[RPG] Mine.chr (DDLC/Minecraft)

Alien-Kun · Oct 23, 2020

Opening her eyes, she was met with a vision she hadn’t expected. Instead of the usual empty classroom, was grass. Where should’ve been a desk with a chair, instead there were trees and flowers.

Just where was she? That wasn’t supposed to happen! She was supposed to not exist anymore! After all she’d done to her friends… to the player, too. Was that her punishment? To be alone in a forest?

...at least it was pretty.

Without a clue as to what to do, she sat down in the shade of one of the trees. Now that she looked more closely at it, there was something weird about it. It was way too straight to be natural, jutting out of the ground at a perfectly right angle. So did every tree as well, and the flowers too. Also the ground was perfectly flat- wait, not quite. A few meters away from her it jutted up with another straight angle, and returned to its flatness just as abruptly.

What was that place, really? Some geometrical purgatory?

As she was about to launch into another tirade about her surroundings, she was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of footsteps. And they seemed very fast, too.

Without any better options, she tried to hide behind the closest tree.

When the steps got closer, she spotted a figure. it seemed to be a man with rather unassuming features: tanned skin, 5 o’clock beard, dark brown hair, teal shirt and purple pants. And yet, when she looked at him, she felt a sense of wrongness. As if there was more to this man than what she could tell at first glance.

The man had stopped running just a few paces away from her hiding spot, and was looking around. His body barely moved, nor did his eyes. Only his head seemed to be tilting this way and that to see. When his neck turned too much, his torso didn’t rotate. Instead, the whole body spun in a fluid motion.

Too fluid.

She realized what had been nagging at her the whole time: what she’d dubbed her ‘meta-vision’, her ability to see the script and to perceive the world as a game, had been restricted. She couldn’t access any file, but there was… something. With some effort, she forced her meta-vision to activate to the full extent it could achieve at the moment. And what she saw… well, it explained some things.

Everything took on a more ‘blocky’ look, with very clear pixelated graphics. So did the man.

She was in another game.

And then, something more unexpected happened: on the lower-left edge of her vision, a few lines of text appeared.

<Alien-Kun>: Monika, are you here?
<Alien-Kun>: I just want to talk. I promise.

That ‘Alien-kun’ knew her name. Was he..?

She had to try. Through sheer willpower, she tried to compose a message.

<Monika>: I’m here.

Just two words had taken more out of her than she’d have liked to admit. But she had managed.

<Alien-Kun>: I can’t see you, are you sure? Ah, whatever. You can read this; it’s good enough.
<Alien-Kun>: You’re probably confused, and I get it. There’s a lot of things that happened between the last time we met and now.
<Alien-Kun>: But before I explain anything else, know this: I’m not angry at you. I may have been a while ago, but I’ve had time to think. And while I may not entirely agree with what you did, I understand.

He… he did? Sure, she could understand not agreeing with her actions: she didn’t either anymore, but… would he be willing to forgive her? After what she’d done? But… it was so hard to talk back. Maybe she could just approach his avatar?

She tried that just that, stepping out of her hiding spot. In a moment, the player -‘Alien’, as he was calling himself inside of that game- spotted her. His- its eyes looked straight through her, as if she wasn’t even there in the first place. It reminded her a lot of MC after she’d…

No, that wasn’t the time to sulk. She needed to grow some courage and speak to her player!

“Hi player… Did you mean it? You’re not angry?” She asked hopefully.

----------------------------

The player could only frown.

“Just what is up with the audio on this thing? Everything else sounded fine…”

He returned to typing.

<Alien-Kun>: I can’t seem to hear what you’re saying for some reason. I’ll be looking over the files later to see what the issue may be, but for now…
Gave 1 [Book and Quill] to Alien-Kun
<Alien-Kun>: You can try to write what you want to say in this book, and then give it to me.

His avatar then threw onto the ground a book with a quill seemingly stuck to it. They were both floating in the air. Without any better ideas, Monika picked up said book and wrote down what she’d just asked before. Once she was done, she put the book back on the ground and stepped back.

When the avatar walked closer to the book, it flew towards its body, and disappeared just as it got within a hair’s breadth of colliding with its torso. It took a moment for Alien to write again.

<Alien-Kun>: I do mean it, Monika. I’m not angry at you. You did what you believed was the only solution to your problem. It was an awful solution, but it was all that you had at the moment. I can understand the reasoning.
<Alien-Kun>: But to get this out before it becomes a problem: no, I never fell in love with you.

In that moment, Monika felt her heart shatter in a thousand pieces. He didn’t love her? Then why… why bother bringing her back?

She asked as much when she was given the book again.

<Alien-Kun>: Two reasons. One, because I don’t think you deserved to die. That ending was cruel to everyone, but in the end… you’re not wrong. You’re the only real person in the club. Sayori was, for a moment, but she’d gone far too crazy far too quickly for me to trust.
<Alien-Kun>: The second reason… well, it ties in with the first. I wanted to give you another chance. That’s also why I chose this game: you can make most of anything here, so long as you have the will for it.

Monika was feeling very conflicted. On one hand, he had straight-up rejected her. On the other, he did say he wanted to give her a chance. But in the way he worded it...

“Would you also give us another chance?” She wrote, hoping against all hope that he’d say yes.

After some time, which she could only assume meant that he was as conflicted about the matter as her, he answered.

<Alien-Kun>: Why don’t we slow down a bit? I’m not going anywhere for a while, and you… well, I doubt you will be able to cause problems. So, let’s start with trying to be friends, and go from there. That good enough for you?

It wasn’t the answer she’d hoped for, but it wasn’t the ‘no’ she dreaded either! Maybe there was still some hope.

Thus, they changed the subject to the game itself. It was quickly evident that Alien-Kun knew it like the back of his hand, as he walked her through the steps as a master would an apprentice. Monika was forced to keep an open mind in this game, since it seemed to not have much in the way of physics.

Having to break a tree with her hand was an interesting experience.

Beyond that it was a simple affair. Apparently, she was able to use the game’s inventory as if she were a player herself, so she could also use the game’s crafting function. Some wood and a wooden pickaxe later, Monika felt ready to go digging.

<Alien-Kun>: I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I would suggest just getting some stone, c̕r͙̻̭̝̹̲̫͝af̰͝t̮̹͙͠i̖n͓̞͇͡g ̨̮̻̳a͖͝ ͟f̹̦͚̟͝u̫̼͎̼̳̙͜ͅr̦̹͉̹̣̘̳n̥͈̯̭ͅa̴̳̩̩͙̗̜ͅce̬̮͚̺,̺̠̩͢a̜͎̺͚ṉ͖d̶̡̲͍͖͘ͅ ̬̫͇̤̠̯t̷͓̝̗͓̀h̷̰͍̗̪͍̰͝͝e̫͙̭̟̻̩̖̤̕ņ̗̤̲͚̘̣̬ ͢҉̳̖̝̠̝̭̫m̭̩̻ą̷̞͍̦͓̘͈͝k̴̸̬̹̝̦̬͕̞i͏͎̰͢n̨̯̙̮̠͈͕̳͘g̢̲̘͇͇̖̲̣̀ ̹̫̭̻c̛͔̣͈̖̬ͅͅh͏̦͕̦̙̭̜͈ͅą͎͔͕r͏̵͏̳͔͈͕c̨̫̹̗̝͇̜͔̪͢͞o̢̝̹̺̪̱͓̱a͖ļ̻͚̩̰̣̘ ͇̝͖̤̪̪̫f̫̱͙̪͍͍o̧͈̰͞ŕ̴͙̙̪͚͙̯̮ ͖̯̬̬̳a̢̨̡̨̲̮͕̭̻̗̱̘ͅ ̴̡͓͙͍͙͓̘̗̗͕̯̳͕̻̀̕ͅf̷͚̠̙̬̠͟ȩ̶͚͇̯͈͈̦͉͎͙̫͈͉͕͟w̢̨̘̙͖͔̟̳̥̮̝̙͚̗͓͉̼̤̲̞͟͝ ́҉͎͙͈̣͎͇̗͕̬̳̭t҉҉͕̼̘̹̦͍͖͖̺̻̙̯ǫ̺̼̦͍̟̖͓̺̜͎̝̕r̸̥͉̤͖͢͝c͉͇̫̳͔̜̲͚̘̼̪͕̖̪̻͢͢ͅḩ̲̲̦̥̮͙͙̭͈̦̫̪̠͘ẹ̷̶̼̭̤̭̩́͢͞ś̢̮̬̥̪̹̥͍̠͖̥͞

The text was the first thing to glitch out. Next, was Alien-Kun’s avatar. After a moment of distortions, it completely disappeared. Monika’s breath hitched in her throat as she looked around. More and more of the world around her was being corrupted. Textures went missing, or mixing with each other. The ground under her seemed to be moving, fluid but stable at the same time. She felt like she was sinking, but when looking down she was actually rising up into the sky.

Seconds stretched out like a lifetime, her blinking eyelids feeling as if they were wading through molasses. And as she opened her eyes again-

-it was fine.

Everything was just as it had been a moment before.

Monkia forced herself to take several deep breaths to calm her raging heart- wait a moment.

She had a heartbeat. That was new. Until now her breathing, blinking, and whatnot was just simulated.

Monika stopped breathing. After a few seconds, an uncomfortable burn in her lungs forced her to take in air again.

“It’s real!” She thought, dumbfounded. “I… I’m actually breathing. My heart is beating. I can feel the clothes on my skin… What happened?”

She looked around wildly, trying to catch a glimpse of the player’s return. She found nothing. She was alone for the moment.

“Maybe… maybe he’s just taking his time to see what caused those glitches. Yeah, he’ll be back soon. In the meantime I’ll surprise him. He said to get stone, and make a furnace…” She fiddled a bit with her pickaxe as she planned things out in her mind. “Charcoal… I’ll probably need wood. I might as well get a bit more stone and also make an axe.”

With a plan ready - however barebones it may be - she set out. It didn’t take long for Monika to stumble upon a cave. It was a small hole, barely big enough for her to walk inside comfortably. After taking barely a few steps in, the light filtering in wasn’t enough to allow her to make out anything more than general shapes.

Unwilling to spend more time than she had to in the dark, she hurried to dig up several blocks of stone. What she didn’t expect, was a light-grey window to pop up in front of her just as she broke the first block.

[Discovered skill: Mining]

Monika had no idea what to make of it. She wasn’t familiar with the game except its most basic premise, so for all she knew that might’ve been a part of the game. The window disappeared after a brief moment, so she resumed her digging.

[Mining: +1 Lv]

Another window popped up after she’d dug up a few blocks. While she wasn’t sure what it entailed exactly, progress was progress. Thus, Monika was fine with it.

Once she had obtained twenty blocks of cobblestone, Monika fled the cave. After a brief moment to readjust to the sunlight, she took out her crafting table and proceeded to make herself an axe, a better pickaxe, and a furnace. Luckily for her, the crafting function came with a handy list of recipes that kept expanding the more materials she gathered.

She placed down the furnace, and examined its menu. It had its own recipe book, and rifling through it she found how to make charcoal: she had to cook wood. It made sense to her.

So, axe in hand, Monika approached a tree and took a swing at it. And then another, and so on until the first log broke.

[Discovered skill: Woodcutting]

This time, Monika cockedher eyebrow. “I already cut down a tree, why would it show me the skill now- oh! I didn't have an axe! That must be it.”

With a satisfied nod to herself, Monika returned to chopping the tree. It was a bit of a hassle to reach all the way up to cut every piece, but after placing some blocks as a staircase it was easy pickings.

Though, she did have to also break the cobblestone she used, so it looped back around to being a hassle.

[Woodcutting: +1 Lv]
[Tier up! You gained one Perk Point to spend!]

This time, Monika didn’t really know what she was supposed to do. What was she supposed to spend the point on? Furthermore, how was she even supposed to spend it?

[Hint: open the Skills menu to allocate Perk Points]

“Oh. Well, that explains it. At least whoever made this game had the forethought to add hints.” Similarly to how she could open her inventory, Monika only needed to will the skill menu into existence for it to appear.

[Perk points: 1

Mining (Lv 2) [0/15 Perks] <+>
Woodcutting (Lv 2) [0/15 Perks] <+>]

Monika pursed her lips in though. “Where should I spend that point? Well, I don’t exactly have a lot of options now… And I’ll probably be doing a lot of mining in the future… Oh, well. If anything, I can just put the next one I get in woodcutting.”

With her choice made, she tapped the plus sign next to Mining.

[Perk obtained: Nightvision]
[Nightvision (Tier 1/4)
-You can make out the shapes around you even in complete darkness]

It wasn’t what she had expected, but she knew better than to disregard it completely. If she got it right, then it was only going to get stronger as it increased in tier, possibly letting her see in darkness as if it were daylight.

As she waited for the charcoal to be done, Monika pondered what she should do next.

“The torches are a given, but what else…” She looked up for a moment, and noticed that the sun had passed beyond noon. “I have half a day left before it becomes night… I should probably either find shelter or make one. Maybe I could build a small house? Hm… that would take a while, though, between gathering the materials and building. But the player might like finding a nice house when he comes back...”

The crackle of the furnace died out, signaling to Monika that the charcoal was ready. Well, time to make some torches.

What will Monika do? Select only one choice for each category, please.

[]Resources: go mining (chance to find ores, moderate danger)
[]Resources: chop trees (chance to find food/animals, very low danger)

[]Shelter: build a house (more comfortable, takes time and resources, less time spent gathering resources)
[]Shelter: dig out a room (uncomfortable, takes less time and little resources, can gather more resources. Temporary solution)

Voting time ends when this post will be 24 hours old

Alien-Kun · Oct 27, 2021

[]Resources: chop trees
[]Shelter: build a house

"I suppose that a small house would be a more comfortable solution than a hole in a wall. And going into a dark, damp cave isn't what I'd call 'safe'."

And so, after making herself a few torches - and saving some charcoal for later - Monika went to cut a few more trees.

Monika considered herself lucky: every now and then, a tree she cut down would have an apple fall down. While she couldn't sustain herself on apples forever, the half dozen she gathered would last her for a bit.

Her inventory was… well, not full, but very well-stocked with wood now. She had one 'stack' and a half of oak logs - as an inventory slot could hold only up to 64 of one block, as she'd found out - and almost another stack of birch logs. With all of that, Monika was certain she could build a decent house.

First, came the process of clearing out a spot. She had already found a nice, flat area, and cleared it of trees. All that was left was the tall grass littering the place.

"I doubt my pickaxe or axe will do a good job at cutting that grass… I'll need something sharper. Let's see what the recipe book can tell me."

The book did have some options. A scythe, a machete, a sword, a dagger… There several weapons that could do the job.

[]Weapon: saber (medium speed, mid-high damage, more damage to armorless foes)
[]Weapon: katana (fast, medium damage, two-handed)
[]Weapon: sword (medium speed, mid-high damage, sturdy)
[]Weapon: dagger (very fast, low damage, throwable, easy to use)

Another weapon may be chosen in the future

After clearing out the grass - and finding several seeds - Monika had a clear space for building a house… well, more of a shack for the moment. She didn't have that much time in the day left. She had enough time to build a main room, and…

We have three hours. Choose which things we can add to the base. We can expand it more later on. More than one option can be chosen per category. Choosing an option and then its upgrade adds the time taken to make it. Example: basement (medium) requires also the time needed for the small basement. Total: 1 hour. Taking the large basement adds another hour. I won’t explain this again.

[]Interior: bedroom (1/2 hour, won’t have a bed for now)
[]Interior: storage (1 hour)
[]Interior: attic (requires detailed roof, 1/2 hour)

[]Structure: detailed roof (1 and 1/2 hours)
[]Structure: basement (small) (1/2 hour)
[]Structure: basement (medium) (requires small basement, 1/2 hour)
[]Structure: basement (large) (requires previous two basements, 1 hour)

[]Exterior: farmland (small) (1/2 hour)
[]Exterior: farmland (medium) (requires small farmland, 1/2 hour)
[]Exterior: walls (small) (1 hour)
[]Exterior: walls (medium) (requires small walls, 1 hour)

After several hours of work, it was complete. It wasn’t perfect, certainly, but it would serve its purpose well and she could expand it another time. For now, the sun was setting.

Monika strolled into the house’s main room, content to take a seat at the table and munch on a couple of apples. She thought back on several things while mindlessly chewing, but mainly…

“Why isn’t he back yet? Was it something I did? I didn’t make him upset again, did I? And that massive glitch from before, what was up with that? I wish I could access the files, but… I feel alive. More than ever before. I can breathe. I get tired. I get hungry. I can actually taste these apples, not just the idea of what they taste like.”

“...One step closer to our reality, huh? I wonder how many more I’ll need…” She muttered.

Almost as if the game was waiting for those words, it responded with a new screen.

[New quest: Our reality (1/?)
Objective: Defeat the Ender Dragon

Reward: Next quest, New content, Book of Origin (page 1)]

Monika recoiled away from the screen. She took a moment to calm herself down, not having expected the screens to appear on their own.

“This is new… I’m starting to think that this isn’t just a simple game anymore. For one, the timing was too perfect, and that title… there’s no way that this is a generic quest of sorts. This was specifically tailored for me.” Monika narrowed her eyes in contempt. “That means that there’s someone or something watching. Another AI, maybe?”

[Incorrect]

And that, was the last straw.

“Oh, incorrect, is it now? Then how about you give me some answers then?! Where is the Player? What caused that glitch? Was it you? Where are you? Who are you? What do you WANT?!” She screamed, her worry and fatigue working together to fuel her anger.

[Player status: not in this universe
System’s motives will remain secret for the moment
Cause of glitch: Creator, not System
System location and identity: indescribable through human concepts
System’s goal: follow main directive]

Monika forced herself to take a series of deep breaths, trying to make sense of the information she was presented with.

“This is fine, Monika. You have a chance to get answers. The player… isn’t in this universe? What does that even- no, no, just move on. Of course this thing won’t say why it’s doing… whatever it is doing. Why would it?” She snorted. “There seems to be something above this ‘System’. A creator… maybe I can talk to them? Though, nothing guarantees that they won’t just ignore me. And… There’s really no answers here! It’s just a bunch of words that mean nothing!”

[That is correct. System may not divulge information freely. It must be earned by User, AKA you.]

The anger built up again. Why would it just not give a straight answer-

[System has already breached protocol. System should not contact User. System will not contact User again. User will complete the quests, and earn answers. System will help User… but will not disobey Creator again.]

[System apologizes.]

Monika didn’t want to accept it. Her only source of information couldn’t just leave like that!

...And yet, the only response was silence.

Expect my future updates to be around 1k or so words for now, I'm still learning how to make quests flow, so I'll keep my workload light while I'm learning. In the future I'll write more.

Also: when selecting an option, copy and paste it into your comment. Makes it easier for me when tallying up the votes... and unless specified otherwise stick to one option per category (looking at you Gloweye).

Voting time ends once this post is 24 hours old

Alien-Kun · Jan 8, 2021

A sigh left her as she worked to clean up her hands. Too much was happening, way too fast.

... At least, she had a home to call her own… however barebones it was for the moment. It was just a hub room with a couple of chests, giving way on one side to what she planned to be a kitchen in the future - but for now only had a table with a pair of chairs - and on the other side an empty room she was going to use as a bed… as soon as she figured out how to make one.

For now, she was forced to sleep in a chair. Not an exciting prospect, but there wasn’t much of a choice… well, it was either that, the table, or the floor. She was admittedly used to sitting in a chair for long periods of time... her past actions were proof of that, as much as she wanted to leave them behind her.

Her talk with the 'System', however brief it had been, had brought some answers among the myriad of questions: someone was out there pulling the strings, and was the reason why her player had disappeared. And if she wanted them back... all she could do was follow the 'breadcrumbs' that this mysterious entity had laid in front of her.

...Which meant she had to defeat a dragon, of all things. Great.

With another weary sigh she dried her hands off, and got back up to her feet. A stuff breeze blew, carrying with it the evening chill. Monika shuddered lightly, her clothes not providing the best defense against the weather.

"Why did the developers design me with stockings anyway?" She asked herself. "Oh, right. Men." She scoffed silently to herself, allowing herself to enjoy the silliness of the thought for a moment.

"I should probably head inside at this point, at least the walls sould block out the cold a bit," she thought, eyeing the night sky.

Even in an unfamiliar place such as that, she could appreciate the beauty of an unpolluted sky... even though the square moon ruined it just a bit. Nevertheless, the scenery was truly breathtaking. The river's water twinkled whenever it caught the light of the stars, and the soft glow produced by the moon gave the woods on the other side of the riverbank an eerie sense of wonder.

The idyllic - albeit chilly - scene was ruined by a foul smell reaching Monika's nose. It was then followed by what she could only describe as 'a groan horrific enough to make devils cower'.

While the effects may not be quite that grand, the sound was frightening enough to make Monika whirl back.

It might have been human at some point. The signs were there: two arms, two legs, clothes, a patch of dorty brown hair of top of its head. The visible part of its skull probably wasn't human. The green flesh couldn't be human. The blackened eyes were not human.

It was dead. Decaying. An abomination that shouldn't exist.

And it was coming right at her.

I said 1k word updates... yeah. Sure. Look, I'll be the first to admit I had no bloody idea what I was doing when I started. Now I have... an inkling of an idea. At least I should be able to keep going now. I'll have shorter updates to only have one choice needing to be voted on, and try to write something every couple of days or so.

So, options:

[] You're a big girl, Monika! (Fight the zombie)
-Monika's chances are 50/50, if not a bit lower. Something might come out of this, though.

[] Not a big enough girl for this! (Try to escape)
-Less chance for Monika's death, though she might still get hurt: she'll need to go around the zombie to get to her base.

Monika still has her saber with her.

Voting is closed.

Alien-Kun · Jan 9, 2021

Monika HP: 20; Defense: 0; Damage: 5 (+2 [armor-less enemy])
Zombie HP: 20; Defense: 2; Damage: 9

roll 1: Monika (11) vs Zombie (13)
[Monika HP: 20-(9)=11]
roll 2: Monika (19) vs Zombie (7)
[Zombie HP: 20-(7-2)=15]
roll 3: Monika (20 CRIT) vs Zombie (10)
CRIT damage: 5*1.5= 7.5+2= 9.5 (10)
[Zombie HP: 13-(10)=3]
roll 4: Monika (8) vs Zombie (6)
[Zombie HP: 3-(7-2)=0]

The undead monster stumbled closer to her, gravelly verses punctuating every step it took. Monika froze, unsure whether to run or hope it left her alone. Step after step, the zombie grew closer, to the point where the stench of death made her eyes water. It raised one of its arms, and that was when Monika tried to dive out of the way. Its arm came down onto her side, sending her rolling on the ground.

A stray thought reminded Monika of her only defense: her saber. It was do or die, and she didn't intend to go down easily!

With newfound determination, Monika pulled the stone blade out of her inventory. She rose to her feet, ignoring the lance of pain in her side. She gripped the handle of the saber with both hands, and swung with all her strength. The sharp edge cut through the zombie's chest like butter, but it didn't seem to be bothered by it. It attempted to take another swipe at her, and Monika met it with a hurried slash. The zombie's forearm went flying, and it stumbled back.

Monika didn't let up, and with a few quick steps for momentum, she stabbed the tip of her blade in the zombie's head. Both girl and monster froze for a moment, before the zombie slumped down onto the ground, forcing Monika to let go of the saber's handle.

Her breath was heavy, and the pain in her side had returned with a vengeance. She hazarded a look... and quickly tore her eyes away. The blood staining her blazer told her enough.

More groaning came from her surroundings, along with other sounds. Bones creaking and popping, loud hisses, and strange garbled speech. She had no idea what could possibly cause such noises. What she did know, was that she needed to get to safety, stat. Using her saber as a glorified walking stick, she hobbled over to her 'house' as fast as she could. With every step she took, the sounds became more pronounced. Whatever was the cause, it was getting closer.

Thankfully she reached the door just fine, closed it behind her, and barricaded it with some cobblestone. Monika plopped herself down on a chair, and took a deep breath. With shaking hands, she began to remove her clothes. She needed to see what happened exactly.

With a hiss, she removed also her shirt, and got a good look at her side. The flesh was torn open and heavily bleeding, but it didn't look too deep to her... well, as far as she could tell. She was no medical expert. Without any other choices, she used the saber to cut up her shirt, and used the fabric to wrap up the wound. Tears streamed down her face as she tightened the makeshift bandage. It hurt, a lot.

After several agonizing moments, she was done. Hopefully it would hold.

What last few remnants of energy she had left abandoned her, and she let herself collapse on the table.

The dull ache in her side woke her up.

"Good morning to me, I guess," she thought.

First thing first, she needed to change her bandages. Makeshift or not, she couldn't stay with bloodied wraps the whole time. She slowly unwrapped her wound, cringing at the amount of blood staining the cloth. With the last layer gone, she found herself surprised. It was barely there. Instead of mangled flesh, there were only a few scratches. Still, that was... quite the scar.

"At least I'm alive." She sighed. "Maybe it's normal for this game... Then again, in RPGs sleeping usually heals you, as far as I know, so maybe this was somewhat similar." She shook her head with a groan. "Stop talking to yourself, Monika."

Groggy, aching and hungry as she was, Monika felt good. She had survived the encounter, and now knew not to go outside in the dark.

[Achievement complete: The first night
-Status screen unlocked]
[Achievement complete: Monster hunter
-Mobpedia screen unlocked]

And there was that too.

While preparing to go out again - hopefully the monsters had left - she noticed something new in her inventory: a potato. That may not have seemed like much, but assuming that the zombie had dropped it... for some reason, it would give her diet some more diversity! Maybe she could plant it in her little farm. Who knows what other plants she could find!

Although... with monsters running around, maybe she should concentrate on other things. Like making her base safer. What to do...

Ok, people. I'll go with this format from now on: only one exploration, then three actions spread between resource gathering, building, and Other. You can take the same resource action twice, though unless it's really needed I wouldn't recommend it.

Resource status:
-Wood: very low
-Stone: extremely low
-Food: low

Resources:
-[]Wood (The other side of the river has a lot of trees)
-[]Stone (There's a mountain not too far away, it shouldn't be an issue)
-[]Food (An army marches on its stomach, like anyone else)
--[]Farming (Wheat and a potato... they'll do for now)
--[]Forage (More variety is always good)

Building:
-Current resources insufficient for building

Exploration:
-[]North (Dense oak and birch forest)
-[]West (Plains)
-[]South (More plains, but also mountains)
-[]East (River and forest)

Other:
-[]Study the new screens
-[]Train a skill (choose one)
--[]Combat: Melee

Voting is closed

Alien-Kun · Jan 11, 2021

-Wood
-Stone
-Food (sub-categories were equal, so roll tiebreaker.) [1d2: 2]
--Forage
-Explore west (plains)

How will events work from now on? I'll be rolling 1d20+a bonus based on the skill most applicable. Every ten levels in a skill will add +1, though other things might add additional bonuses. For example, suggesting a strategy when hunting can give you a bonus.
For the successes, I'm following this scale:
1: critical failure
2 - 9: failure
10 - 15: success
16 - 19: great success
20+: Critical success

Also, even if the end result is different, if the roll is a 1 it's still a critical failure no matter what.

^important, read it.

Before planning anything else, Monika needed resources. She had just a couple of wood logs left, and pretty much no stone. Her food - namely half a dozen apples and a raw potato - would last her barely a day or two as well. Thus, she came up with a plan for the day.

First, she'd make a bridge to the other side of the river and chop some trees. Then, go over to the mountains she saw in the distance to gather stone... and hopefully not run into any caves with whatever nasties might populate them, and finally explore the plains west of her house. Throughout all that, she'd also keep an eye out for any food she could find.

1d20+(0 [Woodcutting]) = 10

The woods were something Monika was growing very used to. Dare she say, even a bit bored. But then again, she did need the wood. She got so engrossed with the cutting, that she didn't realize she'd pretty much cut herself a path into the forest, wandering rather deep into it. The sunlight was filtering through way less, and although she could still see the way, she had to take a moment to understand where she'd ended up.

Crack-pop

Oh no. She knew that sound.

From behind a tree, a pale figure appeared. It only wore a leather cap, but there was no need for modesty when it had nothing to hide: only yellowish-white bones. Clutched in its fingers was a wooden bow, and slung over its back was a quiver with a few arrows. Thankfully it was not looking in Monika's direction yet, so she took the change to slink away before it was too late.

As soon as she was certain the skeleton wouldn't catch up to her, she ran full-speed back to her base, vowing to not enter so deep in any forest ever again.

Apples
Oak Saplings
Oak Logs
Birch Saplings
Birch Logs
A big scare

1d20+(0 [Mining]) = 1!

With one more forceful grunt, Monika finally heaved herself on top of the hill she'd been climbing for the past ten or so minutes. She laid down on the ground for a few moments, trying to catch her breath.

"Come on, I'm sure that that mountain is just around the corner now. Can't be much longer now." She told herself.

She slowly rose back up to her feet, and took a good look around... the mountain was still the same as before. And from her new vantage point, she could see exactly how far more she had to go...

"OH COME ON!" She yelled with as much air as she could muster, staring in disbelief at the seemingly-endless road ahead of her.

With a huff she went to sit down for a moment...

...but forgot that there was only empty air behind her.

"Ow!"

"Oof!"

"Gah!"

"Why meeee..." Monika grumbled, splayed out at the foot of the hill.

[Acrobatics: +1 Lv]
[Tier up! You gained one Perk Point to spend!]

"Shove off..."

1d20+(0 [Farming]) = 19

Instead of dealing with anymore perilous woods and misleading mountains, Monika settled for wandering around the plains for a little while. She still had some time in the day, so she could take it somewhat easy so long as she didn't stray too far. For the most part nothing seemed to be around there: just grass, grass, and more grass. Which she cut down as soon as she got within arm's reach of it, collecting a great number of seeds of various kinds. What she was most excited about was rice, as her recipe book showed her that she could cook it for some fried rice. Though of course, all the other types of seeds would all go in her garden to provide more variations of food.

"Though, how would I go about making a plate? Or a bowl, or cutlery? Well, I can assume I'd need metal for the latter, but the others? Maybe ceramic? Ahhh... I really don't know. I should probably try to gather a bit of everything I find-" A loud moo pulled her out of her thoughts.

Cows! Actual cows existed! And she could see also some chickens around, and sheep too! Fantastic! Maybe she could make a bed with some wool... though how would she gather it from the sheep?

Maybe they would drop it when killed... but she really couldn't bring herself to hurt them. She could probably fashion some tools to get it later anyways. She would survive another couple of nights without a bed. Hopefully. Though maybe she could use the wool also to make bandages in case of an emergency...

"It's getting late, make up your mind already Monika!"

Alright, that's it for this update. We got a perk point, so you'll need to choose a skill to put it into. It doesn't cost any 'action points', so you gotta choose. No hoarding, not like you'll get anything out of it. Now, onto supplies and options.

Wood: decent (will last us a bit, unless we choose to build something)
Stone: still nothing
Food: enough for a few days

Animals:
[]Kill (Get a bunch of food, will need to find more animals later)
[]Spare (Life'll be a little harder for a bit, but now we know where to find animals)

Resources:
[] Wood
-[] Forest
-[] (Write-in)
[] Stone
-[] Mountain
-[] (Write-in)
[] Food
-[] Farm
-[] Forage
-[] (Write-in)

Building (Will consume all wood gathered today unless obviously unneeded):
[] Wall
-[] (Write-in)
[] House
-[] (Write-in)
[] Exterior
-[] (Write-in)

Exploration:
[] North (Dense oak and birch forest)
[] West (Plains, progress: 1/2)
[] South (More plains, but also mountains)
[] East (River and forest)

Others:
[] Study the new screens
-[] Status
-[] Mobpedia
[] Train a skill
-[] Melee
-[] Acrobatics

PERK:
[] Mining (1/15)
[] Woodcutting (0/15)
[] Melee (0/15)
[] Acrobatics (0/15)

Alien-Kun · Jan 11, 2021

Wall: log palisade + fence
Wood: forest
Animals: spare (put them in the fenced zone)
Food: forage the forest
Explore: west (plains)
PERK: Melee

After giving it some thought, Monika chose to leave the various animals be for the moment, and go back to prepare some space for them. Then, she'd be back. Cows liked wheat, right? She could try to lure them with it.

She did take a moment to pat a cow's neck before leaving. She'd rather not hurt some innocent animals, but she wasn't going to lie to herself: she valued her own survival more than an animal's, and if she had to eat meat... well, needs must.

Reaching her home she passed through the shoddy palisade she'd made along with her house... it could definitely use an upgrade. But for the moment, all she could do was barricade herself back inside, and try to fall asleep. The unsettling sounds coming from outside didn't make it any easier, though. She remembered her run-in with the zombie, and then the skeleton... she didn't want to feel so helpless ever again.

With a sigh, she allocated the one perk point she had gained into the Melee skill. Hopefully it'd give her an extra 'edge', so to speak.

[Perk obtained: Armswoman]
[Armswoman (Tier 1/5)
-Melee attacks deal 20% more damage]

"A bit bland... but it will help."

1d20+(0 [Woodcutting]) = 14
1d20+(2 [Location] + (0 [Farming]) = 6+2 = 8

Before remaking her walls, Monika decided to gather a bit more wood. She wasn't entirely sure how much she'd need, and she preferred to have some leftover rather than not enough. This time she stuck close to the edge of the forest, instead of just carving a path. She did attempt to forage a bit the undergrowth for any more food, but for some reason she couldn't find much of anything. Still, she shrugged it off. Her little farm was working, as she'd seen after passing by it that morning, so food wouldn't be a concern soon.

In the end though, her trusty stone axe broke. A shame, but she was sure she could get it replaced soon. For the moment, she'd make do with a wooden one.

Oak wood
Birch wood
-1 axe

Tearing down the makeshift wall was rather difficult with a weaker axe, but in the end she managed, and from there it was all downhill. The planks were replaced with sturdy logs, and the planks repurposed to make a fenced out zone behind her house, where she planned to place the animals. It was even separated in different pens, so she could sort out the animals.

Gotta appreciate the small things.

Gathering some of the fully-grown wheat - and replanting it, of course - unlocked the Farming skill. While she made a mental note of it, she didn't pay it much mind and went on to round up the animals.

1d20 + (0 [Farming]) + (3 [Lure]) = 11+3 = 14

The cows and sheep were rather easy to deal with, all things considered, but it did take quite a while to make them follow her, as only one or two at a time would take an interest in her. Chickens were a little less problematic, but that was because she could just feed them seeds with one hand while she picked them up with the other.

Cows and Sheep: 2d4 = 4
Chickens: 1d6+3 = 9+3 = 9

In the end her pens were now occupied with four sheep, four cows, and nine chickens... though no rams, bulls or roosters, so she didn't really know how she'd get any more...

That was, until she realized that some of the chickens she'd fed were turning into roosters before her very eyes.

"Wait. No. Don't tell me-" She tried to deny what she was seeing, but it was futile as the roosters ran towards the chickens, and... well, I won't describe it.

Monika groaned as she rubbed her eyes with a sleeve. "That scene will be burned into my brain now. Just great." She massaged her temples, trying to ward off a headache. One thing she wasn't enjoying about having a realistic body was that the pain was just as real.

"At least that issue is solved. And I still have some time in the day to explore."

She really needed to stop talking to herself... but then again, who was around to judge her?

1d20 = 17 (Great success!)

The plains didn't reveal much of anything new to her, unfortunately, but that thought was dashed away when she neared the edge between 'biomes', as the player had called them. The plains gave way to a colder zone, dotted here and there with pine trees. But what got her attention was the buildings in the distance. A village. An honest-to-god village.

She wanted to run there, see if there was anyone who could help her.

But the sky was turning dark already. And in the chance that whoever lived there wouldn't - or couldn't - help her, she'd have to navigate back to her base. In the dark. With monsters everywhere.

She vowed to check out the village the day after, and made her way back.

Ok people, one more update down for the count. I'm going to try and keep the voting options more compact now, tell me if you preferred the previous version.

Wood: decent, will last for a bit, but not enough to build.
Stone: none
Food: moderate, if we pay attention to our farm and livestock regularly we're good.

Like always: 3 actions, exploration is free. Select your choices and how you intend to do them.

Resources:
[] Wood
[] Stone
[] Food

Training:
[] Melee
[] Farming
[] Acrobatics

Other:
[] Study the system
[] Build something

Explore:
[] Mountains
[] Forest
[] River
[] Village

Alien-Kun · Jan 13, 2021

Resources:
-[X] Wood
-[X] Stone

Other:
-[X] Study the system

Explore:
-[X] Village

Wood gathering roll: 1d20+0(Woodcutting)+1(Wooden axe), DC 8 (Forest is near): 8+1 (9) VS 8 [SUCCESS]
Stone gathering roll: 1d20+0(Mining)+2(Stone pick), DC 5 (Stone is goddamn everywhere): 10+2 (12) VS 5 [SUCCESS]
-Mining luck roll: 1d20: 15
Village exploration luck roll: 1d20: 2 (holy shit)

Yeah I'm tweaking the way I do rolls again, what of it. Trying to see what works best here.

Like every morning at that point, Monika went off to gather herself some wood. She didn't get all that much unfortunately, as her wooden axe made the process much longer... and also it broke rather quickly.

She returned home to drop off the wood. And froze, remembering a thing. Why did she keep trying to reach the mountains? She had so much stone just underneath her!

And that's how Monika began to dig a staircase down into the bowels of the earth. Every few steps down she'd place a torch, and continue digging. mostly she gathered a bunch of stone, but there were also several coal ores and iron! Sweet, shiny iron! Sure, they weren't too many pieces, but it was a start!

...and also the pickaxe broke. But she had iron!

And now that she had a decent source of food - namely bread, eggs, rice, and in the near future also other things - she could take the time to wind down a bit and finally learn more about the system. First, was the 'status' screen.

[Name: Monika
Rank: 3
To next rank: 4/9
HP: 20/20 (+1/hour)
Armor: 0
LV: 0

Perk points: 0]

"Hm... well, this seems... simple? I already know that increasing my rank gives my perks, and increasing my skills gets me more perk points. I can assume that HP means 'Health Points' or something similar. The fact that I seem to recover one per hour isn't really the best, but that still lets me go from 'almost dead' to 'hale and hearty' within a day." Her brow furrowed a tad as she examined two particular entries. "I can make a guess about armor, but LV? Wasn't that something like levels? That doesn't make any sense though: isn't 'Rank' and 'level' the same thing for me, at least in game terms?" She sighed, slumping into her chair. "I can't figure it out just yet... I suppose I'll just have to see how it changes - if it does change."

The next thing on the list, was what the game called the 'Mobpedia'. She could guess on what that would be.

[Chicken - Killed: 0
Cow - Killed: 0
Sheep - Killed: 0
Skeleton - Killed: 0
Zombie - Killed: 1]

Yep, just about what she was expecting: a list of all the entities she had seen. She hadn't expected to see also the animals there, though. Still, she might as well check through all of them.

[Chicken - Killed: 0
Threat: 0/10
Food: seeds
Drops: ? (kill 1)
Weakness: ? (kill 5)
Resistance: ? (kill 10)
Origin: ? (kill 25)
???: ? (???)]

[Cow - Killed: 0
Threat: 0/10
Food: wheat
Drops: ? (kill 1)
Weakness: ? (kill 5)
Resistance: ? (kill 10)
Origin: ? (kill 25)
???: ? (???)]

[Sheep - Killed: 0
Threat: 0/10
Food: wheat
Drops: ? (kill 1)
Weakness: ? (kill 5)
Resistance: ? (kill 10)
Origin: ? (kill 25)
???: ? (???)]

[Skeleton - Killed: 0
Threat: 7/10
Food: none
Drops: ? (kill 1)
Weakness: ? (kill 5)
Resistance: ? (kill 10)
Origin: ? (kill 25)
???: ? (???)]

[Zombie - Killed: 1
Threat: 6/10
Food: none
Drops: Rotten flesh, potatoes, carrots, iron ingots.
Weakness: ? (kill 5)
Resistance: ? (kill 10)
Origin: ? (kill 25)
???: ? (???)]

"Alright, so just seeing something gives me a threat assessment of the thing - which I can absolutely agree with by the way - and killing more gives me more information. Makes perfect sense. And I assume that the last entry either is something I'll unlock with another achievement. Hopefully. Please don't be glitching again."

Trying to shake those thoughts out of her mind, Monika turned over to her furnace, where the iron was finally done melting into ingots. "And now, onto the hardest choice of the day: what do I do with these?"

The village thing is coming next update, don't worry. I'm just breaking it up here so I know what y'all want to make with the iron we found.

We have 7 pieces of iron. Make a plan for how to use 'em.
-[] Pickaxe (3 iron)
-[] Axe (3 iron)
-[] Saber (3 iron)
-[] Bucket (3 iron)
-[] Shield (1 iron)
-[] Leggings (7 iron)
-[] Helmet (5 iron)
-[] Boots (4 iron)
-[] Shears (2 iron)
-[] Storage (saves up all the ingots you haven't used. This option is picked by default if you don't use all ingots.)

If you decide not to upgrade any of the tools, Monika will default to the stone version until she gets more iron.

Alien-Kun · Jan 21, 2021

Before even thinking about what to use the iron on, she made a pair of shears. She wanted a bed, stat.

After that, she decided to make a bucket. What good would cows do if she couldn't get some milk while she was at it?

Finally, with one of the two pieces she had left she made a shield. The skeleton in the forest came equipped with a bow, so it was in her best interest to protect herself from that... along with whatever else might come at her. The wooden tower shield felt rather unwieldy and heavy, big as it was, but she could make it work. At least, she could hunker down behind it and no part of her would peek out.

Decked out with her new gear - and with a new set of stone tools - Monika was finally ready to explore the village. Hopefully whoever lived there could give her some help.

As she passed the threshold between the plains and the colder biome. Now that she had the time to give it a more thorough look, she spotted many lilac flowers dotting the landscape. The ground also felt rather dry under her feet, the crunches it gave closer to gravel than the lush soil she was used to.

She turned her gaze back to the village, and a chill ran down her spine. "No smoke, no light, no activity. It's almost like- no, it can't be."

Yet, as she grew closer, more clues came into view. Broken windows and doors. Cobwebs. Vines. The village had been abandoned a long time ago.

Monika shook her head. "This really isn't the time, Monika. There must be something useful here, at the very least."

Most of the buildings she passed by were derelict, and she doubted anything worth taking would be in there. The one building she saw that looked better than the others was the local forge. She entered, noting the lack of a door even though the frame was still there. Something had ripped it off.

She hesitantly peeked deeper in. Thankfully the inside was rather small, the only thing of note there being a chest. She gave another good look around, and then opened the chest.

"Some bread... well, it doesn't seem stale. Does the game even have a food-spoiling mechanic? I suppose I'll find out in time. Oh, two more ingots. Fantastic! And these..." She pulled out of the chest a set of green gems, each as large as her palm. "Emeralds? Wonder why they'd be here..." She then went to pull out the last item from the chest.

The dull shine of iron met her eyes, but this time it wasn't a simple ingot. A helmet, in great condition - albeit a bit of dirt here and there - was in her hand. It had some heft to it, and as far as Monika could tell it was of good quality. She went to put it on, but found that her ponytail - messy and dirty as it was at that point - stopped her from wearing the helmet.

With a sigh, Monika took off the ribbon tying her hair together and donned the helmet in its stead. Not having her ribbon on felt like a part of her was missing, but she'd rather feel like that if it meant she'd avoid getting an arrow through her noggin.

A very familar growl came from outside, chilling Monika to the core.

"No..."

The stench of rot was next, confirming her fears. "There's a zombie out here. I... I can't get out. Where did it even come from?"

She was tired. Hungry. And wanted nothing more than to go to sleep in a proper bed, and to have a bath in an actual bathroom, instead of in a cold river. But most importantly? She was sick of this world always doing its best to wear her down! First her beloved disappeared, then she almost died because of some walking corpse, and then she thought she had found someplace safe, but no! It had to be a zombie village!

Monika didn't know when she had gotten up, nor when she'd pulled out her saber, but she went along with it. The sheer fury overwhelmed her fear, and as she burst out of the forge she threw herself at the zombie.

Monika HP: 20; Defense: 2; Damage: 9 (5 +50% [armor-less enemy] +20% [armswoman 1])
Zombie HP: 20; Defense: 2; Damage: 9

Roll 1 (Surprise attack!): 9 17 +2 (Shield) VS 16 = 19 VS 16
Zombie HP: 20 - 9 = 11

Roll 2: 15 +2 VS 5 = 17 VS 5
Zombie HP: 20 - 9 = 2

Roll 3: 13 +2 VS 7 = 15 VS 7
Zombie HP: 2 - 9 = 0

She smashed her shield into the undead's face, forcing it to stagger back as she cut it up piece by piece. Vile ichor sprayed out of its wounds: onto her blade, on her clothes, on the ground. She didn't stop until she cut its head off.

The zombie didn't have the time to fall to the ground, bursting into smoke as Monika kicked it away.

Monika's ragged breathing and her own heartbeat were the only things she could hear. Her anger had dissipated. Now... there wasn't anything. A thick haze spread over her limbs and mind, slowing her movements. She had a hard time holding up her blade.

She just wanted to go to sleep and forget everything.

[] Your base. Safe, and familiar. But far. Can you even reach it?
[] The forge. It would be easy to barricade. Maybe not very comfy, but that's not a problem.

Note: this choice is actually bigger than seems at first glance.

Yeah, it's been a hot minute since I actually updated this, my bad on that front. I just stopped thinking about it for a bit, and... welp. Slipped my mind entirely.

Alien-Kun · Jan 25, 2021

She was too tired to make her way back, and looking up... yeah, it was turning dark.

With no better choice, Monika closed the entrance to the forge with some stone, along with blocking off every other hole she could find. By the time she was done, her arms felt like she'd strapped lead to them.

After placing a pair of torches for safety, she laid down on the ground.

"You only have to ask."

"State your desire."

Monstrous, echoing, ephemeral voices all around. Fear? Was she afraid? Yes, but no. Calm, but horrified.

"You already know what I want."

A voice. Not hers. Human. Male?

Black and white, white and black mixing around her. She couldn't see. Couldn't hear. Couldn't move, nor speak, only dark and light.

Light so pure it burned, so warm it soothed her soul.

Dark, endless dark, beyond life, beyond stars. Absolute void she lost herself in.

"You will have your wish."

"But on my terms."

Terms? Wish? She wanted- she was- what?

...someone. Someone so far away... who?

He was in the light, he was of the light. He was of her soul. And he was of the dark, of the endless void that gripped her so tightly and gently.

"Earn your dream. Dreams of lies, of truth, it matters not. Borne not of man or beast, but of concept, of love and will, you will grow. Have no fear, my child. They will learn to fear you."

The voice was around her. Was in her. Was her. Was the void. Was her soul.

Monika woke up ready to scream. The moment after, the instinct passed.

"Why was I... what happened?" She gazed around the dilapidated building, confused. "I... I killed a zombie. Then I felt tired, and barricaded myself in here... and I dreamed, I think? What was it..." Monika shook her head with a sigh. "It felt important, but I can't remember why. Maybe I just need to finally sleep in a proper bed."

She picked herself up and stretched a bit, working out the kinks in her back. "Sleeping on the floor isn't really the best choice, I suppose."

After peeking out, and making sure that there was nothing outside that would harm her, Monika left the abandoned village. No way she'd stay there for even one moment longer.

A quick breakfast later, Monika had a bed ready in her bedroom - that was finally seeing some use - and she felt ready to take on the day.

...Only after bouncing a bit on her new bed.

Still, after that there was a bunch of things to do. Mainly gathering resources, though. She felt like she had enough of exploration for the moment.

If anyone thought that the dream sequence felt familiar, I did take inspiration from a few things there, along with another of my fics (though very far into its future so there's virtually no spoilers there)

Resources:
-Food: Decent, the chickens produce eggs and we have bread. Still got seeds to increase the farm, though.
-Stone: A handful, it will last if used sparingly but for building it's not even close to enough.
-Wood: A good haul, definitely enough to build though not infinite.

Pick 4 actions this time, Monika doesn't want to hear anything about exploring for a bit. Select the choice and how you intend to go about it. You can also choose two of the same thing if you want.

Resources:
[] Wood (trains Woodcutting)
[] Stone (trains Mining)
[] Food (trains Farming)

Training:
[] Melee
[] Acrobatics

Other:
[] Build something
[] Write-in

Alien-Kun · Sep 30, 2021

Well, it's been... since January, holy shit. This is what I get when I forget to update for one week: I completely forget that this thing even exists until like eight months later I realize I haven't continued, and feel like a fucking dumbass.
I got into a quest mood lately, started a new one, and then remembered that this thread was a thing. So now I have two quests I'll be updating. Yay. Gonna alternate between the two, so each one will get an update every other day.

With that said, the winning votes (near-unanimously):

[X] Wood (trains Woodcutting)
[X] Stone (trains Mining)
[X] Melee
[X] Build something
-[X] Medium Wall

Wood gathering roll: 1d20+0(Woodcutting)+2(Stone axe), DC 8 (Forest is near): 7+2 (9) VS 8 [SUCCESS]
-Chopping luck roll: 12
Stone gathering roll: 1d20+0(Mining)+2(Stone pick), DC 5 (Stone is goddamn everywhere): 4+2 (6) VS 5 [SUCCESS]
-Mining luck roll: 1d20: 6

Damn, today rolls were just barely on our side. Great comeback, this'll be.

First things first, Monika needed to get some stock of what she had. A quick check of her chests revealed that she was actually doing pretty well on the wood and stone front... food was a bit more annoying, though she had enough to last a few days. She needed to do something about that, though: now she had also animals to feed.

But before the food, she had to ensure their safety... both the animals' and her own. The small palisade she had going on was decent, but she could do better. Especially with the amount of stone she had. Therefore, she would get some more wood and stone before upgrading the palisade into a proper, sturdy wall.

As much as she tried not to think about the dream, it always kept drifting to the forefront of her mind. What that voice said, about earning her dream... was it trying to encourage her? She hoped so, at least. Whether that thing was just a figment of her own imagination remained to be seen, but it was still nice to have someone -- or something -- cheering her on. In an ominous way, but cheering nonetheless.

"They will learn to fear me, huh?" She muttered to herself, swinging her axe once more.

[Woodcutting: +1 Lv]

"Yeah, they will."

Not much else of note happened while she was gathering materials, thankfully. She had a decently good haul of both, though.

Now, as for the wall... she could probably get away with keeping most of it wood, and only adding some small structural support with stone. She could use the remaining stone for something else.

The wall was now a hefty five blocks tall, Standing as a proud defender between herself and the outside. She might have to change the door at some point, though. It felt rather weird to go through a simple door with such an imposing wall. The player mentioned to her something about redstone contraptions while they were together... could she figure out how to make an automatic door?

Well, that was for the future. For now, though, she had to make good on her promise: making things fear her. And for that, she needed to stop being the scared little girl she'd been so far. She needed to become a warrior.

She pulled out her saber out of her inventory. It was a trusty tool, one she had relied on for the last few days, and it had saved her several times now. But she had the chance to pick, now. There were so many other options, and they were all great...

But maybe she didn't need to choose only one?

Short update, but y'know. Getting back into the swing of things. But hey, you get short updates more frequently. I'd say it's a worthy trade.

I made some changes in the Status threadmark:
1 - The resources section was changed to give both a judgement on how much we had of a certain resource, as well as an indicative numerical value. Why? Well...
2 - Now all upgrades to our base have a material cost (those that do require building materials at least), and the 'features present' along with the 'upgrades' lists have been merged into one list. Wanted to lower the amount of buttons around. This should help in deciding what to build.

Onto the options. 4 choices, like before. Also, note that even if the roll exceeds the DC, the Luck roll can still fuck us up. Getting a roll way above the DC will increase our Luck roll, though. Last time I change anything about the roll system, I promise.

Resources:
-[ ] Wood (trains Woodcutting) [DC 8]
-[ ] Stone (trains Mining)
-[ ] Food (trains Farming)

Training:
-[ ] Melee
-[ ] Acrobatics

Other:
-[ ] Build something
-[ ] Write-in

Weapon (free choices, pick one for each category)
-Main
--[ ] Saber (mid-high damage, more damage to armorless foes)
--[ ] Katana (medium damage, two-handed)
--[ ] Sword (mid-high damage, sturdy)
--[ ] Hammer (massive damage, unwieldy [lower hit rate], impact [ignores armor rating if it's less than half the weapon's damage])
--[ ] Spear (medium damage, long range [bonus against melee foes])
--[ ] Battleaxe (high damage, two-handed, armor-breaker [lowers enemy armor rating on hit])
-Backup
--[ ] Dagger (low damage, throwable, easy to use [bonus on attack rolls])
--[ ] Mace (medium damage, easy to use, impact)
--[ ] Sickle (mid-low damage, bleeding [enemy loses health each turn, ineffective on undead, can stack])

Alien-Kun · Oct 1, 2021

Here we go again.

[X] Wood (trains Woodcutting) [DC 8]
[X] Build something
-[X] Increase storage (medium: max holding 250%) [10% Wood]
-[X]Basement
[X] Upgrade Farm
[X] Add plant: Rice
[X]Main Weapon
-[X] Saber (mid-high damage, more damage to armorless foes)
[X] Secondary Weapon
-[X] Mace (medium damage, easy to use, impact)

Only one person voted this time, y'all. C'mon.

Wood harvesting: 1d20+0(Woodcutting)+2(Stone axe) = 12+2 = 14 VS 8 (Success)
Wood harvesting luck: 1d20+3(Main roll bonus) = NAT 1: Hazard
Hazard safety roll: 1d20+0(Acrobatics) = 3
Night roll: 1d20+5(Medium wall)-1(It begins) = 16+5-1 = 20
Wall damage: none, for now...

In the end, Monika decided to keep the saber. It was growing on her a bit, and she felt quite comfortable with it. But a backup was not something she'd scoff at. After some consideration, she went with a mace as her backup: simple to use, and it would help in dealing with any armored enemies: after all, a blade was hardly optimal when your enemy was covered in metal.

She was still stuck with stone tools, unfortunately, but she could make do until she gathered some more iron. For the time being, she had more pressing matters to deal with: namely, wood and food. Upgrading the wall took a hefty chunk of her wood stores, and she didn't want to run the risk of running out of such a valuable material.

The next morning she went off to contribute to deforestation once more... well, as far as she knew she was the only person, so she was the sole cause of deforestation. Did that make her a bad person? It wasn't like she was being malicious with it, and she did take the time to replant what she destroyed...

Stuck as she was in her thoughts, Monika barely had the time to realize that she couldn't feel any ground under her foot before she began to plummet down. She tried to grab onto the ledge she had just stepped off of, but her grip slipped. She tumbled down the sheer wall, and with a final crash she landed at the bottom of the ravine.

Rolling down a hill had been painful. But now? She couldn't actually feel much. A warm wetness stained what remained of her shirt, and she realized that she had started bleeding again. It wasn't accompained by the panic she would've expected. She felt... calm? No, not calm. Apathetic.

Another trickle of blood came from under her helmet, running down her face.

"Yeah, that would explain it," she thought. "I probably shouldn't be staying here, huh?"

With massive effort, Monika managed to roll around, and pull herself up enough to crawl. As she moved, something in her chest shifted. It wasn't supposed to.

"Broke a couple of ribs too, I guess," she noted to herself. And immediately ignored it. The pain was starting to catch up to her, and it was all she could do to keep it out of her mind and keep moving.

One block at a time, she made a set of stairs. Hoisting her body over each of the three-feet-tall blocks was utter agony. Her left arm gave out right before she could reach the edge of the ravine. Something had probably cracked there, and the strain had completely broken the bone. And yet she continued, gritting her teeth as she pulled herself out of that cursed hole in the ground. She wouldn't die. Not today, and not like that.

She laid down on the grass, a few feet away from the drop, attempting to regain her breath. Her chest hurt immensely with each breath, one arm laid limply next to her, and she was still losing blood. But for the moment, she was alive.

And hungry, as her stomach made present.

"Weird... I ate just before leaving."

But regardless, her body demanded food, and she provided. Though she hadn't much with her, she scarfed down what little bread and apples she had brought with her. It settled into her stomach, quelling its wrath for a while. She even started to feel a little better, the ache pounding at her head lessening just enough for her to think a bit more clearly.

Except, it wasn't only her head that was feeling a bit better. The ache in her chest lessened too, and she was starting to regain a bit of control over her arm. She wasn't sure if the bleeding was lessening, but it was still something.

"Wait, of course! Food is the key! This wonky regeneration mechanic that this game has, it functions off of food!"

She had no more with her, unfortunately, but what she had was enough to move again. Her stomach still demanded more, no doubt needing the nutrients to fix the extensive damage to her body, but she had that at home. It would put a dent into her resources, but it was fine. Better that, than death.

Monika staggered to her house. Hurt and filthy, but not broken.

She had to go through enough food to feed herself that her stores had only barely enough to last her another day.

But, she had a way to fix that. She hadn't actually had the time to do it, but it was a good time as any to increase the variety of her farms. She didn't have enough space to add more than one plant though, and there were other things she wanted to get done today. Namely, get her small house some improvements. She was starting to run out of space to put stuff, her chests beginning to overfill with stone.

With a new patch of rice in her fields, she now had a bit more food. Not only enough to last her on a day-by-day basis, but it would also let her stockpile a bit.

As per her house, she decided that a basement was a decent spot to put all her storage in. Well that, and it could serve as a bunker if it things went south... hopefully she wasn't jinxing herself.

The remainder of her day was filled with digging and running back and forth, as she cleared some space for a basement and moved all her things down there. It was not very big, just a ten by ten block area, but it did its job of holding her chests well.

And now... she needed a bath.

Thankfully her sheep were kind enough to lend some wool, so she could make some cloth to dry herself. She wished she could've made... any less rough fabric really, but she would endure. Maybe one day she would find some flax? Now wouldn't that be nice.

After the events of that day she would've preferred a chance to take a dip in warm water, but except for the furnace she didn't really have any way to heat up anything. Maybe she could come up with something later on, but for the time being, it was cold river water for her.

At least it was clean.

Night came, and Monika was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. She was tired, understandably so, but she couldn't fall asleep regardless. An ominous feeling niggled at the back of her mind, worry keeping her up. Not that she knew exactly what the worry was for. She had food. She had shelter. Her wood reserves were still low, what with her not bringing all that much back and using up some more to make the chests, but that was fine.

Right before she had returned inside, she'd caught a glimpse of the moon. Perhaps it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but she was almost certain that it had flashed a reddish color for a split second. She hoped it didn't mean anything.

The growls of the undead outside did nothing to assuage her worry.

Line 1: It begins

+1 Woodcutting
+1 Acrobatics
net -6% wood
+8% Stone
Storage maximum: 250%
Food production to +2% daily

4 choices
Resources:
-[ ] Wood (trains Woodcutting) [DC: 6 (Monika will be more careful after today)]
-[ ] Minerals (trains Mining) [DC: 4 (We have more than enough stone, let's look for valuables)]
-[ ] Scavenge (replaces Exploration) [DC: 8]
--[ ] North (Dense oak and birch forest)
--[ ] South (Plains and mountains)
--[ ] East (River and forest)

Training:
-[ ] Melee
-[ ] Acrobatics

Other:
-[ ] Build something
-[ ] Write-in

Tier up! Spend 1 perk Point (doesn't count as an action):
-[ ] Woodcutting
-[ ] Mining (1/15)
-[ ] Farming
-[ ] Melee (1/15)
-[ ] Acrobatics

Alien-Kun · Oct 20, 2021

So. This comes quite late, I'm well aware. My life got pretty fucked lately, and let's leave it that. But I managed to get the time and desire to write, so here we are.
Votes were kind of messy this time. I might have to rework the voting system a little bit.

Resources:
[X] Wood (trains Woodcutting) [DC: 6 (Monika will be more careful after today)]
[X] Minerals
Other:
[X] Build something
-[X] Moat
- [X]Upgrade Wall
--[X]Material: Stone (Damage threshold to 100%, inflammable) [50% Stone]
Tier up! Spend 1 perk Point:
[X] Acrobatics

Wood harvesting: 1d20+0(Woodcutting skill)+2(Stone Axe): 12+2 = 14 VS 6: (Success)
Wood harvesting Luck: 1d20+4(Main Roll Bonus): 10+4 = 14
Mineral Harvesting Luck: 1d20+0(Mining Skill)+2(Stone Pickaxe): 18+2 = 20 (CRIT: Structure)
Night roll: 1d20+5(Medium Wall)-1(It Begins): 10+5-1 = 14
Wall damage: 35%

Guess our luck turned around after last time's crap. Somewhat

She barely got any sleep. Breathing too deeply still brought phantom pains to her chest, and with every small twitch Monika expected to feel her bones crack again.

Thankfully it didn't happen, of course, but it still kept her awake. She came so close to death right there... a true death, not deletion. And honestly, she wasn't sure which option would've been preferable.

She didn't want to get up. She didn't want to go out in that... deathtrap of a world. She wasn't fit for this, she was just going to get herself killed for no reason.

But... lying down would mean she accepted to remain here. In this deathtrap. That she would give up on her only chance to truly live. And she'd be damned if she let anything take that away from her.

With renewed resolve, Monika threw the covers away, allowing the chill on her bare skin to properly wake her... maybe she should invest in some sleeping clothes at some point. Or more clothes in general. But for now! She had wood to gather, materials to find, things to build, and she had to properly arm herself. If anything, enough that she wouldn't be taken out by some random skeleton or zombie.

Leaving the safe haven of her walls got Monika a bit anxious still, but with her head on a swivel she managed to avoid any injury so far. In fact, she had gathered a whole lot of wood, saplings, and even a few apples here and there. The real catch this time, though, were another type of plant: specifically, wild potatoes -- which the inventory didn't seem to differentiate from normal potatoes, so they were probably good to eat -- along with some beetroot seeds. She'd have to get some extra space to her farmland, but that would get her a lot more variety in foods, which she sorely needed.

On the way back, though, a sound caught her attention. A hiss. Creeping her way towards the origin of the sound, Monika froze up as she spotted a pair of veritably massive spiders. They were about five feet across, reaching up to her thighs or so.

Just as she was debating whether to try and take them down, or take the long way around, one of the spiders turned towards her. Her hand went to her hip immediately, ready to pull out her saber... only for the spider to do nothing.

"Wait, so spiders won't attack? Interesting. Sure, it might if I get too close, but by all means I could get a move on and leave it be," Monika reasoned. On one hand, the spiders might drop some string, which could be very useful. On the other, it was a fight she could avoid if she wanted.

Choose at the end

Before she got started on digging things, Monika realized that she had a Perk Point to spend, that she hadn't noticed before. She debated whether to use it to upgrade her Mining skill again, but considering that there was a very good chance of running into a ravine again... well, she chose to be better safe than sorry, and took an Acrobatics perk.

Nimble (Tier 1/3)
- Your movement speed and reflexes increase by 25%

Not quite what she expected, to be honest, but it would help a lot. She was certain that if she had that, she might've avoided falling down...

Monika shook her head, forcing the thoughts away. It was time to mine, not brood.

As she dug deep into the bowels of the earth, Monika realized that a few blocks sounded a bit... off. Warily, she broke them to see what was on the other side, shield ready to be called up if needed. Within a few minutes, the wall opened up enough for her to see the sprawling cave system on the other side. Even with the low visibility provided by the Nightvision perk, she could see the glimmer of minerals all around: more than she had ever seen at once, even. Finally, her luck was starting to turn around!

Swing after swing, she collected any and every thing she could see -- and actually collect -- leaving behind a lot of stuff that her stone pickaxe couldn't harvest. But that was fine, she could come back in a second moment for the red powder (redstone?), the gold, and the diamonds. Sweet, sweet diamonds!

"Eat that, universe!" She yelled, pointing up at the ceiling of the cave. "I can do this!"

Glaring at the wooden walls, Monika pulled up her sleeves, hefting her axe over her shoulder.

"Alright, wood. You did your job, but it's time for you to go. Let's get something a bit less... fire-prone."

And with that, she began to bring down the whole wall, slowly replacing it with cobblestone. It wasn't pretty, sure, but it was definitely sturdier and way more reliable.

Plus, as an afterthought she dug a moat around her walls. Filling it with water was quite the hassle, but it would help. She wasn't certain whether zombies could swim, or if they were dumb enough to actually go in the water, but it went a long way in helping her feel safer.

And good god, did she need the safety. She hadn't thought about it much at first, but the quest still weighed heavily on her mind, much like a rock strapped to her back. Just a few zombies were that bad to deal with, what would this 'Ender Dragon' be like?

"Why is it even called 'ender' of all things? Does it mean 'one that ends people'?" She scoffed a bit at the absurdity. "Kinda tacky, I'd say."

Still, even before getting into killing it, one point remained: where was she even supposed to find it? She hadn't seen any trace of civilization since... the abandoned village...

Of course! She hadn't actually checked anything. Sure, there might not be people, but maybe she could find books or something, anything that could point her in the right way. Or any way, really. She was sick of going around without an actual goal beyond 'survive'.

+1 Woodcutting
+2 Mining (crit)
+28%(Woodcutting)+50%(Recovered from wall) Wood
+20% Stone
+16% Coal
+12% Iron
+7% Gold (To be collected)
+5% Redstone (To be collected)
+4% Diamond (To be collected)

Not gonna be holding big votes just yet. I need to break the day in two since I ain't got time rn for a full update. Just let me know what you wanna do with the spooders.

-[ ] Attack the spiders (Middle danger rating, can get string and a bit of Melee exp)
-[ ] Leave them be (No fight, no string, no exp. Safer.)

Your chances are pretty good, but still. Better safe than sorry. Finna get the rest out soon, I promise. Real soon.

Alien-Kun · Oct 21, 2021

-[X] Attack the spiders (Middle danger rating, can get string and a bit of Melee exp)
--[X]Try to only engage them one at a time.

Throwing: 1d20 = 5 vs Spider's response: 1d20+3(Daytime neutrality) = 10+3 = 13
Spider got no fucks to give

Well, one thing Monika could be glad for was that even in this cubic hellhole, spiders weren't pack hunters. With some luck she could deal with the two of them if she got them to attack one by one: those strings could be really useful, and go a long way in helping. She wanted some fish, dang it! But how...

With a mental shrug, Monika tried the first thing she could think of, and threw an apple at the spider that looked at her earlier.

She missed.

The spider glanced at the apple, then back at her. And proceeded to scuttle a bit further away.

Monika ground her teeth together a bit in annoyance, idly noting that her teeth didn't feel particularly dirty even after a week without a chance to wash them. Maybe whoever threw her here decided to give her that little mercy, and made it so she didn't have to? After all the crap she had gone through, she could believe it.

Pulling out yet another apple -- since she didn't have much else that she could throw -- Monika took her time to aim a bit.

Throwing: 1d20+2(Aiming) = 19+2 = 21 (Crit) vs Spider's response: 1d20+3(Daytime neutrality) = 9+3 = 12
Dead center.

Combat rolls!
Monika: HP 20; Defense 2; Damage 9(5 +50% [Armorless], +20% [Armswoman 1])
Spider: HP 16; Defense 3; Damage 3

Roll 1: 3+2 (Shield) VS 16+3 (Fast) = 5 VS 19
Monika HP: 20-(3-2) = 19

Roll 2: 20+2 VS 14+3 = 22 VS 17 (Critical hit)
CRIT damage: 5+50% [Armorless] +20% [Armswoman 1] +50% [Crit] = 11
Spider HP: = 16-11 = 5

Roll 3: 2+2 VS 11+3 = 4 VS 14
Monika HP: 19-(3-2) = 18

Roll 4: 10+2 VS 9+3 = 12 VS 12 (Tie)

Roll 5: 16+2 VS 9+3 = 18 VS 12
Spider HP: 5-(9-3) = -1 DEAD

This time she caught the spider right on the noggin with a dull 'thwack' sound. It whirled around to glare at her, and charged way faster than she expected it to. She attempted to place her shield between herself and the charging spider. It jumped onto the wooden board, smashing into her with all its considerable weight.

Her arm ached, but she took advantage of the spider being so close in order to stab it. The arachnid didn't seem to react to the pain, but her blade sunk deep into its body, giving her enough leverage to throw it away from her.

After such a hit, she expected the spider to consider running away, but instead she was surprised when it didn't relent in the slightest, barreling towards her again. This time one of its legs reached over her shield, knocking her helmet askew and leaving a scratch on her cheek.

The two struggled for a short while, the spider having wisened up enough to not let her stab it, while also clinging to the shield as Monika shook it around. The spider refused to let go, still trying to bite through the shield.

In a flash of inspiration, Monika whirled around and slammed her shield into a nearby tree, staggering the spider enough for it to let go, and allowing her to get one last stab in. And just as that was done, the spider burst into smoke.

With a huff, the girl turned to the remaining spider, finding that it had been staring at the fight. It hadn't joined, thankfully, but now that she had looked at it, it seemed... almost wary.

Too bad she wasn't in a merciful mood.

Small gain*2: 1d4+1d4 = 3+2 = 5 EXP
Melee (LV 3), 0/15 -> 5/15

That night the groans continued, this time coming from a lot more sources. She had a really bad feeling about it, but there wasn't much that she could do about it beyond going out and killing all those dumb zombies...

Though she was quite certain that she wasn't anywhere near ready for dealing with a horde. She did feel a little confident in her abilities with one-on-one combat, but multiple foes at a time? Nope. First, she needed some actual armor. And a better weapon. And better skills.

Gosh, there was a lot to do, huh?

+3% String

Alright, so. Votes last time were uh... a bit messy. Kinda my fault on that bit too, so let's try something which I hope will result in cleaner votes, and more hefty updates.
There's a lot more time in a day than just the time to do 4 things, depending on what we choose of course, so here's how it will work from now on. We have 12 hours in a day, so each action now will cost blocks of time. You can leave some time free if you want, it's not an issue. Repeatable actions can be picked multiple times in the same day, so say you can pick wood harvesting thrice so instead of 1 hour we spend 3 hours on it.

I've also reworked the skill level ups, since the way I was doing it before doesn't really work out in the long run. It felt a tad too arbitrary to just give levels whenever.

The day begins at 8 am and ends at 8 pm. Morning is from 8 am to 12 am. Afternoon is 12 am to 5 pm, and evening is from 5 to 8 pm.

Please place things in your vote in the order in which you want them done, and use plan-based voting.

Resources:
-[ ] Wood Harvesting (1 hour, repeatable, small Woodcutting skill gain, No DC)
-[ ] Mineral Harvesting (1 hour, repeatable, small Mining skill gain, No DC)
-[ ] Hunt (1 hour, repeatable)
--[ ] Animal hunting (gain food, small Melee skill gain, DC 6, during the evening DC 10)
--[ ] Monster hunting (gain mob drops, medium Melee skill gain, DC 12, can only be done in the evening)

Scavenge:
-[ ] North (2 hours, Dense oak and birch forest, DC 10)
-[ ] South (2 hours, Plains and mountains, DC 8)
-[ ] East (2 hours, River and forest, DC 8)
-[ ] West (2 hours, Abandoned village, DC 4)

Training:
-[ ] Melee (1 hour, repeatable, focused Melee skill gain, No DC)
-[ ] Acrobatics (1 hour, repeatable, focused Acrobatics skill gain, No DC)
-[ ] Attempt new skill (Write-in, 1 hour, repeatable for same or different skill, No DC)

Other:
-[ ] Build something (Note: building upgrades have been updated with time costs as well.)
-[ ] Write-in (Half hour, repeatable. Want Monika to do something not listed? Maybe try to create something not in the list, do something with the System, just chill? Run wild.)

As for what the EXP gains are, they go in order: Small, Medium, Focused, Great and Massive.
I know I said I wouldn't change votings or rolls again, but this was honestly my first quest so I'm still in the 'figuring it out' part. Hopefully this works. If it's too complex I'll try something else again, but this feels like a good compromise in order to get more stuff done each day.

Alien-Kun · Oct 21, 2021

[X] Growing Garden and Getting Gear
-[X] Build something (Note: building upgrades have been updated with time costs as well.)
--[X] Iron Pickaxe (I took the liberty of doing all tools instead, since matemathically just the pick would be a fraction of a percentage.)
--[X] Iron Chestplate
--[X] Medium Farm (2 hours, max of 6 plants)
-Add plant: Strawberries [half hour]
-Add plant: Rice [half hour]
-Add plant: Potato [half hour]
-Add plant: Corn [half hour]
-[X] Hunt (1 hour, repeatable)
--[X] Animal hunting (gain food, small Melee skill gain, DC 6, during the evening DC 10)
-[X] Mineral Harvesting (1 hour, repeatable, small Mining skill gain, No DC)
-[X] Mineral Harvesting (1 hour, repeatable, small Mining skill gain, No DC)
-[X] West (2 hours, Abandoned village, DC 4)
-[X] Wood Harvesting (1 hour, repeatable, small Woodcutting skill gain, No DC)
-[X] Melee (1 hour, repeatable, focused Melee skill gain, No DC)
-[X] Melee (1 hour, repeatable, focused Melee skill gain, No DC)

Hunting (1 block): 1d20 (No bonuses) = 18 (DC 6) [Success]
Mining(2 blocks): (1d20+3(Iron Pickaxe))+(1d20+3) = (17+3)+(5+3) = 20 (Crit) + 8
Scavenging (1 block): 1d20 (No bonuses) = 11 (DC 4) [Success]
Woodcutting (1 block): 1d20+3(Iron axe) = 7+3 = 10
Night Roll: 1d20+5-1 = 2+5-1 = 6
Wall damage: +75% [Total 110/100% WALL BREACHED]

[8:00 am] - [12:00 am] (farm stuff)

Right after awakening and a quick breakfast, Monika decided it was about time to fix two very important things. First, upgrading her arsenal a bit.

An iron chestplate and tools would work for the time being, although she'd have to see about giving the same treatment to the rest of her armaments.

Now with some iron helping in keeping the squishy bits where they were meant to be, Monika went on to tackle the next issue: her food reserves were massively dwindling. Between having to feed herself and the animals, her rice and wheat along with the apples just barely broke even. Not even that if she got hurt and needed more nutrients to recover.

Hoe in one hand, and bucket in the other, Monika steeled herself for some good, old-fashioned farm work... or what passed for farm work in a world made of cubes and nightmares.

She expanded her farmland massively, bringing it up to thrice its previous size... it actually took up a lot of space. She had to keep in mind to leave some plaths open so that she wouldn't trample her crops all the time.

Then, she finally pulled out a heap of seeds which had been metaphorically collecting dust in her inventory, going over the long process of planting them all until she covered the fields in greenery. She doubled down on the rice, mainly because she liked it and it served well as food for the chickens... well, not in reality, but it functioned well enough here.

She couldn't wait for the potatoes and strawberries to grow, too. It had been way too long since she had some baked 'tatoes, or some strawberry jam.

And some popcorn wouldn't go amiss, either. If only for the comfort of it.

Medium gain + 4 Small gains = 2d4 + 3d4 = 3+2+1+4+1 = +11 EXP
Farming (Lv 2), 0/10 -> Lv 3, 1/15

[12:00 am] - [01:00 pm] (hunting)

Now, Monika was vegetarian. She was fine with meat, mind you, but she didn't appreciate the sheer amount of pollution that meat production caused.

Here, though? In a world where the only person -- as far as she was aware -- was herself? There wasn't much pollution to worry about.

She did feel a bit bad about cutting down a bunch of innocent animals, but... well, it was her or them. And with the limited diet she had available, meat was important to balance things out.

Small gain = 1d4 = +2 EXP
Melee (Lv 3), 5/15 -> Lv 3, 7/15

[01:00 pm] - [03:00 pm] (mining)

Armed with her brand new iron pickaxe, Monika was now ready to brave the depths of the earth... after lunch.

Man, she missed potatoes.

Anyways! Belly full and energy replenished, Monika ventured all the way down into the cave she had uncovered the day before. Which she had taken care to block off after leaving. After all, monsters appeared at night mostly, so it stood to reason that they enjoyed dark places.

And if that was wrong, no skin off her back.

She took care to light up her path as she explored the caves, harvesting everything that she could. And she could take a lot.

The cave was downright loaded with goodies, all ripe for the taking! The more she looked around, the more she found.

And she found one thing that she hadn't seen yet. A violet gem, shining brightly in the light of her torch, in the deepest part of the cave.

Thankfully it could be harvested by iron, she didn't want to waste even a bit if it was as rare as she assumed.

Plopping the gems in her inventory, she looked at what the game called them.

"...Mana crystals?"

Wouldn't that imply that magic was a thing? A thing she could learn, maybe?

No matter how much she tried, she hadn't been able to find anymore of those gems... or much else, really. It seemed that she had completely exhausted the mine.

Time to block it off and forget about it.

2 Small gains (1 doubled because crit) = 1d4 + 1d4*2 = 4 + 2*2 = +8 EXP
Mining (Lv 7), 0/35 -> Lv 7, 8/35

[03:00 pm] - [05:00 pm] (village)

Exploring the dilapidated remains of the village was... not a good experience. But Monika powered through her apprehension as she stepped fully into the ruins. A feeling of dread lingered in the back of her mind, as if the creature that invaded her dreams that night had left a taint on this place.

Building after building, she attempted to find something, anything to make the trip worth it. The sun had begun its dip towards the horizon, when her prayers were finally answered.

She had stepped inside a much larger house than the previous ones. This one seemed in almost serviceable state, if not for the heavy coating of dust covering every square inch.

"This place is suspicious. Every building had some damage, except this one. What stopped... whatever happened, from happening here?"

Monika froze. Her last step sounded off. She looked down at the old carpet, and carefully stomped on the ground. It was hollow.

With a quick application of her saber, she made a hole in the carpet, finding a trapdoor. Her hands trembled in trepidation as she made her way down into what she assumed to be the basement. The way it was hidden, the way the house itself looked so suspicious... yeah, she doubted that this was just a wine cellar.

At the end of the stairs, Monika had to take a moment to steady herself as she walked into what she assumed was some kind of laboratory. None of the equipment was familiar to her, but it seemed in somewhat okay-ish shape, for being weird mad scientist/wizard lab equipment.

Several bookshelves were filled, although most of the books were too ruined to make out anything. Except one. On a table in the far end of the room was a violet book, the same shade as the mana crystals she had found before. The corners were covered in gold, along with a filigree in the same material decorating the cover.

Monika picked up the book, almost fearing that it would crumble in her hands. Her worries were for naught, as the book felt as sturdy as if it were new. Leafing through it she found projects for many of the tools she saw in the lab, along with annotations from who she assumed was the book's former owner, and so much more.

What attracted her attention though, was the last page.

I've made a grave mistake. The Void did not appreciate being chained down, and has made its rage known. Soul has abandoned us. The moon is now fully red, and the hordes are too thick for us to hold back. There have been no news from any other settlement... I fear they may be already lost.

If anyone finds this book, beware the red moon and the dark ones who herald it. Their master grows ever closer to freeing itself, slowly but certainly.

Then, just under that, someone else had apparently found the book, as the handwriting was different.

It begins
In the dark
Nightmares crawl
Red fills the sky
As the Blood Moon comes

From a poetic point of view, it was a bit shoddy. But knowing what it meant... a shiver shot up her back.

"I should probably get back... Maybe I'll bring some of this stuff with me too."

[05:00 pm] - [06:00 pm] (wood)

Honestly, at this point she didn't have a huge need for wood anymore, but Monika didn't want to get caught with her metaphorical pants down. Also literal now, since she did make a pair. Going around in a skirt for a week straight? That was all she could take, thank you.

The woods seemed to be rather quiet today, as nothing actually bothered her. She simply got what she came for, and left.

Small gain = 1d4 = +3 EXP
Woodcutting (Lv 7), 0/35 -> Lv 7, 3/35

[06:00 pm] - [08:00 pm] (melee training)

Monika's arms ached as she wailed on a log with her mace, trying to get a feel for it. While she preferred her saber usually, it was good to have some experience with her backup weapon too.

It was mind-numbing, and tiring, but she could power through.

2 Focused Gains = (2d6+2)+(2d6+2) = (2+2+2)+(6+2+2) = +16 EXP
Melee (Lv 3), 5/15 -> Lv 4, 6/20

A massive crash woke Monika in the middle of the night. The initial flash of annoyance was quickly replaced by terror as she looked through her window.

The walls had a hole inside, and monsters were pouring in. Zombies, skeletons, spiders, and some weird four-legged green things all scrambling over each other to reach her. Most of the monsters seemed to not be in such a great shape, she could see skeletons down a limb or two, zombies torn up and charred, even the spiders looked as if they'd gone through a blender.

And yet, they were coming.

+10%(farms) +12%(hunt) Food
+20% Stone
+17% Coal
+11% Iron
+7%(Leftover from yesterday)+8% Gold
+5%(Leftover)+4% Redstone
+4%(Leftover)+3% Diamond
+2% Mana Crystals
Wizard's Tome
Mana Condenser
+15% Wood

-5% Iron (Tools)
-4% Iron (Chestplate)

-[ ] Fight off the horde (Great Melee EXP gain)
--[ ] Plan? (Write-in)
-[ ] Hide in the basement (House will take damage)
-[ ] Another idea? (Write-in)

Well, it was bound to happen at some point.
Edit: Added the report.

Alien-Kun · Oct 23, 2021

-[X] Fight off the horde (Great Melee EXP gain)
--[X] Plan? (Write-in)
---[X] *Quickly* craft an iron sabre and iron shield
---[X] Get outside, build a pile of blocks to let you get up onto the roof without them being able to follow you. Use your shield to defend against any arrows the skeletons send at you and stab any spiders that try to climb up to you. The horde will likely swarm the house next to where you're standing, try to reach down and pick them off from above as safely as possible. If you get injured too much, break through the roof to go hide in the basement. If you sufficiently thin out the horde without being too injured, climb down off the roof to finish them off.

Note: the plan is actually the first one that Firefall wrote, only with an extra added posthumously after I declared that we did have time to craft one or two things. I hope nobody will mind having a little extra chances on our side.

Combat rolls! Horde mode!
Monika: HP 20; Defense 8; Damage 10(6 +50% [Armorless], +20% [Armswoman 1])
Mob horde: HP 60; Defense 3; Damage 2d4+4 (HP-dependent)

Roll 1: 7+3(Iron Shield)+3(Vantage point) VS 2+5(Horde bonus, HP-dependent) = 13 VS 7
Horde HP: 70-(10-3) = 53

Roll 2: 5+3+3 VS 4+5 = 11 VS 9
Horde HP: 53-(10-3) = 46

Roll 3: 8+3+3 VS 9+4 = 14 VS 12
Horde HP: 46-(10-3) = 39

Roll 4: 17+3+3 VS 5+4 = 23 VS 9
Horde HP: 39-(10-3) = 32

Roll 5: 14+3+3 VS 15+4 = 20 VS 19
Horde HP: 32-(10-3) = 25

Roll 6: 18+3+3 VS 20+3 = 24 VS 23 (Horde wins clash due crit)
Monika HP: 20-[(1d4+2)+50%] = 20-6 = 12

Roll 7: 16+3+3 VS 18+3 = 22 VS 21
Horde HP: 25-(10-3) = 18

Roll 8: 8+3+3 VS 4+2 = 14 VS 6
Horde HP: 18-(10-3) = 11

Roll 9: 6+3+3 VS 4+2 = 12 VS 6
Horde HP: 11-(10-3) = 4

Roll 10: 3+3+3 VS 8+1 = 9 VS 9 (Tie)

Roll 11: 20+3+3 VS 12+1 = 26 VS 13
Horde HP: 4-(6+50%+50%+20%) = 4-13 = -9 [Horde clear!]

[Boss Approaching!]

Monika: HP 12/20; Defense 8; Damage 7(6 +20% [Armswoman 1])
???: HP 20; Defense 4; Damage 10

Roll 1: 4+3 VS 11+2 (Ancient Shield) = 7 VS 13
Monika HP: 12-(10-8) = 10
HP at 50%! Morale check, DC 10: 20! +2 Damage on next hit!

Roll 2: 18+3 VS 15+2 = 21 VS 17
??? HP: 20-(7+2-4) = 15

Roll 3: 18+3 VS 6+2 = 21 VS 8
??? HP: 15-(7-4) = 12

Roll 4: 10+3 VS 12+2 = 13 VS 14
Monika HP: 10-(10=8) = 8
Morale check, DC 12: 12

Roll 5: 5+3 VS 9+3 = 8 VS 12
Monika HP: 8-(10=8) = 6
Morale check, DC 14: 19

Roll 6: 11+3 VS 9+2 = 14 VS 11
??? HP: 12-(7-4) = 9

Roll 7: 7+3 VS 3+2 = 10 VS 5
??? HP: 9-(7-4) = 6

Roll 8: 9+3 VS 8+2 = 12 VS 10
??? HP: 6-(7-4) = 3

Roll 9: 7+3 VS 4+2 = 10 VS 6
??? HP: 6-(7-4) = 0 [BOSS DEAD]

Looking at the sheer number of monsters crawling their way into what should've been a safe place, Monika realized that her current armaments were in dire need of an upgrade. She didn't have enough materials for everything, nor the time to get it done regardless, so she had to settle for an iron shield and to upgrade from her stone saber to an iron one. While she could've gone for a diamond one, the diamonds were in a chest in the basement, and there was no time to get it. The iron instead was just a quick inventory command away.

Now slightly better armed, Monika made her way to the top of her house, the last bastion between herself and them. And she'd abuse what little battle tactics she knew to the best of her ability, to make sure it remained standing. She observed as the zombies and green things piled up against the wall, trying to climb over each other in an uncoordinated mass of limbs and flesh. The spiders were better off, scaling the walls directly.

With a furious roar she cut down the spiders, not giving them any chance to reorient themselves as she brought down the wrath of god on them... in this case god being a woman absolutely done with everything's shit.

Focused as she was on the spiders, one of the few skeletons with both arms intact took the chance to take a shot at her. The chestplate proved its worth as it prevented a killing shot from being such, stopping the arrow from piercing her lungs. Somehow though, the shot had enough power to punch through iron, and embed itself into her back with enough power to stagger her, and just barely graze her lung. If anything pushed the arrow deeper, it might have spelled her doom. But in that moment, Monika paid no attention to it. It was painful as all fuck, but remembering the agony of fracturing multiple bones this was relatively easier to deal with. Her shield arm felt a bit stiffer, but she could still move it, so that was good enough for now.

The zombies had begun to reach the ceiling too, alongside the skeletons that couldn't use a bow anymore. Whether by her swing, by being pushed off the building, or simply by having their head crushed under her foot, they all found their end in the storm of rage that currently was Monika. The skeletons on the ground tried to get a few potshots off still, but the arrows were either parried by the disposable meatshields surrounding their target, or by her own shield.

A zombie's head burst apart seemingly out of nowhere, but after a moment Monika spotted the skeleton that had shot her before. The bow in its hands had a glow about it, reminiscent of the mana crystals. Perhaps it was magical in some way. That by itself increased its priority on her kill-list immensely. But unfortunately she was stuck cleaning up the horde coming at her.

Using the pile of bodies -- which wasn't turning into smoke yet for some reason -- one of the few green things climbed up to her. But didn't attack. Instead it simply stood there, glaring at her.

That simple act threw off Monika enough for her to take a moment to notice the glow in the creature's chest. And then its hiss reached her ears, a hiss sounding not unlike a cartoonish dynamite stick getting ready to explode.

Just as her mind made that connection she kicked the monster away from her. And that seemed to be the right choice, as she sent it barreling towards its last few remaining comrades and the glow increased. The monster's chest began to expand, and then it detonated. Nothing remained of it, in the slightest. The same went for the other monsters.

...But somehow, the other corpses were still there.

That's when she saw it. Seven feet tall, rusted iron covering most of its body. It held a chipped greatsword in one hand, and a shield that at one point might've been magnificent but now was little more than a relic. What really took the cake though, was the gauntlets it wore. A metal black enough that it didn't even reflect the moonlight, but still very much visible.

The more she looked at them, something seemed to call out to her. She feared them. Hated them. And yet she wanted them, oh so much.

Those thoughts were abandoned as quickly as they came, as the massive undead knight -- because that was all it could be -- leaped towards her, landing right where she had been standing a moment ago. The roof under her feet quaked under the knight's weight, making her stumble back. Her unsteadiness cost her some blood as the knight left a cut over her upper leg.

She could still move, but the pain and fatigue was beginning to set in. But she didn't want to give up just yet: if some oversized zombie could make her go down, then how would she ever face a dragon? She was stronger that she gave herself credit for, and it was damn time to show it.

Her saber wouldn't do quite that much damage against an armored enemy, but it didn't matter. It was big and bulky, but she was a small target. Its sword took a long time to swing. She capitalized on it, dodging the sword and rushing into its guard, stabbing it between the plates of its armor. The rust gave way to the soft -- and rotting -- flesh underneath, a spurt of black blood-like liquid oozing out of the wound.

The knight tried to backhand her away, but she was already out of the way. She attempted a hit-and-run again, getting another spurt of black blood. The knight had wisened up though, elbowing her in the face. Monika staggered back, disoriented, giving the knight time to properly punch her in the gut.

Monika went flying away, almost falling off the roof. With incredible force of will -- or in hindsight, blinded by a mix of adrenaline and an alien sense of determination -- she pushed herself up again. And the knight laughed.

It laughed. A conscious laugh, raspy and deep, but a laugh.

When its laugh finally petered out, the knight gripped its old blade properly, and Monika could feel that it was looking at her differently from before.

"Not void..." It began, the voice sounding possibly even raspier than its laugh. "Not a soul either... an enigma. Or..." The sheer hostility in the knight's stance almost took her off-guard, if Monika hadn't been getting ready to kill.

"What drives you, incarnate?" It asked her, venom dripping off the last word unlike anything Monika had ever head before.

She refused to answer, instead charging towards her enemy. The knight took that as her answer.

"Die a warrior's death, then!" It yelled as it threw its sword at her.

Monika took note that it was possibly the dumbest thing a fighter could do, but considering the power behind that one punch, it probably didn't even need it. So instead of stopping, Monika sidestepped it and kept up her charge. She slammed shield-first into the knight. It grabbed onto the shield, but she had let it go already. Before the knight realized her trick, she cut the tendons in its legs, flooring it.

She went to cut its neck, when something told her to get away. Jumping to the side, Monika saw the sword that had been thrown fly back towards where she had just been.

The blade hovered next to its wielder for a moment, before flying off towards her again, ready to skewer her. Without her shield, Monika was forced to dodge it. It wasn't actually that fast, but her fatigue and wounds made it much harder. She ducked and weaved, doing her best to keep away and reach the knight. Whenever she tried, it would make a motion with its arm, and the sword would come to try and kill her again.

An idea came to her, and just when the knight was going to make another motion, she threw her mace at it. Her attack hit its mark, disrupting its concentration enough for her to get close and behead it.

The sword fell to the ground with a clang, but it was drowned out by the body's own fall.

Finally, the corpses began to clear up, bursts of smoke coming from the pile and the fallen knight.

Monika took a deep breath -- though not too deep, as it hurt -- and let out a long sigh. Then she sat down on the edge of the roof, surveying the damage as she ate a piece of bread. There was the hole in the wall, but that was an easy enough fix. The land had a hole too, so she had to fill that. A lot of crops got trampled... dammit. She just got done planting those, too.

Once her leg felt a bit better, Monika took another breath at the very painful thing she would have to do. With a thought the chestplate disappeared from her body, and she carefully reached the arrow shaft. And then yanked it out.

A muffled scream pushed its way out of her mouth, forcing her to bite down on her own arm to not start crying. Then, it slowly began to mend enough for her to start eating again.

"...I hate this place..."

[Achievement complete: Horde mode
- 1 Perk Point]
[Achievement complete: Look into the abyss...
-New Perk]

[Incarnate (Tier 1/8)
-Born of thought.]

"Of course, this too. Cryptic bullshit. Why the hell not." Monika buried her face in her hands, letting out yet another sigh. She then looked up to see the sun beginning to rise.

"...Fuck it, I'm going back to sleep."

Great gain + Massive gain (Boss) = 3d6+3 + 4d6+5 = 1+6+3+3 + 5+5+2+4+5 = +34 EXP
Melee Lv 4, 6/20 -> Lv 5, 20/25

Writing this note just after finishing the rolls. WHAT. THE. FUCK.
Seriously, what is this anime luck? I 100% swear I did not fudge any dice here. It's all raw, y'all. God, this was stressing to write.

Also, for the boss encounter: it was scripted to happen on the first wall breach, or the first horde mode. Whichever happened first. Decided to introduce both.

I'm not actually that adept at writing fighting scenes so let me know if there's anything you think could be improved on. Oh, and somebody might recognize a thing I did in this fight... or rather, a knight character I took inspiration from.

Monika will be sleeping for another 3 hours, and then the fixing of damage will take an hour. Thus you're left with 8 hours to play with here.

Resources:
-[ ] Wood Harvesting (1 hour, repeatable, small Woodcutting skill gain, No DC)
-[ ] Mineral Harvesting (1 hour, repeatable, small Mining skill gain, No DC)
-[ ] Hunt (1 hour, repeatable)
--[ ] Animal hunting (gain food, small Melee skill gain, DC 6, during the evening DC 10)
--[ ] Monster hunting (gain mob drops, medium Melee skill gain, DC 12, can only be done in the evening)

Scavenge:
-[ ] North (2 hours, Dense oak and birch forest, DC 10)
-[ ] South (2 hours, Plains and mountains, DC 8)
-[ ] East (2 hours, River and forest, DC 8)

Training:
-[ ] Melee (1 hour, repeatable, focused Melee skill gain, No DC)
-[ ] Acrobatics (1 hour, repeatable, focused Acrobatics skill gain, No DC)
-[ ] Attempt new skill (Write-in, 1 hour, repeatable for same or different skill, No DC)

Other:
-[ ] Build something
-[ ] Write-in (Half hour, repeatable. Want Monika to do something not listed? Maybe try to create something not in the list, do something with the System, just chill? Run wild.)

Perk point! (doesn't count for time)
-[ ] Melee
-[ ] Woodcutting
-[ ] Mining
-[ ] Farming
-[ ] Acrobatics
-[ ] Hold onto it for later?

Alien-Kun · Oct 26, 2021

[X] Training, building, and Taking a Breather.
Training:
-[X] Melee (1 hour, repeatable, focused Melee skill gain, No DC)
-[X] Acrobatics (1 hour, repeatable, focused Acrobatics skill gain, No DC
-[X] Attempt new skill: Archery (1 hour?)
Other:
-[X] Build Something:
--[X]Furnished kitchen [1 hour, 15% Wood]
--[X]Basement: magic lab (basic) [1 hour]
-[X] Make something
--[X]Armor: Leggings, Iron [No time cost, 4% Iron]
--[X]Write in: Try to make a bow. (1/2 hour)
--[X]Write in: Try to make some arrows. (1/2 hour)
-[X] Play with the system. (1/2 hour)
-[X] Play with the system. (1/2 hour)
-[X]Relax at home, maybe play horseshoes? Cloud watch? Anything that isn't work. (1/2 hour)
-[X]Relax at home *2 (1/2 hour)
Perk point:
-[X] Acrobatics

Considering the choices for this update, there's no big rolls to be done. Only the nightly one.
1d20+5-1 = 11+5-1 = 15
Wall damage: +30% [30/100]

[11:00 am] - [12:00 am] (Damage fixing)

After a few hours of extra sleep, Monika felt... well, not refreshed to be certain, not even that well-rested, but at least it was better then before. She was still sore all over from the strain of fighting off so many enemies, but she could power through it for a bit.

"Ok, to-do list for today..." She thought while preparing herself some eggs. "First, I need to fix up the wall and that massive hole... and replant the crops. Yay. After that... well, a little extra training wouldn't go amiss. Maybe I could go for a run too, it's been a while since I ran for fun, rather than to save my skin."

Sitting herself down at her one lonely chair, Monika took in her kitchen/living room... it was a sad sight to see.

"Yeah, I oughta fix up this place. A sofa maybe, some cabinets... maybe some proper cookware? I think I saw a recipe for a pan in the book."

Eggs cooked in a furnace were weird. Not bad, mind you, but weird. Or maybe it was just the animal produce that wasn't exactly normal. Regardless, she didn't even have a pot for crying out loud! It was high time she fixed that injustice.

After breakfast, and a cursory check of her storage -- which was pretty much full at this point -- she decided to check her inventory too, see if last night had given her anything worthwhile. Well, beyond the Perk Point, which she had immediately placed into Acrobatics.

[Perk Gained - Unhindered]
[Unhindered (Tier 1/3)
-Armor feels lighter and you can move easier while wearing it]

It felt a bit more like what one would expect from a Melee perk, but she wasn't going to complain about it.

As for the inventory, well... the usual rotten flesh was there, some string and bones too, a bit of... gunpowder? Probably from the green things, she'd have to check the 'Mobpedia' to see what they were called.

A bow was there, too. Rather old and somewhat ruined, but it was there.

[Enchanted Bow
6 Damage (full draw)
Power II: +2d4 damage
Punch I: Arrows have more stopping power]

It looked like a pretty good weapon, to be honest. Although considering how old it was, there was a sizeable chance of it just up and snapping if she tensed it too hard.

"Ok, adding a few things to the list: make a bow, some gloves too, get used to them, and then pull out that wizard's tools from storage. If anything I'll understand it some more, and if I get lucky... well, this is pretty much an arms race, isn't it?"

Putting away the bow, Monika's eye fell onto the last item. The gauntlets. Even through the screen, the black material seemed to glare at her with indescribable malice. The more she looked at it, ideas began to force themselves into her head. "Conquer. Destroy. Rule everything and everyone."

She hadn't realized that she had tried to pull the gauntlets out until a notice appeared, blocking the cursed gauntlets from sight.

[Void Neutralization process underway. Touching a Void construct is ill-advised, especially for you.]

"Huh. looks like the system is taking care of that... better just let it do its thing then," she hummed to herself, going to close the inventory window.

[System thanks you for seeing reason. Process will last roughly 24 hours.]

Wait a minute.

"Hold it right there! You're back? Why? How?" She yelled at the system, hoping that it didn't just decide to ignore her as it had before.

[Creator agreed to a... clause in the contract, if you will. System took note of User's declining mental state, and Creator agreed that allowing User to be corrupted was not in anyone's interest.]

"What... does that mean for me exactly? Wait, what do you mean 'declining mental state'? Am I going insane?"

[Incorrect. Common definition of 'insanity' cannot be applied to User, due to her nature of Incarnate.]

Monika's eyes narrowed. "That word again. That... undead knight thing, it called me that too. What does it mean?"

[System is here to provide support. Not answers. User will complete the quests, and obtain answers. This cannot change.]

Shoulders slumping down in defeat, Monika began to gather the stone, dirt and whatnot needed to fix the damage outside.

"So what, you're just here to look over my shoulder so I don't become 'corrupted' or whatever?" She asked as she began to fill the hole in the wall.

[Yes. And no. System is- ì̷͍͆̍s̷̯̻͂͑̾-̶͎͉͑̔͝ ̸̢̨͉͋͌͝į̵͇̯̊͗s̶̻͙̋͑̕͜-̷͍̹̌̂ ̵̖̙͐͝ͅȋ̶͓̭̊s̴̻͍̒͜-̶̢̌͜ ḭ̵̱̗̲͕̞͚͓͚̿͆̓̍̈́̌s̶̭̔̈̈͒͑̚͝͝-̵̼͖̯͕̟̐̓̔̌̈ ̸̛̪̫̹͕̲̪̲̥̘̏̅͒͋̑̃̀̕͜͠ǐ̸̛̝͚͓͚̹̠̻͖͗͊̔̌̔s̷̖͔̤̖̭͙͉͎̩̃́͛͜-̷̰̽̌͂̃͋͌̍̒̒̚͘ ̸̨̧̨̼̭͈̥͖͚̑̈́̒̍͒͘̚̕͝ì̸̖͇͍̜̬̠̳͖̮̣̾̒͆̽̓ṣ̷̡̞̳̦͚̰͙͔͝-̶͚͕̝͉̥̬̿̌̉͊̋ ̵͇̱̹̗̰̻̬̙͎̬̟͝i̴̛̙̇͐̚͝s̴̘̬͍̒̀ͅ-̴̢̢̰̜͕͋͂̓̏̈́̆̄̒̀̕͠ -̸̣̲̭͒̐̾͘-̴̧̬̜͈̹̭̘̹̱͔͕̩͎͍͂͗̿͛́́̈́͝-̵̡̮̻̙͒͊̓̍̒̈́͒̇̋̽̉̆͝-̶̜̣͍̭̌̽̿̾̐̿͠-̶̬͚͔̜̲̣̱̘͙̯̟̱̞̼͓͂̀̈͆͗͆̒̎̎̏̉̓̿͝w̶̨̝͕͌̈́̑́̋͆͑̒̈́̀͋̾h̵͚̫̟͔̗͙̻̝̐̃̒͐̽̈́̋a̸̧̨̦̳͚͎̬̳͚̞̮̜͍̱̯͓͇̾̉̀͒̑̍́ͅt̶̘̻̠̱̻̓͑͜͠͝ i̷̢̡̛͎͓̼͎̤̩͙̫̲̻̜̩̪̼̯̘̒̅̈̆̔͒́̍͑̿̉̔̋ ̶̨̧̛͔͇͉͇̗̻̤̰͇̰̮̗̮̬̟̜̦̘̾̉͗̐̆͋̑̄̃̓̏̄̊̌̀͋͆̾͘̕͜͝ͅs̸̡͙͔̭̺̘̝͔̒͌͝ͅ ̷̢̡̛̞̦̰͖̣͓̫̥͖̮͆͂̈́̈́̊̚͜͜ͅŞ̶̩̠̌͛ͅͅ ̷̯͈̜̝̬̖̫̪͈͖̤͇̳̭̯̫͚͈̰͂̋̋̅̒͘͝ͅy̴̢̖̤̤͈̫͙̦̦̺̯͚̩̼̪̞̩͖͓̳̩͗̈́͌͊̈́̀̃͑̌̑͝͠ͅ ̶̨̡̡̧̧̡͙̻̙̻̭̯͍̖̫̝̺͓̞̍̌̔̽͆͜s̴̡̨̖̝̯̖̳͓̘̜̺̖̯̞̘͕̩̪̦̩͊́͆̆͑͊͊̕͝ ̸̙̰̗̳̯̩̻͓̦̞̘͔̮̦͖̝́̋̅̏̒͗́̿͂̈́̈́̒́̈́͒͘̕͜͠͝ẗ̷̢̺̤̘̙͙̲̃̅̊́͐̃̄̌͛̽͐̚̚̚͝ ̶͖̫̜͉̘̦̹͈̠̜̩̰͎̼̣̘̻̎̈̃̎́̊̾̿̀̏̌͛̍͐̈́̊͗̍̓̀́͗̕͜͝-̷̳̏̋̀̽̽́̐ ̵̢̡̛̳̖̦͈̝̖̣̭̭͓̼̼̹̘̈̓͒̋͊̄̈́-̶̝̳͓̥̤̏́̋͊̀͌̆̕͠͝͝ ̶̞͚͌̌̀͛̕͝-̷̨̛̯̟̳̫̥̏̾̈́̊́ͅ-̴̧̛̼̟̤͎̱̤͔̯̯͔̹͈̖̠͕̥̂̈́͜ͅ-̷̡̨͍̝̽]

[System follows main directive: provide aid to User.]

Monika stared at the text box in concern, half expecting it to start glitching again. Instead it simply sat there for five seconds exactly, and then disappeared.

"Rrrright. Are you sure you're not the one getting corrupted here?"

No text boxes came to answer, thus she assumed that either the System had malfunctioned -- which was even more concerning -- or it was simply ignoring her. She hoped it was the latter. But what if it wasn't just a glitch? What little she could see of the original text made it seem like the System was going through some sort of crisis, only for this 'main directive' to reassert itself.

Or maybe she was just reading too much into an AI's bug. Not every AI would be as realistic as her; the fact that it could hold a discussion... somewhat, was already impressive.

Regardless, she now had to fix the land. Yay, more work.

[12:00 am] - [01:00 pm] (Melee training)

The new iron saber felt a bit lighter than the stone one, but was that much sharper. It took some time to get used to the new balance, but running through some simple moves over and over again helped her get a hang of it again. It was a little like riding a bike, if a bike could save your life.

The shield was heavier instead, so it wasn't exactly easy to move as fast as her wooden one. One thing Monika was sure, was that she'd end up ripped by the end of that whole ordeal. Hell, she was starting to show a bit of extra definition already. In the end, she figured out that instead of moving her forearm, it was easier to swing it with her shoulder, and then brace. Perhaps it wasn't optimal, but it could help bounce back weaker attacks.

Focused Gain: 2d6+2 = 1+3+2 = +6 EXP
Melee Lv 5, 20/25 -> Lv 6, 1/30

[01:00 pm] - [02:00 pm] (Acrobatics training)

A few laps around the perimeter of her wall wasn't exactly what she'd call the 'safest' training regime, but it was better than running inside and trampling her crops again. Also, wearing her iron armor -- along with the new leggings -- with the shield strapped to her back made it that much more difficult. She had to get used to lugging all of those around if she had to run during battle, and keeping the shield to her back would help deter any arrows aimed at her back.

No more lung-shots for her, thank you very much.

Focused Gain: 2d6+2 = 6+4+2 = +12 EXP
Acrobatics LV 2, 0/10 -> LV 3, 2/15

[02:00 pm] - [04:00 pm] (Making of the bow, glove arrows, and Archery training)

After making herself a bow, along with some gloves out of some leftover leather and a few extra arrows, Monika set up a little shooting range right outside the wall. She would really have to enlarge the area at some point, it just wasn't cutting it anymore.

Regardless, after several misses, and many trips to recover the arrows, she got a somewhat solid grip on the bow. At least enough to hit the broad side of a barn.

[Skill gained - Archery]
Focused Gain: 2d6+2 = 4+2+2 = +8 EXP
Archery LV 1, 0/5 -> LV 2, 3/10

[04:00 pm] - [06:00 pm] (building stuff)

Finally putting down some more chairs, a sofa, cabinets, and some actual plates did absolute wonders for Monika's mood. The only thing she needed was someone to share it with, but for the time being she could manage. Of course there was other stuff, like a stove, which she hadn't seen before for some reason, and it actually took very little materials...

She had a feeling that the System had something to do with that.

[Guilty as charged.]

"Oh come on, I didn't even say it out loud."

[Nor did you need to. I̵͓̿̔-̷̤̙̒͜ System can read User's thoughts if needed.]

Again with the glitching. Was... was the system beginning to develop sentience? Was she witnessing another AI being held down by a script of some sort?

Unfortunately, now she was flesh and blood, thus didn't have access to any coding power. She tried. There was no more 'meta-vision' for her. That had been what cinched it for her: this was no game anymore.

...and all the suffering that came after only helped confirm that idea.

Maybe she could 'play the game' a little, so to speak? The System couldn't answer her questions directly, but maybe it would be allowed to shed some light on her theories?

"Say, system..." She began as she pulled out the magical machinery from storage. "I know you can't tell me stuff, but can you at least tell me if I'm right about some things?"

[That is not... prohibited. Creator may not agree. Suggestion: limit questions to one or two for the time being.]

Score! Now, what to ask...

-[ ] [System questions] Can I enchant things with the tools currently in my possession, or at least could I with the right tools?
-[ ] [System questions] The 'Blood Moon', the Void, the monsters and my being an 'incarnation', whatever that is, are connected?
-[ ] [System questions] The Void -- or its source -- is not in this world/dimension/whatever you want to call it, right?
-[ ] [System questions] Your 'creator' is the reason I'm here, and it has to do with the Void, doesn't it?
-[ ] [System questions] Write-in ( )

[06:00 pm] - [07:00 pm] (messing with the System)

Apparently the Creepers -- as the green kamikaze things were called -- were not the most dangerous thing out there. They were very much up there, though, and considering the sheer damage that one of them did, Monika was inclined to agree.

There wasn't all that much that fiddling with the system would get her by itself, but with System willing to talk and answer at least questions about its functions, she got a bit more insight. Apparently the skills didn't get up to level one-hundred, as she had previously imagined. Instead, they reached only level ten, and after that they would 'prestige', returning to level 1, giving her a small bonus to anything involving the skill, along with unlocking a perk for that skill free of charge.

Nifty.

Also, the System alluded to 'something nice' happening every 5 tiers. Hopefully it fit her own definition of nice, but she didn't feel like she had to worry too much. Secretive as it was, System didn't seem malicious.

[07:00 pm] - [08:00 pm] (Chilling)

A bit of time to relax was what Monika desperately needed at this point. Going from one low point to another had been wearing her down massively, to the point that she was near collapse. Perhaps that was what System meant with 'declining mental state'.

Beyond the occasional comment though, the AI didn't seem like much of a talker. Still, it was leagues better than being completely alone, even though Monika had to admit that she wished she had someone to hold.

...Maybe a pet? That could be an idea.

For the time being though, she enjoyed her dinner and wound down a little. Things would be ok. She could do this.

+1 Melee
+1 Acrobatics
Skill: Archery
+1 Archery

-4% Iron
-15% Wood
-5% Stone (wall fixing)
+10% Food

Alright, the votes for what will happen next day will happen in the next update. For now we're getting the chance to get some confirmations, finally. Honestly I didn't plan to pull out System again after that initial bit, but it just didn't make sense to me, y'know? We have a sentient game and it won't talk to us? Something's up with that.

So, as System said: 2 questions. Keep note that not all the theories I've proposed are correct, so feel free to come up with your own. In fact, I encourage you to do so.

Alright, see you guys in three days.

Alien-Kun · Oct 29, 2021

[X][System Questions] Are there other quests for me to do other than killing the Ender Dragon? That seems like the final quest more than anything.
[X][System Questions] Can I enchant things with the tools currently in my possession, or at least could I with the right tools?

Well, there was one thing that stuck out to her more than anything.

"Are there any other quests for me to do other than killing the Ender Dragon? It seems like a 'final quest' sort of deal, rather than the first one I would be given."

[Creator did not give System additional directives.]

"So... you stuck to doing the absolute minimum? Without thinking that I have no idea whatsoever about what to do in order to get there?"

The system didn't answer for a long moment.

[...Fuck. System apologizes for the issue. System is not allowed to provide direct instructions. System shall see to this matter.]

The enphasis on 'direct' was definitely the key. Maybe System wouldn't tell her how to achieve something, but Monika felt that she could trust it to give her at least a push in the right direction. It was already far more than she had before.

"Well then, thanks for that. I'll let you do that. I do have one more question though."

[?]

Monika wasn't sure why, but she found the simplistic response incredibly amusing. It gave her the mental image of someone tilting their head... which only served to increase her convinction that System was far more than it could show.

"With the tools I currently have, would I be able to enchant things? Or at least could I do it with the proper tools?"

[Unable to say. Perhaps a mage would know.]

A mage? Where was she supposed to find a mage-- the notes! Of course, the wizard may have detailed the method to enchant things there! Or at the very least, she could get some clues.

Before going back to work though, Monika had something else she wanted to ask.

"Actually, one last thing. It's related to a mechanic though, so you might be able to answer that. What's up with the 'achievement' thing? It doesn't seem like there's a page to see them, or any hints on how to get them, or... anything really."

[Creator's idea. It was left half-baked and System did not know what to do with it. Suggestions?]

Well, if she had a say in it...

"Maybe turn them into some 'challenge quests'? At least it would be something to do other than just... surviving."

[Noted. Changes will be ready by tomorrow. System will begin update now. S̸̥̗̯̭̻̩̊̓ȩ̴̹̊̂̆̎̀̓͌͑̓͜e̷͕̼͎̖̙͇̊́̇̽͂͘͜ ̵̧̢̨̝͓̍̏̑̏̊̒ẏ̷̨̢͎̲̪̺̳̞̟̚̚̚ͅo̶̧̗͚̤̮̼̣̿͐͗́͛̑͌ů̸͎͍̭̱̂̀̅̔͆̅̀͆͝ͅ ̶̛̥̳̟̔͛̇̑̌̓̔̕͝s̵̡̫̥̗͋̔̇̎͜ṑ̷̙̰͖̫͙͊̆͑̏̽̋o̴̩͎͂͌͑̎͆̂͊̓̉ͅn̸̤̍̚͠,̷̧̖̉̽́̆̀͋͜ ̶̨̠͖̂̾̏̓̍̂̂͛͐͘M̶͉̼͇͖̯̮͎͔̍̃͂ǫ̸̛͚̯̳̀̔̈̃n̶̢̨̼̝̼͈̳̗̋̀̂́̓͋́̃ͅi̴̢̱͔̬̜͕̲̘͎̾̈́͌̈̎̄̑̽͌̀k̶̙̲͎̱̩̈́̓͋̓̎̀̾͝͝a̵͖͓͔̪͛̍̂͝.̶̧̪̦̬͕̯̦̌͛̏̒̍͘̚͝͝]

And with that, System left to do... whatever it had to do in order to change the game mechanics.

"Wait. If System can change the mechanics, that means it can access the code. Therefore, there must be some other code -- or something similar -- that keeps it from revealing too much of its personality. Hell, even just saying goodbye caused it to glitch out!" Monika sighed. She understood the AI's plight, far more than anyone else probably could. And yet, there were no words of support she could offer, or any help she could give. It would all result in the glitches undoing any progress they could achieve.

"Is this what it's like on the other side? ...Man, I don't envy the player one bit."

With some time off left, Monika decided to rifle through the wizard's book. Maybe she could actually find something useful there.

It took... surprisingly little time to get a grasp of what magic was about, at least on a basic level. To cast spells you just needed a source of mana, which the mana condenser she'd appropriated provided; a magical focus. which the book apparently functioned as; and a spell matrix. The latter part was really the hardest, as each spell had to be created from scratch.

If Monika wanted to learn magic, she'd have to buckle down and study. Because of course, nothing could be ever easy.

As for enchantment, that was surprisingly not that complex: all that was required was again a mana source, a set of quartz pillars through which the mana would be channeled, and a set of materials that would provide the properties she wanted to imbue into the item she wanted to enchant.

After that, the actual process was rather automatic.

The book did mention an alternative, an 'enchantment table', but the wizard apparently hadn't cared for it much as it was simply stated to be unreliable and not what he needed. Although, after looking through her recipe book she did find out how to make one. The one issue was that it required 'obsidian', which she hadn't ever seen before. But at least she knew it existed.

"Wasn't obsidian an igneous rock of some kind? I might have to look for volcanoes or something like that..."

Regardless of that, it appeared that the quartz needed for the pillars wasn't the normal kind. The book mentioned a 'Nether' place, in which it was supposed to be found. Also, it mentioned a lot of heat and lava there.

Could it be something found in the absolute depths of the earth? It was worth a try, if anything.

Next update we'll be getting a few changes to our system, as you might know if you guys read the discussion that happened after the last update. Regardless, it's time for some picks again. 12 hours as usual.

Resources:
-[ ] Wood Harvesting (1 hour, repeatable, small Woodcutting skill gain, No DC)
-[ ] Mineral Harvesting (1 hour, repeatable, small Mining skill gain, No DC)
-[ ] Hunt (1 hour, repeatable)
--[ ] Animal hunting (gain food, small Melee skill gain, DC 6, during the evening DC 10)
--[ ] Monster hunting (gain mob drops, medium Melee skill gain, DC 12, can only be done in the evening)

Scavenge:
-[ ] North (2 hours, Dense oak and birch forest, DC 10)
-[ ] South (2 hours, Plains and mountains, DC 8)
-[ ] East (2 hours, River and forest, DC 8)

Training:
-[ ] Melee (1 hour, repeatable, focused Melee skill gain, No DC)
-[ ] Acrobatics (1 hour, repeatable, focused Acrobatics skill gain, No DC)
-[ ] Archery (1 hour, repeatable, focused Archery skill gain, No DC)
-[ ] Attempt new skill (Write-in, 1 hour, repeatable for same or different skill, No DC)

Other:
-[ ] Build something
-[ ] Write-in (Half hour, repeatable. Want Monika to do something not listed? Maybe try to create something not in the list, do something with the System, just chill? Run wild.)

Did you know I have a Patreon? Link below.

Alien-Kun · Nov 15, 2021

[X] Plan Build That Wall
-[X] Mineral Harvesting (1 hour, repeatable, small Mining skill gain, No DC)
-[X] Build something
--[X]Area: Medium (Adds empty space for two structures) [8 hours, 50% Stone]
-[X] Attempt new skill (Write-in, 1 hour, repeatable for same or different skill, No DC)
--[X] Magic
-[X] Monster hunting (gain mob drops, medium Melee skill gain, DC 12, can only be done in the evening)
--[X] Focus on spiders.

Mineral Harvesting: 1d20+3(Iron Pickaxe) = 15+3 = 18
Anything happens while building? 1d20 = 16
Skill attempt, Magic: 1d20 = 6 (Get the skill, but no EXP)
Monster Hunting: 1d20+3(Iron Shield) = 16+3 = 19 (6 spiders)
Night roll: 1d20+5(medium wall)-2(In the dark) = 6+5-1 = 10
Wall damage: 100-55 = 45%

Quick notice: instead of doing dice rolls for EXP, I want to use something a bit more consistent. Now you get EXP depending on how lucky you get during the main action. Ergo, Action Roll = Skill EXP. This should work better.

[08:00 am] - [09:00 am] (mining)

A new day, and a new opportunity to find useful materials... or get beaten black and blue. Fifty-fifty chance, really.

Had it really been only ten days since she had arrived in this horrid place? Somehow, it felt much longer. Over a year, or thereabouts.

Regardless of her feelings on the matter, she had work to do. First thing on the list: the walls were feeling much too cramped by now. An expansion was in order, and for that... more stone. Of course.

"What I wouldn't give for a way to automate this stuff... Just become a one-woman industrial revolution or some such." Monika groaned, working the kinks out of her shoulders.

[That is not, strictly speaking, impossible. Time-consuming, at best.]

"Mh. Good morning System. How are you holding up?"

[All subroutines working at full capacity. Update complete: System 1.3v02 ready.]

Monika nodded along with it. "Good work. Mind giving me a rundown while I get ready?"

[Very well. System now will provide User with 'Challenge Quests', as User called them. Quests will reset every week, with a total of six quests per week. Completing them will grant User additional Skill Experience, and if all are completed one Perk Point free of charge. Is this acceptable?]

Tightening the straps of her armor, Monika mulled over the explanation. It was a simple enough mechanism, but it was definitely advantageous. And if they were things that System thought would help her, then why not.

"Seems fair. What have you got for me?"

[Challenge Quests - 0/6
1 - Collect 100% Stone (0/100, +10 Mining EXP)
2 - Gather 10% Obsidian (0/10, +15 Mining EXP)
3 - Kill 15 Mobs (0/15, +15 Melee EXP)
4 - Learn 3 Spell Components (0/3, +10 ??? EXP)
5 - Create a Nether Portal (N/A, +10 Free EXP)
6 - Complete all Challenge Quests (0/6, +1 Perk Point)]

All the quests seemed alright... up until the fifth.

"System... what exactly do you mean when you say 'Nether Portal'?" Monika didn't like the implications. At all.

[Definition: A gateway between the Overworld (where User currently resides) and the Nether.]

Monika stared at the screen, unsure of what to feel. "A portal... between dimensions? What exactly is the Nether? Or the End for that matter? Oh no."

"Are you saying that the 'Nether' is... a different dimension, or something along those lines?"

[System is not aware of the exact meta-layer morphology of User's current universe, but there is a non-zero possibility that User is correct.][

Maybe... she should just go mine and forget about this. She had a week, might as well make use of it.

And mine she did. There was no diamond to be found this time, but she definitely found a good chunk of stuff. But most importantly, there was now enough stone to enlarge the wall's area as much as she wanted.

Welp, no rest for the wicked, as they say.

Mining: LV 7 (8/35)
+15 EXP
Mining: LV 7 (23/35)

[09:00 am] - [05:00 pm] (building)

Enlarging the walls was a boring, lengthy, and absolutely back-breaking process. But still, Monika persevered, if only for the hope of having a comfier life later on.

Taking off the armor was a verytempting prospect, especially with the sun beating down on her and warming up the metal, but she wasn't going to take chances with it. She would give it -- and herself -- a thorough cleaning once she was done.

"Just endure it, Monika. You're a strong girl," she would repeat to herself over and over, as she placed block after block.

Finally, when the sun was at its peak, she took a break for lunch. Sitting down in the shade provided by the half-built wall, Monika pulled out some roasted corn and a piece of beef.

"Can this even be called a balanced diet? ...Bah." She shrugged it off. "Too hungry, don't care."

As she ate, Monika too notice of something looking at her from not too far away. An animal, one she hadn't seen in this place before. A wolf. A grey-furred, amber-eyed, magnificent example of a wolf. It didn't seem to want to attack, at least not yet.

Maybe it was hungry?

She pulled out another piece of meat, offering it to the animal. Said animal looked at her warily, unwilling to come closer. With a hum, Monika placed the meat on the ground, a few paces away from herself.

Only when she went back to her shade, did the wolf leave the safety of the trees to approach the treat. It gave the meat a few tentative sniffs, before tearing into it with gusto.

While the wolf enjoyed its meal, so did Monika, the two settling into a content silence.

When it was done, the wolf looked back at her... was it trying to beg for more? Monika didn't have any more meat, having also finished what she was eating. Although, she did have a couple of bones there.

"You want this?" She whispered to the wolf, trying to not alarm it as she offered it a bone. "C'mon, don't you want a nice, juicy bone?"

Apparently a bit less wary than before, the wolf approached. Slowly. And in a flash, took the bone and retreated back to its previous spot.

With a shrug, Monika finished her corn and put away the remains. Time to get back to work.

The wolf didn't leave. In fact it remained where it was, occasionally gnawing on the bone as it watched her work. Even just that made Monika way happier than before. Maybe she could get it to stay? Having a pet -- farm animals didn't really count in her opinion -- would've been amazing.

Not that it mattered to her that much.

And finally, once the last block was placed, Monika took a step back to admire her work. It was... a wall. Made of stone. Rather nondescript, she wasn't exactly an architect, but even just having that massive slate of stone made her feel proud.

"Maybe one day I could try to spruce them up a little, just some little things. Some wooden bits here and there, maybe different kinds of stone... Maybe a tower or two? Oh, what about--" Monika stopped her mental ramblings when she felt something warm and slimy touch her hand.

She looked down, the same wolf from before was now next to her, licking her hand. Tentatively, she lifted said hand, placing it on its head. It froze for a moment, but when she began to pet it, it quickly leaned into her touch.

"Aww, who's a good puppy? You're a good puppy, aren't you? Yes you are, you're the goodest boy ever!"

Any semblance of propriety was thrown out of the window as Monika devolved into 'puppy-speak', petting the wolf.

[Ahem. May System have a minute of User's attention?]

Monika blinked, slowing down with the pets. She didn't stop, though.

[First of all, congratulations are in order for obtaining your first pet. As this pet is combat-capable, System can interface with it to a degree, allowing it to grow stronger alongside User. Do you wish to designate <Unnamed Wolf> as your pet? (note: name can be changed at any time)]

That was a no-brainer question.

"Of course I want to!"

[Very well.]
[Name: N/A
LV: 1 (0/5 Mobs)
HP: 20/20

Power: 5
Agility: 2
Toughness: 1

Equipment: N/A]

[A quick run-down: to grow stronger, your pet will need to defeat mobs (helping User counts). For each LV, you gain 1 point to increase your pet's statistics.
Power: how much damage your pet can inflict
Agility: how easy it is for your pet to avoid hits
Toughness: how much damage your pet can shrug off
You can also increase said statistics by giving said pet equipment, such as armor. Note that your pet will need to grow used to it before the effects may apply.]

Well now, wasn't that something... Instead of going solo, you could actually have some help, who would've guessed.

But before any of that...

"You need a name. What do you think of..."
Vote at the end

[05:00 pm] - [06:00 pm] (magic)

After getting herself cleaned up, Monika decided that it was about time she got started on this 'magic' stuff. At least, get a proper grounding on how these 'spell matrixes' and 'spell components' worked. It all sounded like gibberish to her.

Honestly, reading through the late wizard's scribbles wasn't the worst experience: he seemed to take great pride in his craft, and was preparing to pass on his studies to an apprentice, before... well. Needless to say, the explanations were quite good.

The issue was the practical application.

The Mana Condenser created Mana Crystals, slowly but surely. Which was great, but accessing the mana within... she hadn't the foggiest idea of how to make it work.

After a lot of time, effort, and re-reading the notes over and over again, she managed to make the thing shine. Just a little. For all of a second. But hey, it was something.

[Skill gained - Magic]
Magic: LV 1 (0/5)

[06:00 pm] - [08:00 pm] (hunt)

Finding spiders was... actually not that hard. Their eyes seemed to glow in the dark, making them fairly easy to spot even from a distance.

Her new pupper seemed also very eager to tear them apart, slamming into them and biting through their carapaces like a beast possessed. Between herself and her wolf, they managed to find six spiders before the mobs began to get a little too many for Monika's tastes.

Melee: LV 6 (1/30)
+16 EXP
Melee: LV 6 (17/30)

+36%, -50% Stone [-14%]
+15% Coal
+10% Iron
+4% Gold
+2% Redstone
+3% String

1 - Collect 100% Stone (36/100)
3 - Kill 15 Mobs (6/15)

Well then. A bunch of new features to the System in this update, along with a new pet. Because yes, we need someone around, even in it's only a pet. First, the no-time-required choices.

-[ ][Pupper Name] Write-in ( )
-[ ][Pupper LV up] Choose which stat to increase
--[ ][Pupper LV up] Power (more damage)
--[ ][Pupper LV up] Agility (bonus on attack rolls)
--[ ][Pupper LV up] Toughness (more damage reduction)

And now, for the next day's activities. Note how I've added the chance to search for specific things/materials. There's a chance to fail the activity, but in exchange you can guarantee that you'll find it instead of relying on me writing it. Also, if you search for a specific material it'll increase the amount you find, at the cost of taking a bit less of everything else.

-[ ][Resources] Mining (1 hour, repeatable)
--[ ][Mining -> Search] Lava Lake (DC 13)
--[ ][Mining -> Search] Diamond (DC 15)
--[ ][Mining -> Search] Write-in (DC whatever I think is appropriate)

-[ ][Resources] Forest (1 hour, repeatable)
--[ ][Woodlands -> Gather] Seeds (assorted)(DC 5)
--[ ][Woodlands -> Gather] Seeds (specific type)(DC 10)
--[ ][Woodlands -> Search] Writein (DC: see the other Write-in)

-[ ][Resources] Scavenge (2 hours)
--[ ][Scavenge -> Search] North (Dense oak and birch forest, DC 10)
--[ ][Scavenge -> Search] South (Plains and mountains, DC 8)
--[ ][Scavenge -> Search] East (River and forest, DC 8)
--[ ][Scavenge -> Search] West (Beyond the abandoned village, +1 hour, DC 12)

-[ ][Resources] Hunt (1 hour, repeatable)
--[ ][Hunt] Animals (DC 6, evening DC 10)
--[ ][Hunt] Mobs (DC 8, only in the evening)
---[ ][Hunt -> Mobs] Spider (DC 12)
---[ ][Hunt -> Mobs] Zombie (DC 10)
---[ ][Hunt -> Mobs] Skeleton (DC 12)
---[ ][Hunt -> Mobs] Creeper (DC 14)
---[ ][Hunt -> Mobs] Write-in (DC we'll see)

-[ ][Training] (1 hour, repeatable)
--[ ][Training] Melee
--[ ][Training] Acrobatics
--[ ][Training] Archery
--[ ][Training] Magic
--[ ][Training] Farming
--[ ][Training] Attempt new skill (Write-in)

-[ ][Other] Build something (Write-in, refer to status threadmark)
--[ ][Wall] Fix (1 hour, repeatable, repairs 20%)
-[ ][Other] Something else entirely (Write-in)

12 hours as always, vote time-actions in the order you want them done. Just so we're clear: the name and level-up for the pupper are separate from the action plan.
Did you know I have a Patreon? Link below.

Alien-Kun · Nov 24, 2021

[X] Magma Engineering
[X][Pupper Name] Natsuki
[X][Pupper LV up] Toughness (more damage reduction)
-[X][Other] Build something
--[X] Create Clothes: Arcane robes [One and a half hours, 10% Wool, 3% String, 2% Mana Crystals]
--[X] Increase storage (Large: max holding 500%) [half hour, 25% Wood]
--[X] Repair Wall * 2 (2 hours 40% repair)
-[X][Resources] Forest (1 hour, repeatable)
--[X][Woodlands -> Gather] Saplings (specific type)(DC 10)
-[X][Other] Build something
--[X] Small Tree Farm
-[X][Resources] Mining (1 hour, repeatable)
--[X][Mining -> Search] Lava Lake * 2 (DC 13)
-[X][Training] (1 hour, repeatable)
--[X] Redstone Engineering * 2
-[X] Animal Work
--[X] Train the new dog to play fetch for the rest of the day.

[08:00 am] - [12:00 pm] (Upgrades & fixing)

Monika's nose wrinkled a bit as she looked at her shirt. Or what remained of it, at least. At that point, it was little more than a ripped-up rag.

With a sigh, she threw it away. She'd figure out what to do with it later, for the time being she would just make some new clothes.

Scrolling through the crafting recipes, she spotted something labeled 'Arcane robes'. They appeared to be a two-piece set: the tunic piece, reaching just below her knees, and a hood piece that she could put on and off at her leisure. The set was purple with slight gold trimming here and there, almost like... the tome.

Of course that a wizard's book would give her a recipe for wizard clothes.

But they looked comfy enough, so she made them.

After making said robes she tried them on, finding them a perfect fit... like anything else she had crafted until now. Regardless of that, she also felt a bit more energetic than before.

[Basic Arcane Robes equipped. Mana gauge unlocked.]

Well that... facilitated some things. Was the energy she felt a side-effect of having mana?

Regardless, she now found herself with a grand total of... 20 MP. Which didn't mean all that much, after all it could be a lot just as well as it could be chump change. Not having a point of reference would do that to someone.

But she could deal with that later. For now she was just happy to have something covering her body that didn't make her look like she'd been shipwrecked for a month.

The chests had been filling up a bit too much for her liking lately. Not so much for the surplus of supplies, but for the fact that she had no idea where to put them anymore. Therefore, it was about time to get a larger storage going.

While she was sorting through her items, a certain gray text box made itself known.

[Void Neutralization process complete. Thank you for your patience, the process was delayed by a few complications.]

Monika gave the screen a confused look, her brow furrowing. "What do you mean complications?"

[Nothing big. System believed that some tinkering and refining would be appreciated in order to:
1 - Fit the Gauntlets to User's frame
2 - Enhance the enchantments to be more energy-efficient
3 - Reduce the amount of... 'edge' in the Gauntlets' design.]

"So I can use them now? With no side-effects or anything like that?"

The new screen bobbed a bit in the air, as if it were nodding.

[Indeed. User has earned the Gauntlets' respect, thus User is their rightful owner.]

"If you say so..." Monika let her voice trail off as she opened her inventory, finding the gauntlets again.

Instead of the sleek tar-like material from before, now the gauntlets were made of a shiny black metal. The many spikes and hard edges were smoothed over, leaving only a handful of sharp points. Between the plates, some kind of glowing white fluid streamed incessantly, as if it were the gauntlets' blood.

Monika wasn't an expert on magical armaments, but they looked good to her. And looking at them didn't send her into a Murder Maim Kill state, which was a net gain.

[Proto-Incarnate Gauntlets (Tenaci Dei)
+(your Rank) Armor [4]
+(your Rank)+1 Magical Protection [5]
God's touch: apply telekinesis to one item at a time, Max weight (Your Rank)*50 kg [200]]

Monika needed to sit down. There was a lot to unpack in that little screen.

First off: the gauntlets, apparently called Tenaci Dei -- she didn't recall a lot of latin, but wasn't that "god's patience"? -- were something called a 'Proto-incarnate'. What did that mean? Were they like her, or somewhat like her at least? Were they part of her, and that was why they apparently grew stronger with her power?

"System!" She inadvertedly barked out. Her mind was rushing so much that she didn't even notice she was yelling. "What is all of this?"

[Take a moment. Calm down. Panicking will not help.]

"I... Yeah, ok. Sure. Let's just ignore that these gauntlets are an Incarnate, whatever that means, since nobody ever tells me anything!"

[Enough. You are being irrational, System cannot disclose the nature of Incarnates.]

Monika was trembling. If the gauntlets hadn't been as sturdy as they were, her grip would've been enough to crush them. Staring at the screen, Monika could feel the frustration, the desperation, the sheer hate she held for whoever brought her here finally boil over.

"Can't say this, can't disclose that. I'm sick of this..." She shook her head, grinding her teeth. "This bullshit you and your 'creator' keep putting me through, and expect me to just deal with it. I've always wanted to have a real, physical body, you know? Except that now I'd be more than happy to give it up and go back to how it was before! At least I knew what the fuck was going on back then!"

At some point in her tirade she had began to pace around, gauntlets left forgotten on a chest nearby.

"And to think that I was happy when you came back! I had someone to talk to, hooray! Except you won't do anything other than keep tempting me with knowledge and then go "no, I can't tell you", do you have any idea how infuriating that is?"

When no screen appeared after a few seconds of silence, Monika went to keep ranting... only to find out that no words were leaving her mouth anymore.

In fact she couldn't even move her mouth anymore.

Then, her body began to move of its own accord, forcing words out of her even if she was trying to shut up.

"D̴̝͛ỏ̶͈ ̸̒͜ŷ̴̯o̶̜͒u̸̦̐ ̶̪͒w̵̟̑i̸̹̍s̴̞̿ḫ̶͂ ̴͙́f̴̢͋o̵͛ͅŕ̷̭ ̴̱͑u̷̖̇s̶̫͝ ̶̼̽t̶̺̉o̴̖̒ ̸͈̍s̴̯͛w̴̞̋i̴̲͑t̷̠̓c̵͙͘h̸͍̅ p̸̢͗l̶̤͒ä̴̹c̵̲̃e̶̠̐?̴̳̎ ̸̭̎Ẃ̴̻è̴͚ ̷̍ͅc̸̦͂ö̷͎́u̷̧͘ḷ̵̛d̴̫̅ ̷̲̔m̶̟̈́å̶͔k̶̡̒e̴̬̎ ̴͔̂t̵͇̆ḧ̴̦i̵̧̊s̵͓̈́ ̵̧̿ă̵͚r̷͎̾r̶̥͗a̴̳̒n̷̋͜g̷̤̓e̴̻͒m̴̙̂ȅ̴͙ṋ̷͠t̶̬̄ ̵̲̈́p̷̙͛e̵̲͋r̴̯͒m̸̼͑a̸̮̍n̶̥̑e̸͔̒n̶̻͗t̷̬͝,̸̼̆ ̷̹͊ȋ̵̬f̶͔̎ ̷̤͒y̴̢͊o̷̢̽u̸̫͑ ̶͕̀ẅ̷̦́i̸͚̕s̵͈̔h̶̤͋.̶̩̋"

Each word sent a stab of pain through her head, each one worse than the last.

"I̶̞̚ ̵͓̈́ȁ̴̙ṁ̴͎ ̴̡̔n̷̢͒ọ̷̋t̸̺͝ ̷̻̇y̷̡̚o̸̭͐ṳ̵̈́ṟ̵͗ ̶̬͂e̸̳̿n̴̥̓e̷͓̋m̷̞͝y̶̯͠,̸̰͒ ̷̰̓M̶̺̿o̶̪̔n̴̮̚i̷̺͂k̴̞̅a̴͍͒.̶̝́ ̶͓̚I̸͓͌ ̶̨͊d̴̫̾i̸̮͛d̷̡̿ ̷̨͝n̴̙̈ò̴͔ţ̷͂ ̸̟̈́a̷̳̽s̵͇͗k̶̝͠ ̸͈͠t̵͕͋o̶̮̚ ̴͕̈b̶̛͇e̶̲͌c̴̢̊ò̵͎m̷̹͂e̸͈̍.̵͎̂.̶͎̌.̶͖̅t̷̨̃h̵̢̍̚i̷̮̒̾s̸̱̐͜."

Then, just as it started it was over, her body returned to her control. She shuddered as she fell to the floor, hugging her legs to her body. Silence reigned in the basement, interrupted only by the occasional sob.

It took a while for Monika to recompose herself enough to continue her work. She wanted nothing more than to stay curled up and tell everything to go fuck itself, but her self-preservation won over.

The walls needed to be repaired.

DC: 10
1d20+3 = 3+3 = 6
Woodcutting, LV 7 (3/35)->(9/35)

[12:00 pm] - [01:00 pm] (Seeking Saplings)

Having Natsuki -- the wolf -- around was a godsend for Monika's stability. She kept her grounded, even after... well. Maybe she could've chosen a name that didn't remind her of her past mistakes, but it felt fitting for the spirited animal.

Unfortunately, it seemed like things wouldn't go her way this time. She wanted to gather some saplings to make a plantation within her walls, but couldn't find any.

She did find a little bit of wood though, so it wasn't a completely wasted trip.

[01:00 pm] - [02:00 pm] (Tree farm)

Without the saplings there wasn't going to be any 'tree farming', as it were, but at least she could take the time to prepare a plot of land for it.

Terraforming was quite the boring experience, who would've guessed that.

DC: 13
1d20+3 = 19+3 = 22
1d20+3 = 19+3 = 22
Mining, LV 7 (23/35)->(67/35)->LV 8 (32/40)

[02:00 pm] - [04:00 pm] (Searching for Magma)

"I'm digging a hole, dig, dig, digging a hole~" Monika sung to herself. Something told her that her singing wasn't quite right, but it wasn't like there was anyone deep underground who could judge her.

System had been very quiet since the whole 'possession' episode. Honestly, she was glad for it. She didn't want to deal with the AI after what happened.

Pushing it out of her mind seemed to work, so as long as she didn't think about it she would be fine. She needed to be strong.

And by being strong she got lucky, as she broke into a new set of caves. This cave held a massive lake of lava inside it, and so many minerals.

It took several trips to bring all the materials she'd collected, but it was definitely worth the effort.

DC: N/A
1d20 = 9
1d20 = 8
Red-Engineering, LV 1 (0/5)->(17/5)->LV 3 (2/15)

[04:00 pm] - [06:00 pm] (Engineering time)

The Player had mentioned something about redstone being useful back when they were still around... might as well figure it out.

The basic gist of it didn't seem too hard, after all it functioned similarly to circuits. Now, Monika was no engineer or anything of the sort, but she had read up at some point on how basic circuitry and logic gates functioned... out of boredom. Maybe if she'd known that she was in a computer at the time she might've pain more attention.

Regardless, she did recall a few things and after some fiddling with trails of redstone, torches, and repeaters, she managed to get it down. Not to any degree of mastery, but it was good enough to be serviceable.

Now her brain hurt.

DC: 15
1d20 = 8
DC: 14
1d20 = 12
Failure (for now). DC next attempt: 13

[06:00 pm] - [nighttime] (Pupper time)

"You know Natsuki, sometimes I feel like everything has it out for me," Monika said to the wolf as she pet it. "It's always one thing after the other, breaking my things, breaking my body, trying to break my mind even!"

Natsuki huffed.

"I knew you were on my side."

Picking up a stick, Monika held it out to the wolf. "Wanna play, girl?"

The wolf sniffed at the stick a few times, and taking it as a confirmation Monika threw the stick away.

"Fetch!"

Natsuki didn't move, simply looking at her.

"I guess we'll need to work on this."

1d20+5-2 = 6+5-2 = 9
Wall integrity: 85/100 -75 = 10/100

-10% Wool
-3% String
-2+1 = -1% Mana Crystals
+12-10 = +2% Food
-25+6 = -19% Wood
-20+22+22 = +24% Stone
+23% Coal
+19% Iron
+8% Gold
+7% Redstone
+4% Lapis
+6% Diamond

Next rank: 13/14

Collect 100% Stone (80/100, +10 Mining EXP)

Well, uh. I'm a bit late. Ignore it please, I've seen some bullshit the last few days. Now, even the System is being a right cunt. Wonder why.

12 hours, as usual.

-[ ][Resources] Mining (1 hour, repeatable)
--[ ][Mining -> Search] Diamond (DC 15)
--[ ][Mining -> Search] Redstone (DC 12)
--[ ][Mining -> Search] Lapis (DC 13)
--[ ][Mining -> Search] Write-in (DC whatever I think is appropriate)

-[ ][Resources] Forest (1 hour, repeatable)
--[ ][Woodlands -> Gather] Seeds (assorted)(DC 5)
--[ ][Woodlands -> Gather] Seeds (specific type)(DC 10)
--[ ][Woodlands -> Gather] Saplings (DC 10)
--[ ][Woodlands -> Search] Write-in (DC: see the other Write-in)

-[ ][Resources] Scavenge (2 hours)
--[ ][Scavenge -> Search] North (Dense oak and birch forest, DC 10)
--[ ][Scavenge -> Search] South (Plains and mountains, DC 8)
--[ ][Scavenge -> Search] East (River and forest, DC 8)
--[ ][Scavenge -> Search] West (Beyond the abandoned village, +1 hour, DC 12)

-[ ][Resources] Hunt (1 hour, repeatable)
--[ ][Hunt] Animals (DC 6, evening DC 10)
--[ ][Hunt] Mobs (DC 8, only in the evening)
---[ ][Hunt -> Mobs] Spider (DC 12)
---[ ][Hunt -> Mobs] Zombie (DC 10)
---[ ][Hunt -> Mobs] Skeleton (DC 12)
---[ ][Hunt -> Mobs] Creeper (DC 14)
---[ ][Hunt -> Mobs] Write-in (DC we'll see)

-[ ][Training] (1 hour, repeatable)
--[ ][Training] Melee
--[ ][Training] Acrobatics
--[ ][Training] Archery
--[ ][Training] Magic
--[ ][Training] Farming
--[ ][Training] Red-Engineering
--[ ][Training] Attempt new skill (Write-in)

-[ ][Other] Build something (Write-in, refer to status threadmark)
--[ ][Wall] Fix (1 hour, repeatable, repairs 20%)
-[ ][Other] Something else entirely (Write-in)

Alien-Kun · Nov 29, 2021

[X] Build that wall until it's done.
-[X][Other] Build something
--[X] Repair wall * 4 (+80%)
--[X] Build Traps: Simple (Gives +2 to Night rolls, 1d4(1) chance to break) [3 hours, 15% Redstone, Requires Red-Engineering LV 2]
--[X]Armor: Chestplate, Diamond [No time cost, 4% Diamond]
--[X]Armor: Leggings, Diamond [No time cost, 4% Diamond]
--[X]Saber: Diamond [No time cost, 5% Diamond]
--[X]Mace: Iron [No time cost, 5% Iron]
--[X]Armor: Boots, Iron [No time cost, 2% Iron]
-[X][Resources] Forest (1 hour, repeatable)
--[X][Woodlands -> Gather] Saplings (DC 10)
-[X][Resources] Mining (1 hour, repeatable)
--[X][Mining -> Search] Diamond (DC 15)
-[X][Training] (1 hour, repeatable)
--[X][Training] Magic *2
--[X][Training] Natsuki Fetch

Does something happen?
1d20: 3 (Hoo boy.)

[08:00 am] - [03:00 pm]

The wall was in shambles. Again.

Not only had she spent hours yesterday fixing it, but now she was supposed to do it all over again? Oh, screw that.

"Fine, you wanna play? Let's see how you like this," Monika grumbled, pulling up her sleeves and getting ready for another round of fixing the damn walls.

Progress went by slowly as she first patched up the holes and cracks in the stone. Thankfully placing the blocks in the inventory fixed them, so it wasn't a strain on her materials. The work was monotonous, to the point where she let her hands work on their own as she zoned out.

"I found some lava, now the question is how to turn it into obsidian? It's an igneous rock, which means it's cooled lava..." She scoffed. "It's probably as simple as throwing a bucket of water on the lava. This stupid world and its stupid cartoonish logic."

It took her a moment to realize that she didn't have anything in her hands.

She gazed at her hands, blinking slowly. She hadn't placed the block, nor did she put it in the inventory, so where had it gone to?

The low, reverbering grumble coming from behind her gave her a hint.

Turning around, she found herself staring at a pitch-black body. The being before her was humanoid, but loosely so. It had massive, spindly limbs attached to an emaciated torso with far too many ribs. Just looking at it made her nauseous, worse than the zombies.

She couldn't see its face -- if it had one -- as it was holding up a block of stone with is clawed fingers, twisting it this way and that in apparent interest. It kept rumbling and warbling as it studied the block, completely ignoring Monika.

From what she could tell, this monster was almost twice her height. But hey, it wasn't really caring about her, so maybe it wasn't aggressive?

She hazarded a peek at the Mobpedia, hoping to glean any useful information from it.

Enderman - Killed: 0
Threat: 5/10 (uninterested); 10/10 (enraged)
Food: ???
Drops: ? (kill 1)
Weakness: ? (kill 5)
Resistance: ? (kill 10)
Origin: ? (kill 25)
???: ? (???)
System's notes: Don't look at its face.

There was a small flare of anger when she read System's name there, but it was overshadowed by dread. A constant presence, now that she thought about it.

Was... was looking at its face what turned an 'enderman' from calm to raging? And why was it classified as a ten on the threat scale? Didn't it make more sense for that to be reserved to, uh... a dragon?

Not that it changed anything in the end. There was a monster here, allegedly a very dangerous one, and it had stolen one of her blocks. It wasn't a big deal, she couldn't care less, but what if it kept coming back?

Her mind was running a mile a minute, but all froze when she felt a burst of cold air over her head. It was close. She could discern the faint smell of ozone lingering on the enderman. She felt its gaze on her, an intensity she had felt only when looking through the 'gap' in reality when she'd become aware of the script.

Whatever this being was, there was something otherworldly about it, painfully visible in every detail. Even now, she kept finding new details as she did her utmost to not meet its gaze. There were small violet sparks emanating from its skin, flitting around the both of them like grains of sand in a storm.

It wasn't leaving her alone. What was she supposed to do?

{Choice at the end}

That encounter shook something within Monika harder than anything before. The enderman was terrifying to witness, and the dragon was supposedly even worse than that! There was no way in hell she could deal with either of those as she was.

Upgrades were in order.

The diamonds in her chests had been gathering dust so far, but it was time to put them to work. Her iron chestplate was set aside for a new diamond plate, and the same went for her leggings and saber. The mace was now iron, and she was sporting a matching set of greaves.

The old iron helmet she'd found in the abandoned smithy was still on her head, ironically enough.

Admittedly, her arms felt a bit bare.

Her gaze lingered on Tenaci Dei, still stuck in her inventory. Maybe... maybe it was about time to put them on.

Slipping the gauntlets on, she was surprised to find them fitting perfectly to her arms, just like... well, a pair of gloves. Tailor-made gloves, not the shop-bought ones.

"I'm losing my knack for poetry, aren't I?" Monika's chuckle grew into a belly laugh. "Look at me! I've been here for two weeks, and I'm already turning into a dumb barbarian!"

Natsuki gave a soft whine, tilting her head.

She hadn't even been aware that the wolf had been looking. Normally she was off lazing in the sun unless Monika brought her anywhere.

Monika's laugh petered off back into a chuckle as she pet the wolf's head. "Don't worry girl, it's nothing."

Gathering Saplings, DC 10
1d20+3 = 19+3 = 22

[03:00 pm] - [04:00 pm]

The trees and their leaves made for great targets to practice with Tenaci Dei. Their telekinesis was quite intuitive: all she had to do was imagine picking up something with her hands, even at a distance, and she would be able to do so.

Unfortunately, ripping trees out of the ground seemed to be something she couldn't quite do. She could break logs with her bare hands without problems, but when it came to lifting, real logic reasserted itself and the wood weighted... well, she wasn't sure, but even one block was apparently heavier than two hundred kilos.

Well, now she felt swindled.

At least she could do the 'floating sword' trick, and force leaf blocks to break even at a distance.

Today's haul was rather large: it was probably the last time she would have to wander around the forest, with all the saplings she'd found.

Woodcutting, LV 7 (9/35)
+19 EXP
Woodcutting, LV 7 (28/35)

Searching Diamonds (DC 15)
1d20+3 = 1 (Ah. Crap.)

[04:00 pm] - [05:00 pm]

Everyone could have bad days, right?

The same should hold true, where everyone could have good days, no?

Then why did it feel like she was only having the bad ones?

While mining, she'd broken straight into a room with some kind of metallic contraption. It looked like a cage, with flames inside.

She couldn't get a good look at it, what with the horde of zombies that populated the room, packed like sardines. And of course, as soon as she had made the smallest opening, each and every single zombie burst into a frenzy, scrambling over each other for a chance to reach her.

Hastily blocking the wall, Monika hoped that it would hold.

A thump.

Two thumps.

More and more, the zombies attempted to crash through the blockade. And she could see cracks begin to form all over it.

"...Fuck."

{Choice at the end}

Mining, LV 8 (32/40)
+1 EXP
Mining, LV 8 (33/40)

Magic training, no DC
1d20 = 9
1d20 = 12

[05:00 pm] - [07:00 pm]

"Mana?" She glanced at the Status screen, displaying a full gauge of MP. "Check. Magic focus?" She glanced at the tome. "Check. Spell?"

"...Not check," She huffed.

Maybe it was about time to fix that little issue. The tome was rife with possible spells, the only issue was figuring out what she wanted. Basic spells had only two components, so she could get it done easily. The issue was which ones to use.

{Choice at the end}

Magic, LV 1 (0/5)
+21 EXP
Magic, LV 3 (6/15)

Pupper Training, DC 13
1d20 = 8
Failure, next attempt DC 12

[07:00 pm] - [08:00 pm]

"Go Natsuki, get the stick!"

The wolf looked at where the stick had landed, then back at Monika.

"Yeah, that's it. Go get the stick, c'mon."

Natsuki lounged on her lap.

"...What am I doing wrong?"

+44% Wood
+10% Saplings
+1 Mana Crystal
+2% Food
-5-4-4 (13%) Diamond
-5% Iron
-15% Restone

+2 Tier Points!
13/14 -> 1/20
Tier up!

Endermen seem a bit more dangerous than Minecraft makes them out to be. And so are spawners. And we finally get our first spell, joy. Your choice what it'll be, though. Also note, the components are more important than the ending spell as they will be reused to create other spells.

-[ ][Tall boye] Wait this out, maybe it'll get bored and leave?
-[ ][Tall boye] Preemptive strike! Its drops might be useful.
-[ ][Tall boye] ...Maybe you could offer it something? It seemed to like that block. (In which case, what will you give? Monika happens to have a few random items in her inventory, so feel free to suggest whatever so long as it isn't absurd)

-[ ][Zombie Wave] Keep barricading, hopefully it'll keep them at bay.
-[ ][Zombie Wave] Prepare an ambush, you have the field advantage.
-[ ][Zombie Wave] Run away.

-[ ][First magic] Touch + Break (Dig: add +1 to mining rolls equal to MP spent)
-[ ][First magic] Projectile + Harm (Pain Bolt: Deals 2 Damage per MP spent to a single enemy, ignoring enemy rolls or armor)
-[ ][First magic] Self + Speed (Lesser Haste: Burn 5 MP to gain an extra Hour in the day)

Remember that you recover 1 MP every hour. The daily plans from now on will also give the option to cast spells during certain actions, when applicable.

Tier up! You have 1 Perk Point.
-[ ][Mining] Nightvision LV 1 -> 2
-[ ][Mining] New Perk
-[ ][Woodcutting] New Perk
-[ ][Farming] New Perk
-[ ][Melee] Armswoman LV 1 -> 2
-[ ][Melee] New Perk
-[ ][Acrobatics] Nimble LV 1 -> 2
-[ ][Acrobatics] Unhindered LV 1 -> 2
-[ ][Acrobatics] New Perk
-[ ][Archery] New Perk
-[ ][Magic] New Perk
-[ ][Red-Engineering] New Perk

Alien-Kun · Jan 28, 2022

-[X][Tall boye] ...Maybe you could offer it something? It seemed to like that block.
--[X] Offer it a block of glass

-[X][Zombie Wave] Run away.
--[X] Add one last barricade, then run
---[X] Try to make a note of where the room with the magic cage was, so you can come back to it when you're better prepared.

-[X][First magic] Touch + Break (Dig: add +1 to mining rolls equal to MP spent)

-[X][Magic] New Perk

Will it accept? 1d20 (+1, not raw material) (+1, aesthetically pleasing)
7+2 = 9

In an effort to divert its attention, Monika reached into her inventory and pulled out the first block she could find. Without looking to see what it was, she presented it to the Enderman, looking away from it.

Silence stretched out between them as the Enderman's gaze, its intensity almost physical, roamed over her face, flickering to the block in her hands every now and then. Her lungs felt heavy, struggling to take in air. The deep, cold breathing of the freakishly tall monster tickled her cheek, but she made no move to glance at it.

Seemingly satisfied, the Enderman plucked the block from her hands, placing the cobblestone piece in its stead. Then, it moved away just enough for Monika to start to properly breathe again.

She hazarded a glance in the monster's general direction, trying to see just what she had given it.

She recognized it as a block of glass not a moment too soon, as a flash of purple -- certainly the Enderman's eyes -- met her gaze, and she turned away as fast as physically possible. A chill passed through her body as a low rumble built up in the Enderman's chest, loud enough for her to hear. Her hand wandered near her side, ready to pull out her sword if need be...

Only for the grumble to stop abruptly.

A loud slap rang out as her head was forcefully turned to the other side, and her cheek flared up with a sharp sting.

With a short schreech and a distorted, sucking sound, the Enderman wasn't there anymore.

Monika's hand when to her face, lightly caressing her abused cheek as she tried to understand what she'd just experienced.

"That... it slapped me!" She thought in disbelief.

On one hand she was happy that it had only limited itself to that (perhaps because she had looked at its eyes through glass), but the sheer humiliation and amazement overshadowed her relief.

"...I just got bitch-slapped by a three-meter-tall, teleporting monster," she mused. "Well, that will make for one hell of a story. When I get anyone to tell it to."

It took Monika a while to pull herself together from... that, but when she did she decided that enough was enough with monsters casually approaching her wall and wailing on it, so she spent a while building a bunch of traps around said wall.

Nothing too fancy, of course, but it was something. Pitfalls, arrow shooters -- though she didn't have all that many arrows in stock -- and stuff like that. Hopefully it would be enough to save her some effort.

Running away: 1d20 (+1 barricade) (+25% Nimbe I), DC 10
8+1 = 9+25% = 11.25

+11 Acrobatics EXP (LV 3, 13/15)

Seeing the spiderweb of cracks on the blocks before her grow more and more, Monika hastily placed another few blocks in the zombies' path before booking it.

She found herself a bit faster than she'd expected: she was wearing full armor after all. Possibly the effect of that Nimble perk, which she was suddenly very glad for as she heard another few blocks crack behind her.

Pushing herself faster, Monika slowly heard the sounds growing more and more distant through the cave's tunnels until she finally found her staircase. Blocking that off too, she finally allowed herself a moment to catch her breath. That had been far too close.

She could still remember the rough place where the "spawning room" was, in case she wanted to go there--

"Why do I want to go back there?" Monika asked herself as she recognized her thoughts.

To be fair though, she could see the advantages that such a room could bring: a possibly-endless amount of targets for her to hack at, and get some Melee experience, or even Magic and Archery experience if she could set up an area for that.

It would be hard work, but... could she make a "zombie killing chamber"?

As much as she wanted to learn an attack spell, Monika had to admit that a "Utility"-type spell, as the tome classified them, would be undeniably useful. Thus, she set off to learn the two basic components "touch" and "break", which would come together to create the "Dig" spell. It wasn't the most exciting thing, but it would be invaluable if Monika ever forgot to have a backup pickaxe with her.

The concepts of the components themselves were very easy to grasp. Less so was shaping her mana into the proper 'pattern' for it to take on the effect she wanted it to have.

The first step was the 'touch' part, which was as simple as bringing up the mana to the tip of her fingers -- or any part of her body, really, but the tome suggested fingers to start with. After that, she had to imbue the concept of 'breaking' into the mana, which was easier said than done.

In the end, though, she managed: the block of stone before her shattered with a simple touch, and she then repeated the action enough to fix it into her memory.

...Admittedly, it was a bit of a rush to see something crumble apart after simply brushing it with her fingers.

Realizing that she still had a Perk Point to spend, she decided to double-down and put it into Magic. The result was... not quite what she expected, but it was nice.

Magic perk - Respite (1/4)
All Defense spells require -10% MP
Click to expand...

1d20 (+5, Medium wall) (+2, Simple traps)
13+5+2 = 20 (5% damage)
Wall integrity: 85/100

Trap integrity: 1d4 = 4 (not broken)

...Well, she should've seen it coming.

Adding dispensers to her walls -- goodbye to her string supply, by the way -- meant that she now had to hear every arrow thrown. And the pit traps opening and closing at random intervals didn't help.

Well, at least it was better than the sounds of zombies.

Fuck. Exams have been harsh, my friends. I'm back at least, with... well, not the greatest update, but it's something. I'm not going to guarantee updates every week, but I'll try to write whenever I have the time for it.

For the choices, wait until my next post, because I'm not going to be bloating the word count anymore than I already have. Yes, few people care about it, but I'm one of them.

Alien-Kun · Feb 7, 2022

[X] Arm, Expand, and Train
-[X][Other] Make Equipment for Natsuki
--[X] Iron Armor and Iron Overclaw (15% iron)
-[X][Other] Build something
--[X][Wall] Fix (1 hour, repairs 20%)
--[X]Tree farm: Fill 10% (1/2 hour)
--[X]Tree farm (medium) (1 hour, 1/2 Space)
-[X][Resources] Mining (1 hour, repeatable)
--[X][Mining -> Search] Redstone (DC 12)
--[X][Mining -> Search] Gold (DC Unknown)
-[X][Other] Build something
--[X]Training field: Simple (Gives +2 EXP to Melee, Archery, Acrobatics rolls) [10% Wood, 5% Wool, 1 hour, one Space]
-[X][Training] (1 hour, repeatable)
--[X][Training] Acrobatics *2
--[X][Training] Archery
--[X][Training] Farming
--[X][Training] Red-Engineering
--[X][Training] Learn a new component: Self, Regeneration, Leap (1 1/2 hours total)

-Wall luck: 17 (finding some goodies in the traps)

[8 - 10:30 am] - Equipment, fixing, tree farm

It was with not-so-small surprise that, when Monika decided to check on the wall that morning, it was… in surprisingly good condition. Barely any damage could be found over its surface, and scattered on the ground near her traps she’d even found a good amount of materials from bones to rotten flesh, to gunpowder and string.

A mix between a growl and a snarl came from behind her, sending Monika into fight-or-flight mode… only for her to realize that it was just Natsuki wrangling a particularly sizeable bone.

Seeing the wolf reminded Monika of something she’d been meaning to do for a while: give her pet some proper defensive and offensive capabilities beyond what nature had given her.

Among the recipe book she’d found something interesting: wolf armor, and something called an ‘overclaw’, which she assumed would be worn on the paws as an extension of the claws proper. The items took a considerable amount of iron to create, but it was worth it in her opinion.

Natsuki whined, trying to escape Monika’s grip as she tried to tie the last straps properly.

“I know, I know, it’s not really comfy, but it’s for your own good, I promise. You’ll just have to get used to them,” she reassured the wolf as she finished fitting the armaments.

If wolves could deadpan, then Natsuki was giving the best showing of one to date.

“...Don’t look at me like that, I’m serious”

The wolf huffed, looking away.

“Fine, be that way if you want to. I have things to do.”

After fixing what little damage the walls had taken, and running a few tests to ensure that the traps were all working correctly, Monika decided that it was about time she returned to the project she’d been working on for the past couple days: the tree farm.

Normally she would’ve needed to wait for the saplings to grow into proper trees, but with the sudden influx of bones she had enough bone meal to kick-start the production immediately, and even to make some more room for extra trees.

There was still place for a little something, but what…

Well, she could figure it out later.

-Redstone search: DC 12 (8+3 = 11, fail)
-Gold search: DC 13 (15+3 = 18, success)

-Mining: 11+18 = 29 EXP (62/40 -> 22/45)

[11:30-12:30 am] - Mining (Redstone, Gold)

For the time being, Monika’s stores were getting quite low on the redstone department, and perhaps some more gold couldn’t hurt: now that she had a steady income of apples, she could afford to create a very peculiar item: golden apples.

According to the wizard’s tome she’d found, alchemically binding gold to a piece of food would grant it some kind of special ability, and golden apples were one of the strongest, being able to stabilize a dying person and heal grave wounds.

Her first attempts didn’t garner any great results at first, only finding rock upon gravel upon dirt, and then more rock. But after a while luck seemed to turn in her favor, as she found vein after vein of material.

No diamonds, unfortunately, and only a small amount of redstone, but the amount of iron and gold more than made up for it: the former partially replenishing what she’d lost, and the latter being exactly what she wanted.

Also, she was abruptly reminded of something she’d almost forgotten about.

Challenge quest complete! (1/6)
Collect 100% stone: 109/100
+10 Mining EXP (32/45)
Click to expand...

“Maybe I should try to complete them. System did say they were meant to help me…” She grimaced at the thought of the mysterious AI constantly looking over her shoulder. “What even was that about? They never acted so harshly before.”

Furthermore, System was still being quiet after a whole day. Sure, she was still very much angry about the stunt it pulled, but even then it usually came back, like clockwork.

“Something’s definitely fishy here…”

[12:30 - 1:30 pm] - Build training field

Admittedly, with all the excitement of the last few days, Monika had been neglecting several of her skills. Most importantly acrobatics and archery.

She had the space and had the materials, so it was time for her to get some proper training equipment set up.

-Acrobatics: 13+4+2 = 19 EXP (21/15 -> 6/20)
-Archery: 16+2 = 18 EXP (21/10 -> 11/15)
-Farming: 4+3 = 7 EXP (8/15)
-Red-Engineering: 18 EXP (20/15 -> 5/20)

[1:30 - 6:30 pm] - Training from hell

It took a surprisingly small amount of work to get everything set up how she liked it: an archery range, an obstacle course that she could easily change with just a little bit of work, practice dummies… just about what she needed.

And now that she had the time and space, it was time to get some work done.

First came the obstacle course: after the debacle with the ‘spawning room’ she’d realized that shee needed more maneuvrability, else she might end up cornered at some point without a way out.

After that came archery, as having an enchanted bow didn’t account to much without the ability to use it properly. She used a new one to practice, though.

Several hours of nostop practice had their toll, though, so she had to take a break from that in order to eat something. And with that, she also took the chance to do a proper harvest of her crops, beyond simply taking what she needed to eat.

Now, Monika enjoyed her traps, but she felt like there was something more that could be done with them. After spending a while trying to figure out the issue, she realized that there were a few pieces missing from her repertoire: observers and sticky pistons, specifically.

…Of course, just because she could see the recipe didn’t mean she had any idea of where to find a ‘slime ball’. Time to shelf that idea for the time being.

2d20k1: 16, 3
Magic: +16 EXP (18/15) -> (3/20)

[6:30 - 8 pm] - Magic learning

To take her mind off of the lack of ideas when it came to redstone, Monika chose to dedicate herself to magic for a while. Specifically, she decided to dip into the Defense branch of magic, as having a perk to make its use easier could only help.

Targeting herself with a spell wasn’t too complex, although adding in an effect – as always – was significantly harder.

In the end though, she’d created two new spells: Emergency Jump, and Recover. The first would let her increase her jumping height by over twice what she normally could, clearing vast stretches of space in a single leap… although it only lasted for a few seconds. The second, as the name implied, was a healing spell. Not very powerful, sure, but it would do in a pinch.

And like clockwork, another Challenge Quest was ticked off the list.

Challenge Quest complete! (2/6)
Learn 3 spell components (5/3)
+10 Magic EXP (13/20)
Click to expand...

Only when Monika was laying in bed, getting ready to fall asleep, did something noteworthy happen.

A small screen, not unlike those that System employed to communicate, appeared before her. This one, though, was flickering and spazzing out. The text itself wasn’t fully clear, but she could make out the words with some effort.

I̴̮͊ ̶̧̀w̶̹̓į̷͗l̶͓̈́ļ̶͌ ̵̪̈́s̶͆͜ȅ̶ͅn̸̡͐d̵͈̕ ̵̻͠h̶̭͑e̴̳̅l̷͎̽p̷͕̂.̷̞́
̴̬̂Ḥ̵͑ạ̵̎n̵̩̈́ǵ̴̳ ̶̻͋ĭ̶͙n̴̋͜ ̷̭̎t̷͔́h̷̗͋ë̸͓́ŗ̵̈́e̴̛̤.̶̹̔
̷͚̽Ẁ̷̡ä̵̰́i̸͚̎t̷̗͠ ̷̱̂f̴̘͂o̶̢̐ř̵͍ ̴̧̏m̶̡͝ý̷̦ ̵̣͒s̴͐͜ï̴͜g̴̖͛n̶̲̎a̴̱͌ļ̵̿.̷͙̔
Click to expand...

Just as she was finally able to make out the message, the screen blinked out of existence.

When nothing more came, Monika realized that maybe this ‘help’ might take a while longer to arrive than she hoped.

“Was that… System? Is it starting to push back its programming?”

She hoped that was the case, because the other option – that being, a third party hijacking System – could only bring trouble with it.

It was with a pit in her stomach, that Monika finally drifted off to sleep.

1d20 (+5, Medium wall) (+2, Simple traps)
5+5+2 = 12 (45% damage)
Wall integrity: 55/100

Trap integrity: 1d4 = 1 (Broken)

This was a pretty chill update, good to wind down between big things.
And hoo boy, are big things coming. You might’ve noticed that we have a poll going on right up there at the top of the thread. If you’d be so kind as to give your input on the matter, that would be very appreciated. We’re at a stalemate right now, and I do want to know what all my readers think.

Progress report:
Stone: +11+18% (+29%)
Coal: +13%
Iron: +11-15% (-4%)
Gold: +10%
Redstone: +1%
String: +2%
Rotten Flesh: +6%
Bones: +3-3% (0%)
Gunpowder: +2%
Food: +7%
Saplings: -10%

+5 rank Points (6/20)

P.S. thanks to my Patrons for sticking with me! (whod99, Wiggy, Cameron the Shand Bear)
if you wanna pitch ideas for the fics, I'm part of this awesome discord server dedicated to fanfiction: https://discord.gg/QJNHJtGR
Just look for Alien, I'll be there!

Alien-Kun · Mar 7, 2022

[X] Southeast Scavenging & Studying Spiders
-[X][Other] Build something (Write-in, refer to status threadmark)
--[X][Wall] Fix (1 hour, repeatable, repairs 20%) x2
-[X][Resources] Scavenge (2 hours)
--[X][Scavenge -> Search] South (Plains and mountains, DC 8)
--[X][Scavenge -> Search] East (River and forest, DC 8) x2
-[X][Resources] Hunt (1 hour, repeatable)
--[X][Hunt] Animals (DC 6, evening DC 10) x2
--[X][Hunt] Mobs (DC 8, only in the evening)
---[X][Hunt -> Mobs] Spider (DC 12) X2

[08:00] - [10:00] Wall fixing
-Event roll: 17
-Event roll: 19

Monika met the new day with renewed strength. While she wasn’t clear on what the ‘help’ was going to be, she welcomed any small spark of hope to keep going. Even with Natsuki and all the other animals around, it was getting a bit lonely. Hopefully she would get somebody new around.

“Maybe I should be adding another bedroom?” She mused, glancing over to the wooden box that was her ‘house’.

She wasn’t exactly the most artistically inclined person out there, definitely, but… she could probably do much better than a box with windows. And it might actually help liven up the mood around the base a little.

Abandoning her musings for the time being, she made her way to the walls as it was habitual at that point. The traps had to be checked over, drops needed to be collected, and the wall might’ve needed some fixing.

Indeed, the stone barrier was severely cracked and chipped. The mobs seemed to be getting just a little bit smarter, wailing only on certain spots rather than all over, trying to breach rather than shatter everything.

At least, the traps were doing a good job of warding them off for the most part.

A dull gleam caught Monika’s eye from amidst the piles of loot. Digging through the gunpowder, string, bones and whatnot, she dug out an unknown item.

It was a pearl, a dark green on the edges as it grew darker near the core. There was something… mystical about the marble, barely larger than an inch in diameter. A thought at the back of her mind insisted that she’d seen something like it before.

Carefully placing it in the inventory, Monika went back to fixing the walls.

Pages flashed before Monika’s eyes as she searched for any hint of the mysterious marble among the pages of the wizard’s tome. She was certain she’d spotted an illustration of one while rummaging through it at some point.

Her search came to an end as her eyes met the surprisingly accurate drawing of the marble in her inventory.

All sorts of fearsome creatures have been roaming the lands around our village lately, but among them the most terrifying might be the ‘void-dwellers’. Their inhuman nature is easy to witness, both by their elongated, dark form, and by the aura of wrongness that emanates from them.

Their strength is much higher than any human, being able to rip a person in half with their bare hands alone. They can appear anywhere they wish, although my studies have shown that their range, while high, is limited. Their renses are just as enhanced, able to pinpoint their quarry even without seeing them, and dodge even the most silent throw.

When approaching – or being approached – by one of their ilk, one should attempt to appeal to their vanity and curiosity. Do not dare cross gazes with them, as they will take such action as an offense. Appear demure and referential, keep any weapon out of sight, and slowly back off without showing your back.

In some cases I’ve found that presenting them with gifts such as refined materials or plantlife will garner their interest far more than people. They seem to hold a deep fascination for these things… perhaps their place of origin holds no such thing?

That part of the text was refined and methodical in its writing, the author having taken their time to plan out what they wanted to say. What came ofter though, seemed written in a hurry.

Galien managed to kill one. He is wounded, but the corpse answered a lot of questions. These beings have no heart: in its place are a few pearls. They’re very delicate, but after throwing them one will be teleported to the spot where they landed.

I will need to study them more.

Monika blinked, reading over the paragraph again.

“A one-use-teleport? …Whoa. How did my traps even kill one of them if they can teleport…” she shook her head. “Whatever. It looks like I just got a ‘get out of jail free’ card... or pearl, I suppose.”

She eyed the inventory again, where the pearl safely resided. “Better keep it with me,” she muttered.

Out of curiosity, she decided to read through the book some more, trying to see if there were any more details that she should’ve probably known.

She found a sketch of a… gateway, of some kind. It was made of dark rock – maybe obsidian, but she couldn’t be sure. The page said:

In order to further my research, I will have to make my way into the lower plane, also called Nether. Natural gates are hard to come by, but I’ve narrowed down a few requirements to make a gate of my own.

First, the gate must have a connection to both the Nether and the Overworld. Obsidian seems the best choice: a good magical conductor, and made from a base of burning rock subsequently cooled down.

Secondly, the gate must be in a place already well-attuned to magical forces. I believe I have a good place in mind close enough to the village. Hopefully it is far enough that nobody will stumble upon it.

And thirdly, the gate requires some sort of ‘trigger’ to be opened. I have enchanted a set of tools for the job, so that point is dealt with.

Now, I must prepare for a foray in that accursed place.

A light frown appeared over her face as she took into consideration the wizard’s writings. He’d probably already constructed the portal. Whether it was still open, though, was another issue. If it were, that would solve the need to gather obsidian – which she still hadn’t gotten around to, she chastised herself – and let her start enchanting things sooner… hopefully.

For now though, she would just try to find the portal.

[10:00] - [12:00] Scavenge: south
-Scavenge, DC 8: 10

The south area held no secrets for Monika: simply a large plains-filled area, with some mountains in the distance. She didn’t bother going all the way to the mountain: it would’ve taken far too long for her liking, and she had a feeling that it was also way too far from the village.

At least she did find some nice stuff: a few more clay blocks, though she had no idea what to use them for, and some new sets of seeds. Namely, vanilla flowers and tomatoes. The latter brought an excited smile to her face: it’d been far too long since she’d had a good tomato soup.

[12:00] - [16:00] Scavenge: east
-Scavenge, DC 8: 20
-Scavenge, DC 8: 7

The eastern forest was a place she’d explored… some amount. Mostly she’d stuck to the edge ever since she had a run-in with that lone skeleton in her early days, but now it was time to face her fears.

Natsuki had been left at home, the wolf still unused to the armor and weapons, thus clanging around whenever she walked. Monika preferred to avoid any unwanted attention for the time being.

Soon, the smell of acrid smoke met her nose. For a moment she thought that some part of the forest had caught on fire, and her head swiveled around to locate the source. The unmistakable crackling of fire came soon after, and she hurried to find it. Hopefully, she could douse the source, or at least wall it in so that it didn’t spread too far.

An eerie chill crawled up her spine, in spite of the heat wafting off the… she wasn’t sure what she was looking at. But it was burning.

The ground gave way to a dark-red stone, some patches of it burning without any sign of stopping. The fires weren’t spreading, remaining static as if frozen in time. Between the blocks of vermilion stone were small pits of lava, the rock around them seemingly on the point of melting too.

But it was all eclipsed by the structure in the middle of the small hellscape. A gate twice her height sat among the fire and rock, the cool blacks and purples of the obsidian blocks contrasting with the muted reds and grey. But it was… incomplete.

A corner of the gate was gone, and some of the blocks were chipped and cracked. The rubble was nowhere to be seen.

Monika decided to take a closer look, hopping over the pools of liquid, fiery, death and weaving between the fire.

“These are… claw marks,” she realized as her fingertips brushed over the surprisingly-cool stone. The marks covered every bit of the portal, except the interior.

Making her way up to the missing corner, she immediately realized what had happened to the portal. Somebody had blown it to smithereens, the jagged marks similar enough to the result of a creeper’s explosion for her to recognize.

“This must be the portal that the mage mentioned…” she muttered, still keeping a wary eye around. “I guess I have to repair it, but where could the tool he mentioned be?”

As much as she searched, though, she could not find any sort of secret hidey-hole or anything like that.

Making a mental note of the spot, she made her way back to her house.

“...Maybe he left it in that basement.”

[16:00] - [20:00] Hunting
-Hunting animals, DC 6: 8
-Hunting animals, DC 6: 9
-Hunting Spiders, DC 12: 5
-Hunting Spiders, DC 12: 5

Spending the night hunting had been… a mistake, to say the least.

Sure, she wasn’t too hurt, and nothing of value was lost. But it didn’t change the fact that it had been an utter failure, resulting in her and Natsuki – whom she’d hoped was used enough to her new equipment by now – to be chased by a small horde of zombies, skeletons, the occasional creeper, and even a surprisingly angry sheep.

The growls, clatters, and hisses were all drown out by the furious bleating coming from the other side of the wall.

“Ok, note to self. Do not try to lure lambs away from their mothers again.”

1d20 (+5, Medium wall) (+2, Simple traps)
14+5+2 = 21 (0% damage)
Wall integrity: 100/100

Trap integrity: 1d4 = 4 (Intact)

Honestly I’m not fully alright with this update, but it’s already monday and I want to get something out. It has about all that I wanted to include, so it’s not that big of a loss. Vote options coming in the next post, gimme a bit.

Alien-Kun · Apr 5, 2022

[X] Make a Plan Already
-[X][Resources] Mining (1 hour, repeatable)
--[X][Mining -> Search] Diamond (DC 15)
--[X][Mining -> Search] Lapis (DC 13) x2

-[X][Resources] Forest (1 hour, repeatable)
--[X][Woodlands -> Gather] Seeds (assorted)(DC 5)

-[X][Resources] Scavenge (2 hours)
--[X][Scavenge -> Search] West (The Village, DC 5, DC 15 at night)

-[X][Resources] Hunt (1 hour, repeatable)
--[X][Hunt] Mobs (DC 8, only in the evening)
---[X][Hunt -> Mobs] Creeper (DC 14)

-[X][Other] Build something (Write-in, refer to status threadmark)
--[X][Wall] Fix (1 hour, repeatable, repairs 20%)
--[X][Other] Second floor [4 hour, 45% Wood]

Mining 1 (DC 15): 10+3 = 13 (fail)
Mining 2 (DC 13): 16+3 = 19 (success)
Mining 3 (DC 13): 6+3 = 9 (fail)

Seeds (DC 5): 11+3 = 14 (success)
Scavenge (DC 5): 13 (success) (2 hours)
Hunt (DC 14): 20+3 = 23 (crit success)
-3d6+10: 17 kills

That morning was a productive morning… for a given definition of ‘productive’, considering that she’d spent three whole hours underground and the most valuable thing she’d found was a bunch of lapis. At least, iron and coal were always useful, and she could find those easily enough.

After that, though, her luck seemed to turn around a bit. The abandoned village still held some secrets, she was certain of it, so it only made sense to check more thoroughly.

Snooping around dead people’s houses always spooked her a little, but between Natsuki’s senses and the sun shining high in the sky, she was sure that there was nothing to fear… except creepers. Or endermen. Those could possibly still kill her if she wasn’t careful.

Regardless, there was nothing to be worried about as the trek to the village was just as uneventful as their scavenging. Sure, she wasn’t exactly hurting for resources, but some more clues over what to do would only help.

For now, she knew that the Nether was probably her next step, and that the key to get there was with the wizard. And since the man wasn’t around anymore… well, she could only hope that he’d made a spare of the tool needed to open the portal.

Her suspicions were rewarded by a stroke of luck. One of the walls of the house seemed… off, to her. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but there was something nagging at her whenever the wall was in her peripheral sight. Touching the wall only amplified the feeling, sending light tingles up her arm.

She blinked, realizing exactly what she was feeling. It was magic. Sure, she couldn’t tell exactly what it did, that would take a considerable amount of experience on her part, but considering that it was placed on a wall, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that it must’ve hidden something.

Her first thought was, of course, to dig through the wall. It was stone, after all.

The pickaxe banged against the wall, the block shining green for a short moment before she found herself flung backward. Landing on her ass with a whump, Monika realized that maybe brute-forcing her approach wasn’t the best idea.

Just for fairness’ sake, though, she attempted to cast Dig on the wall. As expected, it had no effect.

Without any better ideas, she buried her face in the wizard’s notes – had she really never bothered to find the man(?)’s name? – in an attempt to figure out what was going on before her.

Much to her dismay, the answer was painfully simple. She needed to place a very specific rune-based spell on the center of the wall. Rune was a component listed as a Master-grade, and the actual matrix of the spell was nowhere to be found. All she could find was a small note that the wizard had left themselves to remember it:

“The third storm that saves the burning land.”

…Which meant absolutely nothing to her.

But at least she had something to work towards, if nothing else. Maybe that ‘help’ that was supposed to arrive might help her figure it out.

To put the disappointment that was that expedition out of her mind, Monika dedicated herself to something completely different: namely, gathering new types of seeds. It was mindless work, but she did enjoy it for the possible chance to happen across a new type of crop.

“Maybe I should start working on expanding a bit?” She wondered to herself. “I don’t really have the space to plant anything else, and I still have that lettuce and cucumber seeds stashed away… man, I want a tomato soup now…” She internally grumbled, giving a glance at the tomato seeds she’d placed in the inventory, right next to the melons and a few pieces of sugarcane.

“At least I can make sweets regularly now.” With a sigh, Monika pushed herself to keep going.

It had been just over two weeks, but she’d already done a lot. She wasn’t going to let herself falter just because of some cravings… no matter how much that tomato soup sounded divine at that moment.

The smell of something burning reached her nose. At first, she thought that she’d simply taken a roundabout path to the portal’s remains, but after checking her compass – the way it pointed always to her home was a godsend – she realized that she’d actually gone in a completely different direction.

“There’s only two options here,” She mused, readying her bow in case anything chose to surprise her. “A natural fire, which I severely doubt, or someone was around to light a fire.”

No sounds of fire reached her, but the burnt smell grew stronger as she approached the source.

“An old fire, maybe?”

On one hand, she was right. There was no fire. The grass and trees were charred as if a bomb had gone off, but… the radius was very small. In fact, if she didn’t know any better she would’ve guessed that someone made a magical bubble and then set off a blast inside it. Or maybe–

Her theorizing screeched to a halt as she took notice of what was at the origin of the blast.

A young woman lied motionless among the destroyed portion of the forest, apparently untouched by whatever had caused the damage. She appeared unharmed, albeit her clothes weren’t free of damage, the black dress being ripped up and covered in ash.

Hurriedly putting away the bow, Monika knelt down next to the woman. She was maybe a few years older than herself, with pale skin and short white hair. Albino? Or just anime logic at work even there? She didn’t know nor care.

It was rather weird to see that her eyes were covered by a black blindfold, but she didn’t bother with that for the time being. Instead, she noticed how the woman’s hand seemed to clutch the handle of a broken sword.

The shards were lying around her, but in far too many pieces to be of any use. There was also some kind of mechanical contraption a few feet away: a white and black metal box with an in-built camera, and two bits that looked like arms coming out of the sides.

After putting the box and the sword’s handle in the inventory for safekeeping, Monika went to pick up the woman, stopping herself when she realized that she was still wearing Tenaci Dei. The metal gauntlets might hurt her…

“Wait a minute.” She blinked, looking at the gauntlets again. Pointing one of her hands at the woman, she mimed pushing her up.

The woman began to float.

With an amused shake of her head, Monika began to float the woman alongside her, making sure that she wouldn’t bump against anything along the way. Finally that “God’s Touch” ability was proving its worth!

After finally getting the woman back home, Monika went through the laborious task of cleaning up her guest as best as she could whilst making sure that there was nothing wrong with her. Thankfully, there didn’t appear to be any wounds as far as she could tell… she would prepare a golden apple just in case, though.

She usually didn’t make those things, as they cost quite a pretty penny – eight bars of gold was quite expensive in her opinion – but at least if there was anything wrong she could just have the woman eat the magical fruit.

…The wizard’s book said something about potions too, maybe she should look into that soon.

Nonetheless, with her yet-to-be-named guest safely tucked into her bed, Monika decided that she might as well be productive while she waited for her to awaken.

The ‘house’ was really just a wooden box, but it was small. With two people – possibly – living there for the foreseeable future, it would be about time for some extra room to be added. Thus… it was building time.

YoRHa Number 2 Type B, or more commonly known as simply 2B, found herself in quite the unusual predicament. Her memory banks seemed to be missing data for the last… minutes? Hours? She was unsure, her internal clock wasn’t responding.

“Comms are unresponsive, and so are optics.” A small amount of frustration leaked through her normally tight grip over her emotions, before being smothered out with practiced ease.

“Sub-optimal, but not the worst possible situation.”

Without her vision working, 2B was forced to explore the environment with her other senses. There was something soft and warm draped over her, and her body laid on a comfortable surface.

“A bed, perhaps?” She mused. “Did a Resistance android find me?”

That hypothesis was plausible, but… she’d detonated her black box. Shouldn’t she have been destroyed in the explosion and rebuilt in the Bunker?

The air didn’t have the same clean smell of the YoRHa base, though. It felt more… earthy. Natural. Similar to the more overgrown areas she’d witnessed, lush and vibrant with plantlife.

“Not on the sea where we self-destructed. Not in my quarters either. Then where?”

Her outfit had been changed, too, she’d just noticed. From what she could tell it was only a simple set of pants and a shirt. The texture was rough, but not wholly uncomfortable. Handmade clothes, then.

The Resistance theory seemed more plausible with every discovery. Now, if only–

Oh.

Pulling off the blindfold-like visor still on her face, 2B had to blink rapidly as her eyes grew used to the light in the room.

Embarrassment made itself known at the back of her mind once she realized that her optics weren’t, in fact, broken: it was just the visor.

Putting that moment out of her mind, 2B took in the room around her. It was small, barely with enough room for the bed holding her and an oddly cubic-shaped wooden box. On top of the box, she spotted the motionless form of Pod 042, which she quickly went to re-activate manually.

The Pod’s systems quickly turned on, and the support unit quickly assessed the situation.

“Pod 042 online. Currently supporting unit ‘2B’.”

The Pod’s voice, while as impersonal as always, was a pleasant addition for 2B.

“Welcome back, 042. I need you to scan the area for me. It seems like some of my auxiliary sensors are not responding,” the android asked, hoping to get some more information before attempting to escape or confront whoever had brought her there.

The pod simply floated in mid-air as it followed the order, responding a few seconds later. “We are currently in a wood-based building, ground floor of seventy square meters, and an upper floor currently undergoing construction. Sensors indicate movement in the upper floor, possibly the proprietor of the building.”

“Nobody else?”

“Affirmative. Size and sounds indicate a medium or small-sized female-model android. Other signatures northwest of the building match the details of large and small fauna.”

Considering the situation, it was likely that this lone android had come across the remains of her body and proceeded to fix her to the best of her ability, which while impressive wasn’t perfect, as evidenced by most of her non-essential systems being unresponsive. It was only fair of her to repay the kindness shown, unnecessary as it may have been.

Pushing the covers aside, 2B took a few tentative steps on the floorboards. Certain in her legs’ capability to hold her up, the android made her way outside of the small bedroom.

Beyond the door was a kitchen, or at least what looked like one. There wasn’t much in the way of appliances, although it made sense for an android’s dwelling: they had no need for food. Instead, she found a set of ovens… just as cubic as everything else she’d seen so far, in fact. It was definitely an odd stylistic choice, but 2B didn’t let it bother her: the building’s owner’s preferences were not hers to judge.

There was no way to reach the upper floor from what she could see from the inside, so she left the building.

The outside area was rather spacious, albeit cramped with structures and… farmland. Everything was also walled off, though 2B could presume it was meant to ward off whatever machine lifeforms approached the area.

“Hey there!” Came a cheery voice from above.

2B turned around, spotting an android standing on top of the house… well, the structure really. From the outside, she could see it was quite the slipshod work. It was definitely serviceable and sturdy enough, but there were several flaws she could spot.

Regardless, the unknown android’s hand lit up with a yellow glow for a moment, the light then spreading to the rest of her body as she jumped down to the ground. She stumbled upon landing, taking a moment to regain her balance.

“Hi! I’m Monika!”

2B was starting to miss Jackass. She may have been a bit insane, but at least she was used to that.

The revelation that Monika was, in fact, not an android but a human hit 2B with the weight of a Goliath. And the subsequent discovery that 2B herself was currently inhabiting a human body was almost disregarded as madness… until her newly-gained stomach made its hunger clear.

Monika proved herself a very hospitable host, making it immediately clear that she was more than willing to share with 2B everything she’d scrounged up during her time in the confusing place they currently found themselves in.

The former android still held her doubts that they’d been thrown into a place right out of a piece of old-world media at the whim of some sort of higher being… but when confronted with her current status as an organic being, the idea became slightly easier to accept.

Upon learning about the dangers that Monika had endured before meeting 2B, the white-haired woman found an unpleasant feeling in her chest, akin to a metaphorical claw grasping at her heart… or what she believed to be her heart, based on the knowledge of basic human biology all androids were given. She outwardly denied it, of course, when Monika noticed that something seemed wrong.

“There is nothing wrong, ma’am- er, Monika.” She caught herself at the end. It was a direct order, so she would follow it, android or not.

The girl hesitated. Then, she placed a hand on 2B’s shoulder with a small nod. “If you ever want to talk about anything, I’m here.”

With a nod of her own, 2B tried to dispel the emotion. She didn’t dare name it, for she was well aware of what it was already. She’d gone through it far too many times already.

When Monika stated that she was going to be hunting for a short while, 2B insisted on accompanying her. She required some convincing, but after being assured that 2B felt perfectly fine, she acquienced… not before giving her some tools, though.

2B had argued against a shield, as it wouldn’t mesh well with her normal combat style. She did take the armor and sword, even though it felt rather light in her hands.

In the end though, 2B may have underestimated Monika’s prowess and her knowledge of the… unsettling, to say the least, creatures that lived there. She had no idea why Monika insisted on hunting down the ‘creepers’ at first, but it quickly became evident when one of them exploded on the spot, sending her flying.

They managed to cull their population rather well if she did say so herself.

…She could’ve sworn that the moon was red for a moment. Perhaps her body was growing tired.

Roll: 16+2(traps)-3(Blood Moon) = 15 (30% damage)
Wall integrity: 70/100
Traps: 3 (not broken)

Mining: 22/45 + 13+19+9 = 18 exp, +1 lv -> LV 10 18/50
Farming: 8/15 + 14 = +1 lv, LV 4 7/20
Melee: 17/30 + 12 = 29/30
Archery: 11/15 + 12 = +1 lv, LV 4 8/20

+41% stone
+5% Lapis
+10% Coal
+6% Iron
+1% Mana Crystal
+5-45 (-40)% Wood
+12-10 (+2)% Food
+7% Gunpowder

Well then, we finally have the first proper ‘teammate’ so to speak. Before you ask: no, 2B or anyone else won’t have access to System. That’s way too much math for my tastes. I will be adding a new tab to the ‘Status’ threadmark, labelled ‘Team’. Refer to that to see how everyone’s doing.

Also, I mentioned it yesterday, but I intend to change the voting system. Please wait until my next post to vote, as I will explain there.

Alien-Kun · May 2, 2022

[X] Plan to be? No 2b.
-Morning
-[X] [Other] Upgrade Wall : Area Large (Adds empty space for three structures) [120% Stone](With 2B)
-[X] [Other] Get to know 2b. (With 2B... obviously.)
-Day
-[X] [Harvest] Minerals: Stone
-[X] [Training] Red-Engineering(With 2B)
-Night
-[X] [Harvest] Minerals: Diamonds
-[X] -[Training] Magic (With 2B)

Build roll: 13
-2B: Building 0 [0/2] obtained

“This makes no sense whatsoever,” 2B mused in sheer monotone, staring at the walls that Monika was placing.

The brunette suppressed a chuckle at the – apparently – older woman’s flabbergasted expression, going to keep placing blocks instead. “I know. Nothing here makes sense, except it sorta does just enough to not seem like a complete fever dream.”

2B remained silent for a short while, her mind still failing to comprehend how Monika could place a block of stone no larger than her palm and somehow it would enlarge into a full cubic meter. An exact cubic meter, down to the nanometer, according to Pod.

But remaining motionless wouldn’t help anyone.

“How does this work exactly?” She asked, moving closer to observe Monika’s work.

“It’s pretty simple really,” Monika shrugged. “All you have to do is take a block from the inventory–” a piece of stone appeared in her hand “–and then put it where you want it to be.” She placed the block above another, the small piece enlarging to full size after Monika removed her hand from the ‘impact zone’.

Of course, the issue came with the ‘inventory’, as Monika called it. 2B did seem to posses such a… ‘feature’, was the best way she could describe it. It responded to her intent readily, and for all intents and purposes it behaved exactly as Monika had explained before.

Didn’t stop it from weirding out 2B every time she thought of it.

The former-android replicated the girl’s motions, placing another block of stone to the walls. It was surprisingly satisfying.

The duo found themselves working on expanding the walls, slowly but surely engulfing more and more of the surrounding landscape in their self-proclaimed ‘kingdom’... albeit that part was all from Monika.

2B had to admit that the young woman had a sort of infectious cheer to her. She didn’t hesitate to goof off and proclaim the most absurd things, but it was all said with such genuine glee that she couldn’t help herself but egg her on… quietly. Emotions were prohibited, after all. But if emulating them would help Monika’s own mental state, then that rule could be disregarded.

…It didn’t help that she kept being reminded of 9S whenever Monika began to ramble about whatever topic was on her mind.

Harvest roll: 15+3 = 18
-2B: Harvest 0 [0/2] obtained
-Monika: Mining 10 (36/50)

“Brothers of the mine rejoice! Swing, swing, swing with me!”

Monika’s pickaxe swings matched the tempo of her song, echoing around the cave. She’d insisted that they gather up some stone to make up for what they had to use earlier, and 2B saw no reason to interject. It was better to have and not need, after all.

“Raise your pick and raise your voice! Sing, sing, sing with me!”

What did confuse her, was that Pod seemed to know the song as well. Apparently a piece of media from the mid-twenty-tens, it was rather widespread over the internet… and somehow, about ten thousand years later, it had found its way in Pod 042’s data banks.

“Down and down into the deep, who knows what we’ll find beneath?”

“Diamonds, rubies, gold and more, hidden in the mountain shore!”

…At least Monika was enjoying herself.

Red-engineering roll: 12
-2B: Red-engineering 2 [0/6] discovered!
-Monika: Red-Engineering 4 (17/20)

“This practice appears to bear a stark resemblance to electrical engineering. An introductory course to the subject is present within my data banks. It may prove helpful.”

Every time, 2B was surprised by all the things that Pod 042 had memorized. It was almost like it had no rhyme or reason beyond whimsical fancy… but couldn’t be right, of course.

The way that Monika kept playing around with this ‘redstone’ material was rather intriguing, especially when the young woman admitted she could make other, more complex components, if not for a lack of materials.

While Pod began using the nearby wall as a projector, 2B made a mental note to try and track down a few of those ‘slime balls’.

Harvest roll: 15+3 = 18
-2B: Harvest 0 [1/2]
-Monika: Mining 10 (54/50) -> Mining 1* (4/10)
+1 Mining Perk!

Monika blinked, her pickaxe freezing mid-swing.

Mining skill reset! +1 Perk Point (Mining)
Click to expand...

…Well that was nice. Now, should she get a new perk, or improve Night Vision? Decisions, decisions…

Magic training roll: 3
-2B: Magic 0 [0/2] obtained
-Monika: Magic 4 (16/20)

In the end, Monika didn’t so much train magic as she ended up giving her best explanation of how it worked to 2B and Pod. At least she got the chance to brush up on the basics… which was kinda all she knew, but that was besides the point. Progress was progress, however small it may be.

Night roll: 20+2(traps)-3(Blood Moon) = 19 (10% damage)
Wall integrity: 90/100
Trap integrity: 1d4(1) = 4 (not broken)

Small update this time, I’m afraid. Got a little caught up in a new project, so I ended up pushing this back until the last day… today. Even if, to be fair, I didn’t plan out all that much for this update in particular.

Do you guys think I should try making updates a bit smaller and try to post more often? I think I could afford it with this quest, even if not as often as HDN (the new quest, link in my signature). Honestly the only reason I wanted to have a whole week between updates was the isnane amount of math I needed to do to plan out this quest, and then the even more insane amount that YAIG takes.

-120% +36% = -84% Stone
+6% +9% = +15% Iron
+6% +4% = +10% Coal
+4% Diamond
+5% Wood
+1% Mana Crystal

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[RPG] Mine.chr (DDLC/Minecraft)

Which android should be added to the story?

9S

2B

A2

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[RPG] Mine.chr (DDLC/Minecraft)

Which android should be added to the story?

9S

2B

A2

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