. I sat restrained in my metal prison, cool as a cucumber while mentally going over my thoughts on the current matter. The odd angel-devil thought process was a strange ability I hadn't known I possessed until now.

I hadn't realized I could effectively talk to myself.. For real. The same person, playing two different roles. It's quite a bizarre experience, but an excellent way to temper my emotions. One side plays the aggressive, suspicious, survival side. While the other plays the moral, logical, and peaceful side.

Essentially, a war between my past and present self. Of course, my personality can't be compressed into those few words, and really, barely any of this makes a lick of sense. But I like this discovery. That's the long and short of it.

It.. feels like I can be more honest with myself, somehow.

One constant remains now, removing my restraints. Just because I understand why they did it, doesn't mean I agree with it. This arrangement leaves me vulnerable to local monsters, something I doubt they put much thought into.

Though I'm sure all three of us assumed they would be back by now. I suppose that's another reason; needing to get into the proper position for a rescue mission which, let's be real, would be pretty funny if I'd have to rush in after them, thus completely invalidating their entire plan.

Of course, I hope that's not the case. Funny or not, I'm really not in my best condition. Although the ol stat block is fine, I believe it has something to do with 'statistical dissonance'. Sounds pretty cool, huh? I thought about it before, the difference between stats and real life.

Thanks to SD I'm not in tiptop shape right now. Though, if they run into any trouble I'm sure they'll text me over the Clan Concord.

Speaking of the concord, I wonder if Lily's upgrade has gone through yet?

As I pulled up the large starry board, I surfed through all the menus and settings looking for any new additions. From what I could see, it had been a pretty solid upgrade. It sounded like the research would give the concord features actually related to the researched person, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

First off, the main menu. The giant twilight backdrop trimmed in gold looked the same as before, a few tabs bordering it with the bulk being taken up by our conversation. As for the new additions, a box about half as tall as the whole screen sat right to the dialogue box. It contained two little circles, picturing a cute illustration of Lily and Oldren respectively.

While both circles had a gold trim, Lily's had a more decorated, floral wreath. Above the box were large letters reading: Members. I mentally tapped on Oldren's profile, bringing me to a minimised version of the main chat. Or channel, as the letters above so helpfully described.

So we can communicate privately now huh? That's good. I clicked on a rectangular tab clipped onto the left side of the window. It took me to a black window listing Lily's spells in order from elementary, basic, and intermediate.

Everything else served as small quality of life functions. A day counter showing how long the clan had been made, time stamps for conversations, and a search function.

Alright, enough stalling.

I converged my stats to strength, and began twisting my arms in opposite directions. The cuffs refused to give. The driver started spinning at a comfortable pace, excess energy arcing into [Convergence], increasing the power of each individual stat by a small amount.

<[Convergence]- Allows all stats and multiple stats to be shifted at once. Stats can also be shifted to advanced stats. Can artificially temporarily raise stats by expending stamina, capped by level.>

Never used this before. But, there's a first time for everything! I willed the skill to raise my strength even further. My stamina began to drain like honey through a pasta strainer. The more time passed, the more I lost.

Strength 128 -> 150 x 1.1 = 165 -> 189.2

My arms trembled in effort as the metal slowly started to give. The power from the stats, rather than turning into some kind of temporary muscle mass, gathered in my arms as red electricity. It granted the deserved strength increase, without the physical burden acquired from such quick gains and losses.

I heard every micro fiber of metal rip apart as the diamond shaped snare became bent into a ring. While the cuff refused to actually break, I stretched it out enough that I managed to wrench one of my armored hands out of it.

I immediately rushed to rip the metal bar from around my neck. While it was deeply embedded into the wood behind me, I easily ripped it free. I took a large breath and relaxed my arms. As I waited for the enhanced stats to safely wear off, I quickly inspected the wind.

I stood up and stretched. Seems a cold front will blow in tonight. Just when am I gonna get that cold resistance skill? This is getting ridiculous.

Max 3:23 pm

Are you guys done yet?

Max 3:26 pm

Hello???

If y'all don't answer in the next minute I'm coming over there.

I closed the window and shot over to the weird forest. Woah, hold on. I inspected the edge between the weird forest and normal one. It was quite clear, the grass within taking on a pale purple color.

Both grasses are sharp but only these have the alien color. The part I was more concerned with, however, was the distance of the border. I looked around the forest for landmarks. Yeah, no, this is definitely closer than before. It's slight, maybe only a few inches, but that's already a bad sign.

This forest is alive. At least, in a less than traditional way. I dashed into the forest, hopping across the dark gnarled roots and deep into the tight knit darkness. I began to breathe in some strange substance. It was smokey and heavy, the powder coating my throat.

Suddenly, like the air around me, I myself began to feel heavy. Nausea plagued my eyes until I tripped and fell into a ditch. The sharp grass dug into my skin even as they shattered from my fall. There in the ditch, I noticed the blanket of purple haze wafting throughout the entire tree line.

I took another breath, and the effects intensified slightly. Poison? I checked my conditions.

Sleep poison huh? That explains the radio silence. I'm sure Lily was knocked out, but how would this affect Oldren? I stood up and climbed out of the ditch. I reoriented myself and continued chasing Lily's trace.

< Defense Vocation Activated >

The negative effects lessened notably. As I rushed through the forest, the trees became less compact, showing small spaces of grass and alien plantlife just a few feet across. As I ventured deeper into the heart of the forest, I noticed some very strange plants.

Large purple bulbs growing like a tumor out of the trunks of trees, near the base. Violet roots with sickly red veins protruded from the tree's roots like a parasite. The pod shuttered, and compressed itself backwards before releasing a cloud of magenta mist.

Mentally taking note of the anomaly, I rushed past. If this forest has been hijacked by some monster, attacking those nubs could make it actively try to kill me. I'm not here to hunt, but to extract. Lucky for me, movement is one of my specialties.

As the negative conditions heightened and the terrain expanded, I finally managed to wedge myself between some closely knitted roots, netting me a new space and scenery. The sight was grim.

Across from me lay the bodies of strange monsters, what looked to be wolves coated in- wait a second. Are these the cyborg wolves I fought like a week after I was dislocated?

I stopped myself from inspecting the body further. No, I should leave before I pass out. Beyond some of the bodies, not corpses, as I could sense their life force, lay the three individuals I seek. Lily, golden chains wrapped around her body, lying collapsed on the ground. Oldren, presumably the chains, also formed into a sort of harness encapsulating Gnosis, the final piece of the puzzle.

Before I could contemplate a game plan, the edges of my vision grew dark. My knees buckled as I suddenly felt my hands shaking. Afraid I was moments from passing out too, I grabbed Lily and shot out towards the tree line.

While the run back was considerably more heralding than the way in, I luckily left soon enough that by the time I managed to escape the forest I wasn't on the verge of completely blacking out.

I tumbled out of the wood work with Lily clutched tightly in my arms. The second I hit uncorrupted air the weight in my lungs began to dissipate with every breath. Wow, that's going away super fast. I guess the poison relies on the maze-like structure of the forest to ensure its prey can't escape. Letting the biology behind the poison double down on effectiveness rather than duration.

I raced beyond the sharp grass spines, and let Lily down in some of the softer dirt beyond. I pitched myself against a tree and focused on working all the poison out of my system. I sat criss-crossed and made orbs with my hands, meditating for the ten or so minutes before the poison completely disappeared.

<[Lethal Toxicology] lv6 -> lv7>

<[Nervous Paralysis Res] lv7 -> lv8>

I'm a little sad that I couldn't level up [Sleep Resistance], or [Nocturnal] for that matter, since it also helps out in that department. But I'm glad I could get something out of that. At that thought, a little golden border ignited around [Defense Vocation]. I mentally clicked on it, opening a small drop down menu titled: Bonus Resistance.

Interesting. I thought for sure Curse of Soul Frey was blocking my resistance gain, but it looks like I still got a little something huh?

Now that the poison is gone and my lungs are cleaned out, I rushed over to the forest again. Now that I know where the rest of them are, I can just skip through and make a beeline for them. I made it to the same desolate clearing in a fifth of the time, and took stock of the situation.

Gnosis is wrapped in golden plating, with large golden chains reaching out. They dangled on the floor and littered the broken grass clippings a few yards away. The immediate area behind gnosis was a long trail through the ground, evidence that he had been dragged over here before Lily succumbed to the poison.

Looks like Oldren turned himself into these chains. But since he's not turning back, nor responding to my messages, did he shut down? Does this mist gunk up his engine? It's like when he turned himself into a cart post-execution.

How inconvenient.

Unable to bear the lack of oxygen any longer, I opened my mouth and exhaled my stored breath. I had ripped the end of one of my pant legs and wrapped it around my face, in an attempt to maybe filter out some of the poison.

I would have liked to keep the poison out longer, but I need air for this upcoming exertion. The first time I tried to lift some weights back on Earth I did so whilst holding my breath… almost decapitated myself. Good times. I learned my lesson though.

I walked over to the place where I had ripped the chains off of Lily. I picked them up and wrapped them around my body. There were small plates of metal intermittently between the links, presumably to better fit on Lily's body. Unfortunately for me, they don't fit me at all.

No matter.

I left three feet of chain between me and gnosis, and started pulling. Oof, he's a heavy bastard, that's for sure! I struggled for a few moments, before I got a good footing in the loose dirt and began gaining momentum.

I can't use [Brash Dash]. Even though the speed would be nice, it's power that I'm lacking. The 'brash' part increases my momentum overtime, however, there's no way I can gain any decent momentum while lugging this thing.

I focused on moving forward as time passed.

< Condition Resisted >

< Condition Partially Resisted >

<[Lethal Toxicology] lv7 -> lv8>

<[Nervous Paralysis Res] lv8 -> lv9>

<[Darkness Res] lv5 -> lv6>

Twenty minutes in, and I began to succumb to the poison.

The weight became harder to bear.

And the light was not any closer.

I should be only a few minutes from the tree line. Why is it still so dark?

<Condition: {Darkness} | Has graduated to {Blindness}>

The status's reply filtered into my mind like a lazy stream. Ah, I see.

OVERLOAD Strength!

<Ability: Overload and Condition: {Weakness} are conflicting!>

Strength 128 -> Strength 199

That familiar red lightning flooded my body as I stood tall. I tightened the chains until I felt Gnosis' back against mine. I lifted my legs from the ground and began marching towards the exit with heavy steps.

<Condition: {Sedation} (Lesser) | Has graduated to {Sedation} (Greater)>

<[Nervous Paralysis Res] lv9 -> lv10>

The effect of the numbing began to fade, giving me the energy I needed to break through the tree line, which had noticeably expanded a few inches during my delve. I ripped off the piece of cloth and took a huge breath of fresh air.

With the great strength still present, I dragged Gnosis a few hundred feet over to wear Lily. I dumped him onto the ground and plopped myself against the same tree as before. Ill have to move us at some point but… Surely they wouldn't blame me if I took a little break right?

< [Nervous Paralysis Res] has reached its max level 10/10 >

That's another one on the list now, huh?

I have a lot of stuff to do. I crossed my arms behind my head and leaned back. I eyed the forest suspiciously, yawned, and closed my eyes for a quick power nap.

Although my life is in danger constantly, and I want to go home as soon as possible… I smiled quickly to myself.

It feels nice knowing I don't have to rush.

But man am I gonna rub this in their faces when they wake up.

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