Karolina sat down heavily in the wooden chair, feeling it creak under her. Today was a week after the tutorial had started, which meant that it was time for a camp leadership meeting. On the first day of the tutorial, Buckley had apparently gathered up everyone who indicated they wanted to help, had useful classes, or just wanted to toady up to him in Aaron’s case. This had all happened while Thomas and she were out fighting the goblins.

Since then, Aaron or Buckley had checked in with each of the “leaders” individually, but today was the first time that all of them would be in the same room. They were all meeting in Buckley’s house, which was clean, newly refurbished, and had a long table with eight chairs around it.

She looked around the table, looking at the other “leaders”. She was sitting at the foot of the table, as Buckley had claimed the head of the table with its ostentatious chair. To her sides were Thomas and Ada, looking slightly nervous and performatively bored respectively. Past them were two people that she hadn’t met yet, then Aaron and Selena, and finally Buckley.

For someone who claimed to be the leader of the camp, she really didn’t see Buckley that often. She had basically only interacted with Aaron. Buckley was talking quietly with Selena, both of them leaning in closer to talk. Selena looked more serious than she usually was.

She had an idea that she wanted to bring up in this meeting, but she wasn’t sure if the one person she really wanted to support it would. She knew that Ada and Thomas would have her back, but she wanted Selena to come with them just in case anything went wrong. How close Selena and Buckley seemed to be was making her worried, as she wasn’t sure if Buckley would support her plan.

She considered the man in question. Time had made her less angry about him stepping up that first day. He had public speaking skills that she didn’t, no matter what she had thought at the time, and she wasn’t sure if she would have been able to calm down the crowd the way that he did. That still didn’t mean that she liked him, though.

First, he was completely wrong about how they should treat this new world. He seemed to think that if they tried hard enough, somehow they would get back to their old lives, which just wasn’t realistic. She had no idea how they would even begin to accomplish that, and she was pretty sure that he didn’t either.

Second, he didn’t seem to be doing much, at least in her opinion. Maybe it was a result of him not wanting to embrace the System or the Tutorial. Instead of organizing the camp to get the most out of this new world, which was the position he had taken on, he was mostly letting everyone do their own thing.

He had organized rebuilding the camp, making sure that everyone was comfortable, but not much else. Every group heading into the forest that she had talked to had said that they chose to go out on their own, without any input from Buckley.

That was bad news because the majority of people just weren’t stepping up on their own. From what she had seen from just walking around the camp, the majority of people were still level 1. That worried her, and not just because people were wasting their potential. This new world was dangerous, and everyone needed to be able to defend themselves.

She idly inspected him, wondering what level he was.

James Buckley: [Human (F) / Sergeant] - Level 7

He had leveled a lot for someone who still didn’t seem to have faced combat. Maybe she was being unfair to him, but he certainly seemed to have a combat class based off of his glittering armor and sword. That meant she could only ascribe his conspicuously unmarked equipment to his fear.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Buckley stopped whispering to Selena and turned to the rest of the table. It seemed that Buckley was finally ready to start the meeting.

“It’s good to see all of you in one place,” he began. “I know that this entire experience has been difficult, but I’m very grateful that you fine people have stepped up to help us get through it. I think it makes sense to go around and have everyone introduce themselves, as I’m not sure that all of you have met. Aaron?”

Aaron looked up from the table, slightly surprised at being spoken to. “I’m Aaron, as you all know. I help Mr. Buckley run the camp and ensure that everyone who is willing to contribute knows what they need to do. I’m also a warrior,” Aaron said.

She inspected him, curious to see if he had leveled any further since their last meeting. He had, getting all the way up to level eight. She wondered where he found the time to both help run the camp and fight monsters.

After Aaron was finished, the man next to him introduced himself. “I’m Robert, Robert Schwarz. I’m a Builder."

Karolina looked him up and down. Robert looked to be in his early forties. He was a bigger man, not quite fat but certainly solid, with brown hair and a full, bushy beard. Also, his name was Robert and he was a builder? Bob the builder?

She quickly inspected him. He was level six, which seemed to be about average for people who were actually leveling their class.

Thomas was next to him. “Hello, I’m Thomas Hargrove, I’m a magician,” he said. He looked like he was considering saying more, but decided against it. She didn’t bother inspecting him. She already knew that he was level ten, and besides, she was up next.

“Karolina Grant, monk,” she said brusquely. She couldn’t wait for this whole song and dance to be over so she could get to the actual important stuff.

Ada leaned forward and smirked at the rest of the table. “Ada King. Best and only scout in camp."

She also already knew Ada’s level, level twelve. The same level as her.

Next to her was the other man that she hadn’t met before. He was a skinny Hispanic man, who looked to be in his mid-thirties. He cleared his throat. “I’m Jorge Gonzales, and I’m a blacksmith,” he said.

He had a quiet voice, with a bit of a rasp that told her that he was a smoker. She idly wondered how he was handling the lack of cigarettes here, then inspected him. He was only level four, so he obviously wasn’t very invested in leveling.

Next up was Selena. “Hi, my name’s Selena, but I think you all know that. It is so good to see all of you again, by the way,” she said.

Another quick inspection revealed that Selena was now level nine, which was the highest level other than her teammates that she had seen. It somewhat surprised her that she was leveling so quickly, but she guessed that being the only healer in camp had its perks.

Karolina looked around at the other leaders. If she was being uncharitable, only her, Buckley, and Aaron seemed to actually possess any leadership ability. Everyone else seemed to be here because of their classes, not because of who they actually were.

“Now that that’s done, does anyone have any progress that they want to report? I know that Robert has been making a lot of progress,” Buckley said.

Robert seemed a little irritated at being put on the spot, but he spoke up anyway. He talked about how he, and the few people who helped him, had almost managed to completely rebuild the camp to be safe and comfortable for human habitation. They had also managed to build some new cabins using timber from the forest.

Honestly, what he was saying wasn’t all that interesting to her, so she focused more on his general demeanor. He didn't seem to be liking this new world very much. He had a perpetual scowl on his face when he talked about the System, but he did seem to take some pride in his work at least.

After he was done talking, Jorge spoke up. He didn’t seem to have much to say, beyond the fact that he had managed to equip the people who went out with the weapons they wanted by melting down reclaimed goblin weaponry. He seemed to be trying to make the best of the situation and enjoy his work.

After Jorge finished, there was a brief silence. Karolina considered if now was the time to bring up her idea. No, she should wait until after everyone who needed to had summarized their progress. She was sure that either Aaron or Buckley were going to say something.

When it was clear that no one else was going to volunteer, Buckley spoke up again. “Thank you so much for updating us, Robert and Jorge. I think it would make sense for Aaron to give us a more general update about the camp next. Aaron?”

Aaron gave a brief nod, and then started to speak. “The majority of the camp is unproductive, remaining inside of the camp and not actively practicing their skills. At the very beginning of the tutorial, around eighty people either expressed interest or actually went into the forest. This attitude shifted very quickly once people started not coming back. In total, I would estimate that around twenty people from this camp died before people became more cautious."

It was strange hearing people dying described in such a calm, dispassionate way. She looked around the room, seeing that most of the others had grimaces or frowns on their faces. Thomas looked the most affected by the reminder of how dangerous the tutorial is, while Ada, Aaron, and Buckley were the only ones who looked completely unphased.

She considered her own reaction. She felt bad about the people who had died, of course, but for some reason she couldn’t muster up much emotion. She wished they hadn’t died, but hearing about the deaths of people that she had never known didn’t seem to affect her more than seeing an obituary in the newspaper would.

“It seems that all of the groups that go out into the woods are now cautious or skilled enough to survive, as there haven’t been any deaths in three days. Ms. King’s maps have also contributed to their increased safety. This does mean that only around twenty people actually go out into the forest at all, and that is unlikely to change,” Aaron said.

Karolina thought about what those numbers actually meant. Twenty people, that was only around 10% of the camp actually heading into the forest and challenging the monsters within. While she was sure that there were some people whose classes were suited to staying in the camp, that couldn’t be the case for 90% of the camp. Aaron’s observations agreed with what she had seen, that the majority of the camp seemed determined to simply wait it out, no matter how nonsensical that was.

Buckley cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention back on him. “Thank you for that summary of our current situation, Aaron. Now, I’m going to open up the floor for more than just progress reports. Does anyone have any ideas for how we can improve our situation, or find a way home?" he asked, looking around the table.

Now seemed as good a time as any to bring up her idea. She glanced over at Thomas and Ada. She had already talked about it with them so she knew that they would support her. The only uncertainties were Selena and Buckley.

“On the first day here, Thomas and I followed a trail that led to a ‘Forward Barracks’ but never actually reached said barracks. I think it’s likely that there are useful supplies there or something else that we could use. So, Thomas, Ada, and I want to take Selena with us and head further into the forest,” she laid out.

She looked around the room, checking how people were reacting to her proposal. She didn’t really need everyone’s agreement, only Buckley and Selena’s, but it was important for her to understand the attitudes of the camp leadership. If she was going to be leader of this camp, she needed to understand them.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t really get a good read on the room. Pretty much everyone just looked contemplative, and she wasn’t practiced enough with her soulsight to get a better read.

“I’m glad that you’re taking some initiative here, but I’m not sure about this idea. It sounds very dangerous, and I don’t like the idea of risking Selena like that. Are you sure this is a good plan?” Buckley asked.

“It’s not. No way we should send Selena out of the camp. Putting a sweet girl like her in danger like that, are you nuts?” Robert asked.

“Shut it, Bob the builder,” Ada interjected.

Robert swelled up, his face going a little red.

“Ada!” Karolina snapped.

Ada looked over at her, and then performatively zipped her lips and leaned back in her chair.

“Sorry Robert,” Karolina said. “But to address both of your concerns, I don’t think that it’s too dangerous. We’ll be able to protect Selena, and we might need her there with us if we get injured when we’re far from camp. Plus, do either of you have a better plan for how we should accomplish the objective given by the System? You know, pressing on and conquering this forest?" she asked, meeting each of their gazes challengingly.

Robert looked away after a few moments, but Buckley stared right back at her, his neutral smile still on his face. She looked closer at his soul, pushing her ability to the limit to try to figure out what he was thinking.

After a few seconds, she realized that, behind his neutral expression, he was terrified. He was keeping it together as best he could, putting on a brave face and taking charge because that's what he thought he should do, but he didn't have any plans. Or at least, she didn’t think he did.

“Yes, I do have a better plan. Not conquering the forest at all. Nobody should be heading out of camp more than absolutely necessary. I have been supportive of efforts to clear out dangerous monsters from around the camp, but there is no need to go any further than that. We just need to wait this situation out, and the safest and best way to do that is to keep all of our most effective people near camp, which includes you four,” Buckley said.

Karolina wasn’t even sure how to respond to that. He couldn’t actually be suggesting they all hide away in camp and hope that everything would go away on its own, was he? However, as she looked around the room she found that others were nodding their heads in agreement with Buckley. Only Ada, Thomas, and surprisingly Aaron didn't look like they agreed with him.

She took a deep breath, trying to organize her thoughts. They were all thinking about this wrong, and she needed to figure out how to convince them of that. There was no way that she was just going to sit in camp and let this opportunity pass her by. Plus, the way he was talking made her think that he wanted to keep her and her friends in camp indefinitely, and there was no way that she was going to let that happen. She just needed to find the right words to convince him.

“I’m not actually sure if that is the best idea, Mr. Buckley.” Aaron said, interrupting her thoughts. “The tutorial message mentioned that monsters might attack the camp, so I think it makes sense to strengthen our best fighters and seek out new resources. We should be doing everything we can to prepare so that we can keep everyone safe."

Karolina looked at Aaron with shock, and she wasn’t the only one. Everyone seemed surprised that he had publicly disagreed with Buckley, even Aaron himself. Maybe she had misjudged him. She had thought that he was a yes-man without any thoughts of his own, but that was obviously incorrect. Who was Aaron, really? What did he want?

While she had been considering Aaron, Buckley had been doing the same. After he had seemingly collected his thoughts, he sighed.

“Yes, that is a good point, Aaron. We should try to strengthen our fighters as much as possible. However, I am still concerned about risking Selena. Karolina, Ada, and Thomas might be experienced in the forest, but she is not. It’s hard to overstate how devastating it would be for the entire camp if our only healer was killed,” Buckley said.

Despite his even tone, Karolina could tell by examining his soul that he was irritated at Aaron for disagreeing with him. Plus, he didn’t seem to have really changed his mind about being against her plan.

“Um, do I get a say in this?” Selena asked.

Karolina looked at her sheepishly, realizing that they had been trying to decide her fate without even involving her. In Karolina’s defense, when she had brought up Selena leaving the camp a few days ago, the healer had demurred and brought up Buckley. That was the whole reason that she was proposing her plan during this meeting, in fact, where she had easy access to both of them.

“Yes, of course Selena. I’m sorry,” Karolina apologized. Just because she wasn’t very smart didn’t mean that her opinion didn’t matter.

“James, thank you so much for trying to keep me safe. I know you’re trying to protect me, just like you’re trying to protect everyone else in the camp,” she said. She reached out and gently put her hand on his shoulder.

Buckley puffed his chest up almost imperceptibly at her praise.

“However, I also need to help protect people the way that you do. If I don’t go with those three, and they get seriously injured or even killed without me there to heal them, I would never be able to forgive myself. I’m sure that they will be able to protect me, and I definitely won’t put myself into dangerous situations or try to fight anything. I know where my strengths lie,” Selena continued.

Buckley seemed to sag a bit. He seemed to have realized that he couldn’t stop her from going if that's what she really wanted to do. Selena did seem to have softened the blow as much as she could, however.

“Yes, well, it seems that you’ve made up your mind, Selena. Karolina, I’m trusting you to keep her safe. Am I understood?" he asked.

Karolina bristled a bit at his tone, but nodded her head anyway.

“Well, it seems that that is decided. Does anyone else have any other ideas?" he asked, looking around the table. No one else seemed like they had anything to suggest, with Robert and Jorge both looking especially ready to leave and get back to work. When no one spoke up, he continued. “Very well then, that concludes our meeting. Aaron, with me."

With the meeting over, everyone started to make their way to the exit. After Selena took her hand off Buckley’s shoulder, she hurried over to Karolina’s side and walked with her to the exit.

“Thanks so much for agreeing to come with us. We’ll make sure to keep you safe. Hopefully your presence won’t be necessary, but better safe than sorry, right?” Karolina said.

“Yes. Better safe than sorry,” Selena said. Something about the way that she said it seemed a little off, somehow. Her tone was more serious than she had expected Selena to be able to sound. “Plus, I’m sure that you’ll find a way to make it up to me,” Selena smiled.