Dread coursed through me as I lay on the cool ground, staring at the night sky. The sight of three moons, something so impossible, shattered my sense of reality.
"Three moons... This can't be possible," I muttered, trembling on the muddy floor. "I knew this place was abnormal, especially with that red-eyed ape as a clear sign, but I thought I was just in some far-off location that I could return from in a few days. But being on a whole other planet? It's a lot to take in."
I forced myself to stand up and began pacing back and forth, trying to process the overwhelming truth. "How am I supposed to get home? This can't be real," I said, tugging at my blonde hair. "I'm going to die here, aren't I? And nobody will ever know what happened to me."
I came to a sudden halt, raised my hand, and slapped myself across the face.
STATS:
Name: Miles Egan
Health: 9/10
"My name is Miles Egan, and I will survive this," I declared, rubbing my cheek. "The facts are: 1) I woke up on a beach with no idea how I got here. 2) I have this bizarre and sometimes mocking video game system. 3) I have stats and skills like in a video game. 4) This island has hostile monsters that would like nothing more than to pick little pieces of me out of their teeth with my bones. 5) Lastly, and most importantly, I am not even on Earth anymore."
I took a deep breath and continued, "There is nothing I can do about any of that. The only thing I can do is take one step at a time."
Surveying my surroundings, I decided that my first step was to finish building a camp to hold out until morning. I started by gathering the palm tree leaves I had pulled off earlier and placed them next to the pieces of broken trees I had collected.
Next, I grabbed two sticks, each about four or five feet long, and one longer stick, around ten feet. I arranged the shorter sticks in the shape of an A and propped the longer stick up at the top of the A. I tied the three sticks together using strips made from palm tree leaves, forming an A-frame tent with one end collapsed against the ground. I then propped up more sticks against the longer one and piled palm tree leaves against them until I had an insulated shelter open at the high end.
"It ain't winning any prizes, but it will do. Plus, it kind of blends in," I said, admiring my handiwork.
A-Frame Makeshift tent blueprint added to the crafting menu.
I blinked at the popup screen. "You know, with all the commotion, I forgot that I have three other tabs on my system screen that I haven't explored much," I said as I opened my system menu and scrolled to the quests tab.
The quest tab had five sub-tabs. The first one was "Completed quests," which showed all my completed quests. "I don't know what I expected," I mused. I then moved to the next sub-tab labeled "Ongoing Quests."
Quest: [Explore the Dodola Island]
Objective: Explore Dodola Island 0/1.
Total Distance Covered: 23.2%
Reward: Skill gain (Instant Camp Fire)
"With that being the only real quest I've received that wasn't either life or death, it's not too surprising," I said with a shrug. "On to the next tab."
I moved my finger to the "Tasks" sub-tab, which displayed two boxes. The first one on the left had a plus sign and said "add a task," while the right one was completely blank.
"I wonder what the difference between a quest and a task is," I pondered.
Quests: Objectives that have been assigned to you by the world
Tasks: Objectives that are assigned to the user by either the user or by the local populace
"Well, that answers that. Thank you, my good friend," I said with a smile. "What makes me happiest about that statement is that it says 'local populace,' which means I'm not alone on this planet, right?"
"I'll have to explore this island more in the morning, and hopefully, I can find some people," I continued, frowning. "The other thing that gets me about the tasks explanation is that I can assign tasks myself. I wonder how that would work, and if I can assign a crazy reward for doing something simple," I pondered.
I clicked on the add task icon, and another blank box appeared. "Umm, what do I do now?" I said out loud.
TASK: Umm what do I do now…
"Oh, so it's voice-activated. That's convenient, but I don't see this being that useful," I muttered, clicking the box again to make it disappear.
TASK: Umm what do I do now Oh, so it's voice-activated. That's convenient, but I don't see this being that useful.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Alright, jackass, I don't need the sarcasm," I remarked, viewing the task sub-tab again. The left box now had the task I had created a moment ago, and to the right of it were a green checkmark and a red X. I clicked the green checkmark.
Would you like to mark it complete:
Yes/No
"Yes, please. Get this thing away from me," I said, clicking the "yes" icon. The left box was now once again blank.
"Well, I think this thing will help me keep track of my thoughts and help keep me organized," I said to myself. I then moved on to the next sub-tab labeled "Faction Quests."
CLASS: Waste of skin
No factions would ever associate with this class; therefore, no faction quests are available!
"I've got to find a way to change this class. Every time I see it, I feel like it's mocking me," I muttered, scrolling to the last sub-tab labeled "Bounties."
Bounties:
No assigned bounties, see the local bounty hunter to have bounties assigned.
Bounty Inventory:
[Soul of Red Eyed Torment Ape] x 1
"I guess that answers the question of what I'm going to do with a monster's soul," I said. I reached into my bounty inventory and pulled out the [Soul of Red Eyed Torment Ape]. It appeared as a glowing white orb about the size of a ripe apple, warm to the touch. However, as I tried to look at it, it emitted a blinding light and the familiar enraged roar of the ape.
"Oh god, there's no way that thing is still alive, and I don't want to risk it somehow coming back. Back into the magic inventory screen you go," I decided. "My life is getting so freaking crazy, but it sure beats my normal 9 to 5 life. Anyway, now to my next tab," I said as I clicked on the last tab labeled "Maps."
The "Maps" tab had two sub-tabs: "World Map" and "Local Map." I clicked on the "World Map" sub-tab.
The world map was mostly blacked out, with only a small section in the middle displaying clear data. In the top right corner, there were icons for zooming in and out. I clicked the minus sign a few times until the clear data was no longer visible.
"I truly am a small fish in a big pond," I sighed, clicking the plus sign to reveal more of the map. I then clicked on the "Local Map" sub-tab.
The local map was considerably more detailed than the world map, displaying an outline of the entire island with most of it grayed out and a quarter showing actual data. It provided information on the beaches and local jungles.
“This map will defiantly help me complete the exploration quest that I have.” I continue to view the “Local map” and I notice to the right it has similar icons as the world map. It has the plus and minus signs just like the world map; however, the minus sign is grayed out, I’m assuming that means that it can’t be zoomed out anymore. Below the plus and minus signs, there are also 10 small boxes all numbers labeled. I click the plus sign a few times until I see a little arrow in the center of the map.
"I'm guessing that arrow represents me," I observed, turning my body and watching the arrow on the map move accordingly. "Yep, just like I thought." I click on one of the numbered boxes and as soon as my finger passes through the first box it disappears and goes onto the map directly in front of the arrow symbol on the map. I look up from the system screen because I notice a beam of light in my peripheral vision.
“Oh my god, it’s the Batman Signal,” I say as giddy as possible as I take a step back to admire the beam of light. I trace the beam of light with my eyes from the bottom to the top and I notice it shows the number 1.
"I understand now. I can flag a location on the 'Local Map,' and this beam of light will show me where it's at on the island. It's convenient, but it might get annoying if I'm trying to sleep. Worse, what if monsters can see it too?" I pondered. I decided to use the local map sparingly until I could figure that out.
"Now that I've looked at the Map tab, it's time to explore the last tab of this system," I said, clicking on the "Crafting" tab. The "Crafting" screen had seven sub-tabs: Weapons, Armor, Healing, Potions, Food, Misc, and Skills. My excitement grew as I delved into the possibilities.
I started with the Weapons sub-tab and saw five grayed-out icons.
Weapons:
Stone Knife:
0/1 Basic Rock
0/1 Basic Wood
0/1 Binding
Stone Axe:
0/2 Basic Rock
0/1 Basic Wood
0/1 Binding
Bone Axe:
0/2 Basic Rock
0/1 Ape Bone
0/1 Binding
Stone Spear:
0/1 Basic Rock
0/2 Basic Wood
0/1 Binding
Sling Shot:
0/1 Basic Wood
0/5 Binding
"Well, that sucks. I don't have anything. I used all my inventory fighting that stupid ape," I grumbled.
I moved on to the Armor sub-tab, which displayed recipes for crafting various armor pieces.
Armor:
Ape Mask:
1/1 Ape Hide
0/1 Binding
Ape Chest Piece:
1/2 Ape Hide
0/2 Binding
Ape Leg Piece:
1/2 Ape Hide
0/1 Binding
Ape Leather Shoes:
1/1 Ape Hide
0/1 Binding
"Nice, now I just need to get some bindings, and I'll be able to make some shoes. No more running around barefoot," I said with a smile.
Healing:
Have not discovered any items susceptible to healing.
“Well that sucks I guess ill just have to start shoving random stuff in my inventory to find something.
Potions:
Have not discovered any items susceptible to Potions
“Again I say that sucks”.
The Food sub-tab finally offered something I could use.
Food:
Steak:
1/1 Ape Meat
"Finally, something that's not grayed out," I exclaimed, clicking on the steak icon. The crafting screen glowed briefly, and a raw steak about the size of an arm appeared in my hands.
"Oh my gosh, this thing is huge. It's almost too heavy to carry," I noted. "In you go," I said, opening my inventory and stowing the steak.
"Thank goodness I have this inventory screen. I'd hate to lug this around until I get a fire going to eat it," I muttered.
Next was the Misc sub-tab, which had several items I could craft, including bindings, slingshot ammo, and the blueprint for the A-Frame Makeshift tent.
MISC:
Bindings:
0/2 Palm tree leaves
Slingshot Ammo x10:
0/1 Basic Rock
A-Frame Makeshift tent: BLUEPRINT
0/7 Basic Wood
0/5 Bindings
0/15 Palm Tree leaves
"Not bad, if I do say so myself," I remarked, feeling a growing sense of accomplishment.
Skills:
Monster Strength:
1/20 [Soul of Red-Eyed Torment Ape]
Monster Speed:
1/20 [Soul of Red-Eyed Torment Ape]
Improved Tracking:
1/40 [Soul of Red-Eyed Torment Ape]
Boon of Strength:
1/50 [Soul of Red-Eyed Torment Ape]
"Okay, so there's more than one use for a monster soul. But I don't know if I want to put myself through that hell again," I admitted. "Alright, I should start gathering some of the items needed to create some of this stuff. Let's get crafting,” I say while cracking my knuckles.