Awakening to a shroud of utter darkness, the gentle symphony of crickets and nocturnal creatures filled the air. I slowly sat up, the fatigue from my recent battle weighing heavily on me. My eyes adjusted to the obscurity, revealing the eerie surroundings.
"Ugh, that was rough. I'm totally exhausted," I mumbled to myself, my voice a whisper in the night. "I wonder how long I was out for... my 'Will to Survive' skill activated a few minutes before I passed out. I guess that should shed some light on it."
I opened my system screen, ignoring the pop-up menus that clamored for my attention, and navigated to the skills screen.
Will to Survive
Allows the User a higher chance to avoid direct, fatal injuries and live to fight another day.
SKILL COOLDOWN: 20:33:27………20:33:26…….20:33:25………
"Oh wow, about 3 and a half hours. That's quite a long time," I muttered, scratching my head. "I should count my blessings that this ape didn't have any buddies with him, or I'd be in deep trouble."
I glanced at the lifeless body of the Red-Eyed Torment Ape, giving it a light smack. However, as soon as my hand made contact with the ape, I received a rather unexpected surprise.
Would you like to loot the [Red-Eyed Torment Ape]
Yes/No
"Well, I shouldn't be surprised by this anymore," I said with a wry grin. "There's no downside to looting this ape, and who knows, maybe I'll get something cool."
I rose to my feet, channeling my inner Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello. "One of us had to die. With me, it tends to be the other guy." With a casual motion, I clicked "yes."
What followed was both eerie and fascinating. The corpse of the ape began to develop glowing, bright red cracks that originated from the wound on its chest, where the tree's shard still protruded. These glowing cracks initially spread at a snail's pace before rapidly picking up speed, eventually covering the entire body of the ape. The creature began to dissolve in a grotesque and unsettling fashion, starting with the melting away of its fur and then its skin, revealing the inner muscle tissue.
"I could have done without seeing this," I muttered, closing my eyes to avoid the unsettling sight and focusing instead on the unpleasant sound of dissolving flesh and bone. The hissing noises gradually ceased, and I cautiously opened my eyes, finding only the residue of black smoke where the corpse had been. This dark, swirling smoke flickered and danced like a living entity, and it began to glide toward me.
I took a step back in alarm, watching as the smoke darted toward my right hand, sinking into my skin. A chilling sensation washed over me, a stark contrast to the warmth I felt when activating a skill. This foreign feeling enveloped my body as the black smoke was fully absorbed into my hand.
A new pop-up system menu materialized as the black smoke completed its absorption.
MONSTER DATA [RED EYED TORMENT APE] has been added to the system info:
Red Eyed Torment Ape
HP: 15/15
MP: 2/2
Stamina: 20/20
ATK: 15
DEF: 12
INT: 1
RES: 2
HIT: 4
SPD: 12
SKILLS
Monster Strength, Monster Speed, Improved Tracking, Boon of Strength
"Oh man, I was completely outmatched by this guy, but he's the one who's nothing now but black smoke and a red smudge on the floor," I remarked, shrugging my shoulders nonchalantly. "Alright, let's look at the rest of the goodies that I got."
[Ape Hide] has been added to your inventory.
"Okay, so an Ape hide. Not sure how that's going to be helpful, but I'm sure I'll make use of it sooner or later."
[Ape Bones] has been added to your inventory.
"Now it's the bones," I sighed. "I guess I'll tap into my Native American roots and use every part of the buffalo."
[Ape Meat] has been added to your inventory.
"Ughhh, Ape meat sounds really tough. I've never had ape meat before. Granted, I've never had anything more adventurous than a T-Bone steak," I mused, my mouth watering at the thought of steak.
15 [Copper Coin] has been added to your inventory.
2 [Silver Coin] has been added to your inventory.
1 [Gold Coin] has been added to your inventory.
"Dollar Dollar Bills, Ya'll," I exclaimed, playfully imitating the Wu-Tang Clan.
[Soul of Red-Eyed Torment Ape] has been added to your inventory.
"What's this about a soul? That sounds really weird and ominous. Will I get a soul of everything that I kill, and what does that make me? Will I become one of those weird hunter guys in the outback with a trophy room of all my taxidermized defeated foes?" I shuddered at the thought, not particularly liking the idea of collecting souls.
[Lesser Health Potion] has been added to your inventory.
"Oh, hell yeah, I'm drinking that right now," I declared. I opened my inventory screen and scrolled to the Lesser Health Potion. Examining the vial of red liquid, I gave it a swirl and a sniff. To my surprise, it smelled like cherries, which was quite unexpected. I lifted the vial toward my face but hesitated.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
"Am I going to drink something that I technically found inside of a monster?" I questioned aloud, lowering the vial again. "On the other hand, this system hasn't let me down yet, and my body still hurts from the fight with the ape."
"Well, as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained," I muttered before throwing back the red liquid. I immediately regretted it as the taste hit my tongue.
"The Lesser Potion may smell like cherries, but it most certainly does not taste like cherries," I choked, coughing at the unpleasant taste. It reminded me of the time as a kid when I bought a soda at a gas station that was all carbonation and no syrup, and I drank it without question.
"Well, let's see how effective this Lesser Potion thing is," I concluded, waiting to feel its effects.
STATS:
Name: Miles Egan
Class: Waste of Skin
Health: 3/10 Recovery Status
MP: 10/10
Stamina: 15/15
***Recovery status***
Due to the lessor potion – 25% Increase in HP recovery rate
"Aww man, that sucks. I thought it would be an immediate health recovery. Oh well, maybe there are stronger potions out there that could be instant health recovery," I muttered with a shrug. With all the loot sorted, it was time to move on to the rest of the pop-up items.
Quest: [Explore the Dodola Island]
You have awoken on Dodola Island. Explore the area to discover more, and more importantly, don't die.
Objective: Explore Dodola Island 0/1.
Total Distance Covered: 23.1%
Reward: Skill gain (Instant Camp Fire)
"Really? After all that running around, I still haven't explored a fourth of this island. Just how big is this island, anyway?" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in frustration. It seemed like this quest would take forever, especially if I had to contend with crazy apes or other roaming monsters. "On to the next popup item," I muttered as I closed out the first popup menu.
Quest Complete
Emergency Quest: [Escape or Defeat the Red-Eyed Torment Ape]
Would you like to receive your quest rewards:
Yes/No
"Who in their right mind would say no?" I said aloud.
***You have Chosen No***
Rewards will now forever be destroyed and be unavailable to you.
"WWWWWWHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTT, AFTER ALL THAT HARD WORK AND OH, YOU KNOW, ALMOST DYING, AND NOW YOU'RE TELLING ME I GET NOTHING!" I yelled at the screen in frustration.
New Emergency Quest: [Fix your mistake]
Objective: Say "I'm stupid and I need to watch my mouth before it gets me into trouble"
Reward: Receive rewards that were previously destroyed due to human error
Penalty: Rewards will still be lost
"Oh, screw you, you stupid system. Who do you think you are?" I retorted, shaking my finger at the new quest popup.
Quest Failed:
Emergency Quest: [Fix your mistake]
Objective: Say "I'm stupid and I need to watch my mouth before it gets me into trouble"
Reward: Receive rewards that were previously destroyed due to human error
Penalty: Rewards will still be lost.
"Oh, come on, I'm sorry. Please give me my rewards, pretty please with sugar on top," I pleaded, clasping my hands together in a praying motion.
New Emergency Quest: [REALLY!!! Fix your mistake]
Objective: Say "I'm REALLY REALLY stupid and I need to watch my mouth before it gets me into trouble"
Reward: Receive rewards that were previously destroyed due to human error
Penalty: Rewards will still be lost.
"I'm REALLY REALLY stupid, and I need to watch my mouth before it gets me into trouble," I reluctantly muttered. "You really are a dick, whatever you are."
Quest Complete:
Emergency Quest: [REALLY!!! Fix your mistake]
Reward: Receive rewards that were previously destroyed due to human error
Quest Complete:
Emergency Quest: [Escape or Defeat the Red-Eyed Torment Ape]
Would you like to receive your quest rewards:
Yes/No
"Yes, I would like to receive my rewards for my quest," I said, tapping the "yes" icon with my finger.
Distributing Rewards:
Reward 1: Permanent +2ATK
Reward 2: Permanent +2DEF
Reward 3: New Skill Acquired: (Acrobatic)
***Acrobatic***
You can walk on a narrow surface while maintaining your balance, and you can go across challenging terrain at a reasonable speed. Additionally, you may employ acrobatics to carry out standard gymnastic moves as well as flipping movements or tumbling movements. ***Note: No voice command required this skill is now ingrained in your basic movement***
I felt my muscles enlarge and my skin tighten as the pop-up menu disappeared. Absentmindedly, I patted myself on my arms and noticed they had indeed become slightly bigger. It seemed that the rewards from the system not only boosted my stats but also had an impact on my physical appearance. A thought crossed my mind, though: would I end up looking like a roided-up freak if my strength kept increasing? The idea made me shiver.
STATS:
Name: Miles Egan
Health: 5/10 Recovery Status
"It looks like my recovery is coming along nicely," I remarked, stretching my arms out. It was time to test out this new skill while I had the chance. I jumped up and down to shake off any remaining cobwebs from my rigid bones and sprinted toward one of the trees. I climbed it just as quickly as I had during my desperate escape, but this time, it felt different. It was as if I were climbing based on muscle memory, as if I'd done it a thousand times before, rather than out of sheer survival instinct.
I reached the top of the tree in a matter of seconds and swung from branch to branch with ease and grace that I had never thought possible.
"This feels incredible. Thank you, magical video game system thingy," I said with a chuckle, flying through the trees with newfound acrobatic skills. I continued to test my abilities for another twenty minutes until I started to feel a little exhausted. Spotting a low-hanging tree branch, I used my skills to reach it quickly, then did a front flip off the branch and onto the ground.
"That was awesome. I feel like a badass."
STATS:
Name: Miles Egan
Health: 7/10 Recovery Status
Stamina: 8/15
Contemplating my next move, I realized that exploring the island at night might not be the best idea. It was getting dark, and I needed to make camp somewhere until morning. The problem was, I had no idea how to set up a campsite. At the very least, I needed a simple tent and a campfire. I decided to gather some pieces of broken trees that the ape had destroyed and use palm tree leaves as a makeshift covering. It wasn't perfect, but it would have to do for now.
I walked back to the previous battleground I had with the ape and gathered the destroyed tree pieces into a pile.
"Step one complete. Next step, it's time for some leaves," I muttered as I started to climb the tree with the most leaves. Reaching the top with ease thanks to my newfound acrobatic skill, I began ripping leaves off the tree and letting them fall to the ground. I continued doing this until the tree was bare of leaves, revealing the night sky.
But as I gazed up at the heavens, a sight that sent shivers down my spine made me almost lose my grip on the tree.
"Why the hell are there three moons?"