He woke up groggily and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes. His vision was tinted in blue, another screen taking up most of his sight.

🎊Congratulations, you won your first game!🎊

Name

Trial of the beginning

Main Objective

Survive 3 days.

Reward

Free Stats +1 Rank +1

Side Objective

Survive without getting hurt.

Reward

Most used Stat +1

Scavenge supplies.

Reward

Item +1

Rank +1

(hidden) Create a weapon.

Reward

Item +1

(hidden) Defeat another player (2/?).

Reward

Trait + 2 Rank + 2

(hidden) Find out at least one ingredient effect.

Reward

Title +1

(hidden) Create a base.

Reward

Trait +1 Rank +1 For more details use 'game status' Calculating..

Dave was flabbergasted. He was already participating in a game? Of course he was. The very first message talked about exactly that. He should have thought about it from the start, the monotone surroundings, the easy access to fresh water and the hidden traps, like supplies being inedible. The very first game was as straightforward as it could be, while never specifying how dangerous things could become.

Dave scratched the back of his head and said: "Game status."

Game found

Trial of the beginning

Current status: Rewards are being calculated and will be distributed shortly.

'I'm able to access the game status and main objective by asking directly for the game status? Will I be able to select future games, or will they be chosen for me like the game of the beginning? Maybe.. - ' his thoughts were interrupted by another screen popping up.

Final rank: A

F ~> Rank +5 ~> A

Free Stats: 5

1 ~> Final rank A ~> 5

Most used stat: Wisdom

Wisdom +1

Title: Resilient Stomach

What doesn't kill you.. Is edible

*Gain slight resistance to negative side effects when ingesting food.

Trait: 3 ~> Select three options.

Patient hunter

I'll just exhaust you till you die.

*lowers physical and mental exhaustion while stalking and hunting prey.

(potential) Secondhand success

Your success is my success, your demise is my success.

*Raises potency and lethality of indirect damage like poison, status effects, traps.

(potential) Survivor

You think I'd crumble? You think I'd just roll over and die? I will survive.

*Higher chance of finding materials or hints for survival.

*Higher chance of surviving.

Repeatable selection:

Trait potential unlock point

Item: 2 random A rank items/Select one B rank item.

2 random F rank items ~> final rank A ~> 2 random A rank items 1 B rank item

The most recent rewards are able to be accepted at any point in time. The reward status can be viewed by thinking "reward status".

Accept rewards now?

Yes No

Dave grabbed his water bottle and chugged half of it, splashing some of the water in his face to wash away his grogginess.

'It seems like the last guy had a good idea by trying out keywords to access more of the menu, but it's also possible they only unlocked now after the first game and after I got informed. The rank influences the amount of free stat points I gain and the quality of the items I will be able to gain? Does it also influence the quality of the titles and traits? I feel like it's quite possible, especially if I look at the choice between potential and not potential traits and how I am allowed to choose 2 random items of higher rank or choose half of them at a lower rank.' his thoughts were going in circles, following each and every thought process he could imagine while the semi transparent screen was still following his every move.

While it might be important to be careful with his choice, Dave also knew how not acting could cause him to fall behind, get stuck or in the worst case, die.

He filed away his thoughts for the time being, till he would be able to confirm which strain of thought was correct and which one will lead him to a more positive outcome. Dave decided to accept his rewards.

Input required.

Trait:

Patient hunter (potential) Secondhand success (potential) Survivor Trait potential unlock point

Item:

Random A Rank 2x Chosen B Rank 1x

Dave had the nagging feeling, that the status description wasn't all it seemed to be. The potential traits seem a lot stronger than the instant traits.

He already had a potential trait waiting for him to unlock it with a point. But choosing and unlocking paranoia with a trait point and making it an active trait though? He lived all his life with his paranoid grandfather. He knew all the other effects paranoia had except the ones listed.

Did the other traits also hide the negative attributes? Did he have to find out by himself or maybe they didn't have them?

'Trust but verify? Doubt and verify? I'll choose all of them.' he thought, choosing both potential traits.

A potential trait shouldn't give him negative effects since it needed to be unlocked first. The patient hunter trait might make him hyper focus on his target and forget about anything around him. With him getting lost in thoughts and daydreams all the time, he was already at a disadvantage. Losing focus of his surroundings on top of that would make him easy pickings. With his last trait choise he picked the free trait unlock point.

Getting further lost in thought, Dave looked at the item choice. Without doing hidden objectives, his item rank would only reach D rank.

Since this was the very first game it would obviously have a lowered difficulty level. He remembered the other 2 guys who died shortly after arriving. Thanks to the design of the game, the lack of information artificially raised the difficulty. This should mean, it will get harder to get higher rank items and more free stat points if he doesn't start a positive loop. He had to collect higher rank items so he could buff himself up with stats and gear to not only cruise by, but also do secret objectives. By doing that, he would raise the final rank and get high rank items and more points again. He also couldn't forget about new traits, which will make him stronger.

Collecting his most important thoughts, Dave chose the two random A rank items.

Reward distribution complete.

Blinking the little pop-up screen away, he looked on the ground, finding two new items which weren't there before.

He picked up the first one, which seemed like a sticky satchel and grinned while remembering the chosen one.

'Item status'

Shrugging as nothing happened, he thought it was worth a try, since the other two commands with a status added at the end, did indeed work.

Picking up the other item, he looked it over. It reminded him of a dagger if said dagger was a metal rod with a very sharp pointy tip.

It was like a big sewing needle with a leather bound grip and another bar of metal placed between grip and pointy rod part. The metal bar slanted slightly towards the grip.

'Maybe it's to protect my hand from getting cut by the enemy blade while I go stabby stab stab on them?'

He gave it some experimental swings and stabs, only to find out it felt like it was made for him. Dave wasn't sure if he ever handled a weapon like this, but the way it felt in his hand felt natural.

While he was quite satisfied with his stabby needle and sticky satchel, he wanted to know what made them worthy of being A rank.

He walked up to a tree and gently poked it. Blinking in surprise, he was surprised to hear a soft thunk by the guard hitting against wood. The needle part disappeared easily into the tree without any input of strength.

'A mighty weapon should get a fitting name. Thinking back to my most used and favourite childhood weapon… I shall name you: Pointy Stick With Leaf.' he thought, puffing out his chest and christening his new companion. He just knew his grandpa would be proud of his godly naming sense.

He still fondly remembered naming his one eyed cat "Googly Eye" and his adorable pet hamster "Pufferfish Cheeks".

Dave came back from his daydreaming and opened the little sticky satchel. He was going to shed some light on it's contents.

Although light did nothing to the secret content, since he was greeted by a whirling darkness.

Raising an eyebrow, he took a stone and dropped it into the swirling darkness.

His future self will fondly remember the loyalty of the stone, braving danger and the unknown to ensure his safety.

He turned the satchel upside down and shook it. The stone was gone. Possibly forever.

He picked up a twig and slowly shoved half of it into the darkness. He waited a little before he pulled it out again, marveling at the whole twig, with nothing missing.

Dave took a deep breath. It was finally time to brave the danger himself, he just had to decide which finger joint he liked the least. It seemed his left middle finger and his right pinky weren't sure which one of them liked him less either.

After another deep breath he steeled his resolve and slowly lowered his left middle finger towards the darkness.