Chapter 3: The Great Forest
“Your mother and I have talked.” Tyler looked down at the ground hoping to be anywhere else. “We have decided to not ground you.” “What? Why?,” Tyler asked, shocked. “Getting transferred to this new world has been a shock to us. We are scared and aware that our fears have been having a negative impact on you. We want what is best for you in this new world. We want you to succeed.” Tyler stood there dumbfounded. “I love you son,” Tyler's Dad said as he hugged him. “I love you too.”
“Let’s go have dinner.” Tyler followed his dad to the dinner table. His Mom had prepared steak, lobster, potatoes, salad, and pasta. “Wow, this looks incredible,” Tyler's dad said. “It’s just an ordinary dinner, we don’t have to eat at all,” Tyler thought to myself. “Oh, I know right. This inventory sure makes things easier and the ingredients are so cheap here compared to…Well, enjoy everyone.” Tyler dug into his food, He was starving after getting home so late. “Slow down, you’ll choke to death.” “Mom, we can’t choke here, remember?” “Oh yeah, I forgot?,” She smiled.
“How was school today, besides detention?” Tyler’s Dad asked. It was alright. We have finals at the end of the week. Oh! And I got these Quick boots and a headband from the quest system.” “I never did figure out what that was all about. Something popped up saying I have some sort of a cooking quest.” “These items allow me to run faster.” “That’s what we need, you to run faster into trouble.” Tyler's dad said sarcastically. “Oh, that’s great dear. Now you should be able to catch those rabbits or whatever.” “Wolves,” Tyler thought to himself.
“I’ll go get the cake,” Tammy said, trying to shift topics. She just didn’t understand this new world. It was hard for her to keep up with Tyler. She was positive that he knew more about this place than she did. As she headed to the kitchen, she felt a mix of envy and determination. Tyler seemed so at home in this game-like reality, while she often felt like an outsider trying to decipher a complicated rulebook. Maybe if she focused on her own quests, she could relate to Tyler better. She brought out the cheesecake and set it on the table.
“Wow Mom, that looks delicious.” “Aw, thanks. Tell me more about these quests. I don’t really understand them.” Tyler had just taken a bite of his cheesecake. “Well, you said you had a cooking quest,” Tyler tried to say. “Don’t talk with your mouthful.” Tyler swallowed “Sorry Dad. You can open your quest menu and then click on the cooking quest.” Tammy opened up the menu. “I can’t seem to find it.” “It’s in the top right menu list.” “Oh, there it is. It says I have 19/30 dinners completed. Oh, there's even more quests that I didn’t see before.”
“That's what that blinking thing is. I didn’t know how to get rid of it. It was driving me crazy,” Tyler's dad said. “Mine says mow the lawn 10/20. These are so strange.” “That’s just how it works here,” Tyler said. You can earn rewards like exp, gold, and items by completing the quests. You can also check out your stats.” “I think that’s enough for the night. You should probably be getting to your studying. You don’t want to fail your finals.” Tammy said.
Tyler pushed in his chair, then headed towards his room. He sat on his bed and pulled up his menu. He had such a busy day that he didn’t realize there was an exclamation point above his Magic tab. He clicked it “Combat tab has been upgraded. You are now able to access the Magic database.” “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Tyler groaned. He scrolled down and the list quickly finished. “Hey, this isn’t that bad. There's only a few on here.”
Magic: Lesser Ward (Block a weak magic attack), Lesser healing (Heal yourself by 2HP/Minute), Kindle (Kindle a target for 2HP and possibly light them on fire). Sprinkler (Soak the target in water) “How, did no one tell me about this today? This is amazing!” Tyler quickly thought about Kindle. Part of his bed ignited. “Oh shoot, what do I do, what do I do? The flame started creeping over more and more of his bed. He thought about Sprinkler and water shot out from in front of him soaking his entire bed.
“Great,” Tyler thought as he looked at the soaked burnt hole in his bed. “That was scary, I better not mess around any more tonight.” He placed the bed in the house's inventory, then pulled it out again. It had new sheets, a new blanket and it was now dry. However, the burned hole didn’t disappear. Tyler jumped up on the bed and just decided to call it a night.
In a lab far far away. “How on Earth are we going to keep this thing running? When we first got here it said we had 500 seconds to live. After 40 years, it now says we have 300 seconds to live,” a random scientist said. ”We can’t really do anything from inside here and If we go out there we would be dead in just six minutes,” Dr. Lockwood explained. “There just has to be some way that we aren’t all going to die.” “I’ve run the test over and over again. I’ve even talked to the AI. There isn’t anything that we can do. Over time, we will start running into issues, I just don’t know when.”
A thumping sound filled the lab. A few moments later a military man marched into the lab. “Dr. Lockwood, the president needs to speak with you right away, follow me.” The Doctor followed the military man into the helicopter. The helicopter started rising in the air, then made its way through the snowy peaks. “PSHWW,” a laserlike sound was the last thing the Doctor, pilot and military man heard. “You have taken 1000 damage. You have died. Loading.” The doctor, pilot, and military man appeared in an empty field full of babies, toddlers, children, and old people. “What in the hell…?,” The military man mumbled.
Tyler awoke to a notification. Logan, “Are you able to go to the Great forest today or are you grounded?” Tyler messaged him back, “Surprisingly, my parents didn’t ground me. I can meet you there at 12 after I do my calculus homework.””Cool.” “Tyler made his way downstairs for breakfast.” Breaking news, Dr. Lockwood has gone missing. The president has been frantically searching for him everywhere, but he is nowhere to be found.
“Who’s Dr.Lockwood?” Tyler asked his dad. “Oh, he’s one of the top scientists that invented this place. It’s weird that he’s missing though, maybe he went awol.” “He could have respawned too,” Tyler suggested. “I don’t see how. He helped invent the place.” “Breakfast is ready!” Tyler and his dad made their way to the dining room. “Wow honey, this looks great.” “Thanks, by cooking so much, I somehow increased my creation skill to level 2. The food should taste even better now.”
Tyler and his dad dove into their plates. “Wow mom, this is so good,” Tyler said, scarfing down the food. “I’m glad you like it! So, what are your plans for the day?” “I’m going to do some homework and then go train with Logan in the forest.” “Well, be careful out there. We don’t need you respawning on us.” “I just unlocked magic powers, I’ll be just fine,” Tyler thought to himself. “Don’t worry, I’ll be okay.” After doing calculus for an hour on his interface, Tyler sprinted towards the Great forest.
“Check this out!” Tyler shot a spark at a tree. “Woah, where did you learn to do that?,” Logan asked in awe. “You haven't checked out your menu yet? Open your menu, your species, creation and magic tabs should update when you click them.” Logan shot water all over Tyler. “You have been soaked. Your resistance to electricity has been halved.” “Oh, sorry man. I didn’t know it would..” Tyler cut him off. “No worries, I set my bed on fire last night. My parents still haven’t found out.” Logan looked horrified.
“Now, let's go hunt some wolves, I have to catch 49 more.” “Shared quest unlocked. Help Tyler catch 50 wolves.” “Wait, How am I supposed to catch them? My speed is only level 4.” Tyler handed Logan his quick boots. “Just give them back to me when you’re done.” “Thanks man!” Tyler and Logan bolted towards the forest.
“There’s one over there,” Tyler shouted. “You have discovered Wolf” A web shot from in front of Logan rendering the wolf immobile. “What? You got a web? No fair!” Tyler used his headband's extra speed to beat Logan to the wolf. He then plunged his dagger into the wolf's neck. Critical hit, Wolf has taken 10 damage. You have defeated “Wolf.” The wolf disintegrated into pixels and faded out of existence.
“You have gained 25 exp. 1 gold has been added to your inventory. 2 wolf bones have been added to your inventory. Wolf meat has been added to your inventory. Wolf pelt has been added to your inventory. A lesser spirit has been added to your spirit container ” “That’s weird, I usually get more. It must have something to do with the shared quest. What did you get?” “I got 25exp, 1gold, 2 wolf bones, a wolf pelt and wolf meat.” “Interesting, I also got a notice saying that I had discovered a wolf.”
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They both checked their species list and clicked on “wolf”. Wolves: Wolves are highly social and intelligent mammals known for their strong pack mentality. They are skilled hunters, often working in groups to track and bring down prey. With keen senses and an acute sense of smell, wolves can locate food from great distances. Their fur can vary in color, ranging from gray to brown and even black or white.
“Awoooooo!,” A wolf lunged at Tyler and bit him on the arm. Another bit him on the leg. “You have taken 10 damage, You have taken 10 damage.” Oddly Tyler didn’t feel any pain. He’d never actually had something attack him yet. “Shoot them with your web!,"Tyler shouted. Logan shot two webs and Tyler walked up to the first wolf that was now whimpering and used his dagger. It disintegrated. He did the same to the next one that was growling.
“I’m surprised I didn’t feel a thing.” “Well, this is a video game. It’s supposed to be everything we didn’t have on Earth. It’s supposed to be just for fun. Getting hurt isn’t fun, so they probably removed it.” Tyler shrugged then used lesser healing on himself. “Jeez, this is taking forever. I’m going to have to wait 10 minutes to fully recover, plus my mana is plunging.” Logan looked at his own mana. “Yeah, you’re right, mine is 40/100 already. I can only use two more webs... Oh, it’s slowly recovering.”
After their mana fully recovered, Tyler and Logan ran off. They narrowly evaded trees, jumped over logs, and maintained their footing on different consistencies of dirt. They both ran at 15MPH, rapidly covering the distance. “There’s one over there,” Logan shouted. Before Logan had time to shoot his web, Tyler leaped into the air and dove his knife into the back of the wolves neck. As the wolf disintegrated, four wolves dove out of nowhere and bit Tyler at the same time. “You have taken 40 damage.”
Logan shot a spark at the wolves causing them to flee. “Who knew? Wolves are afraid of a little lighting,” Logan laughed. “That was too close for comfort. I just lost 40 HP. If I respawned, I would miss finals and my parents..,” Tyler shivered just thinking about it. “Where are we anyways?” “Uhhh, I think home’s back that way,” Logan suggested. “We should probably start heading that way, It took us 2 hours to get here, so two hours back. I don’t want to be here when it gets dark.” “Good idea.”
After Tyler recovered 20HP with lesser healing, they set off. “SMACK” Tyler fell to the ground. “You have discovered Bear.” "ROOOAAARRR!" The bear slashed at Tyler. “You have taken 60 damage.” Tyler jumped up. “BEAR! HURRY SHOOT YOUR WEB AT IT!” Logan shot a web. Now wrapped in a web, the bear seemed to slow. “RUN,” Tyler shouted. Both of them bolted off again. “I really hope that the web holds up,” Tyler yelled over the wind. “Me too!
THWAP. "ROOOAAARRR!" “I think he broke free,” Logan shouted. “Faster!,” TYler yelled. They could hear the snapping of branches behind them getting closer. “Oh no, I see an edge up ahead,” Logan pointed. “Keep running, I’ve got an idea.” “Are you mad? We will fall right off.” “Trust me! On my mark, we stop running.” “You are out of your mind.” “3…2…1…STOP” A giant black shape rocketed itself forward. It flew into the open air. It gave another roar as it plummeted towards the ground. “You have defeated, level 10 Bear. You have received 300 exp.”
“That was...AWESOME,” Logan exclaimed, his eyes wide with excitement. “I almost died. I was down to 20HP. I think we should rest here for a while until I fully recover.” “Okay, after that we need to go get the loot down below.” “Weird, it usually just shows up in my inventory. I guess we aren't close enough.” “Wait, isn’t it going to take you almost an hour to heal?” “Yeah…I Guess we can go check out the bear at least.”
At the edge, Tyler leaned forward, gazing out over the vast expanse of the forest. A lush sea of green stretched endlessly before him, fading into the horizon as if it were a boundless wilderness, unbroken for miles and miles. “Wow, this forest is huge!” Tyler made his way over to the edge and began to slowly descend the 60 foot drop. At the bottom they both walked up to the bear.
They both received the message: “You have looted Bear. 100 Gold has been added to your inventory. Bear bones have been added to your inventory. Bear pelt has been added to your inventory. Bear Claws have been added to your inventory. Goblin Bones have been added to your inventory. Goblin flesh has been added to your inventory. Goblin meat has been added to your inventory. Your spirit jar cannot contain the Normal Spirit. Normal Spirit has been released to Spirit World. Level up your spirit jar to prevent spirit loss by capturing lesser spirits 4/30”
Tyler received the message: "Red Ring has been added to your inventory." "Cool, I received a Red Ring!" he said. "Nice, I got a yellow one," Logan replied. Tyler looked at his menu. Red Ring (Common): Add one to your Magic stat. Add 10% to fire damage. "What does your ring do? My ring gives me +1 to my Magic and increases my fire damage." “Oh, mine is the same, except with electric damage.” Logan looked worriedly over at Tyler,” Are you healed enough yet? We need to head back.” “I’m at 70HP now, we should be good.”
They both put on their rings and started ascending the cliff. Tyler reached the top of the cliff at the same time as Logan. “My stamina is low. You brought those sandwiches right?” Logan asked. Tyler looked at his own stamina. “You’ve got a point there. Yeah my mom made them before I left. She’s been on a cooking binge ever since she learned she can level up from it.” He handed Logan the sandwich and they began eating.
”Are you ready for finals?,” Logan asked. “I still have a few questions for monday.”” About what?” “I don’t know how much we are supposed to study from the creatures menu and the creations menu. There are hundreds of listings.” “Oh, yeah,I should probably ask about that too. I never thought about it.” “What have you been doing this entire time? Finals are on friday.” “I was playing video games all week.” “Bro, we are in a video game.” “It’s not the same man.”
A wolf howled in the far off distance. “We should start heading back now. I don’t want my dad to kill me after I return to the living world,” Tyler stated. “Good idea. I’ll race you there!” They both received the message Quest Unlocked: Win the race. Logan bolted off into the forest. “Wait, no fair you got a head start,” Tyler shouted while chasing after him. About an hour in the forest started to dim. Tyler could no longer see Logan. “Well, I guess I have to keep running,” he thought, losing interest in the race.
Tyler finally broke out of the trees into the wide open. Tyler received the message: Quest failed. “Yes!,” Logan exclaimed. “I got a hat!” Tyler collapsed on the ground. “What does it do?” “It adds +2 to my speed.” “Great, now you're faster than me,” Tyler sighed. “At least we are out of the forest now. Hey, can you give me my boots back now?” “Hold on, watch this.” Logan sprinted towards a tree. “Woah, I’ve never seen someone run that fast!” “If I’m correct, I think I can run about 25 MPH. I’ll ask Mr. Woods about it on Monday.” //1
“Hey Logan, I think you should keep those boots.” “Really? No way man, I couldn’t do that.” “Just take them. You will be the fastest in the class.” “Okay, I will. Hopefully Josh won’t kill me when I beat him.” “Relax, he won’t be able to catch you,” Tyler laughed. "Besides," he added, with a mischievous grin, "someone's gotta keep that guy in check."
Pushing himself off the ground, Tyler realized that he was exhausted. “Hey, let’s do this again tomorrow, but not go as far into the woods this time.” “Agreed. Thanks again for the boots.” They both raced off towards home. As Tyler ran, he felt a little disappointed that he wasn’t as fast anymore. However, seeing the look on Logan's face was worth it. “I need to get to level 6 and then I can distribute two more stat points. Then my speed will be back to normal,” he thought.Reaching his house,
Tyler slipped in through the back door, hoping to avoid another lecture from his mom. The aroma of roasted chicken filled the air, and his stomach rumbled. He was starving. "Tyler, is that you?" his mom called from the kitchen."Yeah, Mom, it's me," he replied, heading towards the dining room.
Dinner was a surprisingly lively affair. The roast chicken, usually a mundane staple, seemed to practically melt in Tyler's mouth. His mom, beaming, explained how her increased creation skill had imbued the meal with an almost magical flavor. His dad, usually reserved, excitedly recounted a close call he'd had while mowing the lawn – apparently, rogue garden gnomes were a real threat! Tyler, despite his exhaustion, found himself drawn into the conversation, sharing his own adventures in the Great Forest.
Later, as Tyler climbed the stairs to his room, a comfortable fullness settled in his stomach. He collapsed onto his bed, the burned hole a stark reminder of his magical misadventure. He pulled up his menu and checked his stats. Level 6, Experience 650/1000... He was getting closer to leveling up. Suddenly he realized that he missed a notification. “Man, I must be tired.” Quest unlocked (Shared Quest): investigate the garden gnomes. “What the hell?,” he thought to himself.
A shared quest with his dad? That was definitely new. He imagined his dad, usually calm and collected, battling a horde of mischievous gnomes with a rusty lawnmower. A chuckle escaped his lips. This was definitely going to be interesting. He quickly pulled up his menu and typed out a message to Logan. "Hey Logan, change of plans? My dad got a quest involving garden gnomes, and it's a shared one. Turns out those little guys are tougher than they look!"
He hit send, a grin spreading across his face. Maybe skipping the forest tomorrow wouldn't be so bad after all. This gnome situation sounded like it had the potential to be way more entertaining than chasing wolves. Plus, it was a chance to bond with his dad in this strange new world. He closed his menu, a sense of anticipation bubbling inside him. He couldn't wait to see what kind of trouble these garden gnomes were stirring up.
The day's adventures, the close calls with wolves and that terrifying bear, had finally caught up with him. Exhaustion washed over him, and his eyelids grew heavy. The excitement of the gnome quest faded into the background as sleep gently pulled him under. He drifted off, his dreams filled with mischievous gnomes and daring escapes.
