Chapter 12: Helping others and First Vehicle

The world announcement was followed by the daily advent point gain. Deryn just quickly glanced at this <316 ap gained>. Not even acknowledging this he went back to look at the world announcement.

< WORLD ANNOUNCEMENT: DOOMSDAY ADVENT SURVIVAL TUTORIAL TEST 1 STARTS IN 36 HOURS >

There was nothing else said in the announcement other than this. It however held precious information that confirmed some conjectures Deryn had. The first of which was that the world he was in now was just a mere tutorial for the real doomsday advent world.

He got this thought from the description of the Elemental Generator (prototype) but wasn't 100% sure it applied to him until now. This meant the world humans were in now was a tutorial world and what followed was potentially the true world.

< THE SYSTEM SUGGESTS THAT THE HOST DOESN'T WORRY ABOUT THIS NOW. THE TUTORIAL WORLD IS A WORLD FOR GROWTH >

Deryn thought about what the system just said. The idea that this was the world for growth before they went to the true world made him think of how weak the human race as a whole was. There was most likely less than 1% of the population who had survival skills to live in the wild and if the population got transported to the new world without the adaptation and growth period they would be like lambs getting sent to the wolves for slaughter.

"I wonder how long the tutorial world lasts, system any hints?" Deryn asked while deep in thought.

< INFORMATION AND STRENGTH IS KEY HOST, ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT >

Deryn sat in thought for a few moments but couldn't come to any significant conclusion from what the system had just replied. He decided that he would come back to this issue once he had a more thorough idea of the situation as a whole, rather than make himself panic from incomplete and guesswork information.

This didn't stop the urge to get stronger which now filled his thoughts. He was recently pleased with his rapid growth, yet not even half a day later was he now wishing for more strength. He needed more strength to survive.

The next thing he noticed was that this was test 1. This suggested that there were more tests. He wondered what the conditions were for the tests, or if it was a time-based thing that automatically happened. Once again he was left with lots of guesswork information but no concrete conclusions due to the lack of data.

Shaking his head Deryn headed into the world chat. He wanted to see what the world was trying to say. He noticed earlier that the world chat was updated to only allow 1 message per day from each participant which hopefully meant the chat went by slower than before.

And it did. However, the chat was now filled with two types of people. The first type asked for help, whether that was in terms of food, water or getting out of the doomsday advent world.

Alas before the market opened no one could help those people. But even if they could what would be in it for them? Deryn wouldn't personally mind helping people, as long as he got something for the effort he put into doing so that is.

While the second type of people was those discussing test 1 that was just announced. These made up the majority of people and were trying to come to conclusions on what the test could be. The most popular of these theories were monsters coming to attack humans.

It didn't seem like everyone had battled monsters as Deryn had. The world chat mentioned animals like boars, wolves and bears yet nothing like the humanoid kobolds Deryn had to defeat.

Opening up the regional chat Deryn saw a few familiar names talking between one another.

Owlen Davids: Guys, you must prepare for the test, no matter what it is, being prepared in the basics is key.

Cerry Allen: ^^ Owlen is right people. It doesn't matter if you feel afraid. You must go and get resources if you want to survive.

Deryn Adams: How many people have built their shelter?

Owlen Davids: Hey Deryn. I have built mine to level two hbu?

Cerry Allen: ^^ Ditto, hbu Deryn? Also, I have put a poll up so people can vote instead of spamming the chat!!!

Chris Leeds: I built mine only to level one though :/

Cerry Allen: THE POLL CHRIS!!

Chris Leeds: Right sorry :(

Deryn shook his head and looking at the poll 5 minutes later found that out of the 1608 people who were in the chat, 906 had built a shelter.

Deryn Adams: I have a few things to say if people want to listen. Before you decide whether to listen or not I can tell you a bit about my situation to back up my case. I have a level 3 very rare shelter and at present time I am 2nd on the world leaderboards.

Owlen Davids: Woahhhh! 2nd wow, I thought I was the highest and I'm only ranked 633 wow.

Chris Leeds: Confirmed guys! Deryn is second have a look! I for one want to hear what you say.

Cerry Allen: +1

Owlen Davids: +2

Finley Wills: +3

Deryn Adams: Two things I want to say, and I'm only giving you this bit of information because hopefully one day you can pay me back with more information. Anyway, I digress. The shelter is key for your survival. If you cant build or upgrade it on your own then team up with one another! The second part is to make sure you gather basic resources. Not just food or water but also tools and weapons. Without those, you will find yourself stuck someday soon. That is all.

The chat went silent for a few minutes before another message came through.

Cerry Allen: Deryn. What do you mean about the shelter being key and that we could team up together?

Deryn: This will be my last series of messages today. The doomsday advent world isn't as simple as you think. Not only that but the shelter is special. It is the single best investment of resources that you can make. My shelter is equivalent now to a small mansion back on earth with unique additions I won't mention.

Whilst teaming up can potentially be just as important. You can sign alliances using the doomsday assistant system. In those alliances, you can create teams that are all part of a singular shelter. There are many types of teams such as a democratic team or a sole leader team. Each team has its own merits and demerits but that's up for you to choose. The team option not only allows you to have someone watch your back but also makes gathering resources easier.

I have said what I feel needed to be said. Good luck to you all and I will be back to chat again tomorrow around the same time.

The information was what he found scrolling through his own system settings during the day whilst he was digging holes for the pitfall spike trap. After asking the system it seemed like the regular doomsday advent system also had these options. Honestly, Deryn was surprised no one seemed to be talking about this.

Yet after he thought about it again it made sense. It didn't seem like anyone else had the leisure and/or mind frame to look through the system entirely and see what exactly it fully had to offer. And if someone did, why would they spread it around to help others when there didn't seem to be any benefit to oneself?

Deryn had only done so to foster some goodwill in the regional chat. Then perhaps in the future, more information will be sent to him because of the good deed he had done today. It would also make him more popular come the time of the market opening although he wasn't sure when that would be. He knew it was when 50% of the population had built shelters but didn't know how much had so an estimated time frame couldn't be made.

What Deryn didn't realise was the individuals in the regional chat had all unanimously decided to copy and paste what Deryn had said to them and paste it in the world chat. The sight of a thousand messages all showing the same thing during a time when everyone was looking at the world chat got billions of peoples attention.

The world chat was stunned into silence. Whilst the news held in these messages was basic at best, almost every person who saw it had no concept of teaming up. The self-preservation instincts inside of them made them overlook this possibility.

A blue-haired boy opened his eyes after reading the chat "This Deryn guy is interesting." "I will keep an eye on him sir" a shadow muttered to which the blue-haired boy nodded before shaking his head "Leave him be, we have bigger troubles".

A tall robust red-haired woman read the chat and snorted unhappily "Why is he giving out the secret... HMPH". The men around her mining ores all shrank their necks at the sound of her harumphing.

Deryn had no idea he was in the limelight right now. Instead, he was looking through the vehicle section of the system store. He had 316 AP to spend but it didn't seem like it would be enough to get him a vehicle of decent quality and performance ratio. It was either the extremely cheap route of a bicycle with an inventory of its own, or a hummer with an extensive inventory and all sorts of bells and whistles yet cost almost 3000 AP.

"System, any suggestions on the vehicle section?".

< REMEMBER HOST. SYSTEM SUGGESTIONS COME WITH A COST >

"I know. I just need something affordable, that will speed up my journeys and won't be a hassle to refuel; ideally, it will also have an inventory of its own but that isn't a necessity.

< THE SYSTEM SUGGESTION PRICE WILL COST HOST 16 AP. CONFIRM Y / N >

"You leech... yeah sure take them quick" Deryn moaned, pained the system was scamming him once more.

< SYSTEM HAS 1486 OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO HOST BASED ON CURRENT QUERY >

Deryn had a quick look before grunting. " SYSTEM, I said affordable... "

< OPTIONS SHOWN ARE AFFORDABLE COMPARED TO THE OTHER 3.674 MILLION POSSIBILITIES BASED UPON HOSTS REQUIREMENTS >

*SIGH*

"Less than 300 AP then... please..."

< SYSTEM HAS 6 CHOICES FOR HOST >

OPTION 1: BICYCLE WITH INVENTORY (80 AP, COST INCREASES WITH INVENTORY INCREASED)

OPTION 2: GIANT EAGLE WITH INVENTORY SADDLE (290 AP)

OPTION 3: ELEMENTAL POWERED MOTORBIKE (300AP, NO INVENTORY)

OPTION 4: HUGE WOLF WITH INVENTORY SADDLE (240 AP)

OPTION 5: RECHARGEABLE OFFROAD BUGGY (300AP)

OPTION 6: ELECTROMAGNETIC HOVERBOARD (300 AP)

Deryn instantly eliminated options 1 and 3. He didn't want a bicycle and didn't know how to ride a motorcycle. Option 2 and 4 interested him as he could get oversized pets he could ride which had an inventory on the saddle. The one thing which put him off about these two options as if he got into a fight and they died it would be a waste of points.

This left him with options 5 and 6. It was a shame he couldn't find out any more information about the items before he brought them. He didn't know how long it would take him to learn how to drive the electromagnetic hoverboard or the restrictions which came with it.

He sat down and seriously began to rethink the options once more. He decided to choose option 5. It seemed like not only the safest bet out of all of them but also the one which he could get used to the quickest as he knew how to drive regular cars from his time on earth.

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< RECHARGEABLE OFFROAD BUGGY >

DESCRIPTION: An offroad buggy made out of spare parts and a tough roll cage. Has a maximum speed of 60mph and a battery life of 8hrs.

Can only be charged in the speciality building < GARAGE >.

The buggy is also upgradable if the necessary parts are acquired (can only be upgraded via the < GARAGE>.

RARITY: Light Blue (Rare)

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The buggy appeared in his inventory and without thinking Deryn decided to grab it from the inventory. Completely forgetting he was sitting in the living room on the sofa of aboveground floor 2 of his shelter he summoned it in front of him. The buggy appeared with a flash of light before vanishing once more.

Checking his inventory in a slight panic Deryn couldn't see the buggy anywhere.

"SYSTEM, I HAVE BEEN CONNED" Deryn shouted.

< SYSTEM SUGGESTS HOST CHECKS THE GARAGE. THE SYSTEM ALSO RECOMMEND THE HOST THINKS BEFORE SUMMONING ITEMS IN THE FUTURE... >

Deryn flushed. His entire face turned red. He had no comeback for the system and just stayed mute as he made his way down the airlift and into the garage.

Once there and turning on the lights with a thought he instantly saw the buggy in one of the three parking spots. It had a wire from the wall plugged into it and a small holographic screen popped up telling Deryn it would take 58:57 to charge the buggy. It would take one hour to charge the buggy's battery full, which would get him 8 hours of use.

"The elemental generator really is useful," he thought to himself offhandedly as he marvelled at the buggy. The buggy was a mixture of greens and browns, like camouflage, except due to the giant headlights it wouldn't hide from much. The four wheels and suspension looked like it would make him feel no impact on bumpy terrain but that needed further testing.

The buggy only had two pedals and 2 gears. A break and accelerator pedal and a reverse and forward gear. Deryn could drive this easily and was happy for it to be extremely simplified. Most importantly, the inventory of the car was 20 slots. This was equal to Deryn's own inventory, which meant his ability to store things while outside had practically doubled.

This was important as recently when he adventured out, he had to carry his tools back in hand to make space for items in his inventory. The buggy wasn't massively big. It had two seats at the front and a single seat at the back which didn't look like it would be comfortable to fit in.

Overall Deryn was happy with the new purchase. It would allow him to complete the next part of his plan by exterminating the rest of the kobolds in the surrounding area shown on his map. He had a quick idea he wanted to try before he got ready to sleep.

Curiously Deryn decided to drive the Buggy onto the car lift before walking to the crafting table.

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< UPGRADE OPTION FOR OFFROAD BUGGY >

1: DOUBLE BATTERY STORAGE: REQUIRES RECHARGEABLE BATTERY x2 / SILVER x24

2: INCREASED INVENTORY SPACE: REQUIRES: VEHICLE INVENTORY UPGRADE STONE x1

————————————————————————————————————————————

There were more options which increased speed and the like but Deryn thought these two would be the best options in the near future. Option 1 would increase his effective travel range while option 2 would increase the number of items he could take and bring back with him while out exploring.

Deryn called for Kev who came running towards him a few seconds later. Showing Kev to Deryn's old room he told the kobold that he could stay there until he got a proper place sorted for him. Kev just wagged his tail happily before diving into the bed snoring not long after.

Chuckling Deryn decided to have a quick shower before going to bed.