Aleks Merin walked the dirt path, eventually he realized his mistake.
He forgot to pack food!
Although he didn't think he was an idiot, deep down, he acted like one.
Aleks inhaled: "I will survive off the air."
He doesn't know why he said this but when he said it, he thought he sounded cool, so he was now resolute to be a tough guy and survive off air.
However long that will last, only time will tell.
The rice fields were a lot larger than Aleks thought it would be, he walked straight, he was told it was in the East direction, until the sun came up.
This time Aleks did something even he thought was smart.
He traced the sunrise and the direction he was heading!
The sun rises from the east and sets at the west, it was just like Earth!
Now he doesn't need to ask for directions, he would just look up and let the stars guide him.
He felt like a true adventurer now.
When the remaining farmers looked at Aleks they saw him staring at the sun.
"Look there goes the village idiot, Aleks!" They whispered to each other.
Although they whispered, Aleks heard them and glared back at them: "…"
He decided not to look at the stars for this moment, he knew what direction to walk towards and didn't want people making fun of him again.
Although he was a tough guy on the outside, he was still human, so those words made him angry.
"Damn farmers, always think I am stupid. I was trying to use the stars as a compass, I am far ahead of your time's fool!"
He was comforting himself internally.
But, yet he still forgot to ask for some food for his journey.
Maybe next time when he sees a fellow farmer he can beg for some scraps.
He didn't mind playing the idiot when benefits were involved, this was completely different than being called an idiot for no reason and being called an idiot when he got something out of it.
Earlier he was able to scam the barkeep out of saving two Darnma coins when he placed three instead of five.
Why would he give him all the money he had?
Aleks clearly just quit his job, how else was he supposed to spend his last hard earned coins?
"Maybe I can spend my coins on a girl?" Aleks smirked and looked towards the dirt path he was walking and was expectant of a new journey!
Two hours passed, four hours passed, then three more hours, the sun was set at its peak and Aleks was getting hungry.
He made his way through the rice fields two hours ago, the map that was simply drawn showed that the rice field was less than a quarter of the way!
"Why is this damn rice field so damn big?" He muttered under his dry mouth.
He was getting thirsty after walking for so long.
Unfortunately, he didn't see any other farmers available to beg for food.
So he could only live up to the word to survive off air.
Aleks sighed: "…"
Next he had to walk through a valley and hopefully he could catch something like a deer. After all, this world had rice, it must have some sort of animal that lived in the wild he could hunt.
With this in mind, Aleks picked up the pace and shot towards the valley that was drawn on the map!
The sun quickly set towards the west and Aleks had yet to make it to the valley that was drawn on the map.
He looked at the map in different angles trying to see if he misunderstood, but all he saw was two triangles and squiggly lines in the middle.
What else could it be besides a valley?
At this moment he was still walking on top of a dirt path, but his surroundings were full of grass and the occasional tree on a hill.
Now that it was dark all he could do was continue walking, he was hungry and could no longer swallow his saliva to keep his mouth wet.
"Maybe I am an idiot." He thought as he continued to walk toward the east direction.
When the sun rose, it came from the east, this was able to assure Aleks that there wasn't any strange phenomena where it would rise from the east and the next day rise from the north.
Putting that aside, he was no longer walking in the plains, there were mountains in the horizon and a large lake in the middle!
At the very least Aleks can fish and get rid of the dry feeling in his mouth, he saw hope!
Around him were small critters and small fox-like animals hunting, this was a live ecosystem!
*Ding!
[Side Quest Triggered:
Hunt four red-tailed foxes
Failure: increase in hunger
Success: four red-tailed foxes]
Aleks: "…"
He saw the red-tailed foxes hunt the rabbits earlier, they didn't seem too slow, in fact if he had to chase after one, he was not confident in capturing it.
But, Aleks thought of a great idea!
A few hours later Aleks was seen holding a sharp rock and hiding inside a bush.
Unfortunately, he was not fully covered inside the bush, but from the front-side he was completely incognito!
His plan was to gather fruits off the bushes, lay them out to attract the rabbits, and when they are about to get eaten throw his rock at the fox!
It wasn't a great plan, but the part about throwing rocks and attracting his prey was a good start.
He was able to catch two of the four red-tailed foxes!
At this point in time, he was still suffering from dry mouth. Originally he was going to drink the blood of the foxes, but he didn't have anything to cut them open with, otherwise he would just be like a mosquito sucking the blood from the injury he caused.
Commiting to his plan of hiding and attracting his prey worked out pretty well for himself, he was very lucky in this regard.
He missed his chances a few times and landed the rock on the poor rabbit, and other times he didn't have enough force to mortally injure the foxes.
Overall this half-baked plan to wait and hunt worked out for him.
*Ding!
[User has completed the side quest: To Starve or To Be Starved]
[Quest rewards already exist! Congratulations!]
Aleks sighed: "…"
On Earth things like hunting are a common understanding, after all, Earth has its roots and Aleks was close to his roots as a martial arts instructor!
He knew how to camp, hunt, cook, eat, sleep, and most importantly win a fight!
Fights exist in all forms of life.
A predator fights to earn his meal everyday, a prey such as the rabbit fights to survive.
Aleks fought on earth because he was a lot like the rabbit, he fought to survive, he didn't have much money, he didn't have many aspirations, but through his life he understood that fighting was a core trait that encompassed his world view.
Aleks was a simple guy, he fought his brain to learn simple stuff like rubbing twigs together to make a fire.
He fought with words to get a good deal on an apartment.
Most impressively, he fought with looks to get the attention of girls.
Aleks was well aware of the nature of the world, everywhere he looked at the very core it was a fight.
Either you fight to survive or you fight to eat.
Aleks thought about these words and asked himself: "Isn't that basically the same thing?"
Well, Aleks made a fire and roasted one of the red-tailed foxes to survive through the night.
He made camp on a hill with a tree, it was a good spot to lookout for any predators that lurk throughout the night.
Although he checked off the hunger portion, his mouth was still dry.
He could only look towards the horizon and dream of the cold water of the lake.
"Humans can survive at most three days without water, the lake is about another half day away so I shouldn't worry about this."
*Ding!
[Side Quest Unlocked:
Reach the valley of Callisto and drink the clear waters from the lake!
Failure: Death due to exhaustion
Success: Satiate thirst
Time Remaining: 08:59:00]
Aleks sighed as he looked at the blue window and saw that this side quest had a time limit.
He looked at the blue window and at the horizon where the lake is at, then he looked at the blue window again, then the horizon.
"I have almost nine hours!"
Aleks kicked the fire and started trodding down the hill he was at, leaving the fox that he was munching on.
This set of circumstances felt like a joke to him, but reality was that he was not taking care of himself.
He first saw the foxes and thought of the fish, he then saw the foxes and thought of water.
Aleks never had to survive off the lands, so he was being naive about his current conditions.
Luckily for him, the system was able to determine the situation and the dire state his body was in.