Jack traveled cautiously through the jungle. In case he bumped into an allosaurus or even one of those little porkies, he wasn't confident enough to fight them off on his own. At the same time, he wasn't too far from the clearing. He knew that he could at least make a run for it, especially because of [Dash].

His goal was simple: to make the most of his waiting time while Amari, Horace, and Marie went out collecting bugs. He was on a clock here. The week was almost over, and it wouldn't be long before he had to make the second payment for the rental of his VRX helmet. He would like to find out if this game was profitable before then. So far, he only got peanuts for his work, and he would like to get his rare quest over with. That was the deciding factor that would determine if he stayed in the game.

There was some movement up in the trees, and a little flying dinosaur with feathers jumped from one branch to the other but seemed to ignore him. Jack's heart raced, and he remained alert for a few seconds, but seeing nothing happened, sighed in relief. Thankfully, the dinosaur hadn't come for him.

Jack kept walking and heard a commotion. There was a persistent, gurgling sound against the screams and clanking of weapons. As he broke through the tree line, he found his three earlier customers fighting a group of porkies. The two players with plate armor stood in the front, trying to keep the pressure off their archer who shot arrows nonstop.

“Quick, stop the one on the right.”

“On it, on it!”

Magnetic Shield!

The player hit his shield with his weapon, and the sound drew a porky about to charge the archer. The dinosaur changed course, attacking the shieldbearer instead. Those players had to be at least level 10. They seemed to have unlocked their classes already.

Happy that the surrounding dinosaurs were all busy with those three hunters, Jack approached the water. When he heard that there was a stream here, he immediately thought of one resource that would help him stay busy while he waited for his teammates. Jack squatted by the muddy riverside and dug his hands into the wet, clumpy soil.

You’ve gathered 1x[Earthenware Clay].

+1XP in [Pottery]

Jack grinned. Jenny had told him that it was possible to find clay near rivers, so when he heard that these players were off hunting by a stream, he knew he would likely get clay here. He started gathering it. Most resources that took more space were back at the camp, so his inventory was practically empty.

After collecting 16 stacks of clay, he stood up and glanced at the nearby hunting party. They managed to kill two of the porkies while he was gathering, but they were still busy fighting three others off. Jack waved at them, whirled toward the camp, and gulped. There was a porky standing between him and the forest. Jack took a step back, and the porky took a step forward, eyeing him warily.

“How hard can it be?” Jack asked. He grabbed his pitchfork and approached the porky. Seeing Jack's aggressive approach with a weapon in hand, the porky rustled the spikes on its back, warning Jack to stay away. Jack approached nonetheless and hit the small beaked dinosaur with his pitchfork.

Heavy Strike!

24!

The critical hit shaved off just a bit of the porky's health bar. Just as Jack was about to poke him with the pitchfork again, the porky sidestepped and lunged toward him. Jack was already prepared for this, so he blocked the attack with his shield.

Defensive Stance!

The shield glowed with an orange hue, and the dinosaur hit it with a thud. Both Jack and the dinosaurs took a step back after the exchange.

-35!

“No way!” Jack exclaimed. The dinosaur had such a high attack. Even with the combined block bonuses from his whole equipment and [Defensive Stance], he would still only be able to block six or seven of these before he died, and that was because he had a longer health bar thanks to the meal buff.

He hit the dinosaur again with his pitchfork, and this time, without the added damage of [Heavy Strike], the health bar barely moved. Jack did the math. He would need maybe 40 to 50 clean hits to finish the dinosaur, while it would probably only need five or six to kill him. The fight was probably not going to go his way. Jack turned tail and ran. He probably could sidestep the dinosaur long enough to kill him. But what was the point? If he made one or two mistakes, or if another porky joined the fray, he was going to be dead meat.

How lame would it be if Amari and the others arrived at the camp and found that their campkeeper had died at the hands of a measly porky? Jack took the long way around the dinosaur, but it was surprisingly fast, and it chased after him.

Dash!

Jack sprinted, consuming a chunk of his stamina and creating some distance between him and the porky. He checked his map to find his bearings. The campsite wasn't too far. After [Dash]’s short effect wore off, the porky gained ground on him. To his left, Jack saw a bush rustle. Maybe it was another porky, maybe another creature. He didn't know. All he knew was that he wasn't going to stick around to see what it was.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

-50!

The porky had managed to chase him down and hit him again. “Aaaah,” he screamed, flailing his arms as he ran through the jungle, trying to get to the safety of the fire.

-40!

Jack screamed in despair. The porky was too fast for him. Just as the porky was about to hit him again, Jack whirled backward and put the shield between him and the porky.

Defensive Stance!

-31

[Defensive Stance] had come off cooldown just in time. The porky clashed with Jack’s buckler, bouncing back and knocking Jack a couple of meters. Jack used the little gap and resumed his run. Just as the porky was about to catch him again, Jack found one of his other skills had also come off cooldown.

Dash!

Jack’s figure faded into a blur. He spotted the shimmering light of fire breaking through the foliage. Jack dove through the bush and into the radius of the fire. He dragged himself nearer to the flames, and the porky arrived moments afterward, growling at Jack. A second porky also joined in. They moved aggressively toward Jack but, glancing at the fire, held their ground. They were only barking but not biting. Jack poked his tongue out and mocked the porkies.

“Stupid porkies. Muahahaha, I'm the campmaster! The lord of the fire!” He taunted while flexing his muscles. “You can’t catch me, porkies.” Jack’s mockery only seemed to enrage the porkies further. But since he wasn't piling any more damage, the dinosaurs finally gave up and disappeared into the bush.

Jack collapsed on the ground, laughing. Who knew waiting for others to capture bugs could be this much fun? It had all turned out well. He now had enough earthenware clay to keep him busy. He also knew where to find more. Glancing at the campfire, he grimaced. Too bad that this kind of low-temperature fire could only be used for earthenware clay. Stoneware required a proper kiln.

Jack cleared the few debris that had spawned in the camp while he was away, threw a few twigs into the fire, and made himself a serving of survival stew. With replenished health and stamina, Jack grabbed a lump of clay and began wedging it to ensure the moisture was spread evenly.

Given how this clay was harvested from the river, it had come with a little excess moisture. So he squeezed it, letting the excess water drain from the clay. After spending so much time with the wheel, it was strange to come back to pinching pottery. Even though the smoothness and feeling of the wheel were unparalleled, there was something quite relaxing about pinching pottery. Every time he pressed his fingers against the clay, he cleared some of the tension on his neck and shoulders, draining it onto the clay.

He glanced at these messages and found that Amari still hadn't said anything. He had a lot of work to do if he wanted to make his outdoor cooking enterprise more profitable. Jack knew how to make plates, cups, pots, and bowls. He tried thinking of what would better fit his plan and got down to crafting.

*

“Almost there,” Amari texted in the party chat. Horace nodded. He looked up, double-checking that his trap was properly set and feeling the tension in the rope around his hand. “Marie, you ready?”

“Y.”

Marie always gave the shortest answers possible. She claimed to believe that the fewer words one used, the more power they held. Horace didn’t buy it. She was simply older and had been talking for longer than them. His theory was that she had just grown tired of speaking. However, she was a reliable teammate and Horace knew that if she was confident in being able to keep the beasts sleeping, he did well to trust her.

Amari arrived, chased by a mantis. It was a red insect as big as a cat. It skittered with its four hind legs and tried getting at Amari with its sharp blades. In his old account, Horace had died at least a couple of times to this prehistoric beast. Its razor-sharp blades ignored defense. Worse than that, they shredded the equipment's durability. How many shields had he lost to the little buggers?

Amari ran past the trap, and Horace clenched the rope tightly. Just as the praying mantis was about to arrive at the marked location, he decisively pulled the rope. The wooden box fell from the overhanging branch, landing precisely on top of the insect. Horace celebrated. It required precise timing to capture this kind of animal with such a low-level trap. But he had many months of experience in the trapper profession. He could tackle this quest, which was originally meant for higher-level trappers, with ease. The mantis, feeling entrapped, began slashing at the wooden bars of the cage.

“Quick, Marie!”

Marie was already on it. She approached the jar, opened the palm of her hand, and blew off the dust on it, creating a pink mist that enshrouded the mantis. It clawed at the mist, trying to disperse it, but Marie just got another handful of the dust and blew again.

The mantis’ movements began slowing down. It still managed to keep attacking the cage, but it was becoming more sluggish. The bars creaked and complained under the abuse of the strong insect, but just as the cage's durability was about to come dangerously low, the insect finally stopped struggling and collapsed. Marie grabbed a crunched bunch of leaves wrapped in a paper bag, something akin to tea bags, and hung them on the scarred bars of the cell.

“This should keep it asleep for a couple of hours,” Marie assured Horace.

“Good! With this, we have both mantises. You okay, Amari?”

“Yeah, but the bugger destroyed my shoulder pads.”

“Come on, that's just a common piece of equipment. It's trash.”

“You only say that because it wasn't yours,” Amari complained.

“Anyway, let the noobie know that we're coming. We need to place these cages in the camp before we set out to look for the cockroaches.”

Amari operated his menu. “I just texted him and he sent me a thumbs up. He's ready for us. Let's head back to camp.”

Horace was in a good mood. He had caught both mantises on the first try. Even though it had taken a while to get used to the low attributes of a reset account, it was nice to see that he hadn't lost his touch. After turning in this quest, he would probably gain a few levels and get a little closer to his former avatar’s glory.

Horace marched behind Amari, holding one cage while Amari carried the other. Amari suddenly stopped, and Horace almost stumbled on him. “What's wrong, Amari?”

“I told you. Jack is gold. Check that out.” Amari chuckled and pointed at the nearby tree.