Chapter 2

Survivor Game? Cultivation? Adventure?

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Leo sucked in a cold breath as he stared at the mud hut in front of him. It really did just appear, like magic. As soon as he collected all the ingredients, he got a ‘prompt’ of sorts that, if he ‘clicked’, displayed a transparent version of the hut. He still had to physically clear up enough space, but as soon as he did, he could just plop it down and it... appeared. It was simple, somewhat circular, with straw roof and no doors, and it was empty and dark inside, but it was his new home. He shed a single tear, having to call this a ‘home’ now.

A massive downgrade from an AC-powered flat in the middle of Manhattan with a view that countless would kill for, but when compared to sleeping on the floor or on the branches, it was astounding.

[Congratulations for building a Mud Hut! You have earned 1 System XP! Just 9 more to Level Up!]

[New Blueprints unlocked: Straw Bed, Wooden Torch, Spike Trap]

[New Side Missions:

--1-- Hunt down a wild boar that has been bullying the forest critters recently

--2-- Tame a powerful beast to be your Home Guardian

--3-- Discover the secret behind the Nameless Forest]

The system was rather random, Leo noted; furthermore, as far as he could tell, he didn’t have the ability to summon a ‘status window’ or anything of the sorts. Beyond those times where it appeared to tell him something, it was as though it didn’t even exist. In fact, even when he was building the mud hut, he couldn’t track how many ingredients he was missing and could only go from his memory. He overshot on quite a few and had the excess, but it was a good lesson.

As such, he quickly looked up the three blueprints and memorized what they required to be built. With having reached the Sixth Stage, his memory, too, seemed to have improved considerably, but it wasn’t as though the three new blueprints required a warehouse worth of materials to be built.

He also memorized the three missions and immediately ignored the latter two, choosing to patiently check out the ‘wild boar’ and see if there was a chance to kill it.

“Tsk, just 1 XP for this bad boy,” he complained as he stared at the mud hut with pride, as though he built it with his own hands. Besides, nobody else knew about the system; to the world, he did build it with his own hands. “First things first--let’s build the bed.”

Just like with the mud hut, as soon as he collected enough leafs, grass, and vines, he was able to place it in the hut. Considering it was made from nature’s garbage, effectively, it was surprisingly comfortable. Furthermore, despite there being no doors, the mud hut offered a nice isolation.

The temperature had slowly started rising as the day went on and it was, by Leo’s estimates, closing in on the high 80s.

Sitting down on the bed, he closed his eyes and tried meditating. After all, in all cultivation stories, characters spent about 80% of their lifespans just sitting and thinking about stuff. If he wanted to survive and progress, he imagined he’d have to do the same--so, even if meditation right now didn’t really do anything for him, as he had nothing else to do either, he may as well get accustomed to it.

About 17 seconds later, he went back out and toward the pond.

Most of the animals had scattered, likely due to the scorching weather, making Leo rather happy. Quickly taking off the shabby clothes, he jumped into the water and let it wash over him. He began to gingerly float and play around like a child, enjoying the moment of simplicity.

“Ah, I have a mentality of an immortal,” he mumbled. “Nothing can shake me.”

[The system--]

“Soon, the world will recognize just how mentally strong I am...”

He left the pond about fifteen minutes later, feeling wholly refreshed. He also gave the old clothes a quick wash, but it hardly changed much; after all, even if using gold as glue, garbage would still remain garbage. Nonetheless, it was better than nothing.

Making a few landmarks to orient himself towards and even a map of sorts on a rather thick and large flower petal that he had stumbled upon, he began to wander about, exploring. It wasn’t long before he realized that the forest seemed endless--even if he climbed on top of a tree to look about, all he saw were other trees. In the distance, their shapes and colors changed, and they grew even larger, but they were trees nonetheless. Here and there he saw protruding rocks, and an occasional mirage of a monster with a mile wide wingspan that was simply his mind playing tricks on him.

He managed to map out roughly a mile and a half of radius around the mud hut before the nightfall. By then, the temperature chilled and strange howling could be heard and he dared not wander about aimlessly, swiftly returning to the hut.

“Ah. I forgot to craft a torch,” it was dark inside, and he couldn’t even review his map properly, so he had to go at it from the memory.

North of the hut was a lot of trees, but also a lot of red-capped mushrooms that seemed to grow about the very old trunks.

West of the hut was a lot of trees, but also the pond where critters seemed to congregate at least twice a day--once in the morning and once early in the evening.

South of the hut was a lot of trees, but also a lot of strange stalks of grass that seemed to be as hard as iron, though, with his infinitely amazing cultivator’s strength, Leo was able to bend them.

And east of the hut was a lot of trees, and a lot more trees. And then some more trees.

He drifted to sleep feeling numb; it was eerie and strange, the sensation of not caring, yet also warm and ever-embracing. It felt like he was home, even though his home was a hastily-constructed mud hut in the middle of a nameless forest in the middle of god-knows-where. By all accounts, he should have been rolling on the floor, breathing rapidly into a paper bag, and praying this world had invented anxiety medication, and yet... there was none of it. Just calm. Peace. Stillness that seemed everlasting.

The dawn came rather swiftly and Leo woke up feeling as well as he did yesterday, if a bit more rested. Yawning, he stretched and left the hut, looking around. Up on one of the branches, he saw a strange owl with a pair of eerily red eyes that was hooting and hollering, its wise eyes fixated on him. Coiling up the trunk of the very same tree was a python that seemed longer than Leo dared count; it was black and white and yellow, and its fleshy-seeming eyes stared at him just like the owl’s did.

The two were not alone--in fact, the more he looked around, the more terror he felt he should have been feeling. There was a white panther, a black tiger with two tails, a monkey with six arms and red fur, a stag with milky-white eyes and antlers that went about six feet above its head, an eagle with a wingspan of a small plane, and a myriad of other queer creatures and beasts that seemed far more curious about him than he was terrified of them. Well, than he should be terrified of them

“Hello~”he awkwardly greeted, not knowing what else to do. “I hope you guys don’t mind me making a home here. Uh, I, I’m cool being a vegan, you know? Just, uh, just not sure what things are edible. Right. I’m talking to a bunch of animals. I always knew I was nuts, but boy does it not feel good to have it confirmed. Khm, don’t mind me, don’t mind me. I’m just gonna go wash my face...”

Under the scrutiny of many-an-animal, Leo slowly walked to the pond, very much expecting to be jumped and torn limb for limb. Even so, he didn’t feel any fear or terror or anxiety--the curse of numbness was still very much strong. However, to his surprise, he wasn’t jumped; he made it to the pond safely, and washed his face, and by the time he turned around, he saw a marvelous sight--the monkey-like animal put down several dozen mushrooms, berries, and even some fruits in front of him.

“Oh, these are edible?” the monkey tilted his head and ‘smiled’ before scurrying away. “Huh. This must be one of those really smart species. Oh, this fruit looks nice,” he picked a plum-looking fruit, though thrice the size of the one from his memory, and bit into it. The juices flooded and the taste of heaven crashed against his taste buds, coating him with bliss. He could feel himself becoming awake and apt, and imagined at the moment hearing his blood churn through the veins like water through canals. “Wow. A fruit that makes me even more nuts.”

He continued to nibble away at the many others that the monkey brought--a fruit that looked like an apple if an apple had edible ‘needles’ protruding from four sides; grape-like balls that had to be sucked like candy; bananas that tasted like a baked potato, and quite a few more that he couldn’t even quite describe.  

Nonetheless, they were all quite tasty and actually did finally satiate him. For the first time since coming, he felt full in body and spirit. He also took a mouthful of water and washed it all down, prompting yet another set of screen windows to appear in front of him.

[You have consumed a variety of strange fruits!]

[Your potential has been increased!]

[Your vitality has been increased!]

[Your strength has been increased!]

[Your agility has been increased!]

[You regenerate from wounds much faster!]

[You have reached the peak of Qi Condensation Realm!]

[Consuming ‘Feathered Fyra’ has reshaped your foundations!]

[Your cultivation was lowered to the First Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm!]

[You are now tied by fate with ‘????’]

[A blessing dawns upon you--the Spirits are more likely to befriend you!]

[New Quest: ‘????’ Monkey has a favor to ask of you: it wants you to build a tree house for him and his family!]

[Time Limit: 3 days]

[Reward: ‘????’ Monkey becomes your friend]

[Failure: N/A]

[New Blueprint Unlocked: Tree House!]

[Tree House: 80 vines, 60 branches, 240 stalks of grass, 60 cadaea flowers]

“You need a house, huh, buddy?” Leo glanced up at the tree nearby where the monkey was currently lounging about. The latter glanced back at him and seemed to grin as Leo examined the requirements for the tree house. “Better start gathering,” he sighed, noting that the tree house the monkey wanted wasn’t akin to those the kids used to make back before all trees in the backyards went extinct. The furry brother wanted a palace, it seemed. “Hmm, alright. Anthem for today will be... When I was, a young boy, my father took me into the city~~”