Civilization

We spent the day eating in the city, going bowling, some pool, and just relaxing in the park. The whole day was fun, and it distracted me from the events in the game, but in the back of my head, the concerns were still there. How do I beat the first challenge? Is there something I haven't tried yet? Do I need to switch up my strategy? Thoughts and questions pop up throughout the day, but I do my best to push them down, after all, today was a rare day of relaxation, but once I got home with Rebecca I had to face her worried expression.

"Ian, talk to me. What's wrong? Is it about the game?" - Rebecca

"Well yeah. I don't know how to beat the first challenge, and if I can't then who knows what will happen to me." - Ian

"What have you tried?" - Rebecca

"Killing the big spider in front of me and then proceeding to the next one. After I kill the second spider, there is a third waiting behind it. I don't know anything after that. Behind me are hundreds if not thousands of small spiders the size of my hand scurrying towards me. There is a blue line that points me in the direction of the big spiders. That's all the information I know." - Ian

"What if you run towards the small spiders?" - Rebecca

"I never did that, but why should I? The objective is to run, so shouldn't I be running away from the spiders?" - Ian

"Right, the objective is to run, but it didn't say you should be running away from the spiders. Try it tonight and see if there is anything in that direction. Otherwise, the only thing you can do is to keep trying to fight the big spiders and remember their attacks and find their weakness." - Rebecca

"Alright, I'll give it a go." - Ian

"Good. How's Nina doing?" - Rebecca

"Not sure. I didn't speak to her today, why?" - Ian

"She is the only player in your village at the moment. Aren't you curious about what she is doing, since Kingston is off in the grassland trying to get stronger?" - Rebecca

"No, I trust her. From the time we met to when she got to HavenFall I made sure to talk to her as much as I can to understand her personality and what she wants to do in the game. Turns out, she is a big magician fan. Anything related to magic she finds attractive and in all other games she played like a magician, so she was already excited when she acquired the magic book.

She told me she wants to figure out the magic book and see what secrets it has and after hearing that the elves can use magic, I'm sure she is learning more about it during the game. Her objective for Settlement isn't to make a civilization, but to discover the secrets of magic." - Ian

"Hmm… Okay." - Rebecca

"What about you? How's the passive skill?" - Ian

"I decided to move the village because of the skill. Recently I've been attacked by skeletons and zombies and their thoughts are all just about killing and eating, which has greatly affected me in the game. I told my NPCs about it, and they agreed to move the village elsewhere. Right now I'm in the middle of preparing for it, and I'm thinking of moving closer to you.

If I go off in the direction of the sun, you see the sunrise in the direction where you started and the sun setting in the forest. So, I'll start by heading in the direction that I can only presume is North, keeping the sunrise on my left. I don't know how far I have to go and what dangers I will meet, but I think at least if I go in that direction I will eventually find you. Might take months, though, since Evan has been moving in a westerly direction for a month and a bit now, and he still hasn't reached you." - Rebecca

"Oh, you want to move closer to me? Not only are you here in real life now I have to see you in-game?" - Ian

"You should take that as a privilege. You get to see the great me." - Rebecca

"Right… The continent is big, so be careful. Monsters might become stronger if you come closer, so I'm not too sure what will happen." - Ian

"Don't worry, I got this. Just focus on getting out within the month, so you can properly prepare for the event." - Rebecca

"I will do my best. I'm going to rest up before going into the game." - Ian

"Okay~" - Rebecca

I leave Rebecca in the living room, where she turned on the TV to watch some movies. Instead, I went to my own room and lay on the floor. I close my eyes and tried to sleep a bit before midnight. As midnight drew close, Rebecca woke me up, handing me my VR helmet and saying goodnight before placing hers on and laying on my bed. I took a deep breath before placing my VR helmet on and diving into the world of Settlement.

....

I am in a black space, holding onto the broken knife. Floating there in the abyss before the blue message appears in front of me.

[Are you ready to continue?]

I took another deep breath and focused on my plan. Run towards the small spiders and see if there is anything in that direction. Run towards the small spiders and see if there is anything in that direction. Run towards the small spiders and see if there is anything in that direction. I pound it into my head, repeating it over and over before I felt ready, after all, there is only one answer.

"Okay! Just do it. YES!" - Ian

The familiar tunnel appears around me, and before I knew it, I turn around, facing my back to the blue glowing stones on the ground and facing towards the dark tunnel instead. I gulp down my saliva and run forward, activating Enhanced Agility.

I run as quickly as I can, readying my knife for the spiders that will appear. The endless darkness creeps in all around me. I couldn't see the walls. I couldn't see the ceiling, and I definitely couldn't see where I was going. The only thing keeping me sane was my own footsteps. The echoing sound of my feet pushing off the rocky surface fills my ears, but it also felt strange. Where was the scurrying sound of spiders?

I check the curse timer to see that only a minute has passed. Remembering from my experiences, the spiders should reach where I started after 2 minutes. This means in the next minute I should see them. I prepare myself mentally as it will be a long, tiring battle.

I keep running and running, then I heard it. The sound of the spiders running along the ground and walls, but I didn't hear it in front of me. I close my eyes and hone into my ears as I stood still. Where was it coming from? ABOVE!

I activate Quickstep before leaping forward and rolling on the ground. The sound of spiders scurrying everywhere became louder and louder, as more spiders were coming from above. Was there a hole where they come out of? I could hear the spiders dropping onto the ground while I hear others climbing the ceiling and the walls approaching me.

I get up and run. Rebecca was somewhat right. There is still space in front of me, space where I can keep running. My eyes have slowly adjusted to the lack of light and while I can't see too far ahead, I could still see the hundreds of red eyes behind me.

I run, and I run, my heart pounding in my chest and my breathing slowly becoming more and more frequent, until I slam into a wall in front of me. Since I was running at full speed, I was unable to stop in time instead the moment I noticed the wall was in front of me, I turned my body to the right. My left shoulder cushioned the hit, but the pain was sent throughout my whole body.

My head felt a little light, but I quickly snap back to reality as I see the tsunami of spiders coming close. I look forward and to my surprise, I see light down the tunnel. I grit my teeth and push my body forward. However, my left side felt heavy, I couldn't run properly and instead limped my way forward, but I was too slow, and the spiders caught me, biting down on my ankles and climbing up my legs. I get swallowed in the sea of spiders, dying once again.

This time, though, I have seen a way out. I just need to push myself harder to achieve it. I can finish this challenge.

[ You have died. ]

[ Live on then, Yet Hang: 3672:04:14 ]

I respawn at the same place, but this time I knew where to go. Without stopping, I run into the darkness. Without stopping, I run when I hear the spiders scurrying above me, and without stopping I crash into the same wall. However, knowing it was coming, I was able to slow my steps down to reduce the impact, and since I had more time the spiders weren't as close.

I run towards the light and as I drew closer I started to make out what was in the light using the Eye of the Roc. It looked like an alleyway, exactly like how Kingston described it before. Since it was the same, I treated the alleyway the same as how Kingston treated it. I ran. He said it was 200 steps and with my increased steps, it would be a breeze, is what I thought.

The moment I step into the alleyway, the tunnel behind me disappeared, and instead when I glanced over my shoulder. I see the ground falling, however, it was falling faster than I was running.

"You have got to be shitting me." - Ian

I pump my arms up and down, pushing my legs harder and harder. I sprint faster than I ever thought I could sprint in my life, and before I knew it, I passed the challenge and ran into an invisible wall in the black space. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it echoing in my ears. I couldn't catch my breath and just lay there looking into the darkness. My eyes were wide open looking at the blue system message in front of me as I try to calm my body down.

[ You have completed the First Challenge: Run ]

[ Congratulations ]

[ Would you like to see your rewards? ]

"Y-yes." - Ian