Usually, this would be a dream come true. Stuck in a cabin with a woman, chilling by the fire, and having good food. Chance turned his attention back to the pot; making food without a stove proved to be a challenge. Together they were able to cook the crab meat and the legs and had whatever snacks they could find in the cabin.

The man that was here before had killed the previous owner. Sage found a man's body in the kitchen. Chance found a woman's body in the bathroom, they didn’t have any valuable items, and their clothing wasn't much better. Chance figured they were like them, their clothes matched and everything. Sage was able to get the fireplace lit. Chance had gathered bits of wood from outside. They had to break down some furniture to make the fire and cook the food.

Eventually, Sage fell asleep.

We have been together for such a short time. But our teamwork is superb. I have never been more thankful to have a friend, and at least we are fed. If only I could figure out what we are supposed to do. It has become clear that this is real, and since we can die, we can't afford to lose focus.

Chance opened his inventory and took one last look at the blue bar. “There has to be a way to get more answers.” He hovered his finger over the grey tabs. “We will likely get more answers when this bar fills.” Chance laid back and waited for Sage to wake up.

-

He is sleeping like a rock. Sage paced around the room; she checked all the doors and windows again. The way he handled the trident was impressive. He's been lovely so far, and honestly, I have no reason to run from him. It’s weird, the way we operate, it's like we were supposed to be paired together. I bet this world did that on purpose.

Sage walked back into the kitchen. Now that she had some spots left in her inventory, she wanted to restock. She wasn't surprised to find they had cleaned the whole place out. Chance was starving, so she let him have the majority of the crab. She had eaten a lot of bread and snacks. We are going to need to get stronger. At the very least, we will need backpacks or something.

Sage moved around the house and eventually settled back onto the couch. For the moment, everything was fine.

-

“Sage?” Chance grumbled; he was still half asleep. The sun coming through the windows was waking him up. Sage groaned, “we can squeeze in a few more minutes.” She protested. “No, we can't, but I wish we could. If we want to check the cabin one last time, we should do it when the sun is up.” Chance said softly. He was swiftly hit with a pillow, Sage making sure to get one good hit in before peeling herself off of the couch.

“I will get you back for that.” Chance promised. He slowly sat up and slinked off of the couch. “We don't have anything left for breakfast, do we?” He placed a hand on his stomach and looked at Sage. Chance put on his best smile as if that would change her answer, “Nope. We cleaned out the whole cabin last night.” She snickered. It dawned on them, “We can use the crabs to level up and gather food.” They say in unison.

-

The two headed back outside to search the sand. Finding crabs was easy enough but killing them proved to be a challenge. The crabs put up a fight. Since Sage didn’t have a proper weapon, she was the distraction.

It was a good thing the items stacked, but they learned the hard way most stacks can only hold five items tops. During the hunting process, they managed to kill five crabs. “We got enough food to continue forward.” Sage ripped a bit of her shirt to tie it around her leg. “Yeah, we did. I guess I’m getting the hang of this trident as well.” Chance went to respond but had to quickly dive to the left instead. A larger crab burst from the sand. Sage stumbled back; the sand was blinding.

“What the hell is that?” Sage gasped; she took a mouth full of sand. “No clue-” Chance let out a loud grunt. He had been hit in the stomach with enough force to send him flying into the grass.

Once Sage and Chance opened their eyes, they could see a new quest box.

:Quest:

Kill the Blue Striped Sand Dweller Crab

Reward: Blue Pin Club, menu unlock, map unlock, backpack, bronze hunting dagger, fishing net.

Accept: Yes/No

-

“Ye-” Sage was swiftly knocked off of her feet, her back hit the sand. Yes, accept the quest. Sage thought, happy to see the processes worked without speaking. She could hear Chance shouting in the grass. “Come and get som-” Saged watched as his body was tossed into the water.

“What class did you pick?” Sage asked as she ran over to him. “I selected the randomizer.” Chance was regretting that choice, not like he knew how to use his class anyway. Sage was dumbfounded. “Okay. That’s fine, not like we can use it anyway. You have to get the trident under its shell. I will run over there and try to distract it.” Sage grumbled. She felt like the crab was laughing at her. Chance felt the same. The crab didn’t even bother to meet them in the water. He assumed it was claiming the sand as its own.

Chance peeled himself off of the sand and stood tall. Sage rushed forward, stumbling a little when her slipper got stuck in the sand. “Over here, fish face!” Sage barked. She threw a handful of sand at the crab, who turned and began following her. Chance used the opportunity to dart forward. Once the crab's back was turned, he shoved the trident in between its shell.

The creature screeched and thrashed its meaty arms. Eventually, it tried to turn around. As the crab began to turn, Chance planted his feet, and the duo watched as the crab split itself in two. Chance practically had hearts in his eyes when he saw all the crab meat. “We will be eating well for weeks.” He mumbled. “We need to take inventory,” Sage said. She was trying to focus on the task, but crab legs did sound amazing right now.

-

Chance sat down and opened his menu. “Sage, everything has opened up. If you check, you should have a backpack; I got one. My inventory is also full,” Chance took the bag out and placed it on his back. He grinned as more slots appeared, “I got my fifteen spaces.” Chance looked over his menu and watched as Sage put her backpack on. “It’s not the best-looking bag, but at least we can carry more. It even has spaces on the side.”

Chance inhaled and began sorting his inventory.

:Chance:

Ten crab leg stacks. Each stack consisted of five legs. Two of Chance's inventory spaces were already taken up.

Two piles of crab meat. The crab meat is stacked in one space.

Two eyestalks. The crab eyes each took up one inventory space. Chance didn’t appreciate this.

Blue Pin Club. The Blue Pin Club was right up his alley; he placed the trident on the ground and took out the club instead. Although it was heavy, Chance wanted to use this weapon.

Bronze hunting dagger.

Fishing net.

Hunter's cloak.

-

:Sage:

Seven crab legs.

One pile of crab meat.

One eyestalk.

Twelve chelae. Sage wondered why she was getting so much more chelae. She assumed it was because she had one to start with.

Bronze hunting dagger.

Blue Pin Club.

Fishing net.

Cabin key.

-

After looking through their inventories, the duo decided to check out the rest of the menus. “Looks like we have a space for our person sheet.” Sage raised her brows. “In a video game, it would be called a character sheet.” Chance opened the menu as he spoke. “The tab is just labeled ‘You’ I guess this is where we see what we have on us.” Chance was taken back, “Sage, I have horrible news.”

Sage looked up quickly, she was trying to study the menu, but the tone Chance was speaking in scared her half to death. “What?” Chance burst into laughter, “Okay, it’s not that serious, I promise. I got a class I don't like, and I'm hoping we get a redo of some sort.” Sage groaned as loud as possible.

“Well, what did you get?” Sage crossed her legs. “Cleric.” He grumbled, turning his attention back to the menu. “I really didn’t want to heal or anything and wasn't too interested in magic. “So why pick the random class button?” Sage quirked a brow. “I thought I was in a coma dream.” Chance pinched his nose. Sage simply shook her head, “So did I, that’s why I picked Warrior. At least I can probably tank for us now.”

-

Each menu went as follows.

Inventory: Information about what Chance and Sage have can be viewed here. In sub-menus, they could see how much an item was worth and the material used. The inventory had several submenus and most were grayed out.

You: Here, they could see what they had equipped. In submenus, they could see their spells, abilities, collections, and more.

Map: Here, the map can be viewed. The duo discovered that they have to get a map before this tab is meaningful.

Bestiary: Here, the two can see the monsters they’ve killed thus far.

Quests: All of the quests that are active and completed can be viewed here.

-

After going through his inventory, Chance stood up and placed his hands on his hips. Sage slowly stood as well. “Here. You will get better use out of this.” Chance said as he handed Sage his trident. “Are you sure?” She asked as they began walking. With a nod, Chance said, “Yes. I look forward to using a club.” Sage was thankful. She had no intention of using the club she was given.

As the duo walked for a few more minutes and finally passed the cabin, Sage looked back as a blue circle appeared in front of Chance. “This is our life now?” Sage wondered out loud. Chance placed his hand on her shoulder, “Yes. But as long as we tackle this together, I believe we will be alright.”

With that, Sage turned, and they each stepped inside the blue circle and once again were teleported away.