Chance and Sage didn’t come crashing down; instead, their feet hit cold sand. Sage jumped when she felt the water at her ankles. The pair were staring at a tall lighthouse and further forward a cabin.

“Civilization!” Chance grinned and trudged forward. He wasn't quick enough to avoid the moving sand, a creature burst from the sand, and the pair was met with a box. The light blue nearly blinded Sage and almost pulled Chance’s attention away from the creature.

:Quest:

Kill one Sand Dweller Crab

Reward: Two crab legs

Accept: Yes/No

“Yes!” Sage snapped; she charged at the crab. Although the crab wasn't overly large, it was big enough to cause concern among the pair. Chance quickly rolled in the sand and snagged the crab by its one large pincher, a mistake he would regret. The crab slammed its pincer shut, causing Chance to grunt and scream, “SAGE KILL IT!”

Sage ran forward and slammed her foot onto the top of the crab, over and over until its pincher let go of Chance. She kept stomping until the pair heard a loud crack.

Quest Complete: Kill one Sand Dweller Crab

Sand Dweller legs have been added to your inventory.

Sage lifted her feet and watched the crab slowly fade away. As they processed the sight, another box appeared.

Sand Dweller meat has been added to your inventory.

Sand Dweller chela has been added to your inventory.

“Inventory?” Chance stood and shook his hand. Blood trickled down his wrist and hit the sand below. I'm bleeding. Chance watched the blood in horror. Once Sage looked over, her eyes widened. “We're not dreaming.” Chance could barely hear Sage. “This is real.” Chance closed his fist. Thoughts swarmed his head like angry wasps, “We have to be careful and take this seriously.” He finally spoke.

Sage was unresponsive.

“Sage.” Chance turned. “Listen, we can get hurt here. We can bleed. If we can bleed, we must assume we can die.” Sage closed her eyes and shoved the fear deep within her stomach. She decided she would let it out later. “We will be careful.” Sage finally replied.

“The box said we got items.” Sage patted her legs; of course, her pants didn’t have pockets.

“How do we check our inventory!” Chance snapped at the sky. A box appeared before them.

Inventory Tutorial

-

To check your inventory, call out “inventory.” You can also use your mind to open the inventory and all menus. Your inventory has fifteen spaces and can be upgraded at a later date. Without wearing a backpack or having a bag, you will only have five inventory slots.

“Oh, great. We have no space.” Sage complained. “Inventory.” She said without a second thought. Five boxes appeared in front of her, the inventory is part of a more extensive menu, but the rest of the tabs are grayed out. “I have two spots left. It looks like our clothes don't take up space since we are wearing them.”

Chance called his inventory up without speaking. “I have a few slots left. Can I have one of the legs we got?”

“Yeah, of course.” Sage moved her hand over the item and tried to grab it with her full fist. When nothing happened, she tried to select the item with her finger. “I can’t get the item out.”

“Oh! Wait, maybe you can grab it with two fingers?” Chance suggested. Sage put her hand over the item and pinched it. “I got it!”

“The other tabs are grayed out.” Chance said, looking past the screen. Sage is waving around a crab leg; her happiness is contagious. “Here.” She smiled and tossed the leg over.

Chance was surprised at the weight. “It has a timer hanging off of it.”

“It’s a crab leg; the timer must be when it goes bad.”

—

“We should start making our way to the cabin. Unless you want to check out the lighthouse first?” Chance asked Sage after he figured out how to place items in his inventory. The process was easy, take an object and put it right on the square. Together they figured out how to move items around and stack items. Luckily nothing went bad while they were experimenting with the crab legs.

“I think we should go to the cabin first. If it gets dark, we will need shelter. We also need to cook the legs.” Sage replied as they began walking to the cabin.

The sun wasn’t nearly as high as it was before. The scenery was beautiful. The sand meeting the grass was a relaxing sight. Chance bent down to feel the grass, “It feels so real.”

“You say that like it’s not real,” Sage mumbled. She walked right up the porch but paused. Sage got down on her knees and shook her head at Chance.

Confused, Chance stopped in his tracks. Sage put a finger to her lips and motioned to the cabin as the door swung open.

“SAGE MOVE!” Chance snapped; he ran forward right when Sage turned. A man with an eyepatch and cloak stood over her. Before she could react, the man placed a hand on her shoulder and threw her off the steps. Sage let out a shrike. Her back hit the grass, the side of her head bounced off the ground.

Chance dug his heels into the grass to turn as quickly as possible. Turning, he rushed over to Sage and lifted her as the man stepped off the porch. Chance broke out into the fastest run he could while Sage gathered herself. Eventually, her eyes adjusted, and she began moving her legs.

“Who the hell is that?!” Sage snapped as Chance threw the lighthouse doors open. “No idea! I don't think he likes you!” Sage couldn’t help but laugh a little. The door swung open again with a loud crash. “What are we going to do!? We can’t fight him!”

Their minds were swirling with ideas; nothing seemed good enough. “Push him out the window!” Chance called. Sage nodded and called up her inventory. She moved her fingers and pulled out the chela. The pincer was much bigger than she thought it would be, about the size of a small pocket knife. As they reached the top, Chance looked around for a weapon of any kind, and thankfully he found one. Laying on the wooden table beneath the light was a trident. Chance grabbed it. “Do you know how to use that thing?” Sage asked. She began slamming the chela into the glass; to her surprise, it was cracking. “No! But I can figure it out.” Chance rushed behind Sage and slammed the trident into the glass. The man was making his way up the stairs as fast as his body would allow.

“Together on three!” Sage shouted.

“One!”

“Two!”

“Three!” Chance and Sage slammed their weapons into the glass at the same time, causing it to shatter completely. As they spun around, the man reached the top of the steps, “Over here!” Sage waved her arms around. The man barreled towards her, and she ran in a circle around the light.

Chance followed her until they looped back around to the broken window. When the man reached for Sage, she crouched as quickly as possible, his arms closed. The man let out an inhuman grunt, and Chance shoved the trident into his side. He pushed with everything he had, the man let out another series of grunts. Noticing he was barely moving, Sage grabbed his leg and lifted.

The man tried to reach down and grab the trident, but one good push from Chance caused him to lift off of one of his legs. Sage used this to her advantage, and together they threw the man out of the window. He screamed before a loud crunch echoed in the air.

The duo looked out of the broken window; the man’s body was slumped over a couple of rocks. A green ooze poured out of his head and into the water. “What the hell.” Chance took a deep breath. “Did we just kill someone?” Sage looked to Chance and back at the body. “No way, people don't bleed green.”

They watched as a few boxes appeared. This time each of the boxes appeared in front of them.

:Sage:

100 gold coins have been added to your inventory.

Cabin key has been added to your inventory.

:Chance:

Hunter's cloak has been added to your inventory.

100 gold coins have been added to your inventory.

Chance smiled and turned to his partner, “At least we got some stuff from that. Right?” He was trying to play it off, though he was still scared. His heart was beating in his ears, and his hands were shaking. “Yeah. But now I’m out of space.” Sage shook her hands out. “I feel like I’m going to throw up.” She admitted.

“Same.” Chance replied; he opened and closed his inventory a few too many times for Sage’s liking. “Wait, stop, I saw something,” Sage opened her own inventory. “Look, I have a bar that wasn't here before.” Sage pointed to her screen, and Chance walked over, “See, we have a blue bar at the bottom of the screen now. Looks like when it fills, we hit level 0.”

“Level?” Chance couldn't help but chuckle. “So it is kind of like a video game. Fantastic. Let’s head back to the cabin and rest.” Sage nodded, and together, they went back to the cabin.