He closed his eyes, his shivering slowly abating as the fire warmed his skin. There was something strange about the AI. During his testing, the quests had been nowhere near so… helpful. Certainly, they’d be tailored to him as the devs had promised, but they were all about heavy risk and high reward, pushing the player forward.
These quests seemed to be more… cautious? Almost as if it was actively trying to keep him alive.
Darren opened his eyes and removed the chunk of meat from his inventory, and took a few bites, just enough to fill the food icon. Then he turned to Wilson. “You know, much as I’m loath to trust a machine, we may just have to trust the AI quest system.”
He threw on a British accent, “I tried to tell you.”
“I’m aware, but I also don’t trust coconuts.”
“That hurts.”
Darren shrugged. “The truth often causes pain... Oh look. My clothes are dry.” He leaned forward, yanking them from the stick and pulling them on, solving his third problem: nakedness.
By this point, the shirt was barely more than a shredded sack. Using it for bandages hadn’t been kind to it.
The pants ended just below his knee and were threadbare and coarse, but at least his equipment wasn’t hanging out.
He wouldn’t be able to clear his Exhaustion debuff without sleep—and like hell was he sleeping and letting some critter ravage him—but warm, dry, and clothed would do for now.
***
By the time the sun peaked over the horizon, Darren’s eyes felt like someone had poured sand into them. Not entirely inaccurate after yesterday’s dunk in the ocean, he supposed. He wasn’t convinced he’d even manage to stand right now. Level 3 exhaustion was a bastard.
He pulled up his stats to check how bad the damage actually was.
<<<<>>>>
Basic info:
-
Name: Biggus Bottomus
-
HP: 30 (base 50 -20 from CON)
-
Level: 5
-
XP: 253,510/304,000
Current skills:
-
Shipwright lvl 1 (4% Proficiency)
-
Twist of Fate lvl 1 (2% Proficiency)
-
Summoned Swivel Gun lvl 1 (2% Proficiency)
-
Supercharged Shot lvl 5 (100% Proficiency)
Current stats:
-
Constitution: 8 (base 11 -3 Exhaustion debuff)
-
Strength: 10 (base 13 -3 Exhaustion debuff)
-
Dexterity: 7 (base 10 -3 Exhaustion debuff)
-
Intelligence: 14 (base 17 -3 Exhaustion debuff)
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
-
Wisdom: 7 (base 10 -3 Exhaustion debuff)
-
Luck: 11 (base 14 -3 Exhaustion debuff)
Treasure:
-
5 Sovereigns
<<<<>>>>
He winced. Every point under 10 gave him a -2 modifier. So his modifier for CON was -4 per level. Leaving him 20 whole points in the hole for health. He seriously needed sleep to wipe that debuff.
“Wilson, you were supposed to stand guard so I could sleep,” he mumbled, stretching.
The merry jingle of a Quest Complete notification sounded, and he pulled it up while he materialised a handful of berries from his inventory. He munched them, enjoying the tangy burst of flavour with each bite as he read.
<<<<>>>>
Quest Complete
Despite great odds, you fearlessly fought off the horrors of the night and survived.
Reward:
-
1XP
-
1 Bit
<<<<>>>>
He shook his head and closed out the notification only to have it replaced instantly with another.
<<<<>>>>
Build a REAL shelter
The only way to survive a brutal world (when you can’t die repeatedly) is to be prepared. Build a shelter and crafting table worthy of an intrepid adventurer. Who knows, you might even unlock some more crafting levels and knowledge in the process…
Reward:
-
5,000XP
-
4 Dubloons
Accept?
Yes. No.
<<<<>>>>
“Okay, that’s actually a fair cop.” Darren accepted the quest. “But I still need answers. What happened to my body? I assume I woke up, so what’ll happen when I get out of here and re-sync with my body?”
Silence.
“Alright then, keep your secrets,” he said. “Wilson, we got work to do. I’m unwilling to accept that I have to build a whole shelter here that’s just gonna get left tomorrow. I won’t be back on this island once I’m done. So here’s the plan…”
***
By midday, Darren had only the first stage of Plan: GTFO complete. The constant breaks to catch his breath were kicking his arse.
“Bloody debuffs,” he muttered for the one thousand, four hundred and ninety-second time.
“You’re doing great!” he said in a British accent.
“Thanks, Wilson,” Darren said, back to Australian. “I can always count on you for support.” He cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck as he contemplated throwing his shirt in the creek for a wash with him still in it.
Hands on hips, he surveyed the structures sitting at the ocean’s edge. They were two canoe-ish hulls about eight metres long each. The next step was building a platform to attach them. He was going for a classic Polynesian design, a single-masted catamaran constructed out of hollowed-out logs, driftwood, and whatever else he could pull together.
The size was massive for a few hours of building, but the Shipwright skill continued to prove its value. Things just sort of… came together as he worked on them. There was no finesse to the build at this point, but it was a damn sight better than yesterday’s effort, now that he had a higher crafting level. Though it had only gained him one more percentage in Proficiency, bringing it up to 4%… cheapskate system.
“But what about the shelter? You ask, Wilson,” Darren said. “Simple. Onto this hand-crafted super-yacht I will build a hut”—he waved his hands vaguely—”thing. It will protect me from the elements and monsters if I can’t launch tonight. Plus, being a part of a ‘watercraft’, I should get all the benefits of Shipwright while building it. Genius, I know.”
Wilson sighed. “You’re the best I could get? I fink I’m doomed. Doomed before I even start.”
Darren froze, a chill racing up his spine. Wilson wasn’t supposed to have a Cockney accent. He was posh. Also… Wilson didn’t talk by himself.
Slowly, Darren turned, step by step, until he faced the coconut sitting a short way up the beach. Yes. It still looked like a coconut. Apart from the tiny arms and legs it now sported, and a black bowler hat. Its face still looked like it’d be crudely carved on, but now somewhat more… animated.
“What you starin’ at?” Wilson asked.
Darren inspected the coconut.
<<<<>>>>
Wilson Cal Coconut
Basic Information:
-
Level: 1
-
HP: 14
-
Class: Telekinetic Master
-
Status: Local
Stats:
-
Constitution: 13
-
Strength: 11
-
Dexterity: 11
-
Intelligence: 11
-
Wisdom: 15
-
Luck: 10
<<<<>>>>
Cal? Wasn’t that Spanish for lime?
“The beginning of my descent into insanity, apparently,” Darren said.
“Yeah, well, snap out of it. You ain’t crazy. Poseidon just got sick of you butchering accents and talkin’ to yourself, so ‘e brought me to life. No big whoop.”
Darren opened his mouth as he raised a finger, frowned, then shook his head. “Nope. Definitely a few sheep short of a full paddock.”