The system didn’t give me the chance to ask questions, complain, or swear at it some more and instead it just covered me in a light similar to the one I saw on the ‘props’ while they were being teleported out.
“Which means…”
I could not help but gulp and prepare my stomach that was already churning at the memory of the unpleasant sensation brought by that instant movement. I closed my eyes and tried to prepare mentally as much as I could, but unfortunately, that only made it worse.
With my senses focused on it, it felt as if I was stretched out from head to toe and elongated to the maximum possible, only to be ripped apart into nothingness and then put back together as slowly and painfully as it could be done.
I fell on my knees the moment I felt that my feet touched the ground again, following the same process of dry heaving from before. That only served as a reminder of how stupidly hungry I was, while scanning my surroundings.
“Forest? No… these type of trees and the plants… jungle is more likely. Fuck! Jungle in another world? I couldn’t survive in the one back on Earth, much less on an alien planet!”
Complaining under my breath about possible tigers that are above 5-6 meters tall to appear all of a sudden, I cautiously moved between the trees, hoping to find something edible. Luckily enough, not even five minutes later, I did.
“It is 100% looking like bananas, so it should be just that. The height is not that bad either and I could probably climb it up easily.”
I found comfort in the fact that I still had my shoes and that I won’t hurt my feet, however looking at the bark of the tree, there might be a problem for my hands. Sighing, I ripped apart small strips from my T-shirt and wrapped them around the palms and all the way up to the fingers, leaving only the tips uncovered.
When I was about 4 meters above the ground, I started pummeling the slightly greenish fruits, forcing them to fall to the ground. After about twenty or so were dropped, I took the chance to scan my surroundings from a higher point… I obviously couldn’t see shit because of the vegetation, thing that only pissed me off even more.
“At least it tastes normal… now what?”
While ravenously devouring about half of the bananas, I was carefully studying my surroundings, just in case something jumps at me. I couldn’t be sure, but judging by the light of the sky, it should only be early morning, maybe close to noon.
The obvious thing to do is to head for civilization, but in my case that would be a stupid thing to do since I am required to kill 100 people from the said civilization.
“Nevertheless, I cannot stay here. I must find them and at least attempt to solve the quest. But ho…”
My thoughts stopped at the arrow mark engraved on the tree pointing in a certain direction. Markings at that height were impossible to be made by an animal and given that they were about 2.5 – 3 meters from the ground, there was only one possibility: sentient beings!
Holding tightly the spear that was teleported alongside myself, I slowly navigated the jungle using the markings as a map for what seemed to be at least a couple of hours. Judging by my shadow, it was close to noon when I found a large open space where there were no trees growing for what seemed to be many kilometers. The strange part was that, in the far background all the way to the horizon, one could still see trees acting like a fence to this huge… meadow.
“Natural or hand-made I wonder?”
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
It obviously didn’t take long to find a structure that didn’t quite match the jungle-like scenery in the middle of the said ‘meadow’. From the point where I was, all I could see were walls above five, maybe six meters tall and towers that were even higher.
I began pondering about how the fuck was I supposed to infiltrate such a place in the night and start killing 100 of their people. That was downright impossible given that those tall towers are for sure sentry towers and judging by the width of that wall, there will be patrols on it as well.
[It is obviously hand-made. We had to cut many trees in order to create this fortress after all…](?)
The sound of a voice behind me chilled me to my core. Grasping the spear tighter in my hands and mentally calculating the distance between the source of the voice and myself, I realized that I must be at least 3-4 meters away.
Turning around slowly and standing up from my crouching position, I tried adopting a fierce look on my face in order to at least appear to be imposing. However…
“Holy…”
I gaped at the 3-meter tall giantess in front of my eyes. Not only was she stupidly beautiful, but her hands were also holding something akin to a firearm pointed obviously at my head.
“Motherfucker! Just how is this even remotely doable? I come here strapped with a fucking spear and they have hot weapons!? Not to mention that even if they didn’t, how the fuck I’m I supposed to kill 100 giants? Are they going to obediently let me put my spear through them!? What the absolute fuck!?”
Probably seeing the despairing look on my face while I was pondering how the fuck do I leave and abandon the tutorial, a smile from my opponent sent me into a daze. Holy shit! A simple smile on the face of this 3 meter girl made it seem like a field of flowers bloomed at the same time.
Unexpectedly, she lowered her weapon and looked at me questioningly. It is not as if I stood a chance from the get-go, so I might as well do the same before I find a hole in my already ripped t-shirt…
“I don’t have any bad intentions! I was lost in the jungle and followed the markings on the trees…”
I said that while raising my hands with the spear still grasped, just in case. Surprisingly, the spear started shrinking at a fast pace, surprising both the girl and myself. Seconds later, it became a ring around my index finger, leaving both of us staring stupidly at it.
She probably noticed my surprise and a pondering look appeared on her face. Seeing a chance to take advantage of and improve this newly established peaceful relationship, I slowly enunciated.
“My name is…”
And I was forcefully stopped by a system message, making me gape at it.
[Attention player! Gamer tag has not been selected yet! While in other worlds, in order to affect the foreign civilizations as little as possible, please select a gamer tag that you will use from now on!]
I just stood there rooted in absolute silence for the following couple of seconds. When I woke up from my stupor, I could see the woman in front of me blinking her eyes in confusion. I couldn’t help but snicker while scratching my head in embarrassment. A gamer tag, huh?
I played my fair share of games and I used the same nickname since… forever I guess. Embarrassing though to be addressed using it…
“Ahem… DeFiLled! You can call me DeFiLled.”
Thickening my skin to the max, even while my cheeks were burning, I looked straight into the woman’s mesmerizing eyes and barely whispered. From my point of view, I was just like a teen barely going through puberty, which also hasn’t fully woken up yet…
[Oh! I can see it now!](?)
“See!? See what?” – I asked befuddled
[Your name. It shows above your head now. I am Anna, by the way. Nice to meet you!](Anna)
“Above… my head?”
I almost slapped my forehead and swore at how much game-like this shitty game was. Unnecessarily so even! The woman, Anna, put the weapon on her back and with a wide smile she beckoned me.
[Let’s go then. I didn’t realize that you were a player from another world. We were warned by our prophet that many people will visit us, however none will be residents of this world of ours.](Anna)
“Huh? What? Wait… go where?”
[Hmm? To our fortress of course! We, the people of Serti, know how to treat guests!]
[Quest update: You have met the people of Serti! They are the inhabitants of this world. Follow your new acquaintance to their fortress.]
[Achievement gained: Universe Traveler.
Requirement: The first in your world to meet a foreign civilization.]
“Fuck…”