Temporarily looking past the foreboding countdown, his hazel eyes focused on the icons. His arms twitched and he really didn’t want to lift it up yet.
Fortunately, he simply had to will it and the icons he wanted to activate would activate.
If this was a dream or if he was crazy, he had to admit he was impressed with his own imagination.
Anyway, there were five icons that appeared, arranged vertically. The topmost one was the simplified image of a house.
It was greyed out and nothing happened when he tried to click on it (first with his eyes and mind, and then with his struggling finger). In a similar state was the icon under it, which seemed like a stall of sorts.
The third one was the cartoonish silhouette of a person, which was probably something like the character profile or stat.
[Status]
Name: Finnick Altheus Solthar
Race: Human
Class: None
Level: Dormant
Awakening Type: N/A
Affinity: Unknown
...
VITALS
HP: 64/100
Mana: 100/100
Stamina: 42/100
Wallet: 0 Gold
Hearth Points: 0 Points
...
SKILLS:
Active: N/A
Passive: N/A
Condition: Strained, -1 Stamina and -1 HP per hour]
Damn, that was useless. Maybe he shouldn’t have looked. All that accomplished was making his stomach feel even more acidic.
Would he get another debuff called [Gastritis]?
Erasing that from his head, he shifted his attention to the next icon. Right below the status was a backpack image, which likely referred to inventory.
Finn immediately opened it. The icon expanded to appear like a holographic screen in front of him, but instead of a futuristic appearance, it felt more like a magic circle formed and imagery and text floated above it, as if projecting what he needed to see.
That said, these complex patterns and imagery really were good, some of which he didn’t think he could imagine.
The [Inventory] itself was not big. Probably half a meter in each direction, which was just about as big as a typical box he used to play forts in as a kid. Inside it, there was a palm-sized box called ’Newbie Pack x 1’.
He tried to take it out with his mind (like telekinesis), but there was no change. He had no choice but to lift his sore arms (ignoring the sniffling beasts around him) to grab at the box.
The moment he took it out of the virtual box, a ding sounded in his head.
[Would you like to open Newbie Pack x 1? Yes | No]
Yes, of course.
[Opened Newbie Pack x 1]
[Received!
Basic Clothing Set x 1
Basic leather armor x 1
Waterskin x 1
Bone Sword (Unranked) x 1
One-time use Credit Line x 1]
He watched as the items expanded and in front of him, fortunately, away from his puke.
The simple clothing reminded him of commoner costumes in those medieval shows. However, when he touched the fabric, it was relatively sturdy and decently soft, at least compared to what was probably the actual materials from that era.
Also, the clothes had underwear with an old appearance but were actually of a modern design. His crazy brain was very considerate, at least. Even if it wasn’t ’historically’ accurate, who cared? Convenience was key.
For the clothing, he put it back in the box. He’d treat it well, considering it’d be his one and only change of clothing. He was cold because he was still dripping, but he didn’t know what he had to go through yet, so he didn’t want to risk destroying it.
The leather armor, on the other hand, was basically just a vest made of hide. He put it on, somewhat managing to lessen his shivers. The waterskin was a water container. It was nice and should be able to hold a liter or so of water.
The next thing he looked at was the sword. He checked the grip (which wasn’t too comfortable, unfortunately, because even the handle was made of bones), but it’d do.
By this time, his arms felt just a bit better. Still sore and tired, but he could at least use them like a normal person, even if it was a bit painful.
He definitely couldn’t fight yet, though. It was estimated that his only weapon would fly away the moment he tried to swing it.
As for the credit line...he had an idea of what it was based on its name, but obviously, this wasn’t the time to experiment on that.
He looked at the countdown again. Now that he could properly hold a sword, he should be making a move soon.
[Moving Phantom Barrier is active. 00:55:22]
He clicked on the last icon, which was a simplified image of flags.
When he clicked on it, a similar effect to the [Inventory] appeared, though it appeared more like a bulletin board rather than a small translucent box.
[Quests]
And there were two tabs. The [Personal Quest] and the [Hearth Quest]. Interested, he checked them out, hoping that it’d finally give a clue about what he should do next.
The contents were longer than expected.
Urgh. He hated blocks of text.
[Personal Quest]
[Active Mission (Flexible): Kill Brootrat mobs]
[Information: A large mob of Brootrat monsters had escaped from the Eastern dungeon and are now terrorizing areas tens of kilometers away. Their fecundity is strong and they multiply rapidly in warm zones. If left unchecked, certain sectors may become too difficult to pass for the typical adventurer. Please complete the quest within 3 months.For more chapters visit novel⚑fire.net
Time Limit: 3 Months
Progress: 0/1000
Completion Requirement: Kill 1000 Brootrats
Reward: 5,000 Hearth Points]
[Active Mission (Flexible): Kill Thornspawn Creepers]
[Information: A large infestation of Thornspawn creepers has grown tens of kilometers from the Eastern Dungeon. They are ravenous by nature and have been rapidly spreading through various areas, slowly smothering native flora which can prove detrimental to the area’s biodiversity. Please complete the quest within 5 months.
Time Limit: 5 months
Progress: 0/1000
Completion Requirement: Kill 1000 Thornspawn Creepers
Reward: 10,000 Hearth Points ]
First of all, what did ’flexible’ mean? He didn’t know. There was no tutorial.
Also...dungeons?
He shook his head and looked at the panel again, this time checking the other tab.
[Hearth Quest]
[Active Mission: Establish a Safe Area]
[Information: Designate and prepare a suitable location to establish a Hearth Inn.
Minimum Requirements:
(1) Find a clearing of at least 2 meter diameter as anchor point.
(2) No beasts of the Awakened Tier and above within 100 meters radius
Time Restriction: 00:54:01
Reward: 1000 Hearth points, Activation of Hearth Tab
Punishment: Death]
"..."
The last mission caught his attention, and not because of that punishment. It was the time restriction that alerted him. It coincided with the disappearance of the barrier that protected him.
This meant that he had less than an hour to go, even with this mission...
He shook his head in nervousness. In the event that this was real and he was not crazy (he wasn’t sure which one he preferred, to be honest), he needed to figure out how to finish the quests.
He stared at the smaller, probably temporary, icon that appeared above the existing ones. It looked like a pushpin of sorts, except instead of a needle, the sharp edge was a sword, and instead of a harmless plastic sphere, the head was an iridescent gem, except that its glow was muted.
Finn then looked at the vast, endless forests that surrounded him, as well as the deadly monsters that roamed around everywhere.
He gulped.
Well, what else could go wrong?