Survival

Okay. Maybe before I actually try to do anything, I should take a long rest first.

Getting thrown straight out of a crashing airplane did not do my body and mind any justice. Seriously though, how the fuck did I survive the crash?

Oh right. Seat belt! No. I am not kidding. The damn seat belt probably had saved me while the airplane grinded its belly violently against the rock terrain during the unexpected landing. Its wings along with its fuselage broke apart soon afterwards, and what remained of the plane, mostly the cockpit with me in it, had rolled at least a mile or two before finally coming to a stop at the beach.

At least that is what I have believed to happen but please don't take my word for it. I got knocked out a minute or so into the most stupidly insane rollercoaster ride ever.

When I finally woke up, my head was spinning. My ear was ringing. All around me was burning. Oops, I am repeating myself. Sorry about that. It is hard to think straight after I had decided to crash a plane full of passengers onto a desert island with an ill-thought out attempt at committing suicide.

I might have died from the blood loss or physical trauma if it wasn't for the awful nauseating smells of burning flesh. The stench woke me up, and just to be honest here, quite a few monsters had managed to survive the initial impact and being thrown out of the aircraft.

Had, anyway. They are all dead now, thank God. How the fuck were they able to move without a head is beyond me, but the fire made short work of them, headless or not. They are all burned to cinder.

And when they all died, something strange happened. Some really strange.

[Congratulation. You have defeated a ghoul. 34 experience earned!]

[Error. You do not have a class or profession. Please assign at least one!]

[Congratulation. You have defeated a ghoul. 28 experience earned!]

[Error. You do not have a class or profession. Please assign at least one!]

[Congratulation. You have defeated a ghoul. 29 experience earned!]

[Error. You do not have a class or profession. Please assign at least one!]

[Congratulation. You have defeated a ghoul. 35 experience earned!]

[Error. You do not have a class or profession. Please assign at least one!]

…

…

…

Not really strange now that I think a bit more about it. Still weird though. Maybe I am hallucinating? I might still be unconscious, and this is all the dream.

If this is a dream, it isn't the weirdest dream or the most vivid I have ever had. It is still pretty high on my list of awesome dreams though. But seriously, dreaming about a plane full of monsters – ghouls – and crashing it commando's style into a desert island is pretty weird or insane.

In any case, if it is a dream, I will wake up eventually. Hopefully.

And if it is not a dream, I might as well make the most of it. Maybe a sexy angel will appear if I stayed awake long enough. Anything could happen in a dream, right?

I think I need to rest my eyes and brain a bit…

…

…

…

Oh. My head. At least it is not as painful as before. The mass notifications have also disappeared. That was a dream, right?

There is a faint glow near me, and I turn my attention towards it immediately.

The cyan colored illumination is emanating from a small object. It wasn't there before, so it must have appeared out of nowhere. Or maybe it was always there. Now I am just confusing myself. In any case, I reach out and grab the object, bringing it closer to my vision. My still hazy vision.

It is a scroll. With a blue ribbon. Still glowing. How is it glowing? Where the hell did it come from? No one is still alive to answer my question. I am all alone, at least on this beach.

I try to remove the ribbon to unfurl the scroll to see what is written in side, but the ribbon refuses to budge even if a little. Eh?

[Congratulation. You have defeated a ghoul. 33 experience earned!]

[Error. You do not have a class or profession. Please assign at least one!]

Eh? Are there still some ghouls left alive? I look around to see if there is any within sight. There is not, but there is some sort of glowing red rock amidst all the pile of ash. The flames burn them thoroughly, which should not be possible, now that I think more on that.

Honestly, there is a lot of strangeness to all of this.

I chill for a bit longer, making sure no more notifications appear in my head. I figure out how to close the old ones while at it. It is quite easy. Just think about dismissing them, and they are dismissed. Very simple.

An hour pass by before I finally pull myself up with a groan. My body is still hurting like crazy, but I am no longer on the verge of death. I pull myself towards the closest pile of ash and grab that red glowing rock.

It feels warm in my hand. No idea what it is, but I think it might come in handy, especially if this island is truly deserted. I saw no settlements of any kind when I was skydiving with an airplane, but I cannot be for certain.

If it is not deserted, I will likely find out soon. If it is, I will also likely find out soon.

No need to spend a lot brain cell on the question. I lost quite a few brain cells already.

Anyway, first thing first, salvage foods and water from the wreckage. I will not last long without foods or water, especially water, but having foods will allow me to recover faster.

I start with the closest wreckage, which is the remains of the cockpit. Sadly, there is no water or foods in the cockpit. There are some tools that I can use though, specifically a flare gun. Two actually.

Good. I can make use of them when a ship is nearby. Or start a huge bonfire. Or a forest fire, assuming that they did not notice the huge wreckage scattered across the island.

It is pretty hard to miss but why leave it to chance. The trees might obscure the view. There are trees everywhere. Sands and trees. Surrounded by vast ocean.

There is something very odd about the ocean. I am not talking about the thick fog in far distance. It is something else. What is it?

Think about it later since the salty air is making me really thirsty. The rising black smokes from all the burning debris are not really helping.

So, it is time to find some water first.