By sunset of the first day, Max had fashioned a makeshift cart from branches and vines. It wasn't pretty, but it rolled—mostly—and that's all he cared about. His status window had been pinging steadily for hours:
```
Skill Acquired: Basic Crafting
Skill Acquired: Plant Recognition
Skill Acquired: Basic Construction
Item Storage: 147/??? items collected
```
"You know there's an actual tutorial quest, right?"
Max looked up from where he was struggling to secure a particularly stubborn rock to his cart. A young woman in what had once been professional attire stood watching him, her own status window glowing faintly in the dimming light. Her nametag identified her as 'Elara,' though Max only glanced at it briefly before returning to his rock.
"The quest guide says we're supposed to report to the glowing crystal in the center of the valley," she continued, seemingly undeterred by his lack of response. "They're teaching combat basics and survival skills."
Max grunted, finally getting the rock secured. "Will do that later," he mumbled, already eyeing a patch of mushrooms growing near a fallen log. They were probably poisonous, but that just made them more valuable. Everyone knew the most dangerous items were always the most useful in crafting.
"Later? It's been a whole day! Most people finished the basic combat training hours ago." Elara stepped into his path, forcing him to look at her. "Aren't you even a little concerned about what's happening? Why we're here?"
Max straightened up, his cart creaking behind him. He'd been dreading this kind of conversation. "Look," he said, trying to remember how NPCs usually explained tutorial zones, "this is obviously a tutorial area. No high-level monsters, lots of basic resources, clear boundaries." He gestured to the distant mountains that seemed to form a perfect circle around the valley. "The best thing to do in a tutorial is gather everything you can before moving on. The good stuff is always hidden in plain sight."
Elara stared at him for a long moment. "This isn't a game," she said slowly. "We were all literally transported from Earth to... wherever this is. People are panicking. Families are separated. And you're... collecting rocks?"
"And sticks," Max corrected her, pointing to his carefully categorized pile of branches sorted by length and thickness. "Also berries, herbs, mushrooms, feathers, and—" he reached into his pocket and proudly displayed a handful of dirt. "Different soil samples. You never know what might be useful for crafting."
Before Elara could respond, a booming voice echoed across the valley:
"ATTENTION ALL TUTORIAL PARTICIPANTS. BASIC COMBAT TRAINING WILL END IN ONE HOUR. ALL UNCOMPLETED COMBAT TUTORIALS MUST BE FINISHED BEFORE NIGHTFALL OR PARTICIPANTS WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY ENROLLED IN TOMORROW'S EXTENDED TRAINING SESSION."
Max's eyes widened in horror. Extended training meant extended dialogue. Extended dialogue meant...
"Where's the crystal?" he asked Elara urgently.
She pointed to a massive glowing structure in the distance. "I can show you—"
But Max was already moving, his cart bouncing wildly behind him as he broke into a run. Several items fell off, but for once, he didn't stop to pick them up. The thought of sitting through an extended tutorial session was more than he could bear.
He reached the crystal just as the sun touched the horizon. A small crowd was gathered around it, listening to what appeared to be a ghostly instructor explaining the basics of sword stances. Max immediately began pressing what he assumed would be the 'skip dialogue' button—in this case, tapping the crystal repeatedly.
```
Tutorial Progress: 0%
Basic Stance Tutorial Beginning...
Would you like to hear the full explanation of—
```
*tap tap tap*
```
Tutorial Progress: 24%
Advanced Stance Tutorial Beginning...
The proper way to hold—
```
*tap tap tap*
```
Tutorial Progress: 67%
Special Techniques Tutorial Beginning...
The ancient art of—
```
*tap tap tap tap tap*
By the time the final sun rays disappeared behind the mountains, Max stood panting, sword in hand, with a status window that read:
```
Combat Tutorial: COMPLETED
Time: 7 minutes 23 seconds (New Record)
Technique Score: D-
Theory Knowledge: F
Overall Grade: F
Note: While technically complete, we strongly recommend retaking this tutorial.
Special Achievement Unlocked: "Rush Job" - Complete all combat tutorials without listening to a single full instruction.
```
Elara, who had followed him and watched the entire display, shook her head in amazement. "I can't decide if you're brilliant or crazy."
"Probably both," Max replied, already distracted by a peculiar-looking pebble near the crystal's base. "Hey, do you think this rock looks slightly more magical than the others I collected?"
As night fell over the Tutorial Zone, Max returned to his cart, now with one more rock to add to his collection and the satisfaction of knowing he wouldn't have to sit through any extended tutorials tomorrow. The fact that he had no idea how to properly use a sword seemed, to him, like a problem for future Max to worry about.
Besides, he had more important things to focus on—like figuring out how to expand his cart's storage capacity. Those trees in the distance looked harvestable, and he had a long night of collecting ahead of him.