Tinashe was helpless against the tides and was going manic from the fear of death. Everything happened so fast and he didn't really have time to prepare. As he lamented his peril, the mandigo man with adequate swimming skills, got a hold of him and tugged him. Tinashe felt like he had been yanked by something strong, a manly grip that helped him out of a disastrous situation. John flowed with him until they reached a log that was lodged against land and a rock.
He injected his free hand into the flesh of that log and used it to anchor themselves. John who could now see eye to eye with the distraught Tinashe, began assure him that he was going to be okay. Tinashe realized that this man was protecting him, but still felt stifled by the ordeal. The entire rainfall lasted for over 6 hours until it subsided into drizzle. John took this opportunity to swim towards a location with higher ground. Once, he had done so, the two of them began to talk.
"That was a close one. I am sorry I scared you off. Are you okay?" asked John, who was dragging the young man's body.
"Thank you, shit. I don't want to experience that again." he said, panting and coughing at the same time.
"Yeah. It would have been a shame to lose you so soon. You are the first person I have seen on this damn island." he said as they climbed over a trench like path.
"Yeah, thank you man. I am not much of a swimmer. What's your name, um, sir?" he said, getting the full scope of the man's body.
"Call me John, and from what I can see from your life bar hovering over you, you're Tinashe Mahando, right?" he said, darting his eyes at the name highlighted on top of his visible life bar. Tinashe also noticed John's bar and then said, "Yeah, that's about right. I can see it, it's pretty crazy that I can see that life bar."
"Yeah, I initially thought that this was the first stage of hell or something, some diabolical battle royal where 1000 people kill each other before proceeding to the epic finale of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Well, I honestly thought I would be in hell, but I am on a tropical paradise with typhoon like weather conditions reminiscing the movie 'Cast Away' by Tom Hanks. Weird right?" he said, as if engrossed in the art of delivering lines for a scripted monologue.
"Yeah, I have seen Cast Away." said Tinashe, who didn't know what to say about all the hints to hell in John's statement.
"Well Cast Away is a good film, I reckon the writing could have been tighter at certain points in the script. Well, I did find solace in having coconuts with faces all stacked up at my base as an alternative for people, but now that I have found someone, I won't have to participate in the act of mental degeneration." he said, grabbing a hold of a branch as he climbed up.
"You kept coconuts with faces? Um?" he asked, totally bewildered.
"Well don't think too much about it.Anyways how did you get here?" he asked, trying to dissuade him from thinking he was crazy.
"Get here?" he asked, confused by the context of the question.
"Yes here on the island. Tell me what you remember before and after you got here. The devil's in the details so make sure to give me everything." he said, holding him by the shoulder and looking into the boy's eyes. Tinashe told him everything concerning his death due to suicide via euthanasia in his past life and where he woke. John nodded and even had moments where he would stare with much interest. The fixation was so intense that Tinashe began to feel uncomfortable. John then went on to say, "So maybe this could be a purgatory for those who committed suicide with a rather sick twist of all the 1000 facing off against each other."
"What makes you think everyone is supposed to face off, why are you drawing such conclusions?" he asked, worried that he was making dangerous inferences.
"Well think about it logically. If we have bodies that behave and have facets of our progress compartmentalized by stats similar to what you'd find in a role playing game, plus the fact that killing other plays can yield you experience points via the 'Assimilation method' definitely means that leveling up will also have to deal with clashing with others." he said, with a stern look.
"Wait, this is my first time hearing about this how could you possibly know?" he asked, now doubtful of the man's reasoning capacity.
"Well let me show you then." he said, immediately instructing him to do a step by step entry on his custom goal. Tinashe read the information and wondered why he had never even considered searching this before. John noticed the horror in the boy's face and told him, "If this news flash breaks your heart, then you must throw away any ideas about this being a heavenly afterlife because with what that purple demon has said, it's pretty clear that we have to level up, survive the hostile elements like the wildlife, weather and finally other players. This is a survival game but we don't have to all adhere to whatever rules we have been given, that's why I want to form a group, hopefully find reasonable people so that we can survive and resist people who will try to take out others. The only issue is that people are hard to find. I hope you will be a decent person Tinashe."
"Um wow, that's a lot to take in, I am a decent guy. I don't think I have it in me, you know, murder, I don't think I would ever kill someone." he said, as he shivered.
"Well hopefully you won't have to. I see that you are shivering, I will take you to my hideout. I was initially exploring the other side of island, hoping to find others and acquaint myself with nature until I got caught in the rain. I figured that it would be better to hide in a cave rather under a tree when I noticed the water levels rising. I am pretty sure I gave you quite the scare when I came in unannounced, so anyways I will treat you to something I learned recently from much experimentation. You look fairly young, do you drink?" he asked, interested in his response.
"Well, I wish I had before I had killed myself." he said, barely delivering his words due to his intense shiver.
"Well your virgin lips will surely learn the taste of alcohol in the afterlife. A pleasant catharsis awaits you ahead." he said, with a grin on his face. The two of them trotted in the muddy terrain as the winds were blowing and giving a ghastly eolowin tone that rustled the leaves and trees. The journey towards John's cave would take just under an hour and for some reason, the monkeys they came across, with their purple drenched thick fur, were subdued and didn't attack them. They seemed excited by John's presence and John even reassured Tinashe to stay calm. Tinashe remembered being clobbered by a monkey recently and nearly died, but these creatures seemed excited with a rather reverent attitude. He was beginning to feel safer in the arms of this man and hoped that he would help him out with all the questions he could not answer for himself, regarding the world of Goshem.
John's cave looked remarkable and modern. It was lit by many of the night bugs and the walls were painted with some liquid that glowed in the dark. He had several custom made pillows, made using some animal's wool and some leather from an animal he slaughtered. Everything was stitched together using thin vines and silk from silkworms that were boiled in a clay pot after they had finished pupating. John seemed rather knowledgeable in the arts and crafts department and also made a contraption that looked like a stove made from some weird alloy and strung together with wood. He had a huge clay container that resembled a cooler box which contained fruits that had been fermented for 4 days. John handed Tinashe the wool made blanket and pillows to lie on.
Tinashe obliged and reclined on the pillows. Sleeping on this was a real treat compared to lying on the rugged terrain. Tinashe glanced at him and before he could ask how he managed to pull all this off, John said, "You wish to know how I am this resourceful? Well before I became a famous novelist and writer who wore many hats, I used to be part of Do It Yourself styled show that involved crafting things based email requests. Relying on mostly the internet and specialized assistance from professionals, I got really useful skills."
"Wait you were a famous novelist? What books did you write?" he asked, astounded by this revelation.
"The player follows, the philanderer, The Eternal dragon of the litRPG, Sewn to perfection and my magnum opus, the artist's woe. That was the only book that I got critical praise for and it was the highlight of my career." he said, pouring the fermented fruit juice into clay tumblers.
"Wow! That's amazing, you were an established writer. Well to be honest, I was mostly into non-fiction and historical books, I never really found story books interesting." he said, as he snuggled into the pillows.
"Not even the classics like Dickens, Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde or George Orwell?" he asked, astonished by his lack of interest in literary fiction.
"Well, my dad and mom mostly encouraged me to reader factual books and stuff. So I was really interested in learning different cultures, their history, ethnicities and why they behaved a certain way. I think knowing more about your initial environment and opening your mind to how other societies coped with everything in the world fascinated me more than fictional stuff." he said, with a rather romanticized expression.
"A noble answer indeed, so what were you planning on becoming then, with your interests?" he asked as he handed him a cup of alcohol.
"Well, I think I would aim to be a Vice correspondent. You know Vice right, the journalist organisation that covers various issues and uncovers truths that mainstream media would rather not show because of political biases. I wanted to shed light on things." he said with a passionate look.
"Hmm, that sounds like a rather dangerous field but at the same time an interesting one. Travelling around the world, going to conflict zones and debunking the bullshit that major news networks try to feed the masses. That's interesting, but why would someone who wanted to pursue such a career terminate their life?" he asked, almost confused by why Tinashe had opted for suicide despite his ambitions.
"Well, I guess I wasn't strong enough to handle verbal abuse and bullying at school. I was quite the unique cookie and didn't follow the crowd. That made me popular for the wrong reasons and I was harassed alone. I wasn't used to the world being against me so I caved in to the pressure." he said, with a morose look as he drank the alcohol. The alcohol tasted sweet instead of sour and Tinashe wondered why his expectations were betrayed. Tinashe then asked him, "You seem like you were a celebrity or something in your past life, why did you commit suicide if you so much success?"
"Well brace yourself, I have got quite the tale to tell." he said, immediately drinking 3 shots as soon as he was done.