Chapter 12 strange

While Daniel was enjoying the knowledge he got, his stomach suddenly grumbled loudly. Daniel realized that his body hadn't eaten anything for a couple of weeks at this point.

If Daniel wanted to survive, he had to hunt or acquire a fruit that could be eaten. If he still had his former body, hunting would be simple, but doing it with this one would be equivalent to committing suicide. So his only choice was to locate a fruit.

As he turned to look around, he noticed numerous familiar plants, flowers, and fruits that weren't found on Earth. But the problem was these fruits were poisonous thanks to Joel's memory.

He also spotted a variety of strange fruit, but he didn't want to gamble his life by eating them without knowing if it was poisonous or not. As a result, he carefully stood up and wandered around, brushing the bushes and casting glances in all directions.

As Daniel looked around, he suddenly fell to his knees, clutching his stomach in agony. He wanted to scream in pain but restrained himself fearing it might attract some nearby wildlife.

[There is no monster within two miles, host, so calm down. I made sure no one would disrupt the merging process before I began. However, if you step over the border, the monsters are waiting to murder you at any moment.]

When Daniel read the notification, a sigh of relief escaped his lips. "Thanks, system; you've been a big help."

He slowly stood up and forced himself to run. After some time spent jogging, Daniel finally came across an apple tree. He rushed over to it without giving a care about his surroundings and snatched the fruit out of the tree.

He wasted no time in devouring it as fast as a ravenous monster that hadn't eaten in days. Daniel consumed the apple in under ten seconds without his knowing. So he pulled another one, then ate it.

Daniel had been eating for three minutes without pausing. He consumed a lot of apples, but the sense of hunger persisted, so he took his time and consumed even more.

Exactly ten minutes later, Daniel stopped eating as he sensed his stomach was about to burst. He began to gasp for air. "Damn I never thought I can eat that much," said Daniel as he rubbed his stomach multiple times.

Finally having the opportunity to glance around, Daniel was a bit perplexed by what he discovered. A variety of fruit trees, including apple and banana trees, stood in a line in his front. But it was their distance from one another that perplexed him. They appeared to be planted in sequence and were about 10 meters apart. However, the area beneath those trees was littered, giving the impression that it had been abandoned.

Although Daniel wanted to believe it was merely a coincidence, their position appeared to have been accurately measured. The arrangement of the trees was likewise well-planned. He questioned, "System, what is this place?"

[...]

On his front, a notification popped up, which he slowly read.

[This place is a forest host. A forest is made out by-]

Daniel smacked his forehead. He questioned, "No, I mean, why the hell these trees were planted precisely."

[My LVL is too low to answer your question.]

When he read the system answer he sighed. "I already expected this answer but the truth is really disappointing."

Daniel calculated that he could develop his body with these sufficient resources without taking the risk of engaging in combat with a monster, and if his body was capable of combat, he would try real-time hunting.

As he continued to consider what he needed to do in order to survive here his eyes slowly closed without his authorization. Instead of fighting exhaustion, he flopped down on the ground and tried to find a position that was as cozy as possible. After he positioned his body, he fell asleep almost instantly.

_____

Daniel opened his eyes and yelled, "Ahhh!" before hurriedly sitting down. He instantly looked around as his heart raced nonstop, but all he saw was a tranquil forest filled with the chirping noises of insects and birds. He then understood that he was only having a nightmare.

He shook his head. "Again that dream," he murmured in a hopeless manner as a fleeting expression of sorrow and grief crept on his face.

"It's getting harder and harder to regulate my emotions these days. It might be due to Joel's memories infiltrating my consciousness," said Daniel as he shivered, fearing Joel's recollection might cause him to have two personalities.

Daniel shut his eyes and breathed more gently as he embraced the air's gentle breeze and the audible noises of the woodland. When Daniel opened his eyes after an hour of meditation, he felt incredibly refreshed and calm.

He stood up and began stretching his bones. After a system notification appeared on his front.

[Daily Mission]

[Daily exercise]

[The exercise count will increase every day]

[Push up:0/10]

[Squats:0/10]

...

"System is there a punishment if I don't do the daily exercise?" Daniel asked.

[No, the host won't be coerced into carrying out the assignment. The host, however, will not receive the mission's benefits, which is the lone drawback.]

Daniel nodded in satisfaction, knowing that the arrangement he made yesterday wouldn't change.

"You said yesterday that you had built a 2-mile barrier in the area. Therefore, what are the precise latitude and longitude of the barrier?"

[Both the latitude and the longitude of the barrier are two miles long.]

"So the barrier is square," he said while repeatedly nodding his head in comprehension.

Daniel wanted to explore the area before engaging in workouts and other activities since he had a feeling that there was something nearby due to the fruit trees being planted appropriately. So he decided to map the area first since he might run into some locals or come across something beneficial.

He started by picking some fruit and eating it slowly. Following his meal, he gathered a large number of fruits and added them to his inventory. After taking a drink, he was prepared to explore.

Since he had no idea where he was, he started by glancing above his head and analyzing the sun's position. Daniel observed that it was still dawn and that the sun was on his right; combining these two clues, Daniel was able to determine that he was facing north.

"Thank goodness the sun still rises in the east, or else I'd have to learn a new skill without a compass," he thanked.

He then strolled around the area till he came across a sizable chunk of wood. Although Daniel struggled to transport the wood, he persisted and placed it where he was standing before as a mark of his starting point.

After that, Daniel cautiously made his way toward the riverbank and crouched down. He retrieved one stone and carefully examined it. After some time, he threw it out of his sight and picked up another stone. Daniel continued till he encountered a sharp stone. He ordered the system to access his inventory.

The inventory tab materialized on his front in an instant. The stone slowly disintegrated into tiny fragments and was absorbed by the inventory tab after he leveled it to the inventory tab.

____

[Inventory]

[2/10]

[Fruits 10×]

[Stone 5×]

____

Daniel nodded his head and hiked at a steady pace. After traveling for thirty minutes, Daniel paused and slopped his back against the tree, gasping for air; at this point, he had traveled a half-mile to the north.

After taking a little break, Daniel stood up and retrieve the sharp stone he had previously acquired. Then he scratched the word "804 meters" into the tree. Every 50 meters of his journey, Daniel scrapped a sign.

As he relaxed and brushed the sweat out of his body, he suddenly caught sight of something gleaming on the back of the tree. He hesitantly stood up and felt his wobbling legs due to fatigue.

[Warning! Warning! I sense a serious case of fatigue in your body, please rest! Please rest!]

"Don't worry system I know. I just want to peek and then rest since this body can't walk too long," he replied.

As Daniel walked forward, his foot suddenly gave out; fortunately, he caught hold of the tree branches, or else he would have tumbled to the ground.

Without more delay, he moved forward once more. When he finally arrived at the tree, he cautiously cleared the shrubs out of the way and saw a translucent barrier. Daniel could clearly see what was outside the barrier. His arm was about to reach out when a notification abruptly arrived.

[Warning! Warming! Are you sure your gonna go out in the safe zone? Y/N]

"No, I was just curious sorry."

Daniel drew his hand back to him and refrained from trying to touch the barrier once more. He only gave it a cursory stare from a few meters away, but he didn't learn anything, so he sat down and propped himself up against a tree.

Chapter end.

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Author note:

This chapter was not included as filler; I only used it to introduce one of the book's major settings. In order to avoid rushing the story's pacing, I intend to settle Daniel first before starting an action arc.

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XP.

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