The closed gate stood past the many appetite-whetting smells and the colorful booths and stalls. Each of the two tall gates had a smaller door built into it, guarded by a soldier—doors within doors. These were kept open, letting players through them in a never-ending procession.

Large levers to operate the main gates stood on both sides, where soldiers sat around tables, playing dice. They wore steel armor with an insignia like the one over the wall: a red flame, the symbol of Embersgate. Their steel helmets, thrown to the side, their messy stubble, and the fact that they were gambling on duty made them look less than reputable.

Jack shook his head. Playing games while working. What if a dinosaur got in because they were too distracted? “Those are the gatekeepers?”

“Right. Real pieces of work, but they’re good fun. If one of them calls us out, follow my lead,” Amari said reassuringly.

“What do you mean?”

Amari had already joined the line of players leaving the city. Jack was drawn to the sound of music and glanced toward the end of the line, closer to the door, where a group of players was singing acapella while the guard applauded. What was up with them?

Just as he was about to ask, the guard pointed at him. “Halt!”

Before Jack could say anything, Amari took a bold step forward, bowed, and smiled confidently. “Hello, good sir. We’re on our way out for an expedition on behalf of the Historical Society.”

The soldier eyed them from top to bottom. Jack wondered whether he was assessing how rich they were to extort them. Just in case, Jack tried to look downcast and destitute. He also pulled the pockets off his pants, letting the soldier see how empty they were.

“Opening the doors is always risky. Dangerous creatures lurk in the jungle,” the guard said ominously.

They are? Then why are your colleagues gambling? Jack thought to himself.

“Oh, come on. Good sir. Please let us out.” Amari insisted.

“Hmmm. I suppose I can let you out,” the soldier said after some thought. “But I need some entertainment. Why don’t you dance for me?”

“What?” Jack yelped.

“Of course!” Amari interjected. “Greeny, give me a beat,” he asked.

“Are you serious?”

“Do it, or we’ll need to pay him a gold coin!” Amari whispered.

Jack knew how to play the guitar and had no trouble clapping to a tempo. The clapping drew the attention of the nearby players, and Jack’s ears reddened. Amari, without any shame or embarrassment, started dancing. He was surprisingly good at it. He was even able to moonwalk. A few players in line pointed and laughed, and Jack noticed how the soldier bobbed his head along and tapped his foot.

After a one-minute dance solo, Amari signaled Jack to stop and drew one last round of applause from the passing players.

“Aha. That was quite alright. You can go. Be careful out there, and don't cause trouble. We don't need the lizards to damage the wall further,” the soldier admonished.

“Thank you! Let's go, Jack.”

Jack followed Amari through the gate. He could still hear the soldier who had stopped them approach another unlucky player. “You. Halt! Do you know any card tricks?”

“You’ve got some moves, Amari,” praised Jack as they left the door.

“Thanks. Fortunately, he didn't ask me to juggle.”

“Are we supposed to do this every time we leave the city?”

“No. They pick people at random.”

“But… why?”

“Beats me. I guess the developers wanted to make it fun for players.”

Jack’s fascination with what had just happened faded after he left the city. Outside the gate were just as many players as he’d spotted in the food stalls. Some were on foot, others on horseback, and others mounted prehistoric birds and other extinct animals. The occasional blade of grass and bush tried to encroach on human territory, but the constant traffic trampled any green trespassers into dust and dirt.

As Jack looked left and right, he saw that the wall disappeared into the distance in either direction. Its immediate vicinity was kept free from vegetation, leaving an empty space of ten to twenty meters between the wall and the jungle.

The cracks were much more visible on this side of the wall and rubble littered the ground. Some sections of the wall had been practically bashed in and were covered with long gashes. However, the wall was thick and tall, and it stood strong. Jack shuddered as he imagined creatures powerful enough to damage the wall to this degree. He couldn’t help but remember the big fossil at the entrance of the historic society.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Seeing how many players there were nearby, Jack relaxed somewhat. For a dinosaur to get to him, it would have plenty of other targets to go through first.

“Come on,” Amari urged, walking left.

Jack followed, expecting them to travel alongside the wall. Instead, after a short distance, Amari veered into the treeline.

“Wait. Do we really want to go into the bush like that?”

“Yeah, trust me. Predators can see you from a mile away if you're by the wall, out in the open. Besides, we're going to need ingredients and medicinal plants. You're only going to find those in the bush.”

“Okay,” Jack replied fearfully. As they were about to enter the jungle, a massive roar shook the ground and caused a flock of birds to fly in the distance. Jack couldn’t help but cover his ears.

“What was that?” Jack demanded, scared.

“From the sound of it, an allosaurs. But don't worry, they will be farther from the wall. We shouldn't run into any.”

“Shouldn't?”

“Sometimes they roam, but it's rare. We should be okay.”

Shrugging, Jack obeyed. As soon as they entered the jungle, Jack received a notification.

You’ve received a debuff: [Malaria].

Stamina depletes 20% faster;

Fires can’t replenish health.

“This debuff is awful!” complained Jack. “Fire doesn’t heal anymore?”

“Using fire to recover health only works in the city. Never in the wild,” explained Amari.

This debuff wasn’t the worst part about the jungle, though.

You’ve been bitten by a mosquito.

-2

Just by walking around, they were losing HP. If someone didn’t have a way to heal themselves, they risked dying just from mosquito bites.

Once inside the bush, it smelled of wet wood and life. All around him was the buzz of insects and the calls of birds. Thankfully, there weren’t any more roars. There were also many different types of trees, plants, and flowers. But something struck him as odd. Jack had never been the kind of person to go hiking, but he'd been to forests before. Some of the trees, plants, and insects felt unnatural, either weirdly shaped or too big or too small.

“Cool, isn’t it?” Amari asked.

“There’s something weird about it. I can’t quite explain it. It feels… right and wrong.”

“The jungle is a mix of modern and extinct species. It makes for a unique environment.” Amari explained. “It's one of the selling points of New Earth. It brings together different eras,” he preached as if to advertise the game to a player sitting on the fence regarding whether to start playing the game.

From the moment Jack learned Amari was a streamer, many of his actions made more sense. His seemingly heroic demeanor, helpfulness, and constant drop of useful hints initially made Jack suspicious, but now, he could see they were part of his job and a way to make his content appealing.

“Come, the coordinates are this way.”

Soon, Jack started spotting animals other than bugs. There was an animal similar to a squirrel jumping from tree to tree. He also spotted a flying dinosaur, a mix between a toucan and a pterodactyl. He was pretty sure this was the animal he saw a chef grill on a spit.

Catching Jack staring at every animal they came across, Amari chuckled. “Those are great to hunt for our level, but we shouldn't waste our stamina and buffs like that. Just focus on the quest. Many people fail quests because they get sidetracked.”

Jack nodded and followed. After a few meters, they heard players.

“Quick. Strike, strike.”

“From the flank.”

Three players attacked a small group of dinosaurs. Jack had seen this species before at the museum. It was small, the size of a small dog, with a beak and some spikes on its back. Two hunters wielded swords and shields, while the third stood in the back firing arrows using a short hunting bow.

“Aquilops porcus,” Amari said from his side. “Players usually hunt these between levels 8 and 11. Let’s keep going.”

Jack pulled his eyes away and kept walking. They ran into several other hunting parties, but the farther they got from the gate, the rarer the encounters.

“When should I start picking up ingredients for a stew?” Jack asked Amari.

“A good rule of thumb is actively searching for them when your stamina bar is halfway depleted. It’s important to—” Amari stopped mid-sentence and signaled Jack to stop, too.

There was a rumbling sound as if a heavy vehicle was approaching. It was drawing closer, and he could feel the ground vibrate. Jack could feel his heartbeat drumming in his ears. Just as he was about to ask Amari what was making this noise, a pack of dinosaurs, as tall as horses, cut through the path, running on two feet. They were yellow and darted through the trees. After they had passed, a player mounting a giant wolf followed.

The sound grew distant again. It had all happened so fast. “W-who was that?” Jack asked, heart still racing.

“I thought it was a wild pack of some kind. Lucky for us, it was just a dinosaur shepherd.”

“Is that a profession?”

“That’s right!”

It was one of the coolest things that Jack had seen in the game so far.

In the meantime, after contracting the [Yellow Fever] and the [Dengue Fever] debuffs, his energy bar reached the halfway point, and Amari started guiding him toward edible ingredients.

“As a bushcrafter, you can pick up almost anything in this part of the jungle, from insects to flowers, fruits, and mushrooms.”

Hearing that, Jack immediately smelled profit. He squatted by the ground, where he saw a colorful flower that looked valuable. He picked it.

Jungle White Lily (Common)

Description: A plant that has a soothing smell.

Durability: 7

“I was about to explain that a common trap is to get caught up catching everything you see. Case in point. I would suggest you don’t waste your time picking those.”

“Why not?” Jack asked. He had just checked online and found that each of these flowers sold for one silver.

“Well, for one, I don't know how many ceramic shards we'll find. We probably will need both of our combined inventories to carry them. Maybe that's why the quest was originally recommended for three people.”

Jack clicked his tongue. He had only thought of how having more people would increase the safety margin for the expedition. “I hadn't considered that,” Jack admitted.

“It might not be it. It's rare for someone like you to have bushcraft and pottery. So, probably, the quest was originally designed for at least two people with two different professions, and then the third one was for redundancy. Anyway, since flowers are perishable, they are a bit like cooked food and will spoil. There's no sense in bringing them along because they'll just lose durability and become garbage. Unless you have specific skills that protect the flowers’ durability, it’s not worth it. Since you're not a herbalist, I wouldn't bother.”

“Can cooks make food last longer?” Jack asked curiously.

“Well spotted, Jack. That is true, but only for ingredients, not completed dishes. That’s why, although bushcrafters can cook, their cooking is limited compared to that of cooks. You’ll always have to forage ingredients from nearby locations and use them before they spoil.”

Resigned, Jack dropped the flower and started looking for ingredients for his first survival stew.