Nathan looked up at the skeleton monster and gave it a slow wave.
It roared and raised its hands into the air. For a few heart-pounding seconds, the world slowed down. Nathan screamed and ran off in the other direction. A second later, the monster swung its fists down. The ground shook and dust kicked into the air.
Nathan tripped, and flew forward, crashing into the black soil. The skeleton monster let out a low laugh. Nathan stood back up and continued running.
He looked from left to right. The ground was flatter than a pancake, with no outcroppings or forests to hide in. There were dead bushes, but Nathan doubted those would stop a giant skeleton monster. He forced himself to his feet and sprinted.
“I just wanted to buy my sister a toaster!” he said.
The skeleton monster stood up. It ran toward Nathan, its footsteps shaking the ground. Nathan looked behind himself and let out a shrill scream.
The monster grabbed him by the back of his shirt and looked at him, bored. For a moment, Nathan held out hope that the monster would spare him.
Then it threw him to the side.
Nathan crashed against the soil. The ground scraped against his exposed skin, cutting it open. He folded his arms around his head to protect his brain.
He stopped rolling and wheezed for breath. The toaster and fishing rod were scattered over the ground beside him. The monster stepped closer.
Nathan groaned. What had he done to deserve this?
The skeleton monster stood still and raised its foot to crush Nathan.
Panic flooded Nathan’s veins and he instinctively reached out for the closest weapon he had.
The fishing rod.
The monster laughed.
It brought its foot down.
Nathan swung the fishing rod toward the monster. The hook flew through the air and caught onto its leg bone.
[Fishing Minigame Engaged!]
At that exact moment, the skeleton monster froze. A blue, glowing box similar to the System messages popped up in front of Nathan. There was a circle with a rotating green spot on one side. At the top was a fish. The green spot rotated past the fish and a bar to the left decreased.
For a few precious seconds, Nathan stared in shock before it finally registered what he was looking at. In another farming game, there was a system similar to this. You had to click when the green spot touched the fish. If you did this four times, you’d get the fish. If you missed your chance, then you’d take a hit to your fishing stamina. Lose all your stamina, and you lose the fish entirely.
The green spot passed by the fish and the bar to the left dropped down.
Based on the rate he’d been losing stamina, he only had three chances left.
Old instincts locked in.
The green part of the circle rotated, and this time Nathan tugged on his rod at just the right time. The fish on the screen let out a little wiggle. He waited for it to pass by the green spot, then tugged again.
The monster, despite being frozen, seemed to widen its eyes. It twitched, and the fish changed position. Nathan tugged after a moment’s hesitation, but he failed to react fast enough and missed his chance. The stamina bar dropped.
Two more strikes and he’d lose the catch.
His heart pounded in his chest. He wasn’t sure what was happening or if this would somehow save his life, but he figured it was better than rolling over to die.
The green circle rotated. The fish shifted. Nathan gritted his teeth and tugged on the fishing rod. The fish wiggled, confirming success.
One more tug and he’d win.
At that thought, the fish spun around the circle, then it teleported to the other side. A droplet of sweat rolled down Nathan’s back. His eyes followed the complex movements as best he could.
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It teleported in front of the green circle. He tugged, only for the fish to disappear and return to the other side.
The failed tug consumed some of his fishing stamina. One more hit to that bar and it was over.
His heart seemed to gallop in his chest. Salty water rolled down his cheeks.
The fish teleported, it did a slow meander toward the green spot of the circle. It stopped right before the green spot and teleported away.
Nathan sucked in a breath.
Patience…
The fish teleported back to just in front of the green spot, then sprinted backward. It slowed to a halt.
And the green spot passed in front of it.
Nathan tugged. A small message popped up, saying, [Catch Successful!]
The monster let out an inhuman scream and lifted into the air. It dissolved into white particles before a blue window popped up in front of Nathan labeled “Inventory.” The white particles flew into the window, and a small image of a skeleton monster popped up in one of the boxes.
Nathan stared at it.
A new box appeared.
[System Error detected! Living Organisms should not be in the inventory. Placing Organism back into material plane…]
The picture of the monster turned white. In front of him, Nathan could see a glowing outline of the skeleton monster. It was getting more clear and defined by the second.
Nathan blanched. His eyes washed over the different buttons. To the right, there was a trashcan icon.
He clicked the mini-skeleton-monster, then dragged it over to the trashcan.
For a second, the window froze and nothing seemed to happen. Nathan watched with bated breath.
Then, the icon of the monster disappeared. The glowing outline vanished.
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have gained 6 new achievements!]
[Error Detected! Class: Monster incompatible with Function: Trash. Determining course of action…]
Nathan stiffened.
Would it reverse the deletion?
[Deletion confirmed.]
[Sending bug report to System-B32. Approximate update time… 8 hours.]
[Special achievement: “Do you have any idea how long it’ll take to patch this?” obtained!]
He slumped over onto the ground. He was alive. Somehow. He lifted his head and stood up.
Where was he?
----------------------------------------
He ignored all the new windows. They’d long since drifted to the edge of his vision. For several minutes, he observed the empty plains that he’d stumbled into.
He hadn’t noticed it before, but it was evening. The sun had dipped below the horizon and it was getting darker and colder by the second. He needed to find shelter.
Nathan breathed in. He let out a fake laugh.
“This is going on my list of top 10 worst experiences. Just behind the time Sarah ate my entire birthday cake.“
Sarah. His sister. The one that he was supposed to be meeting with.
Was she okay? Was she here in this… whatever this place was? His thoughts spun in circles for several minutes.
Nausea assaulted his senses. He tried to stay still for a few seconds before he felt something rush up his throat.
He vomited onto the ground.
The wet liquid chunks dripped into the soil. He heaved for several minutes and wiped away the spit with his suit’s sleeve. A chilling wind whistled in his ears.
After what felt like an hour of dry heaving, Nathan dug his fingers into the dirt and forced himself up to his feet.
If he ever wanted to see his sister, he’d have to survive and get out of this nightmare. And to survive, he needed shelter.
There would be time to freak out later.
He reached down and picked up the toaster, then walked. There was nothing at all. Just miles and miles of the same land over and over. There was the occasional dirty puddle, but that was about it.
The whole time, Nathan reminded himself that he would freak out later. The mantra helped to keep him focused.
As time went on, the air got chillier. Nathan shivered.
He saw a stone outcropping. He dashed over, nearly stumbling over himself in his haste. When he got there, he found an opening leading into a cave system.
He gulped as he stared into the dark abyss.
Better than staying out, exposed to the cold.
He wandered in. Nathan pulled out his phone and took a look at the battery symbol. 100%. He breathed a sigh.
Nathan turned on the flashlight, revealing the interior of the cave. He crept inside and descended. As he got deeper, the sound of the wind became deafened and the temperature warmed. He continued walking until he heard the sound of dripping water.
He blinked. Was there an underground stream?
I’m parched.
Nathan didn’t have a kettle to boil the water, though.
He sighed and continued onward, then paused.
There was a light up ahead.
He crept forward, his eyebrows furrowed. Where was that light coming from?
When he saw it, his jaw dropped.
It was a massive underground lake. The water glowed with an ethereal light, white spots like fireflies illuminating the rock shore. A drop from the ceiling fell, glistening, before landing in the water and creating several ripples.
Nathan stared at the sight for several minutes before he leaned down. He washed his hands and splashed his face with the refreshing water, the dirt melting away instantly.
He reached his hands in and cupped a handful. Nathan was thirsty.
He put the water to his lips and sipped on it.
There was a sweetness to the water, along with a slight sting as it went down his throat. Once it reached his stomach, his pains and aches started to disappear. It was like his soul was the part getting refreshed, not his body.
He leaned down and lapped up the water like a dog.
Nathan was sure that there was absolutely nothing weird that would happen from drinking the glowing mystery water.
After he finished, the euphoria from drinking faded away, and he slumped over on the rocky shore.
Now that he’d found somewhere safe, it was time to figure out what the hell was going on.