Beginning the hike

Deciding to begin preparing now, Ensen had a decent amount of time to gather all that he needed. Since it was around 10 am now, Ensen knew that he had to leave earlier than usual to make sure he got there on time, after all he didn't want to miss out on the mission because of traffic. Even if traffic wasn't expected to be too busy at this point, it was still good to be cautious.

Quickly heading back inside, Ensen grabbed an old black bag with Grey stripes horizontal across he used to use when he just started out teaching and began filling it with things he believed he would either need or would like to have. He filled up a few water bottles with water and threw them inside the bag, some snacks too.

Figuring that he would need something more than just snacks to satisfy his hunger, he quickly ran into the kitchen and made himself three peanut butter and jam sandwiches. With the elegance and grace of a tired puppy walking up the stairs, he soon finished making them after only a few minutes and minimal mess. Well, if you didn't include when he dropped a piece of bread with the peanut butter side face-down on the floor and had to remake it and clean it up at least.

After finishing the sandwiches, he began thinking of other things to bring. After brainstorming he decided to bring a power bank for his phone, just in case he needed it, a piece of paper, a marker, and some tape for later. He also put a light blue sweater on over his t-shirt to make sure he stayed warm. He then put his jacket on over the sweater.

Deciding that he didn't need anything else, he picked up his light black and Grey bag and made his way down the elevator, returning to his car soon after.

Opening the front passenger's side door, Ensen picked up his phone from the seat and laid his bag on the floor. Quickly making his way around the car over to the driver's door. Opening it, Ensen quickly got inside and closed it to try to retain the little bit of heat that was already in the car.

Looking at his phone, Ensen checked for a response from Jennifer and other notifications but there was nothing. Putting his phone down, he began his journey to the plot of land that was nearly his with around 35 minutes left.

During the travel there, Ensen was met with light traffic but it wasn't too severe. After around 30 minutes Ensen pulled into the road leading to the opening near the lake.

Parking his car just a little ways from the run-down building, Ensen turned off the car but decided to sit in it for a few minutes before starting his hike for the day.

'I hope Jennifer doesn't mind me doing this. This is still her property for now after all.' Ensen thought to himself, although he thought that Jennifer wouldn't mind he never really asked her for permission. Not only did Jennifer own the plot of land he was currently looking at, but she also owned the majority of the forest thanks to her grandfather buying it up to use in the expansion of his school. He obviously got ahead of himself, but it was rather cheap to buy at the time.

Putting that to the back of his mind, Ensen leaned over to grab his bag and opened it, taking out both the paper and the marker. Keeping pressure on the paper against the window, he began writing a message in big letters on the paper.

Looking at the message, Ensen smiled with approval and laid the paper on the dashboard for the moment while he reached into the bag and pulled out the tape, breaking off small pieces of tape and hung them on the steering wheel. Picking the piece of paper once again, he held it on the window with one hand while using his other hand to grab the small piece of tape.

Like this, Ensen began to tape the piece of paper to the window. After around 30 seconds he managed to apply all the pieces of tape he ripped off onto the piece of paper. Removing his hand, he smiled when he noticed that the paper stood still.

Reasoning that it was about time to head into the forest, he threw the tape in his bag and began to zip it up. After it was closed, he opened the door slowly, as if not to disturb the tape.

After exiting the door, he closed the door slowly and stood back, looking at the message taped onto the window.

'Gone hiking. If the car is still here after 24 hours please search and rescue.' Below that message was Ensen's full name as well as the date and time he will start hiking. Although it is unlikely anything bad will happen or he will get lost, it helped with both peace of mind and in the unlikely scenario that he did get lost.

Although people did not normally come to this plot, it would still be eventually found.

Satisfied with his preparations in both hiking and safety, he began walking towards the forest. He decided to explore the right side of the plot's forested area first.

Walking towards the forest, Ensen was excited to explore the area. After about a minute he managed to approach the tree-line that separated the forest from the small cleared plot of land. Taking a big step into the treeline, the system displayed a message.

[Time started. 8:00:00 remaining]

Ensen began walking in a straight line when be entered the forest to try to make sure he would remember his way back. The tall and wide trees were numerous, their vibrant green leaves nearly glowing. Ensen spent around 30 minutes just heading straight ahead before he walked to the left about 50 meters and began heading back towards where he started this way.

He was walking in a grid-like pattern to make sure he got to see as much of the forest as he could. The floor was littered with fallen leaves, small rocks and scattered sticks that fell from the trees. This forest has been untouched for ages since it was private property.

After walking about 20 minutes back, Ensen noticed a sudden dip in the ground just a little to the left of him. Approaching this area, he saw one of the most gorgeous sights he had ever seen.

There was a decent-sized pond in an oval shape. The pond itself was not too deep and even had a few fish in the pond, although he didn't know where these fish came from they were absolutely beautiful. There were around nine rather small white fish with large orange spots swimming around happily.

Noticing that these were most likely Koi Fish, Ensen reasoned that maybe some fish were dumped into the lake sometime? He had no idea what the reasoning behind it was, but that seemed like the only likely scenario.

On the surface of the water were some strange floating plants that seemed to take a heart-shaped form. Although Ensen had no idea what they were, they were incredibly beautiful to his eyes.

A large tree stood just a few meters away from the pond. It towered above the other trees in the area most likely due to being the closest to the water. Its giant branches were spread out in multiple directions, creating a sort of natural roof over the pond itself. It did not block all the sun however, small little sunbeams illuminated sections of the pond as if trying to emphasize it's beauty even further.

Still stunned by the beautiful sight in front of his eyes, Ensen knew he needed to keep moving. He had an incredible amount of ground he wanted to cover in such little time. Making sure to leave a mental note of its location, Ensen continued walking towards the starting point. After a few more minutes he believed he recognized the area.

Similar to earlier, he walked 50 meters to the left and began walking for the next 30 minutes in a straight line. While Ensen was walking, he couldn't take his mind off of just how beautiful this forest really was.

While it was beautiful, he couldn't help but get an eery vibe after being in the forest for a little over an hour. This was due to the fact that so far, there had been no signs of civilization. No garbage, empty cans, tires, or anything. Ensen knew it was just his mind trying to play with him though, so he didn't pay too much attention to it.

Ensen spent the next few hours walking around the forest on the right side of the plot of land. Ensen found too many beautiful sights to name. Although the stunning lake from earlier still lingered in this mind. The eery feeling was slightly fading as he explored more and more of the forest. Although no signs of civilization were found still, Ensen began to not let it bother him.

Whenever Ensen felt like it, he took a drink of water from one of his water bottles. He had brought quite a bit of water with him, so he wasn't worried about running out. Around 2 hours into his journey, he also began snacking a little bit on an apple. He ensured that all garbage was returned to the bag, as he didn't want to harm the beautiful forest.

Feeling that he had done an adequate job of scouting the right side of the forest, he began walking back towards the opening to venture into the left side of the forest this time.

'System, how much longer do I have to explore?' Ensen said, slightly hoping for the mission to be extended, even if he knew that being in the forest for over eight hours would not be a good idea in the first place.

[Time remaining: 3:53:34]