Jack opened the main menu and switched to the Bounties/Quests/Challenges tab. The second and the third sections were empty, but the first one contained quite a few bounties to fulfill. When Jack wandered around the forest the other day, he’d been checking the tab every now and then but hadn’t accepted any of the bounties. They were pretty straightforward–just to kill a certain amount of some creatures in a specific location. However, most of the bounties required him to visit a cave or a dungeon. He hadn’t been keen to venture into dark caves, though. He’d wanted to explore the forest instead, so he hadn’t accepted any of the bounties yet.
But he needed to earn 10,000 gold now, so it was time to start doing some bounties. He looked over the list to see what bounties were available in his current area. The list was constantly updating in real-time, with some of the bounties disappearing to be replaced by some others. Jack assumed that when other people fulfilled some of the bounties, the system added new ones. As he already knew, he wasn’t the only person in this game-like world.
It didn’t take Jack long to find what he liked.
Type Bounty Objective Kill all the cave rats residing in a small cave. Difficulty Easy Recommended level 5-10 Reward 1,000 gold
So he needed to clear out a cave infested with cave rats. Sounded pretty easy all right. Jack assumed that cave rats were those creatures with spikes on their backs and crocodile-like heads that he’d already met before, so he accepted the bounty. There were a few other similar bounties, whose objectives were to clear out caves infested with croc-rats. Jack wanted to accept all of them too before some of the other people took them, but he wasn’t able to do so. As it turned out, the system allowed him to take only one bounty at a time, unfortunately.
Sure enough, there were other kinds of creatures to kill like bloodsuckers, which Jack assumed were the mosquito-like creatures he’d already encountered. There were bounties on some other creatures like rift scourges or blood fiends, but Jack wasn’t willing to fight creatures he’d never encountered before. At least, not yet. His current goal was to earn ten thousand gold before nightfall. He had to earn this sum as fast as possible, so he couldn’t afford to waste time learning the behavior patterns of new monsters.
As for the croc-rats, which were apparently called cave rats, he already knew how to deal with them. While they still posed quite a threat to him, especially when there were several of them at once against him, he at least knew what to expect from them. He’d killed so many of them he now knew how they acted in a fight and how to counter them.
Also, Jack didn’t want to take bounties that required him to kill monsters out in the open. He now wanted to venture into caves because as he already knew, there could be hidden treasure chests containing valuable items. At least, that was the case with the very cave where he’d awoken. That’s why he wanted to focus only on cave-related bounties for now.
As for the Quests and Challenges sections, they were still empty. Jack didn’t know why, but he didn’t think about that for too long. He assumed that some quests and challenges might become available when he leveled up a few more times, and he left it at that.
So, after accepting the bounty to kill some croc-rats in a specific cave, Jack finally closed the bounty tab and switched to the map. Those areas of the forest that he’d already visited were visible. The rest of the map was hidden by clouds of gray mist. A green triangle sitting in the middle of the map showed his current position. Jack toyed with the map for a little while. He learned that he could zoom in and out as well as put pins with labels on it. There already was a pin that showed the location of his current bounty. It was a little way north of his current position, somewhere in the clouded-over section of the map.
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Jack turned around, and the green triangle on the map turned too. When he was facing the right direction, he closed the map and set off on his mission. He met some insect-like creatures on his way to the cave, but he ignored them. He wanted to reach his destination as soon as possible, so he fought only those monsters that attacked him.
He was so focused on quickly getting to the cave that he barely paid attention to what was happening around him. And this mistake cost him dearly. When he was walking past a strange-looking tree, some of its branches reached for him and took hold of his jacket. Not quite comprehending yet what was happening, Jack dropped his sword and slipped out of his jacket.
He then immediately grabbed his weapon and spun around in time to see his jacket disappear into the foliage high above him and well out of his reach. In the pockets of his jacket had been some food and water as well as his cell, watch, and wallet. But now all these things were lost forever. But he didn’t have time to feel grief. Several other branches lashed through the air from somewhere and grabbed him by the legs. Jack lost his balance and tumbled to the ground. Luckily, his sword didn’t slip from his grip. As the branches began to drag him across the ground, he swung his sword at them. The blade cut through the branches without much trouble, and Jack jumped to his feet.
For a second, he just stared in awe at the weird-looking tree whose long branches curled and undulated in the air. The tree seemed to be alive. He wasn’t even sure if it was a plant or some kind of creature pretending to be a plant. When some of the other branches reached for him, Jack wheeled around and ran away. He didn’t have time to deal with this strange tree. He wasn’t even sure if it was killable. He continued his way to the cave, now keeping his head on a swivel for other tree monsters who might slow him down. Fortunately, he didn’t encounter any more of them.
He felt bad for losing his broken cell and watch as well as his wallet, though. Sure, these things were of no use for him in this world, but they had been his only link to his past. Having lost them sucked. He felt like part of him was missing now. Out of all the things that he’d come into this world with, now only his lighter remained because he kept it in his pants pocket instead of one of the jacket’s.
Finally, he reached his destination. He stood before the entrance to a cave. No sound reached him from inside. He took a deep breath and stepped in, finding himself in a dark cave tunnel. Now that his Perception was 2, his eyes adjusted to the darkness somewhat faster than before.
As it turned out, it wasn’t all that hard to clear out the cave. He met only one croc-rat in the tunnel, which he took care of without much trouble. Then the tunnel opened out into a cavern where he encountered a few more croc-rats he had no problems to deal with too. After that, a notification informed him that the bounty was fulfilled and he received 1,000 gold.
No secret compartment revealed itself this time. However, on the other side of the cavern sat a closed chest. When Jack opened it, he saw a couple of small health potions and a sheathed sword inside. He pocketed the magical beverages and focused his attention on the sword.
Item One-handed weapon Rarity Uncommon Description A slightly enhanced steel shortsword. Deals a little bit more damage than other swords of this type. Primary effects Increases the damage you deal by 5%. Temporary effects None Enchantments None
This sword of uncommon rarity was somewhat better than his old weapon. There was probably no point in having two swords, so he discarded the old one and took the new blade with him.
After he left the cave, Jack noticed that it was already getting darker. He brought up the Bounty menu. The forest was enormous, and there were plenty of bounties in that area. Jack quickly found a bounty that was identical to the one he’d just finished. The reward for this one was 1,000 gold too.
He needed to complete nine more similar bounties, and he had to do it before nightfall, which wasn’t all that far off now. There was no time to lose, so Jack quickly consulted the map and set off for another rat-infested cave.