Against my better judgment and desire to escape this dark hell I’ve wormed my way into, I decide to risk sticking around. I know it’s probably the worst idea I’ve ever had, but since I’m already here in the caves living the highlife—why not stay a while? The coins are good and easy to earn, and if I’m moving up in the underground, why ruin it with the over world? 

I have no other goal in life outside of survival right now, anyway. There are no quests or apparent time limits. Age is an illusion, and I am all but immortal to death by the food chain or other natural causes as far as I can tell. 

Outside of the isolation and being the only once-human I know in the world, it's not a bad gig.

While thinking about my options, I take a glance at the store and notice something fun. More abilities had been added to the system’s store after my last windfall. None of them are that exciting on their own, but apparently they were unlocked by my skill point investments—which means that the more skill points I buy, the more things in the store become available to me. 

That could be especially important for unique trait slots like the tail abilities I’d thus far avoided taking. It was almost a shame that I’d already taken fang and skin traits, but who knew what would show up if I waited longer for other things?

I grin a snakey grin at the thought. 

Just wait you damn mongoose. Just. You. Wait.

Why that mongoose in particular has ended up on my hitlist, I don’t really know. Convenience, maybe? Nevertheless, it’s inspired my choice to become stronger, so perhaps I should thank it if we meet again. 

My own little revenge mission. With love.

Nevertheless, now that I’ve decided to stay in the tunnels, I have to make other preparations—starting with my map. I’ve gotten a little better at working with the map program, so I save the file I have and start a fresh sheet with the chamber as my new point zero. I choose a color for each of the three tunnels, then look between the right—now red—and left—now blue—doorways, tapping my tail against my chin. 

I’m probably thinking way too hard about this, but making decisions is hard, regardless of whether I’m going in order to find more places to commit murder or doing basic reconnaissance, so I have to lay it out.

No matter which one I choose, I run the risk of falling into a vibrational illusion within the tunnels. I may be feeling said vibrations, but that didn’t necessarily mean that I would find what I thought I would within them. 

With my new abilities, I also don’t know if there’s a strategic difference between going either right or left. I’m torn between the satisfaction of mass murder and the reality that facing stronger enemies is ultimately my future. 

The latter wins out. If stronger enemies are the future, I’ll need the practice. The fact that it might be the path that will lead me to greater rewards may or may not have played a role in my decision, but that’s not important.

With my map and clock open, I do my best to meticulously record my travels. Several side passages tempt me with promises of combat, but I stay on the straight path and ignore them. If I do this right, I can find my way back to the chamber again if I need to. 

The way is windy, though, and while I don’t give up on my map, I do begin to lose faith that I’ll manage to successfully find my way back.

The vibrations I’m feeling reach out like a spider web, and I feel I may have been a touch ambitious in my choice of paths. It seems the game wants me to turn off the main way in order to find my prey, and lure me away from understanding the labyrinthine structure I’m mapping out. 

Off one side passage, the vibrations are particularly close. I shouldn’t get lost if I just take a quick peek, I think as the temptation and thirst for progression grows.

No. Priorities, Noa, I remind myself, and keep my nose facing forward as I ensure my logic-brain reins in my impulses. If you don’t get lost, you can come back. 

With all that can go wrong, it feels important to remind myself that I have all the time in the world. There’s no reason to be hasty; my quarry isn’t going anywhere.

Hell. I’m not even going anywhere. I’m railroaded on a tunnel adventure with no real idea what I’m doing.

After an hour is up, I pause and re-situate myself. I look over my map and see that I’ve passed five off-shoots since the chamber. I’ve made very specific notations about each of them, and every one has a notation of at least one strong vibration from that direction, and the scent of wet fur. 

Clear evidence of prey. 

I hmm to myself as I think about my next move. Going forward would possibly lead to more discoveries—but going back for now would familiarize me more with what I already knew.

Perhaps I was going about this the wrong way. In theory, I had a way out now, and the desperation that once drove me is no longer as strong as it was. 

Relief and realization spreads over me like a warm blanket as I realize that this—this moment, this journey into the underground—is the moment my life in Final Eden begins. This is my new start. 

I’ve been thinking of myself as being behind the eight ball this whole time, but in a world so apparently static, who cares? 

“Forget about the last week or two,” I tell myself. “Consider this day one. You’ve just entered the game for the first time, and the only thing waiting for you is a future of fun!”

The first days of a new game are always a time of exploring, growing, and grinding. It doesn’t really matter what I do from here as long as I have fun and become stronger.

Right?

With a safe space to return to and reliable hunting ground, I should be set until I’m ready to move on. This might have been advertised as an MMO, but to me, it’s a survival game—and the most important thing one needs in any survival game is a base.

Temptation rises within me to investigate that side passage again when I pass by, but I quell it. If I’m going to begin my hunt for real, I should do it in a neat, orderly, and controllable fashion.

Play smarter, not harder, as they always say

So I use my map to attempt to backtrack to my new point zero.

Contrary to my fears, I manage to find my way to the chamber. It’s actually pretty exciting to have my map pay off, even if it was an easy route. My map is accurate. I’m also learning—probably more than I’ve been giving myself credit for under all the stress of survival. 

It’s not just about adjusting to the game, but to being a snake. I’m not only becoming better at reading the vibrations, but I’m realizing how strong my scent of smell is when I remember to use my tongue. 

Not having backtracked or having a home before, I never knew that I have my own scent. I can smell where I’ve been before. It seems to fade—the tunnel that I originally came from only has a light scent as evidence of my existence—but for the immediate future, it could be the difference between life and death.

I make sure that the cavern is safe, and then head to the first of the offshoots. There are at least two independent sources of vibrations down this path. Larger ones—likely rats. I choose a new color for it for my map, and then continue, but I needn’t have bothered.

I slow the moment I hear the skritch, skritch, of claws on stone. After applying [Camouflage], I slither forward cautiously. I freeze when the rats lift their heads in case the camouflage isn’t good enough to trick them, then move closer as soon as they turn.

Slow and steady. You are a hunter laying in wait…

Giving my surroundings a quick check, I notice it’s just a single, solitary chamber. There is no other tunnel out—and contains more than just the rats. 

Constructed of what looks like bits of string, grass, and feathers, a neatly woven nest sits behind them. Piles of goodies the rats have collected are scattered around, accompanied by a somewhat-expected smell of rotten food. 

More interesting, however, is the subtle sheen of metallic textures that are unlike anything I’d seen in Final Eden thus far. From where I am it looks like there are two types—long, thin, needle-like pieces, and then small and round ones, like pearls.

All my years gaming, I knew exactly what I was looking at.

Treasure. My first real treasure. 

My cave adventure just became a lot more fun.