Angel Herb
Type: Flora
Rarity: Rare
Description: Found in the most secluded meadows, it's said to be watered by the tears of guardian angels. Its aroma alone can lift the veil of sorrow, replacing it with hope and a renewed sense of vigour.
This new item floated inside of the box next to the Miracle of the Heavens in my inventory. Unlike the Miracle of the Heavens, however, it was looked as if it were shaded out. This wasn't entirely true. The bottom of the box containing the Angel Herb was clear and showed the original colours of the glowing plant, however the rest of the box as shaded out.
"What does that mean?" I mused, expecting the Infinite System to answer me.
Nothing came.
Instead of waiting for an answer, I decided to use trial and error to figure out what made the Angel Herb different to the Miracle of the Heavens. Why had one item come out straight away and the other won't? I followed the pattern of thinking about taking the herb out of the inventory, as I did with the Miracle of the Heavens, only to be presented with another system message.
DING!
[You have not collected enough Angel Herb to duplicate]
Angel Herb 1/10
My heart started beating faster as my excitement level rose. Was the Infinite System not just a storage or container but a way for me to duplicate anything that I put into it?
DING!
[Quest: Casual Collector]
Your need to collect things has flared up. Will you show the world your collection addiction?
Fill your inventory with items:
Dirt
Wood
Stone
Reward: Common grade Tool Recipe
My breathing became heavy, like a cat in heat, and I found myself wide-eyed and grinning stupidly at the floating quest box in front of me. Dirt. Wood. Stone. These three things were the basics of any survival game. You chop trees for wood, mine rocks for stone and dig up the earth for dirt. I immediately dropped to my knees and punched the grassy ground below me.
"Ouch!" I yelped in pain.
I blew on my reddened knuckles and cringed at my own stupidity. I was caught up in all of the similarities this new environment had to the games I've played in the past and gave into my instinct to punch 'tiles' in lieu of any helpful tools. Good thing no one was here to see such an embarrassing sight.
As my pain subsided, my mind started wondering how I was going to fulfil the quest requirements to collect dirt, wood and stone. I had no tools to dig, chop or mine with!
"Wait a second," I thought, halting my self-deprecation. "Didn't the system just automatically collect the Miracle water and herb thing?"
I remembered the scene of the system drinking up all of my water with chagrin and it also taking in the Angel Herb.
"So what if I just thought about it taking all the dirt around me, then?"
I stood there with a new found conviction, focusing my thoughts on having the system collect the dirt beneath me, picturing it eating the grass and dirt whole. I kept thinking about it and thinking about it. I thought about it so hard that I started straining my head to see if it needed more effort from me because it was heavier than simply drawing water or uprooting a plant.
Nothing.
"Why aren't you taking in the dirt?" I yelled at the system box floating smugly in front of me.
There was no response from the system at all. It was like it was looking down on me, a lowly and ignorant being. My frustration lead me to grabbing some grass and throwing it at the system box.
To my surprise, the grass I had thrown disappeared into the system box as soon as it touched it.
[Rarity: Trash cannot be stored]
This new development threw my brain into overdrive. 'Trash cannot be stored' it said, which means that it won't accept certain things it deems as 'trash' grade. The system only reacted when the grass touched the translucent box, as if it were physical and not just some sort of interface. When I think about taking something out of the inventory, though, it won't stop me from doing so and makes it appear in front of me. I've seen three different rarity grades so far, the water being 'legendary', the plant being 'rare' and now the grass being 'trash. The quests mention a reward of a 'normal' grade 'tool recipe'.
As I stood there contemplating what all of this meant, and how it all connected to each other, my stomach rumbled which brought me back to reality.
"I've been walking around since I got here," I laughed at myself. "I don't know what else is in this forest, so let's try find something to eat and figure it all out later."
With that, I started walking out of the clearing and back into the forest of trees.
My mind and body were fighting with each other to win my focus, as I walked through the forest. On one hand, I wanted to find the answers to the why's, where's and how's to my situation, on the other my stomach wouldn't stop growling at me for food. Eventually my stomach won over my thoughts.
It didn't take long before I encountered another pair of squirrel-like animals climbing up and down the trees. Their appearances looked similar to squirrels, but that was all they had in common to what I knew. Their fur was a darker tint of green, making it easier for them hide in the shaded areas between the branches and leaves. Their size was more like what I expected from a house cat. The two that I was watching with a hungry zeal seemed to be eating something - a berry.
Although my mind was shrouded by thoughts of cooked squirrel meat, I knew that I wasn't fit to hunt these two animals. I had never killed anything bigger than a fly in my life. Seeing these two squirrels gave me hope, however, as they were holding onto and eating something that didn't require me to hunt for.
I circled the area looking for a berry bush. Just like in most survival games, the player is always too weak to fight against the wildlife at the start, so they have to scrounge or forage for fruit or vegetables. It didn't take long for me to find exactly what I was looking for.
Huberry
Type: Food
Rarity: Common
Description: Its skin is a deep, inviting shade of blue, hinting at the burst of sweet and slightly tangy flavour it holds within. Huberries are cherished for their versatility in culinary uses, from fresh, juicy snacks to the key ingredient in pies, jams, and refreshing beverages.
"So this is a 'huberry,'" I said aloud, reading the information the system was giving me.
I tried duplicating the huberry from the inventory screen, however I was met with a similar message to when I tried doing it for the Angel Herb:
[You have not collected enough Angel Herb to duplicate]
Huberry 1/100
It made sense. If a 'rare' grade item needs ten to be collected before it can be duplicated, then it's obvious that items of a lower grade would require more to be collected.
"I was only able to collect 42," I sighed. "I should probably eat these last few and fill up the inventory when I find more."
Fortunately the huberries were safe to eat. I could deduce this from the description given by the Infinite System. If it's used as a key ingredient to baked goods and drinks, it must be safe to eat on its own, too.
My happiness from no longer being hungry turned into excitement as I kept walking through the forest. It wasn't long after my meal that I started hearing the rushing of water. Turning to face the source of this sound, my smile was quickly turned into a frown. There, at the edge of the river, was an animal much larger than me hunched over for a drink.
I held my breath instinctively and hid behind the tree to peek at it. From where I stood, it looked like a bear, but it wasn't. This giant beast raised its head from the river water and revealed its terrifying face. Its face didn't look like any animal I had ever seen before. Its face bore the majesty and terror of a creature born from the wildest dreams and darkest nightmares. Two sets of eyes, one atop the other, glimmered with a piercing intelligence, the lower pair larger and glowing with an eerie, phosphorescent light that seemed to illuminate the surrounding darkness. Its snout was elongated, more akin to a crocodile's than a bear's, lined with rows of razor-sharp teeth, each as long as a man's finger, promising death to any who dared come too close.
DING!