Player Initiated

5 - The new player

He found just the place where the volcano and the atoll meet each other. A small mesa formed here, creating a perfectly flat land. A bamboo grove on the right, a rocky beach under the volcano on the left. From the windows, you can see the endless sea, its white waves rolling. Both the sound of the sea, and the smell of the sea are quite muted here. The wind is blocked by the cliff face of the volcano.

The only problem here was the long walk down the ridge. This path is very twisted. Thankfully, it’s still flat and walkable. With some effort, he could build a road. It would be enough for grandparents to drive down every day with an electric tricycle. 

The little nook is a divine location. The rock beach stood right underneath the umbrella like indent on the volcano. The precipitation collected in this indent. It comes down in short bursts of rain on the gravel beach.  This drifted into the jungle forming a small stream. The bamboo grove is fertile, allowing for a small vegetable patch to be raised there. The winter is usually cold. It rarely went down to freezing temperatures. Most vegetables could survive winter without a greenhouse. 

But first, he must go to his grandfather and have the area signed over for a homestead. His grandfather is the village secretary. The land of the village is never considered owned, only leased to the next generation. Eric digitized all sorts of land save for land which belonged to him. He had a feeling his control on the land will reach a new level once he gets the ownership on the land, however ambiguous it might be. 

As such, today, when the ferry came in with supplies for the filming team, his grandfather and he went to the county office to complete the procedures. His grandfather registered the lease of the island to Eric, for a hundred years for a nominal f*e of two hundred. The island is now considered to be owned by both Eric and his grandfather.

Eric released the new boat in the pier when no one was watching. He brought his grandfather to the boat excitedly. With this boat around, they don’t need a ferry to come to the county any time. Moreover, with this boat, Eric would have a source for all the supplies he transferred.  When they sailed back, Eric realized the boats would circle the outside of the underwater atolls to reach the deep water inlet into their island. Had this inlet not been there, the island would not have been accessible to boats at all. Quite possibly, it would have been an uninhabited island. 

His grandfather taught him how to sail the boat. Eric checked the logs on the game panel, just to make sure it’s still there, and it says what it does. This was from the day he landed in the beach, then stepped foot in the sea. He chose yes almost reflexively at that time. It is with this skill in mind that he made his bow. Hopefully, this will come through. 

[ Main Scenario activated. ] 

[ In all of the seas, there are no secrets from aqua. ] 

[ Find the water server seed, Aqua. ] 

[ Quest acceptance reward : Perfecto (S) skill. ] 

[ You will always see the right course. ] 

[ Quest completion reward : ownership of Aqua. ] 

[ Accept the quest ? ] 

[ Yes ] [ No ] 

[ Choosing No will mark you as target for every shark in the sea. ] 

Going through the logs again, he realized both Terra and Aqua are part of the main scenario, while Skye and Cosmos are more like optional credits you can occasionally do to receive A+. 

He cast the skill in his mind, standing at the stern. The arrow immediately pointed him to the right direction, not their island’s direction, but the right direction. As in, it plots the right course after considering the complex terrain undersea. Eric opened the map. The fish underneath were displayed on the map. Their habitats are marked as hunting grounds. 

The boat caused a sensation with the documentary team. When they gave the compensation and negotiated the deal with the second generation rich, they were perfunctory. After all, they knew better than anyone the cost of shipping such a boat all the way to the island. They are confident the old man could not get it to the island.  

After all, it is a documentary about the poverty of the remote islanders, not their rise to wealth and prosperity. 

“ Damn ! Why is this grandson so darn capable ? “ the main director grumbled. How is he going to make the old man look dirt poor if the little grandson keeps upgrading their place ? Just with those tents, the place has become more luxurious than they intended for. If they add a boat and mud crawler on top of that, there is no way they could make this family look poor. After all, the very basis of their poverty is that they have no tools for harvest on their abundant land. 

If they improve from here due to the filming fees, then it becomes the fault of the government for not having an appropriate policy for aid. That would be counter productive not just for this island, but many other islands ! 

“ What are we going to do now, Director ? If they continue at this pace, our documentary totally loses its meaning. Even if we finish it with the vibe we want, the moment we succeed, we will be called false propaganda ! “ the assistant worried. 

“ Continue. For now, tell the old man they can change nothing in the village or fields from the time of signing, otherwise, they have to pay the penalty. “ the director grumbled. 

Eric was there when the filming team indirectly threatened his grandfather. They originally intended to fix the roof of the old house today. At least, his grandfather thought so, Eric was not enthused. That repair was very much putting a bandaid on a bullet hole. 

However, that’s not the main schedule for the rest of the day. Now that the boat is securely in place, it’s time to hunt.  The ledge that separated the village and jungle is a vertical cliff on the jungle side, and a gentle slope on the village side. This prevents large animals like boars from rushing into fields. Despite this, if the animals are hungry enough, they could cross into this side of the island from the place where ledge tapers out. This path emerges when the tide ebbs. It’s two to three kilometers away from the village, but the fact is, it does exist.

So, the only way to remain safe is to cull the boar population regularly. However, his grandfather is old. It’s dangerous for him to do this job, especially when the boar herd has tripled in size. However, he did not go straight for the boars. He chose a secret location in the cave, entered the game on his mobile. 

First, he has to get used to the bow. He practiced diligently for an hour, clearing level after level. Finally, he achieved the skill he wanted the most. The spinning arrow. On a wasp four blade arrow with parabolic fletching, he could shoot a target with hundred percent accuracy. 

Now that he has achieved the spinning arrow, the next part is the silent arrow. He went straight to the next game, a medieval survival game. He started out as a frankenstein of some sort who could fight. He skipped that bit, so he was not sure about the backstory. Soon, the game gave him a bow. This time around, Eric replaced the game’s bow with his own. Then, he started hunting. 

One soldier, in the eye. 

Oops… he missed, and the alert was raised. He put away his own bow in the inventory, started hunting soldiers with the bow game gave him. One soldier in the leg. Another in the waist .. 

One down ! 

But sprung up right away. He was wearing armor on his body. The chest shot was a dud. 

Roll and hide behind a parapet, shoot at soldiers on otherside of the channel. 

Eric took a deep breath, and prepared himself mentally. 

Then in one rolling motion, he came up to a kneel, strung and shot an spinning arrow, in the same motion, rolled back towards the parapet. 

The knight retrieved his gigantic long sword, prepared to block ! but the arrow changed its course subtly at the last moment, skimming by his sword, going straight into the knights arrow. 

[ Headhost ! ] 

[ Exp + 40 ] 

The information displayed in front of Eric. 

[ level up . ] 

[ Skill silent arrow activated. ] 

Now, in the game, he can use this skill, but in order to use it outside the game, he would have to achieve a silent arrow without the system’s assistance at least a hundred times. 

Eric set himself to practice by hunting. After the soldiers died, he crossed to the other side. He got into the dinghy on the boat, then cut the rope. 

He landed somewhere in between the boat's destination and his starting point. 

He was in a virgin forest with tall pines. One look is enough to know it's a prehistoric European forest. Any animal that’s going to be out here is probably going to be two sizes bigger, and four times stronger than the beasts on the island. 

Just as he was thinking about going and finding a beast, the leaves of the bush in front of him rustled.