Wyatt cupped his hands together and dipped them into the burbling stream. He knew from his short time on earth how dangerous it was to drink unfiltered water, but his powerful thirst overwhelmed any caution. As he drank deeply, he felt fairly certain the organizers wouldn’t want the contestants to die by shitting themselves to death. The nanites infusing his body should deal with any parasites in the stream—assuming it wasn’t specially filtered water with no microbes in it.

“What’s the plan?” Saeko asked. As she stood up, she touched her forehead and her fingers came away coated in bright red blood. “Wait… why doesn’t my head hurt anymore? Is that a bad sign?”

“It’s fast healing,” he replied without thinking. “If you survive the initial injury here, the nanites should repair any wound pretty quickly.”

“How do you know so much about the nanites?” she asked, raising her eyebrow slightly.

I would recommend concealing your identity, Lars said. The other contestants may react to the truth poorly.

Wyatt frowned at Lar’s words. “I must have read about them somewhere,” he muttered. “To be honest, I’m just making assumptions about how everything works here. Since this is a survival game, they probably don’t want us to die curled up in a hole somewhere. It’s more entertaining to watch a monster eat us.”

“So, what do we do now? And what the heck is a survival game?”

“Don’t tell me you never played any virtual survival games.”

Saeko glared at him. “I worked triple shifts in the mine to pay for my brother’s medical treatments. Do you think I had time to waste playing stupid games?” Her frown faded, and then she shook her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come out that harsh. This is all a bit much for me.”

“I understand,” he replied softly. “Survival games generally drop you into a dangerous world where you have to struggle against the elements and starvation.” He waved his hand expansively at the surrounding forest. “At least it doesn’t look like food and water will be hard to come by. I was afraid we were going to end up on an ice sheet or in a desert.”

“There are still 12 levels to go,” she said, pressing her lips together. “And I doubt they’re going to make it easy for anyone to get out of here alive.”

“Good point.” Wyatt pointed at a ridge jutting above the forest in the distance. “I think we should head in that direction and find a good defensible camp. Preferably near a water source.”

“You’re the survivalist.” Saeko grinned for the first time, her entire face brightening. “But if we stumble across any plasma cannons, then I get first dibs on them.”

“They’re yours if we find one,” he laughed. “Still, I’m pretty sure we’re going to be doing most of our fighting with sticks and stones.”

“Great,” Saeko said. “I spent weeks locked up trying to decide on the best class to choose and then ended up picking the worst possible one.”

“This is only the first level of many,” he said. “And you can always buy new skills when we find a trader.”

“That’s true.” Saeko froze as a hauntingly beautiful song shook the forest. A flurry of green leaves fluttered down from a nearby tree in the wake of the noise. “What was that?”

“It sounded like a whale.” He frowned before setting off in the direction of the nearby ridge. “But whatever made it was big, and I don’t particularly want to run into it out here.”

Wyatt kept a slow pace as they walked, still worried about Saeko’s head wound. But after a short distance—when she hadn’t shown any trouble keeping up—he increased his strides. Along the way, he stopped to collect various edible leaves and tubers he spotted. While he didn’t know the names—or even recognize the plants—he somehow knew instinctively that they were safe to eat.

When he stopped to pull some tree bark off a birch tree, he heard Saeko sigh loudly. He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Is there a problem?”

“Why do you keep stopping every ten feet to collect this… garbage?” She pointed at the various plants and pieces of bark held under his arm. “Aren’t we trying to find some place safe?”

“We’re going to need food and supplies,” he replied. “And if this is truly a survival game, then we’re going to have to make everything ourselves.” He held up a tiny white plant bulb. “For example—this is poisonous, but it makes an excellent glue.”

“So, some of those are edible?” she asked, eyeing the plants. “I’m starving.”

Wyatt handed her a few green leaves. “These should tide you over until I can catch some game.”

Saeko accepted the plant leaves but screwed up her face as she nibbled on the edge. “It’s not as bad as mining rations, but it’s close.” She took another tiny bite, making a face again. “I’m not sure how much help I’m going to be. I’ve lived in a dome since I was born.”

“I’m not much better off. I spent most of my adult life on Titan.” He tapped the side of his head. “The nanites are feeding me information right now. To be honest, I’ve never seen any of these plants before. The only reason I know what to do is my Outdoors Survival skill.”

“That makes me feel a bit better,” she said, taking another mouthful of leaves. “I was starting to feel useless.”

“Once we find a neutral location, you can buy some skills for this world.”

Saeko stopped and glanced sideways at him. “Isn’t Titan the headquarters for the Outer Sol Conglomerate?”

Wyatt nodded his head without meeting her gaze. “And it’s also home to mining colonies.”

“So, you were a miner, too?”

“Something like that,” he replied stiffly. He thought back to his time on Titan and grimaced. There was no way to wash his soul clean from what he’d done, but he was going to try his damnedest to make up for his past. Apparently, someone had caught wind of his plan and had infiltrated Lars into the trials to assist him.

“But how do I purchase new skills if killing other players doesn’t grant rewards?” Saeko continued as she stopped to pull her pants free from the clutches of a prickly bush. “Maybe the game doesn’t give credits?”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

According to the information I’ve managed to gather, the Trials grant credits in a different manner, Lars interjected. Rewards shall apparently be granted upon the completion of quests.

“My skill tells me that quests will grant rewards,” he lied. “We just have to find the trader.”

Wyatt knelt at the side of the trail and picked up a handful of glittering stones. Then he collected a few branches and a chunk of dark rock. It was becoming increasingly difficult to walk with all the stuff he was carrying, but he didn’t want to pass up anything that might be useful.

“Were you a hoarder back on Titan by any chance?” Saeko asked, examining his arms. “Would you like me to carry anything?”

Wyatt handed off the branches to her. “My brain thinks this stuff is important, so I’m not going to argue with it.” He held up one of the sparkling rocks. “I’m pretty sure this one is used to start fires.”

“And all the other junk?”

Wyatt held up a few stalks of stinging nettles. “I have absolutely no idea, but I’m sure it will come to me.”

“Let me take those from you, too.” Saeko reached out to grab them before he could warn her, and she recoiled in pain. “They bit me!”

“You have to be careful how you hold them,” he replied, pulling the nettles back. As he focused on the plants, information filled his vision.

Stinging Nettle

* Medicinal ingredient

* Edible

* Plant Fibers

“That’s strange,” he said. “When I examine it, I can see a prompt.”

“Stranger than a plant biting your hand?” Saeko rubbed her fingers gingerly. “Should I be worried? Is it poisonous?”

“I don’t think so.” Wyatt recalled a hazy memory of being stung by nettles when he’d visited his grandparents' farm on Earth as a child. “The pain should go away pretty quickly.”

“I hope so.” Saeko raised her injured fingers to her mouth, but then apparently thought better of it. “Why don’t I carry the rocks instead?”

Wyatt gave her the rest of his stones before continuing on towards the ridge. The sheer cliff face grew larger the closer they approached until it loomed high above them. Gnarled pine trees clung to outcroppings, and high above, birds took wing from their nests.

“I want to see if we can find a spring.” Wyatt pointed to a fissure in the nearby rock. “My instincts tell me to look over there.”

“Why do we need a spring?” she asked, looking at him askance. “Do you mean like a coiled piece of metal?”

“No, the word also means a natural source of water.” He held up his hands to shield his eyes from the sun as he scanned the cliff. “They sometimes emerge from rock faces.”

“Oh, I see.” She stopped and pressed her lips together. “I think having spent my life on a mining colony is really going to put me at a disadvantage here.”

Wyatt turned back to face her. “Virtually everyone is going to be in the same boat as you. I was going to take the Shadow Sniper class before I changed my mind and took Survivalist. Very few people are going to have access to what they need for their classes to work, which I think was the point. The OSC purposely didn’t tell us the nature of the game until after we had selected our classes. I think this was supposed to be some big new draw for the audience.”

“Do they want everyone to starve to death or something?”

“I doubt anyone is going to last long enough for that to happen. Especially will all of those orcs around.”

Saeko frowned. “What are orcs?”

“Don’t you remember anything about the village?” he asked. “There were orcs attacking the contestants landing there.”

“It’s all pretty hazy,” she admitted. “After I hit my head on the way down, I don’t remember much more than punching you and then waking up at the stream. Are you telling me there are monsters in this world?”

“The orcs… were eating people,” he said quietly, the memory of the old man’s gory deaths still haunting his thoughts. What other horrifying monsters had the OSC brought to life?

“They… ate someone?” Saeko’s face drained of colour. “And I thought the deathmatch was bad. I really don’t want to be eaten.”

“That makes two of us. So, let’s focus on building a strong camp and then on finding some weapons. If I have to face an orc again, I want to have something more dangerous than my bare hands.”

“I totally get that,” Saeko said. “But how are you going to make weapons out of rocks and sticks?”

“I’ll figure it out when the time comes.” Wyatt examined a curved branch in his hand, and after a second, numerous crafting options appeared in his vision. He dismissed the prompts and continued on the path. Once they found a camp, he’d sit down to decode all the crafting prompts.

They walked up and down the cliff face for the better part of an hour before they finally found a narrow stream of water pouring out of the rock. The cascading water filled a clear pool, the blue sky perfectly mirrored on its surface. Only a few paces away was a dark cave opening, and deadwood was scattered around the entrance.

“I think we found our new home.” Wyatt hefted a log out of the way and walked to the entrance of the cave.

“And I thought habitat modules were bad.” Saeko put her hands on her hips and frowned. “What if something else has already made this place its home?”

Wyatt froze at her question. He hadn’t even considered the thought and felt an irrational anger at his skills for failing him.

I guess I can’t expect my class to do everything for me.

A moment later, a thought occurred to him. “I have a Tracking skill,” he said. “If you give me a minute, I’ll see if anything has been by here recently.”

As he focused on Tracking, his vision changed and he began to pick out tiny disturbances in the surrounding area. But after a few minutes of examining the ground, he hadn’t seen anything to indicate anything dangerous lived around here. “I think we’re safe.”

“Good.” Saeko dumped everything she was carrying at her feet and then plopped down on a boulder. “Because I’m exhausted and need a break.”

Wyatt carefully placed everything he’d been carrying on a flat rock before sitting down next to Saeko. “It may take a few days, but I think I can build a palisade and gate around the cave opening. That way, nothing hostile should be able to reach us.”

Saeko opened her mouth to reply, but her words were drowned out by an ominous song shaking the forest. After it had faded away, she whispered, “That was closer this time.”

“I know.” Wyatt examined the ridge until he saw what looked like an ancient rockslide in the distance. If he was careful, he should be able to climb to the top of the cliff and get a bird's-eye view of the area. “I’m going up there to see if I can catch a glimpse of whatever is making that noise.”

Saeko pushed herself wearily to her feet. “I’m coming with you.”

“Why don’t you stay here and guard our supplies?”

“Oh yes, I wouldn’t want anyone to steal our rocks.” She rolled her eyes before looking meaningfully at the nearby pile of boulders. “Where would we ever find a replacement?”

“It’s not that simple,” he tried to explain before shaking his head. “Just stay here and I’ll be right back.”

“Fine, I’ll guard our sticks.” Saeko plopped down and smiled at him as she protectively covered the branches with her hands.

Wyatt grimaced as he set out for the rockslide. Once he reached the pile of rocks, he clambered up the boulders at the bottom. The ascent looked easier than it was, and several times, he nearly slipped on the slick rocks. But each time, he managed to catch himself.

When he finally reached the summit, he stopped and collapsed with exhaustion. As he caught his breath, he stared out across the vast forest leading towards towering snowcapped peaks in the distance. A short distance away, he could see the village he’d dropped into, and most of the fires appeared to have been extinguished. Beyond that lay a wide river with several primitive ships plying the waters. He turned and scanned the rest of the surrounding land. Not too far away was a lake dotted with numerous islands, and in the other direction, the ridge continued as far as he could see.

A flash of movement caught his eye, and when he focused on it, he could see a massive, humped shape crashing through the forest. In the breaks between the trees, he spotted several figures fleeing from the pursuing creature.

Wyatt hurried back down the rockslide, nearly stumbling several times in his haste to descend. When he reached the bottom, Saeko surged to her feet.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, her hands curling into fists. “Are we in danger?”

He grabbed a long stick from the pile he'd collected and headed towards the forest. “There are some people being chased by a monster nearby, and I’m going to see if I can help.”

“With a stick!” she exclaimed. “You’re only going to get yourself killed.”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I have a plan.” As he sprinted towards the cracking sound of trees being felled, he could only hope it work against a monstrous land whale.