The morning sun breached the thick canopy of the alien forest and cast long grey shadows across the wooden walls of the tree hollow. Dustin sat up slowly and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He had slept deeply and without interruption. His elevated position and his eighteen meter mental radar kept him safely isolated from the nocturnal horrors below.
He leaned back against the rough bark and stared out at the dark leaves hanging in the distance. He watched a massive silver spider spin a thick web between two branches far away. He watched the grey light slowly shift as the sun climbed higher into the unseen sky.
He waited for the familiar feeling of peace to settle over him. He usually loved doing absolutely nothing. Back in his apartment he could stare at a loading screen or a dirty ceiling for hours without a single complaint.
However this was different. He lacked his computer. He lacked a comfortable mattress. He was just a guy sitting in a dark wooden hole waiting for time to pass.
"I am so bored," Dustin muttered to himself. "I have never been this bored in my entire life."
He stretched his legs and let out a long sigh. Surviving by hiding was a highly effective strategy but it was also incredibly tedious. He needed something to occupy his mind before the sheer monotony drove him crazy. He raised his left arm and tapped the heavy metal band clamped around his wrist.
A bright green holographic screen flickered into existence in front of his face. He quickly reviewed his personal status window to confirm the gains from the previous night.
[ Level Two ]
[ Physical Strength: 5 ]
[ Vitality: 5 ]
[ Agility: 14 ]
[ Stamina: 4 ]
[ Perception: 18 ]
The numbers were still remarkably low but they represented a massive percentage increase over his starting baseline. The rabbit meat had given him a permanent boost to his gas tank. He felt noticeably less fragile today.
He started swiping his finger across the glowing green display in random directions. He wanted to see if the system had hidden any other useful information behind the basic attribute page. He opened the inventory tab and confirmed it was still empty aside from the slot for his rusted dagger. He swiped past a blank social menu and a locked map feature.
After swiping down for a third time the digital screen finally rippled and changed its layout. A new list of text appeared under a bold header.
[ Milestones ]
[ 1. Obtain one additional skill at Level 4 ]
[ 2. Unlock advanced statistical information at Level 10 ]
[ 3. Obtain one additional skill at Level 25 ]
[ ... ]
Dustin stared at the short list and frowned at the glowing dots at the bottom.
"Just three items," Dustin muttered as he read the screen again. "They are not showing the rest of the milestones. Whatever."
He closed the digital window and thought deeply about the new information. The promise of a new skill at level four was a massive incentive. His current combat strategy relied entirely on sneaking up on harmless animals and stabbing them while they ate grass. If he encountered a real predator he would be completely defenseless. A magical skill could give him a much needed safety net. A cloaking ability or a speed boost would make his lazy survival plan significantly easier to execute.
He crawled to the edge of the hollow and looked down at the forest floor.
'I can at least hunt a few more low level beasts today,' Dustin thought inwardly. 'If I target level one and level two creatures I can safely gain some experience points. Reaching level four for a new skill will help me survive more comfortably for the next thirteen days.'
He swung his legs over the edge and began the slow climb down the massive charcoal trunk. The descent took him roughly five minutes. His newly upgraded stamina and agility made the physical effort much more manageable than his desperate climb the day before. He did not have to stop and catch his breath.
His bare feet touched the damp earth and he immediately activated his perception bubble.
The spherical mental radar expanded outward and mapped the surrounding eighteen meters. The area was clear of immediate threats. He pulled his rusted iron dagger from his waistband and began walking slowly through the dense morning fog. He was ready to grind some safe levels.
Miles away in the deep center of the tutorial zone a vastly different kind of hunt was taking place.
The forest here was littered with ancient grey stones covered in thick green moss. A terrified man in a torn business suit was crawling frantically through the dirt. His fingernails were bleeding and his breathing was ragged. He dragged his heavy legs behind him in a desperate attempt to put distance between himself and his attacker.
A tall man with cold eyes sat comfortably on a flat stone nearby. He wore a dark leather jacket and stared at a glowing blue holographic screen hovering in the air. He did not hold a weapon but he carried himself with an overwhelming sense of lethal confidence.
"Finally I reached level eleven," the tall man said while swiping his hand to close his stat window. His voice was completely devoid of emotion.
The crawling man stopped moving and pressed his face into the damp soil. He was out of breath and completely out of hope.
"Please do not kill me," the man pleaded in a very weak voice. "I have a family. I can help you."
The tall man did not respond. He simply inspected his own empty palms.
"Do not kill me," the man sobbed loudly while raising his trembling hands. "I will be your servant for the rest of my life. I will carry your gear. I will do anything you ask."
The tall man stood up slowly and walked over to the weeping survivor. He looked down at the pathetic display with deep disgust.
"And why would I be needing such a weakling servant as you," the tall man said in a flat tone. He raised his right hand and pointed his open palm directly at the head of the kneeling man.
"Aaaaahhhh—"
A desperate battle cry suddenly rang out from the thick bushes directly behind the tall man.
A young man wielding a heavy wooden club leapt from the dense foliage. He swung the crude weapon with all of his might while aiming directly for the back of the tall man's skull. It was a desperate and brave ambush attempt by another survivor hiding in the brush.
The tall man did not even flinch. He did not turn around to face the attacker.
A sharp whistling sound cut through the humid air. A long wooden arrow flew from the high branches of a nearby tree and struck the leaping ambusher squarely in the side of the head. The young man dropped his wooden club and crashed heavily into the dirt. He died before his body even stopped rolling.
At that same moment a brilliant flash of bright crimson light erupted from the open palm of the tall man.
The magical energy formed a crescent blade of pure heat that shot forward and cleanly chopped off the head of the weeping man on the ground. The cauterized wound smoked lightly in the cool morning air.
Ding.
A soft digital chime played from the metal band on the tall man's wrist.
[ Level 12 reached. ]
A figure dropped gracefully from the high branches of the nearby tree. It was a lean man holding a beautifully crafted hunting bow. He wore light leather armor and landed without making a single sound on the forest floor.
"This was way too easy Master Zoran," the Archer said while stepping over the fresh corpses.
"Did you gain any levels," Zoran asked while wiping an invisible speck of dust from his dark leather jacket.
"Yes I have now reached level six," the Archer replied proudly. He tapped his wooden bow against his leg. "And the Changing Direction skill that I chose at level four is quite effective indeed. I can alter the flight path of my arrows mid air by several degrees. It makes dodging practically impossible for these weaklings."
Zoran nodded once and began walking past the ancient mossy stones. He did not bother looting the bodies. They were just stepping stones for his rapid advancement.
"Good," Zoran said coldly. "Keep scanning the perimeter. We need more experience points before the sun sets."
Back near the winding river the midday sun was beating down hard on the damp forest.
Dustin stood near the muddy bank with his chest heaving. His hands were covered in foul smelling swamp mud and his ripped pajama pants were soaked with river water. He wiped a thick layer of sweat from his forehead using the back of his arm.
He looked down at the massive corpse resting near his feet.
It was a strange reptilian creature that strongly resembled a snapping turtle. However the beast was the size of a large house cat and possessed thick spikes protruding from its dark green shell. Dustin had spent the last twenty minutes engaged in a highly stressful game of hit and run. He used his superior agility to dodge the snapping jaws while repeatedly stabbing his rusted dagger into the soft flesh beneath the heavy shell.
It was exhausting and dirty work. It required an immense amount of physical movement that he deeply hated.
Ding.
A familiar blue text box flickered to life in his vision.
[ Level 3 reached. ]
[ Physical Strength: 10 ]
[ Vitality: 9 ]
[ Agility: 17 ]
[ Stamina: 9 ]
[ Perception: 20 ]
[ Bonus stat point +1 ]
Dustin read the numbers and let out a long breath of pure relief. His brutal morning of hunting low level frogs and river snakes had finally paid off. His stats were rapidly climbing out of the dangerous critical zones.
"Finally now I have reached the strength of a normal human being I guess," Dustin muttered to himself.
Having ten points in physical strength meant he could actually swing his dagger with real force. Having nine points of stamina meant his heart no longer felt like it was going to explode after a short sprint. He was no longer a fragile piece of wet tissue paper. He was currently functioning at the level of an average unathletic adult. It was a massive personal victory.
He noticed the single unassigned bonus stat point floating at the bottom of the screen. He decided to leave it alone for now. He would save the point until he faced an emergency that required a specific attribute boost.
He nudged the heavy spiked shell of the dead turtle with his bare foot. The heavy corpse slid down the muddy bank and splashed heavily into the fast moving river current.
'I am not eating you but at least the fishes can,' Dustin thought while watching the body sink.
He walked a few steps away from the muddy bank and sat down heavily on a large flat rock. His legs ached and his stomach grumbled slightly. He was tired but he felt significantly safer in his own skin. He just needed to secure one more level to unlock his first milestone skill. He closed his eyes and allowed his stamina bar to slowly recharge in the warm afternoon air.
By the time evening arrived the atmosphere at Andrew's central camp was a complex mixture of heavy grief and frantic progress.
The large rocky clearing had transformed dramatically over the course of a single day. The defensive perimeter was now reinforced with thick sharpened logs forming a solid wooden wall. The center of the camp no longer looked like a desperate gathering of refugees. It was slowly becoming a functional village.
Many new survivors had stumbled upon the noisy camp throughout the afternoon. The population had swelled rapidly. A few of the new arrivals possessed dedicated crafting and building classes. They used their system assisted skills to manipulate raw timber and heavy stone with incredible speed.
The camp now boasted twenty five fully enclosed cabin sized houses. The wooden structures were rough and lacked fine details but they offered real protection from the wind and the damp soil. Small groups of people sat around organized stone fire pits and roasted the meat provided by the massive hunting parties.
The mood among the survivors was deeply divided.
A group of younger participants sat near the largest fire and chatted excitedly about their recent level ups. They showed off their basic skills and discussed their plans to form permanent hunting squads. They felt powerful and confident behind the thick wooden walls of their new home. They believed Andrew was leading them directly to victory.
On the other side of the camp the atmosphere was heavy with sorrow.
The older woman along with a few others sat near her with equally hollow expressions. They had lost friends and family members to the brutal Level 40 beast ambush the previous night.
They understood the dark reality that the excited young fighters were actively ignoring. The solid walls of the wooden cabins and the roaring fires provided a comforting illusion of civilization. However they were still just fragile humans trapped inside a terrifying alien ecosystem.
Andrew stood near the center of the camp with his heavy iron broadsword resting on his shoulder. He watched his growing settlement with a proud smile. He saw the new cabins and the organized supply piles and believed he was doing the right thing. He believed his sheer willpower and loud leadership could conquer the deadly forest.
He was entirely unaware that high level predators were currently gathering in the dark treeline just beyond the reach of their firelight. The loud noise of twenty five houses being built had attracted a massive amount of unwanted attention.
The forest was simply waiting for the fires to burn down.