Chapter 3.1: Firsthand Experience

At the middle of a chaotic situation, Elma, Ando and Loki were watching the zombies doing their thing.

The boys chatted with sarcastic tone in their voices.

Ando: "Man, what a night boys. To think that I will be living in such a world. I think this is my first time ever experiencing what it's like to be in a zombie apocalypse. Oh, the irony."

Elma: "And also lasted longer than we would've thought so I don't think it was that bad."

Loki: "Yeah. Dude, we just went through such a ridiculous event and I don't think I could ever forget this sight that I'm seeing."

Ando: "Yeah.. so gracious. I never really thought that a day would come for me to watch such a mortifying scene. Zombies eating our fresh corpses."

The boys, in their astral form, meticulously watched their own dead bodies being torn apart by the most disgusting mobs they encountered yet.

While the moon has almost strayed out of the dark sky, Ando started whinging.

Ando: "Way to fucking go ruining all of that!"

Elma: "Huh? What are you complaining to me about?!

Ando: "There's hardly any teamwork there at all! Ever since you were in that state, things had gotten out of hand from then on!"

Elma: "Okay man, chill. No need to go on about it."

Ando: "Ugh, this sucks.."

Loki: "Hmm.. Now that it's come to this, how would you rate having an experience like this?"

Elma: "Over my dead body."

Ando: "Haha.. funny. Now you can fuck off!"

Elma: "..."

Loki: "Geez guys, I'm lightening up the mood here. Also you should take this into account, Ando. You got distracted by him and the eye just hits you once and collapsed on the spot. You didn't even check how much your health is."

Elma: "You were on high alert but not paying attention on your own HP.."

Ando: "That's because I've been calling out to him to help us out since I ran out of throwing knives!"

Elma: "Hey man, could you also cut me some slack. I've fought my way through from the moment you left me behind at that cave while you guys are just chilling inside of that cabin for so long. Why did you guys even bother to stray away too far from the base?!"

Ando: "Does that matter?! Just when things are coming in order smoothly, we could've work things out-- and we're back.."

As the boys were talking to each other, they had their physical bodies back in a flash.

Andrew: "Oh hey! Welcome back! That took a while, didn't it?!"

They quickly spotted Andrew reading a book.

At the same time, the nighttime of dread has ended. Dawn has already arrived and the sun was about to come out.

The boys goes outside the door to check the outside situation.

Demon eyes fled off flying away to oblivion and zombies are quickly retreating away from sunlight. As the sun rises, the boys are just left out in a daze.

They all collapsed on their feet catching their breath. In the midst of it, they all received an achievement and a pop-up showed up in their perspective with a pixel frame of a moon in the night sky along with 3 demon eyes.

[You Can Do It!]

Loki: "Oh wow. Look at that, we got an achievement."

Ando: "'You can do it'. Do what, we didn't even do shit. Hah~ I don't even know what's going on anymore."

Loki: "Well, we're meant to see through this world by slaying the great foes while trying to stay alive. At least that's how I see it."

Ando: "No, that's not it man. This is supposed to be a subjugation. We're meant to be beating those mobs up. How did we end up dying right there at the end?!"

Elma: "Chase that bag, amirite.."

Loki: "Dude, just shut up for a minute.."

Ando: "You know what?! You- you've completely lost yourself back there, Elma! How did you even get into that state to begin with?!"

Elma: "I don't know.. maybe the demonic nature of my rampant arm spiraled out of control!"

Ando: "Oh, you think you're funny?! It's so nice being able to treat this like it's nothing, huh?!"

Elma: "Hey, I could argue with you how much you suck! You've been relying too much on your throwables and get yourself killed first before us! Play better, dude!"

Ando: "Shut the fuck up! After saying not stupid enough to die, look who's talking!"

Elma: "You can fucking talk!"

And the two started arguing for a while.

***

When the others explicitly told me about things they know about, they would also say things that could hook me in, either with or without ulterior motives.

Or maybe get me into thinking whether it would be a good idea to just get into it.

I lived my life making amends, appeasing to people and do things that made me inspire.

Expectations is an easy pill to swallow.

So when I first stumbled into this new world, I was just dead confused. Because getting tangled in this came from out of nowhere.

I was all reluctant at first. But when Aimee got hurt by the slime that approached her, it dawned on me.

This world is interesting.

So I spent this whole time thinking about what to make of this. Trying to recall the memories when I first played the game.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to play this game for too long. I played the game when discovering it and after a minute or two, I quickly dropped it.

Only after many time has passed when I get to pick it up again and this transmigration happened.

The me when dropping the game half-heartedly back then puts me in the bind currently.

But good news, the boys knew what to do. So I let them do whatever they have in mind.

And then nighttime rolls around.

I was genuinely curious as to what comes behind the banging door, but of course Luna had to stop me.

And some time later, Elma got revived after showing up to us as a ghost.

I was shock sure, but I was thrilled to know more about this world.

And in the next morning..

I was lying on the floor alone in my empty room and woke up by the sudden notification.

[You Can Do It!]

"Hmm? What is this..?"

I didn't think much of it and just pressed the pop-up.

Upon doing so, a hologram panel listed of gray-shaded achievements displayed in my perception with the only notable one, the 'You Can Do It!' achievement from earlier, colored out.

"Ohh.. so this is the list to have you get started. Hmmm, there's a lot of these things greyed-out. 'Survive your first full night'. These are achievements?"

I scrolled down the list and read through some of it, it caught my attention.

"Let's see.. 'Timber, chop down your first tree'. 'Benched, craft your first work bench'. This is an index! They seemed easy enough though..."

Achievements..

This list have stuff that are easy enough to achieve. Things that are 'to pick things up', 'discover some stuff' or 'to kill specific foes'.

"Hmm.. it wouldn't hurt doing so. I mean, what could go wrong with just getting some of this stuff done. Now that I think about it, Luna has an idea about this world too."

I got up and walked to the door while still reading the panel.

When I opened the door, I saw the two other girls, Luna and Aimee, opening theirs.

"... Uhh..."

We all stand in place as we're contemplating and slowly process our circumstances.

***

Andrew the Guide, still on his chair, was reading a book on his own when he spotted the 3 girls coming down on the stairs.

He quickly closed the book and made it vanish before he greets them with a friendly gesture.

"Hey there, ladies. Rise and shine."

"Huhh?!"

Luna immediately scowled at Andrew upon seeing him. Andrew looked at her with an awkward face.

He gets up and offered 3 available seats including his and a table.

"Here, ladies! I've warmed up the seats for you!"

"Oh, thank you."

Jenny expresses her gratitude before taking Andrew's seat and sits on it.

Luna and Aimee looked at each other before they also took their chairs.

Andrew's next action unveils a teapot and and 3 teacups, placed them in the table and poured coffee for them.

"Ah, lovely. I didn't think you had a teapot ready for us but thank you."

Andrew: "You're welcome. Though I'd like to hear about your experience of your first night."

"Not great!" Luna replied. "I could barely sleep on a cold wooden floor!"

"Hmm.. well, that wasn't half bad. Here."

Luna takes up a coffee Andrew gave while Aimee was looking around frantically.

"Umm.. where are the others?"

Hearing Aimee's question, they looked at their surroundings seemingly not seeing the other guys around.

"The boys? They might still be ranting at each other outside. They've been at it for a while too."

Luna just watched the guide relay his message across to them, looking skeptical.

"Did they get into a fight or something?"

"No. But they look like they've been through the wars. Not that I am aware of."

"Humm.."

The girls continued sipping their tea in silence.

Jenny finished her tea first and started talking.

"Well then girls. I have something I wanted to convey."

With Jenny's abrupt talk, Luna and Aimee focused their attention on her.

"I want to go exploring."

""... Huh?""

It's just 5 words but the two girls zoned out. Andrew was the only one that kept his cool upon hearing and said something.

"Hoh.. ain't this a peculiar thing to say. You would normally not be interested in a place of a messed-up environment."

And Luna immediately spoke out.

"What?! Wh-why would you wanna go out there?!"

"I don't want the boys to get a headstart in the game. This is a contest."

"Weren't you the one that told me to let the boys do the work?!"

"I did say that. But that was just for a good measure. I've been thinking about what to make of this world for a good while now. And I'm more than eager to get moving than to stay holed up in this place."

"No! You don't want to get worked up in this messy environment. You'll get frustrated overtime. Trust me, I know."

"Sorry, but I have to try. I don't wanna stay cooped up waiting for something to happen. And you're coming with me, right!"

Essentially, their conversation consists of complaints and debates.

Aimee and Andrew had no shot of interfering to their debate.

"Umm, do I have a say in this?"

"Oh the irony, being a woman brings out the complexity at its finest."

The two girls were dabbling whether to stumble the outside world or not.

***

After arguing with Jenny, I eventually give in and we went outside in the first morning mentally preparing for the travel.

"Would you look at that! What a great day to start exploring!"

Andrew first spoke out in glee.

"Alright ladies, ready for our very first exciting adventure-- oioioi!! Why are some of you looking so dejected?!"

"It's because this is not going to end well!"

I said so looking stumped. The idea of getting out of the comfort zone fills me with nothing but dread.

"I don't feel like going outside too." Aimee follows second.

"Come on, girls! Under this good morning, we have a better time to do things in this new world!" Jenny asserted.

Andrew listens in to their conversation, it caught his attention that not all of us are willing to do the work.

"Hey girls, did that girl power from before dampened down along with your almighty ego! You asked for my assistance in this so at least be glad that I took up the offer!"

"I only asked because you're the guide! You should at least utilize that power of guidance of yours!"

I replied aggressively and that's because I'm annoyed.

"And also, why are you so eager to go exploring Jenny? I watched you being hesitant back then and now you had a change of heart!"

"I just wanted to know more. It would be a waste not getting a taste of what being in a new world feels like. That's all, Luna."

'I am not convinced.' I wanted to tell her that but I hold it in. I was not amused by her antics.

Aimee turned towards Jenny's direction and whispered to herself.

"Being in a new world."

I caught wind of her peek of interest but I stayed still.

"Whatever, that curiosity of yours is only going to deteriorate your will someday so you better not blame me for this!"

"Of course. I'll see to it myself. Now we are all in this together."

And with that, we all take a step forward.

Eventually, we have spotted the 3 boys asleep under a shade of different trees not far apart.

Andrew had to ask.

"So, are we going to wake them up and bring them along?"

These boys went through a rough time last night that they have to sleep right outside. I don't want them to be overly burdened with their task at hand. Especially with this jerk.

"No. No need to bring them along. You're going to teach us the ropes anyway."

"Oh. Uh.. okay."

And with just the 4 of us, we went on our way, leaving the boys behind.

Moments after getting far enough, Andrew had to stop us in the middle of the field with few scattered trees before progressing any further.

"Okay ladies, this spot might be a good start to get the fundamentals ingrained in your memory." He says so while taking out and opening a book, the same book I saw him reading back at the home base.

"About time! Please show us how it's done." Jenny responds in with kind.

After reading for a bit, he made it vanished out of his hands and instructed us.

"First off, you take out your tools that was displayed on your hotbar. Like this."

Andrew then proceeded demonstrating the item reveal and takes out his weapon of choice; a wooden bow.

"Oh~ it looks so magical!" Jenny cheers.

"A bow? Nice strut, I guess.." My response.

"Wait, what are we supposed to do again?!" Aimee's back at it with the question.

Andrew looked at us compelled seemingly as we gave him different opinions.

***

And they continued on their travels.

"'Imagine you're holding it'? Never thought I'd hear that phrasing in my life." Jenny recalls the experience earlier after getting through the short session.

"And you were outright confused at that time. I wasn't sure if you're taking it seriously or not, but you stick through with it." Luna gave out her assessment.

"It was also a strenuous labor as well." Aimee briefly mentions.

"Yep."

"You got that right."

Jenny and Luna simultaneously agrees.

"Hey ladies, you only went through chopping down a tree. You barely went through much of the work. Stop whining over the most basic stuff." Andrew sounded weary making the callback.

The girls looked at Andrew with dull eyes, indirectly telling the guide, 'there's more to this?'

Andrew averts his look and continued on with their travel.

They walked towards the trail of torches until they come across the supposed cave mentioned from before.

"Heh~, so this is the cave Ando talked about from before. And it looks occupied to me." Luna briefly stated her opinion.

"Well that cave can be explored for another time." Jenny asserted. "Let's focus on the surface side of things. I wanna see if this world would give us that innovative feel."

"Um, I see a big cave over there. Wanna check that instead?" Aimee suggested after looking around the area.

"Oh yeah. Ain't that humongous of a cave.. or a tunnel perhaps. Yeah let's go check that out!" Jenny said so energetically.

"Hmm.. I'm just following your lead, ladies. Feel free to keep going." Andrew chimed in, concluding their small chatter.

And the folks made their way with a destination in sight.

They finally set their stepping foot on the tunnel. The place is still yet to be lightened up by the previous spotter.

"So dark. But I see a speck of light at the far end. Is this what you're looking forward to, Jenny?" Luna faced Jenny.

"Ooh.. I wonder what's on the other side of this tunnel. Come on, everyone! Let's go see it!"

Luna pulled out a torch and lead the group through the tunnel.

The pathway has the asymmetrical ground and tiny rocks to bump their feet on every step that they have to carefully tread through while in the dark.

The tunnel also gave off a chilling atmosphere that the girls felt shivers.

Luna starts talking.

"Darkness.. even though I have adapted to it, I can't get over this eerieness. I don't think I could go on if I were to be alone."

"Same." Jenny responds. "Perhaps I might have gotten influenced by Elma and just wanting to pummel myself in to new things. But with fellow associates like you who knows a thing or two about this game, I think we're winning this."

"Okay, I think you might've spoke too soon, Jenny. Knowledge is one thing, but without materials and tools to fight, we might not last long."

"Luna?"

"We have to fight for those resources and we only have a shortsword and wood for that."

"Should we be worried?" Aimee muttered.

"Well I've been voicing my concern about this at the start, which is why I asked Andrew here to accompany us."

"Oh. So I was just a part of the reason why you asked me to come along?"

"Three parts, to be exact. Besides guiding us, you're to fight with us and give us the recipe for crafting."

"Oh, smart. You've thought of this ahead of time, huh.. You really have a knack for devising plans and such."

"That's my Luna! See, she knows a thing about this game like I said. Now let's focus on the adventure instead!"

"Sure.. fucking sure."

With the grumpy Luna's last remark, they continued to march their way through the tunnel.

And they finally reached the end of the tunnel. And with a cool gust of breeze welcoming them, took a good look of the bright exit.

They are at the high ground middle part slope of the hill.

Below them are the massive overview of the forest biome, past that is the sandy terrain of a desert and just beside that is the corruption biome.

But the thing that stands out the most is that giant living wood tree standing tall in the middle of the forest.

"Ooh~ There's a giant tree over there! It's standing out too!" Jenny expresses her cheery vibe.

"There's the purple land from the far distance as well as the desert." Aimee points out the scenery.

"Ugh.. of all places. The desert?" Luna grumbles once again. "Then that living tree is a good starting point for us, I guess.."

Andrew looked at the ladies deep in thought.

They all have their own distinct outlook of the environment.

Nevertheless, they continued marching on.