The semi-beige tent was nothing impressive, but it would offer a modicum of shelter from the environment. As he finished, he knocked off the second task of his objective: building a shelter.

  The last task was to build a fire, which grew even more important as darkness settled over the land and the temperature began to drop.

  He pulled out the How to Survive manual and flipped to the “How to Build a Fire” chapter. After mulling it over, he set the book down and began gathering stones from the stream bank. He collected several fist-sized rocks, carried them back one by one, and arranged them in a small circle in front of his tent.

  It was nothing fancy, but the basic fire ring would work. He moved to the nearby trees and picked up fallen branches, gathering dry twigs and kindling and building a growing pile beside the fire ring.

  Once he had had enough, he sat down and looked at the pile.

  “Here comes the hard part,” he said, pulling out the ferro rod and striker.

  He placed a few pieces of kindling and small sticks into the center of the fire ring and started scraping the striker against the ferro rod. After several scrapes, a few sparks scattered, but none landed on the tinder. He grunted, adjusted the tinder pile, and scraped again. Sparks bounced off the stones, and still nothing caught. After several attempts, he sighed heavily and muttered under his breath, “Come on, this shouldn’t be that hard.”

  John felt clumsy as he tried again, which did not help when he almost dropped the rod from striking too hard. He tried from several angles, scraping harder, then softer.

  The sparks kept flying, but the tinder refused to ignite.

  Darkness continued to settle over the land, making the sparks from the ferro rod even brighter. After maybe thirty minutes, John leaned back on his heels and ran a hand through his hair. A cold thought ran through him.

  What if I can’t do this?

  But one thought of Steven’s amused face if John somehow came back to work after failing was enough to spark determination. He shook his head, picked the rod back up, rearranged the tinder carefully, and added more dry grass as the manual suggested.

  He took a deep breath and struck again.

  This time, a bright spark landed on the tinder.

  For a moment, nothing happened. Then a faint wisp of smoke curled upward.

  John froze, watching as the flame began to take life. A tiny orange glow spread through the tinder. Finally, the smallest flame flickered, struggling for life, just as he was in the forest.

  John’s eyes widened with excitement.

  “Yes, yes, yes!” he shouted, leaning closer.

  As the manual suggested, he blew gently on the little flame, giving it life. The flame grew slightly stronger, aided by his breath. As it grew, he carefully added small twigs one at a time, letting the fire crackle softly, adding more sticks as needed. Before long, it became a real fire within the stone ring.

  John sat back once it was done, grinning like a kid.

  His joy increased when he received five points in a new skill he had never messed with before.

  Hearthcraft (+5): lvl 1 (5 / 100)

  Not only did John receive points for starting a fire, but he also completed his quest and received experience.

  Objective Completed: Survived the First Night

  Rewards:

  +25 Character XP

  As the system notification peeled away, he saw his level.

  Level: 1 (65 / 100)

  “I’ll take that,” John said, smiling to himself.

  He took a deep breath and pulled out one of the government ration bars to have his first meal in the new world.

  Government Ration Bar (Common) - Dense emergency food for travel. Sweet oats, salt, dried fruit paste, and compressed nuts for quick calories.

  It wasn’t anything fancy, but he devoured it quickly, not realizing how famished he was.

  He sat there eating, his eyes captivated by the warm glow before him. The first stars began to appear overhead, brilliant and clear. They were far brighter than any stars he had ever seen.

  Then a realization hit him: he had never really looked at the stars in his old life.

  John sat there, amazed at how much his life had changed in a single day. He was still uncertain and afraid he would mess up and prove he should have stayed at work.

  But he also felt excited for the first time in his life.

  He smiled quietly to himself. Tomorrow would be the first real day by himself in this new world.

  For the first time in his life, he was looking forward to tomorrow.

  3

  CHOP CHOP

  John suddenly awoke.

  His eyes flashed open as he heard a loud bird calling somewhere in the trees. Instinctively, he reached for his phone to turn off the alarm he had set next to him in his sleeping bag, where the sunny sunflower still lay glowing golden in the soft morning light. But when he grabbed his cold, dark phone, he realized the sound had come from some bird nearby and not from his phone.

  He blinked at it, confused for a moment. His body was so used to waking up, turning off his phone, and getting ready for another day in the cubicle, making calls, and slowly dying on the inside.

  But as his mind slowly turned back on, he remembered that he had left that world behind. He could not help but feel giddy that he did not have to go back.

  Taking a deep, satisfying breath, he sat up in his tent, letting the sleeping bag fall from his collarbone down to his belly, which was larger than he would have liked. He looked over at his wrinkled, sweaty office clothes thrown in the corner of the tent. Seeing them made him think of Steven, who was probably furious right now.

  Since John had not shown up to the meeting, did they wonder where he was? Did they send the police after him to check on him? Maybe they were just annoyed. Maybe they had already fired him and replaced him.

  John had no idea.

  And he honestly did not care.

  That life did not matter anymore. There was nothing more freeing than that.

  As John got to his feet, his body ached with stiffness. It was not as comfortable as his apartment bed. He looked down at the floor of the tent. Even though he had slept on meadow grass, it was not very comfortable because of the rocks and uneven ground beneath the tent. He stretched his back and legs to work out the stiffness.

  As he stood, he did what he usually did when he woke up: checked his system to evaluate his character status. Everything looked fine except for his warmth, which had plummeted overnight.

  Warmth: 30 / 100

  The goosebumps on John’s skin only confirmed it. His eyes shifted to the fire pit he had created outside his tent, where only embers remained. It must have burned out during the night.

  He rubbed his face as he looked at the sorry sight.

  “I guess I’m going to need some more firewood.”

  And not just enough for one day, but every day.

  As he rubbed his face, he felt the first signs of stubble growing.

  “I forgot my razor,” John said, turning back to his survival kit and opening it to confirm. As he had guessed, the government had not given him a razor either, only an axe, which he was not about to try shaving with. That would be very unwise.

  For a moment, he felt disappointed, but then he remembered the government advertisement of the rugged man with the axe and the beard.

  Maybe it won’t be so bad, John thought, smirking. That could be me after all.

  Even the plaid shirt, jeans, and boots the government company had given him reminded him of the advertisement. With a smile, he put on the clothes, which smelled like formaldehyde the way new clothes usually did. Thankfully, they fit him, even his somewhat extended belly, which he hoped would probably shrink in this world.

  When he finished tying his laces, another cold realization hit him as his body woke up more and more.

  He was not going to have any coffee this morning.

  His eyes shifted to the open survival kit, where there was not a single drop of coffee. He had drunk it every single morning and after lunch for decades at this point. As always, whenever he did not have coffee, his body immediately began to crave it.

  Even the smell of coffee, or just the thought of the smell, made his body groan.

  Perhaps he could make coffee here or make some tea. He looked at the sunny sunflower, still glowing golden. There was a plethora of new herbs, plants, and fruits he could find here.

  Perhaps they had something similar to coffee.

  Maybe even better.

  But John sighed. He was not a good cook. Or a botanist. Or whatever it took to make coffee.

  He pulled up his skill list to confirm that.

  Cooking: lvl 1 (0 / 100)

  “So I guess I need to find some food then, and some firewood.”

  The system seemed to agree as it prompted him with a new objective.

  Objective: Morning Survival

  Tasks:

  Gather Wood

  Find Food

  John stared briefly at the system quest.

  Even though those tasks were not the simplest and required a lot of effort, it was effort he was willing to apply. Not only did his life depend on it, but it was meaningful work.

  He happily accepted it.

  John stepped out of his tent and looked across the clearing. Morning sunlight began touching the meadow around him, and a soft breeze rustled the dark trees that surrounded his little area like a wall. The stream gurgled nearby, with dozens of fish darting in and out.

  It was all very peaceful.

  Because his hydration was low as well, he walked to the stream and splashed water on his face, waking himself up more. He refilled his canteen and replenished his hydration.

  Hydration: 100 / 100

  Thankfully, his hunger was not terrible yet.

  Hunger: 50 / 100

  But he would still need to find food soon.

  Now feeling fully awake, he noticed another system notification. This one was about his homestead, something he had never seen before.

  [ HOMESTEAD ]

  Name: Unnamed Shelter

  Tier: Common

  Homestead: lvl 1 (10 / 100)

  — CONDITION —

  Structural Integrity: 1 / 100

  Insulation: 1 / 100

  Weather Resistance: 1 / 100

  Storage Capacity: 0 / 100

  Land Stability: 0 / 100

  — STATUS —

  Firewood: 0 Day

  Food Stores: Minimal

  Snow Load: None

  Perimeter Activity: Unknown

  “That’s very low tier.”

  At least he had gained ten experience points for having a basic tent and a single point for integrity, insulation, and weather resistance. But that was basically it. There was no firewood, no food stores. It was basic.

  But that was okay. John was also very basic. That did not mean he could not improve.

  “Let’s get to work.”

  He headed back to his survival kit and grabbed his government-issued axe.

  Basic Wood Axe (Common) - Issued by Portal Co. for frontier settlement. Balanced for light woodcutting and kindling. Durability: Standard.

  He held the steel, red axe in his hand and looked over the system description. It was just a basic axe, but it would be enough for what he needed. At least he hoped so.

  He had never chopped wood in his life.

  Pulling up his skill list confirmed it.

  Woodcraft lvl 1 (0 / 100)

  John felt a little silly putting the axe over his shoulder like the man in the advertisement, but he also felt excited.

  Stepping out of the tent again, he began exploring the area around the camp. He did not want to wander too far, so he stayed close, mainly observing his surroundings. Before he started chopping trees or searching for food, he thought it would be smart to get a lay of the land. That way, he would know where he was if he got lost or sidetracked. It would be a shame if he lost all his supplies and ended up wandering alone in the woods.

  Maybe he would meet other settlers or native people.

  He was not sure.

  Everything here was new.

  As he walked through the thick trees surrounding his tent, he noticed strange insects crawling along the dark bark. Many had bright colors and odd shapes that reminded him of objects from a math worksheet.

  One bug in particular caught his attention. It was teal-colored and fat like a hot dog, with a smiling caterpillar-like face.

  John stared at it as it scurried up the tree.

  “This place is weird.”

  But the thought of something the size of a hot dog made him hungry.

  John looked down at his stomach and his larger frame. He would probably lose weight out here with no processed food and hard work every day instead of sitting in a cubicle. He had always been a little self-conscious about being slightly overweight.

  Now he felt excited at the idea of losing some of it in the woods.

  “Okay,” John said, gripping the axe as his mind turned to what to do next. “Let’s mark the path so I don’t get lost.”

  He remembered reading about that in his survival guides. It had also been highlighted in the government-issued survival manual. John began walking in wide circles around his camp, slowly expanding outward. As he moved, he marked trees with small cuts from his axe.

  It was nothing elaborate.

  As he worked, the system notified him that he had gained points in a new skill.

  Wayfinding (+5): lvl 1 (10 / 100)

  Huh. That’s new.

  He had never heard of that skill before in his old life. Maybe it was tied to the land here.

  As he continued marking the trees, he spotted fairies again. This time, they were higher in the trees, and two of them were chasing each other.

  One looked like a male chasing a giggling female. Each had sparkling, translucent wings, and the female in particular wore a shimmering dress that left behind golden dust.

  John paused to watch as he moved through the trees. He found himself waving awkwardly again. The girl fairy squeaked with laughter in a harmless way before the two of them disappeared.

  Now that John had walked around the campsite, he had a better understanding of where he was. His camp sat beside a stream. There were enough trees for firewood, and the foothills rose in the nearby distance.

  It seemed he had chosen a good spot.

  He was about to turn around when, while scouting, he stumbled upon something unusual.

  Beside a thick cluster of trees stood a large moss-covered stone arch. It was half-buried in the forest floor and looked very old. A strange feeling stirred in his chest as he approached it, like a calm pressure pulling him forward as if it were magnetic.

  The closer he got, the stronger the feeling became.

  The arch reminded him of the portal ring he had entered. It had a similar shape, and it held the same cosmic swirling center.

  Was this a portal back to the government? Back to his world?

  If it was, then should there not be government employees or travelers coming through?

  Curious, John reached out and lightly touched the stone. A faint hum vibrated through him the moment he did, followed by a system notification.

  Wayfinding (+20): lvl 1 (30 / 100)

  John pulled his hand back quickly, confused.

  “That wasn’t in the manual,” he said, frowning as he studied the arch.

  He was tempted to walk through it right then, but he did not know if it was a one-way portal, a two-way portal, or something else entirely. If anything, it would distract him from his current quest.

  His grumbling stomach reminded him of that.

  He decided to remember the location for now and return to his objective.

  Heading back toward camp, using the tree marks as his guide, he soon neared the clearing again. Near the edge of the trees, he spotted a few smaller trees, nothing too large to begin chopping.

  Gripping his axe, he stood before the first tree and tried to position himself the way the survival manual described. He squatted slightly and made sure the blade would not swing toward his knee.

  “I’m probably going to be sore tomorrow.”

  Then he swung.

  As expected, the axe glanced off the bark. His stance was clumsy, and the blade slid sideways instead of biting into the wood. The impact rattled through his arms.

  He winced and shook out his hands.

  “That’s not what it looked like on social media,” he said, adjusting his grip and trying again.

  The axe struck harder this time, but it barely dented the bark. John stepped back and looked at the small mark he had made.

  He frowned, widened his stance, and raised the axe again.

  The strike was better this time. The blade stuck slightly, though not very deeply, and he had to wiggle it loose.

  “Wow, this is much harder than I thought,” John muttered.

  But he was determined. He did not want to go back to his old life. To be a failure. To spend the rest of his days calling leads forever.

  So he swung again.

  Sometimes he missed. Other times, the hit was too weak. But slowly, he began finding a rhythm—where to aim and how to swing. As a result, his shoulders burned, and his breath grew labored from the exertion. It was probably the most exercise he had done since gym class in high school.

  Sweat formed across John’s forehead, dripping down his temples, and his plaid lumberjack shirt began sticking to his back. Despite how hard his body worked and how each swing sent a small jolt up his arms, it felt good.