It was several weeks since Nina had met Kirk. He taught her everything he knew—how to fight monsters, get food, craft things, and everything else that she needed to know to survive in this world. Kirk helped her build a house next to his. It took them a couple of days to gather enough resources for that. Initially, she resided in his house, but after the completion of her house, she relocated to it.
They spent every day together. Nina could tell he was glad he’d met her. He’d been here much longer than her and was more than capable of surviving on his own, but just like her, he needed a friend in this hostile world full of dangers. Every day, they hunted and cooked together, then did a few bounties, getting XP, leveling up, and improving all their skills and abilities. In the evenings, they crafted something or just sat near a campfire, enjoying each other’s company.
Since they were in a group, all the XP and rewards for killing monsters and fulfilling bounties were automatically shared between them. As for the treasure chests they found in caves, they divided the loot in accordance with their personal preferences and skills. Kirk was a sword-wielding warrior, so he took weapons and armor. Everything magic-related was taken by Nina because she was a mage.
In battles against monsters, Kirk used a sword and a shield. Sometimes, he also used a crossbow, but a sword was his primary weapon. Nina was a one hundred percent mage. She could use both offensive and defensive spells, not only healing and protecting Kirk when needed but also fighting enemies alongside him. She knew plenty of battle spells and could handle herself now. She no longer was a scared girl who’d been fleeing through the forest, frightened for her life. Just like Kirk, she was a force to be reckoned with now, and the two of them made an excellent team.
In the weeks that Nina spent with Kirk, he told her everything he knew about this alien world. He told her that while this world was as real as Earth, many things here worked like they did in a regular role-playing video game. Most of the killed monsters revived in twenty-four hours. Ditto for the cleared-out caves. You could clear a cave of all the monsters residing in it and take all the rewards from the treasure chest, but if you returned to the cave in twenty-four hours, you’d discover the monsters you’d killed to be alive again and the treasure chest at the end of the cave full of loot once more.
Bounties were endless and repeatable. When a bounty was fulfilled, it would be available again after some time. It then could be taken by either the person who’d already fulfilled it once or by somebody who’d never done it before.
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Unlike bounties, quests were not repeatable. Each quest was unique and could be done only once. If you accepted and completed a quest, it would never appear in the quest list again, and neither you nor other people would be able to do it again. Unlike bounties, quests seldom appeared on the list. Sometimes, you needed to wait a few days before a quest appeared on the list. And quests didn’t linger there for long. If you saw a quest on the list, you should take it before one of the other people in the same area took it. Doing quests was totally worth it. Rewards given for completing quests were way better than rewards for bounties.
Just like quests, challenges seldom appeared on the list, but unlike quests, they could be done by other people. If you completed a challenge, it would eventually appear on the list for other people to take it. Each bounty, quest, and challenge was restricted to a specific area. If you left the forest, you would never see a quest that was available only in this particular area.
Kirk and Nina did plenty of bounties together, but so far, they’d never been able to get a quest. Kirk also hadn’t taken Nina to any of the dungeons located in the forest even though he knew where some of them were. He told her that the reason for this was that, unlike caves, dungeons were way bigger and much harder to clear out. Sometimes, it could take you up to a few days to clear out a dungeon. Dungeons held lots of treasure chests with awesome loot, but dungeons were also full of dangers. Even though Nina could handle herself now, Kirk wanted her to get a little bit stronger before they ventured into a dungeon.
At some point, he also told her that while he had no idea who or what kept teleporting people from Earth to this world, he noticed some curious tendencies. All the people who ended up here were adults. He’d never met kids or teenagers here. It was the same with the elderly. It seemed like people who were too young or too old were never teleported to this world for whatever reason, but Kirk didn’t know why that was the case. At least, he’d never met such a person. The youngest person he’d ever met here was in their early twenties, the oldest in their fifties. He himself was in his late twenties or early thirties. Nina was somewhat younger, mid to late twenties. Kirk also told her that he’d heard from other people that to this game-like world were teleported not only people from Earth but also people from other worlds as well. However, he didn’t know if these stories were true or false. So far, he himself had only met people who hailed from Earth here.
Nina continued to explore the alien world along with Kirk. Every day they fought monsters and did bounties together. She leveled up, getting new skills and spells, gradually getting stronger and stronger. Their survival in this world was coming along nicely. She’d been completely terrified when she just awoke in the cave with no memories at all, but ever since Kirk had rescued her, everything was fine. She was sure that nothing bad could befall her and Kirk now.
Little did she know that an impending misfortune awaited them in the near future.