Dig.exe (DDLC/Minecraft)

[Alien-Kun]

This fic is simply a retelling of my quest, Mine.chr. I'll be working to reupload as much of the already existing content here for those who don't like the quest format, and also for my own peace of mind in case something happens to the quest thread.

---

Opening her eyes, she was met with a vision she hadn't expected. Instead of the usual empty classroom, was grass. Where should've been a desk with a chair, instead there were trees and flowers.

Just where was she? That wasn't supposed to happen! She was supposed to not exist anymore! After all she'd done to her friends… to the player, too. Was that her punishment? To be alone in a forest?

...at least it was pretty.

Without a clue as to what to do, she sat down in the shade of one of the trees. Now that she looked more closely at it, there was something weird about it. It was way too straight to be natural, jutting out of the ground at a perfectly right angle. So did every tree as well, and the flowers too. Also the ground was perfectly flat- wait, not quite. A few meters away from her it jutted up with another straight angle, and returned to its flatness just as abruptly.

What was that place, really? Some geometrical purgatory?

As she was about to launch into another tirade about her surroundings, she was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of footsteps. And they seemed very fast, too.

Without any better options, she tried to hide behind the closest tree.

When the steps got closer, she spotted a figure. it seemed to be a man with rather unassuming features: tanned skin, 5 o'clock beard, dark brown hair, teal shirt and purple pants. And yet, when she looked at him, she felt a sense of wrongness. As if there was more to this man than what she could tell at first glance.

The man had stopped running just a few paces away from her hiding spot, and was looking around. His body barely moved, nor did his eyes. Only his head seemed to be tilting this way and that to see. When his neck turned too much, his torso didn't rotate. Instead, the whole body spun in a fluid motion.

Too fluid.

She realized what had been nagging at her the whole time: what she'd dubbed her 'meta-vision', her ability to see the script and to perceive the world as a game, had been restricted. She couldn't access any file, but there was… something. With some effort, she forced her meta-vision to activate to the full extent it could achieve at the moment. And what she saw… well, it explained some things.

Everything took on a more 'blocky' look, with very clear pixelated graphics. So did the man.

She was in another game.

And then, something more unexpected happened: on the lower-left edge of her vision, a few lines of text appeared.

<Alien-Kun>: Monika, are you here?
<Alien-Kun>: I just want to talk. I promise.

That 'Alien-kun' knew her name. Was he..?

She had to try. Through sheer willpower, she tried to compose a message.

<Monika>: I'm here.

Just two words had taken more out of her than she'd have liked to admit. But she had managed.

<Alien-Kun>: I can't see you, are you sure? Ah, whatever. You can read this; it's good enough.
<Alien-Kun>: You're probably confused, and I get it. There's a lot of things that happened between the last time we met and now.
<Alien-Kun>: But before I explain anything else, know this: I'm not angry at you. I may have been a while ago, but I've had time to think. And while I may not entirely agree with what you did, I understand.

He… he did? Sure, she could understand not agreeing with her actions: she didn't either anymore, but… would he be willing to forgive her? After what she'd done? But… it was so hard to talk back. Maybe she could just approach his avatar?

She tried that just that, stepping out of her hiding spot. In a moment, the player -'Alien', as he was calling himself inside of that game- spotted her. His- its eyes looked straight through her, as if she wasn't even there in the first place. It reminded her a lot of MC after she'd…

No, that wasn't the time to sulk. She needed to grow some courage and speak to her player!

"Hi player… Did you mean it? You're not angry?" She asked hopefully.

----------------------------

The player could only frown.

"Just what is up with the audio on this thing? Everything else sounded fine…"

He returned to typing.

---

<Alien-Kun>: I can't seem to hear what you're saying for some reason. I'll be looking over the files later to see what the issue may be, but for now…
Gave 1 [Book and Quill] to Alien-Kun
<Alien-Kun>: You can try to write what you want to say in this book, and then give it to me.

His avatar then threw onto the ground a book with a quill seemingly stuck to it. They were both floating in the air. Without any better ideas, Monika picked up said book and wrote down what she'd just asked before. Once she was done, she put the book back on the ground and stepped back.

When the avatar walked closer to the book, it flew towards its body, and disappeared just as it got within a hair's breadth of colliding with its torso. It took a moment for Alien to write again.

<Alien-Kun>: I do mean it, Monika. I'm not angry at you. You did what you believed was the only solution to your problem. It was an awful solution, but it was all that you had at the moment. I can understand the reasoning.
<Alien-Kun>: But to get this out before it becomes a problem: no, I never fell in love with you.

In that moment, Monika felt her heart shatter in a thousand pieces. He didn't love her? Then why… why bother bringing her back?

She asked as much when she was given the book again.

<Alien-Kun>: Two reasons. One, because I don't think you deserved to die. That ending was cruel to everyone, but in the end… you're not wrong. You're the only real person in the club. Sayori was, for a moment, but she'd gone far too crazy far too quickly for me to trust.
<Alien-Kun>: The second reason… well, it ties in with the first. I wanted to give you another chance. That's also why I chose this game: you can make most of anything here, so long as you have the will for it.

Monika was feeling very conflicted. On one hand, he had straight-up rejected her. On the other, he did say he wanted to give her a chance. But in the way he worded it...

"Would you also give us another chance?" She wrote, hoping against all hope that he'd say yes.

After some time, which she could only assume meant that he was as conflicted about the matter as her, he answered.

<Alien-Kun>: Why don't we slow down a bit? I'm not going anywhere for a while, and you… well, I doubt you will be able to cause problems. So, let's start with trying to be friends, and go from there. That good enough for you?

It wasn't the answer she'd hoped for, but it wasn't the 'no' she dreaded either! Maybe there was still some hope.

Thus, they changed the subject to the game itself. It was quickly evident that Alien-Kun knew it like the back of his hand, as he walked her through the steps as a master would an apprentice. Monika was forced to keep an open mind in this game, since it seemed to not have much in the way of physics.

Having to break a tree with her hand was an interesting experience.

Beyond that it was a simple affair. Apparently, she was able to use the game's inventory as if she were a player herself, so she could also use the game's crafting function. Some wood and a wooden pickaxe later, Monika felt ready to go digging.

<Alien-Kun>: I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I would suggest just getting some stone, c̕r͙̻̭̝̹̲̫͝af̰͝t̮̹͙͠i̖n͓̞͇͡g ̨̮̻̳a͖͝ ͟f̹̦͚̟͝u̫̼͎̼̳̙͜ͅr̦̹͉̹̣̘̳n̥͈̯̭ͅa̴̳̩̩͙̗̜ͅce̬̮͚̺,̺̠̩͢a̜͎̺͚ṉ͖d̶̡̲͍͖͘ͅ ̬̫͇̤̠̯t̷͓̝̗͓̀h̷̰͍̗̪͍̰͝͝e̫͙̭̟̻̩̖̤̕ņ̗̤̲͚̘̣̬ ͢҉̳̖̝̠̝̭̫m̭̩̻ą̷̞͍̦͓̘͈͝k̴̸̬̹̝̦̬͕̞i͏͎̰͢n̨̯̙̮̠͈͕̳͘g̢̲̘͇͇̖̲̣̀ ̹̫̭̻c̛͔̣͈̖̬ͅͅh͏̦͕̦̙̭̜͈ͅą͎͔͕r͏̵͏̳͔͈͕c̨̫̹̗̝͇̜͔̪͢͞o̢̝̹̺̪̱͓̱a͖ļ̻͚̩̰̣̘ ͇̝͖̤̪̪̫f̫̱͙̪͍͍o̧͈̰͞ŕ̴͙̙̪͚͙̯̮ ͖̯̬̬̳a̢̨̡̨̲̮͕̭̻̗̱̘ͅ ̴̡͓͙͍͙͓̘̗̗͕̯̳͕̻̀̕ͅf̷͚̠̙̬̠͟ȩ̶͚͇̯͈͈̦͉͎͙̫͈͉͕͟w̢̨̘̙͖͔̟̳̥̮̝̙͚̗͓͉̼̤̲̞͟͝ ́҉͎͙͈̣͎͇̗͕̬̳̭t҉҉͕̼̘̹̦͍͖͖̺̻̙̯ǫ̺̼̦͍̟̖͓̺̜͎̝̕r̸̥͉̤͖͢͝c͉͇̫̳͔̜̲͚̘̼̪͕̖̪̻͢͢ͅḩ̲̲̦̥̮͙͙̭͈̦̫̪̠͘ẹ̷̶̼̭̤̭̩́͢͞ś̢̮̬̥̪̹̥͍̠͖̥͞

The text was the first thing to glitch out. Next, was Alien-Kun's avatar. After a moment of distortions, it completely disappeared. Monika's breath hitched in her throat as she looked around. More and more of the world around her was being corrupted. Textures went missing, or mixing with each other. The ground under her seemed to be moving, fluid but stable at the same time. She felt like she was sinking, but when looking down she was actually rising up into the sky.

Seconds stretched out like a lifetime, her blinking eyelids feeling as if they were wading through molasses. And as she opened her eyes again-

-it was fine.

Everything was just as it had been a moment before.

Monkia forced herself to take several deep breaths to calm her raging heart- wait a moment.

She had a heartbeat. That was new. Until now her breathing, blinking, and whatnot was just simulated.

Monika stopped breathing. After a few seconds, an uncomfortable burn in her lungs forced her to take in air again.

"It's real!" She thought, dumbfounded. "I… I'm actually breathing. My heart is beating. I can feel the clothes on my skin… What happened?"

She looked around wildly, trying to catch a glimpse of the player's return. She found nothing. She was alone for the moment.

"Maybe… maybe he's just taking his time to see what caused those glitches. Yeah, he'll be back soon. In the meantime I'll surprise him. He said to get stone, and make a furnace…" She fiddled a bit with her pickaxe as she planned things out in her mind. "Charcoal… I'll probably need wood. I might as well get a bit more stone and also make an axe."

With a plan ready - however barebones it may be - she set out. It didn't take long for Monika to stumble upon a cave. It was a small hole, barely big enough for her to walk inside comfortably. After taking barely a few steps in, the light filtering in wasn't enough to allow her to make out anything more than general shapes.

Unwilling to spend more time than she had to in the dark, she hurried to dig up several blocks of stone. What she didn't expect, was a light-grey window to pop up in front of her just as she broke the first block.

[Discovered skill: Mining]

Monika had no idea what to make of it. She wasn't familiar with the game except its most basic premise, so for all she knew that might've been a part of the game. The window disappeared after a brief moment, so she resumed her digging.

[Mining: +1 Lv]

Another window popped up after she'd dug up a few blocks. While she wasn't sure what it entailed exactly, progress was progress. Thus, Monika was fine with it.

Once she had obtained twenty blocks of cobblestone, Monika fled the cave. After a brief moment to readjust to the sunlight, she took out her crafting table and proceeded to make herself an axe, a better pickaxe, and a furnace. Luckily for her, the crafting function came with a handy list of recipes that kept expanding the more materials she gathered.

She placed down the furnace, and examined its menu. It had its own recipe book, and rifling through it she found how to make charcoal: she had to cook wood. It made sense to her.

So, axe in hand, Monika approached a tree and took a swing at it. And then another, and so on until the first log broke.

[Discovered skill: Woodcutting]

This time, Monika cockedher eyebrow. "I already cut down a tree, why would it show me the skill now- oh! I didn't have an axe! That must be it."

With a satisfied nod to herself, Monika returned to chopping the tree. It was a bit of a hassle to reach all the way up to cut every piece, but after placing some blocks as a staircase it was easy pickings.

Though, she did have to also break the cobblestone she used, so it looped back around to being a hassle.

[Woodcutting: +1 Lv]
[Tier up! You gained one Perk Point to spend!]

This time, Monika didn't really know what she was supposed to do. What was she supposed to spend the point on? Furthermore, how was she even supposed to spend it?

[Hint: open the Skills menu to allocate Perk Points]

"Oh. Well, that explains it. At least whoever made this game had the forethought to add hints." Similarly to how she could open her inventory, Monika only needed to will the skill menu into existence for it to appear.

[Perk points: 1

Mining (Lv 2) [0/15 Perks] <+>
Woodcutting (Lv 2) [0/15 Perks] <+>]

Monika pursed her lips in thought. "Where should I spend that point? Well, I don't exactly have a lot of options now… And I'll probably be doing a lot of mining in the future… Oh, well. If anything, I can just put the next one I get in woodcutting."

With her choice made, she tapped the plus sign next to Mining.

[Perk obtained: Nightvision]
[Nightvision (Tier 1/4)
-You can make out the shapes around you even in complete darkness]

It wasn't what she had expected, but she knew better than to disregard it completely. If she got it right, then it was only going to get stronger as it increased in tier, possibly letting her see in darkness as if it were daylight.

---

As she waited for the charcoal to be done, Monika pondered what she should do next.

"The torches are a given, but what else…" She looked up for a moment, and noticed that the sun had passed beyond noon. "I have half a day left before it becomes night… I should probably either find shelter or make one. Maybe I could build a small house? Hm… that would take a while, though, between gathering the materials and building. But the player might like finding a nice house when he comes back..."

"I suppose that a small house would be a more comfortable solution than a hole in a wall. And going into a dark, damp cave isn't what I'd call 'safe'."

The crackle of the furnace died out, signaling to Monika that the charcoal was ready. And so, after making herself a few torches - and saving some charcoal for later - Monika went to cut a few more trees.

---

Monika considered herself lucky: every now and then, a tree she cut down would have an apple fall down. While she couldn't sustain herself on apples forever, the half dozen she gathered would last her for a bit.

Her inventory was… well, not full, but very well-stocked with wood now. She had one 'stack' and a half of oak logs - as an inventory slot could hold only up to 64 of one block, as she'd found out - and almost another stack of birch logs. With all of that, Monika was certain she could build a decent house.

First, came the process of clearing out a spot. She had already found a nice, flat area, and cleared it of trees. All that was left was the tall grass littering the place.

"I doubt my pickaxe or axe will do a good job at cutting that grass… I'll need something sharper. Let's see what the recipe book can tell me."

The book did have some options. A scythe, a machete, a sword, a dagger… There several weapons that could do the job. In the end she went with a saber. It wasn't too heavy, relatively easy to swing, and it apparently dealt more damage to unarmored enemies...

The prospect of combat wasn't exactly appealing, but she would take whatever measures she could to stay safe.

---

After clearing out the grass - and finding several seeds - Monika had a clear space for building a house… well, more of a shack for the moment. She didn't have that much time in the day left. Regardless, fter several hours of work it was complete. It wasn't perfect, certainly, but it would serve its purpose well and she could expand it another time. For now, the sun was setting.

Monika strolled into the house's main room, content to take a seat at the table and munch on a couple of apples. She thought back on several things while mindlessly chewing, but mainly…

"Why isn't he back yet? Was it something I did? I didn't make him upset again, did I? And that massive glitch from before, what was up with that? I wish I could access the files, but… I feel alive. More than ever before. I can breathe. I get tired. I get hungry. I can actually taste these apples, not just the idea of what they taste like."

"...One step closer to our reality, huh? I wonder how many more I'll need…" She muttered.

Almost as if the game was waiting for those words, it responded with a new screen.

[New quest: Our reality (1/?)
Objective: Defeat the Ender Dragon

Reward: Next quest, New content, Book of Origin (page 1)]

Monika recoiled away from the screen. She took a moment to calm herself down, not having expected the screens to appear on their own.

"This is new… I'm starting to think that this isn't just a simple game anymore. For one, the timing was too perfect, and that title… there's no way that this is a generic quest of sorts. This was specifically tailored for me." Monika narrowed her eyes in contempt. "That means that there's someone or something watching. Another AI, maybe?"

[Incorrect]

And that, was the last straw.

"Oh, incorrect, is it now? Then how about you give me some answers then?! Where is the Player? What caused that glitch? Was it you? Where are you? Who are you? What do you WANT?!" She screamed, her worry and fatigue working together to fuel her anger.

[Player status: not in this universe
System's motives will remain secret for the moment
Cause of glitch: Creator, not System
System location and identity: indescribable through human concepts
System's goal: follow main directive]

Monika forced herself to take a series of deep breaths, trying to make sense of the information she was presented with.

"This is fine, Monika. You have a chance to get answers. The player… isn't in this universe? What does that even- no, no, just move on. Of course this thing won't say why it's doing… whatever it is doing. Why would it?" She snorted. "There seems to be something above this 'System'. A creator… maybe I can talk to them? Though, nothing guarantees that they won't just ignore me. And… There's really no answers here! It's just a bunch of words that mean nothing!"

[That is correct. System may not divulge information freely. It must be earned by User, AKA you.]

The anger built up again. Why would it just not give a straight answer-

[System has already breached protocol. System should not contact User. System will not contact User again. User will complete the quests, and earn answers. System will help User… but will not disobey Creator again.]

[System apologizes.]

Monika didn't want to accept it. Her only source of information couldn't just leave like that!

...And yet, the only response was silence.

---

A sigh left her as she worked to clean up her hands. Too much was happening, way too fast.

... At least, she had a home to call her own… however barebones it was for the moment. It was just a hub room with a couple of chests, giving way on one side to what she planned to be a kitchen in the future - but for now only had a table with a pair of chairs - and on the other side an empty room she was going to use as a bed… as soon as she figured out how to make one.

For now, she was forced to sleep in a chair. Not an exciting prospect, but there wasn't much of a choice… well, it was either that, the table, or the floor. She was admittedly used to sitting in a chair for long periods of time... her past actions were proof of that, as much as she wanted to leave them behind her.

Her talk with the 'System', however brief it had been, had brought some answers among the myriad of questions: someone was out there pulling the strings, and was the reason why her player had disappeared. And if she wanted them back... all she could do was follow the 'breadcrumbs' that this mysterious entity had laid in front of her.

...Which meant she had to defeat a dragon, of all things. Great.

With another weary sigh she dried her hands off, and got back up to her feet. A stuff breeze blew, carrying with it the evening chill. Monika shuddered lightly, her clothes not providing the best defense against the weather.

"Why did the developers design me with stockings anyway?" She asked herself. "Oh, right. Men." She scoffed silently to herself, allowing herself to enjoy the silliness of the thought for a moment.

"I should probably head inside at this point, at least the walls sould block out the cold a bit," she thought, eyeing the night sky.

Even in an unfamiliar place such as that, she could appreciate the beauty of an unpolluted sky... even though the square moon ruined it just a bit. Nevertheless, the scenery was truly breathtaking. The river's water twinkled whenever it caught the light of the stars, and the soft glow produced by the moon gave the woods on the other side of the riverbank an eerie sense of wonder.

The idyllic - albeit chilly - scene was ruined by a foul smell reaching Monika's nose. It was then followed by what she could only describe as 'a groan horrific enough to make devils cower'.

While the effects may not be quite that grand, the sound was frightening enough to make Monika whirl back.

It might have been human at some point. The signs were there: two arms, two legs, clothes, a patch of dorty brown hair of top of its head. The visible part of its skull probably wasn't human. The green flesh couldn't be human. The blackened eyes were not human.

It was dead. Decaying. An abomination that shouldn't exist.

And it was coming right at her.

The undead monster stumbled closer to her, gravelly verses punctuating every step it took. Monika froze, unsure whether to run or hope it left her alone. Step after step, the zombie grew closer, to the point where the stench of death made her eyes water. It raised one of its arms, and that was when Monika tried to dive out of the way. Its arm came down onto her side, sending her rolling on the ground.

A stray thought reminded Monika of her only defense: her saber. It was do or die, and she didn't intend to go down easily!

With newfound determination, Monika pulled the stone blade out of her inventory. She rose to her feet, ignoring the lance of pain in her side. She gripped the handle of the saber with both hands, and swung with all her strength. The sharp edge cut through the zombie's chest like butter, but it didn't seem to be bothered by it. It attempted to take another swipe at her, and Monika met it with a hurried slash. The zombie's forearm went flying, and it stumbled back.

Monika didn't let up, and with a few quick steps for momentum, she stabbed the tip of her blade in the zombie's head. Both girl and monster froze for a moment, before the zombie slumped down onto the ground, forcing Monika to let go of the saber's handle.

Her breath was heavy, and the pain in her side had returned with a vengeance. She hazarded a look... and quickly tore her eyes away. The blood staining her blazer told her enough.

More groaning came from her surroundings, along with other sounds. Bones creaking and popping, loud hisses, and strange garbled speech. She had no idea what could possibly cause such noises. What she did know, was that she needed to get to safety, stat. Using her saber as a glorified walking stick, she hobbled over to her 'house' as fast as she could. With every step she took, the sounds became more pronounced. Whatever was the cause, it was getting closer.

Thankfully she reached the door just fine, closed it behind her, and barricaded it with some cobblestone. Monika plopped herself down on a chair, and took a deep breath. With shaking hands, she began to remove her clothes. She needed to see what happened exactly.

With a hiss, she removed also her shirt, and got a good look at her side. The flesh was torn open and heavily bleeding, but it didn't look too deep to her... well, as far as she could tell. She was no medical expert. Without any other choices, she used the saber to cut up her shirt, and used the fabric to wrap up the wound. Tears streamed down her face as she tightened the makeshift bandage. It hurt, a lot.

After several agonizing moments, she was done. Hopefully it would hold.

What last few remnants of energy she had left abandoned her, and she let herself collapse on the table.

---

The dull ache in her side woke her up.

"Good morning to me, I guess," she thought.

First thing first, she needed to change her bandages. Makeshift or not, she couldn't stay with bloodied wraps the whole time. She slowly unwrapped her wound, cringing at the amount of blood staining the cloth. With the last layer gone, she found herself surprised. It was barely there. Instead of mangled flesh, there were only a few scratches. Still, that was... quite the scar.

"At least I'm alive." She sighed. "Maybe it's normal for this game... Then again, in RPGs sleeping usually heals you, as far as I know, so maybe this was somewhat similar." She shook her head with a groan. "Stop talking to yourself, Monika."

Groggy, aching and hungry as she was, Monika felt good. She had survived the encounter, and now knew not to go outside in the dark.

[Achievement complete: The first night
-Status screen unlocked]
[Achievement complete: Monster hunter
-Mobpedia screen unlocked]

And there was that too.

While preparing to go out again - hopefully the monsters had left - she noticed something new in her inventory: a potato. That may not have seemed like much, but assuming that the zombie had dropped it... for some reason, it would give her diet some more diversity! Maybe she could plant it in her little farm. Who knows what other plants she could find!

Although... with monsters running around, maybe she should concentrate on other things. Like making her base safer. What to do...

 

[Alien-Kun]

Before planning anything else, Monika needed resources. She had just a couple of wood logs left, and pretty much no stone. Her food - namely half a dozen apples and a raw potato - would last her barely a day or two as well. Thus, she came up with a plan for the day.

First, she'd make a bridge to the other side of the river and chop some trees. Then, go over to the mountains she saw in the distance to gather stone... and hopefully not run into any caves with whatever nasties might populate them, and finally explore the plains west of her house. Throughout all that, she'd also keep an eye out for any food she could find.

---

The woods were something Monika was growing very used to. Dare she say, even a bit bored. But then again, she did need the wood. She got so engrossed with the cutting, that she didn't realize she'd pretty much cut herself a path into the forest, wandering rather deep into it. The sunlight was filtering through way less, and although she could still see the way, she had to take a moment to understand where she'd ended up.

Crack-pop

Oh no. She knew that sound.

From behind a tree, a pale figure appeared. It only wore a leather cap, but there was no need for modesty when it had nothing to hide: only yellowish-white bones. Clutched in its fingers was a wooden bow, and slung over its back was a quiver with a few arrows. Thankfully it was not looking in Monika's direction yet, so she took the change to slink away before it was too late.

As soon as she was certain the skeleton wouldn't catch up to her, she ran full-speed back to her base, vowing to not enter so deep in any forest ever again.

---

With one more forceful grunt, Monika finally heaved herself on top of the hill she'd been climbing for the past ten or so minutes. She laid down on the ground for a few moments, trying to catch her breath.

"Come on, I'm sure that that mountain is just around the corner now. Can't be much longer now." She told herself.

She slowly rose back up to her feet, and took a good look around... the mountain was still the same as before. And from her new vantage point, she could see exactly how far more she had to go...

"OH COME ON!" She yelled with as much air as she could muster, staring in disbelief at the seemingly-endless road ahead of her.

With a huff she went to sit down for a moment...

...but forgot that there was only empty air behind her.

"Ow!"

"Oof!"

"Gah!"

---

"Why meeee..." Monika grumbled, splayed out at the foot of the hill.

[Acrobatics: +1 Lv]
[Tier up! You gained one Perk Point to spend!]

"Shove off..."

---

Instead of dealing with anymore perilous woods and misleading mountains, Monika settled for wandering around the plains for a little while. She still had some time in the day, so she could take it somewhat easy so long as she didn't stray too far. For the most part nothing seemed to be around there: just grass, grass, and more grass. Which she cut down as soon as she got within arm's reach of it, collecting a great number of seeds of various kinds. What she was most excited about was rice, as her recipe book showed her that she could cook it for some fried rice. Though of course, all the other types of seeds would all go in her garden to provide more variations of food.

"Though, how would I go about making a plate? Or a bowl, or cutlery? Well, I can assume I'd need metal for the latter, but the others? Maybe ceramic? Ahhh... I really don't know. I should probably try to gather a bit of everything I find-" A loud moo pulled her out of her thoughts.

Cows! Actual cows existed! And she could see also some chickens around, and sheep too! Fantastic! Maybe she could make a bed with some wool... though how would she gather it from the sheep?

Maybe they would drop it when killed... but she really couldn't bring herself to hurt them. She could probably fashion some tools to get it later anyways. She would survive another couple of nights without a bed. Hopefully. Though maybe she could use the wool also to make bandages in case of an emergency...

"It's getting late, make up your mind already Monika!" She scolded herself.

After giving it some thought, Monika chose to leave the various animals be for the moment, and go back to prepare some space for them. Then, she'd be back. Cows liked wheat, right? She could try to lure them with it.

She did take a moment to pat a cow's neck before leaving. She'd rather not hurt some innocent animals, but she wasn't going to lie to herself: she valued her own survival more than an animal's, and if she had to eat meat... well, needs must.

Reaching her home she passed through the shoddy palisade she'd made along with her house... it could definitely use an upgrade. But for the moment, all she could do was barricade herself back inside, and try to fall asleep. The unsettling sounds coming from outside didn't make it any easier, though. She remembered her run-in with the zombie, and then the skeleton... she didn't want to feel so helpless ever again.

With a sigh, she allocated the one perk point she had gained into the Melee skill. Hopefully it'd give her an extra 'edge', so to speak.

[Perk obtained: Armswoman]
[Armswoman (Tier 1/5)
-Melee attacks deal 20% more damage]

"A bit bland... but it will help."

---

Before remaking her walls, Monika decided to gather a bit more wood. She wasn't entirely sure how much she'd need, and she preferred to have some leftover rather than not enough. This time she stuck close to the edge of the forest, instead of just carving a path. She did attempt to forage a bit the undergrowth for any more food, but for some reason she couldn't find much of anything. Still, she shrugged it off. Her little farm was working, as she'd seen after passing by it that morning, so food wouldn't be a concern soon.

In the end though, her trusty stone axe broke. A shame, but she was sure she could get it replaced soon. For the moment, she'd make do with a wooden one.

---

Tearing down the makeshift wall was rather difficult with a weaker axe, but in the end she managed, and from there it was all downhill. The planks were replaced with sturdy logs, and the planks repurposed to make a fenced out zone behind her house, where she planned to place the animals. It was even separated in different pens, so she could sort out the animals.

Gotta appreciate the small things.

Gathering some of the fully-grown wheat - and replanting it, of course - unlocked the Farming skill. While she made a mental note of it, she didn't pay it much mind and went on to round up the animals.

---

The cows and sheep were rather easy to deal with, all things considered, but it did take quite a while to make them follow her, as only one or two at a time would take an interest in her. Chickens were a little less problematic, but that was because she could just feed them seeds with one hand while she picked them up with the other.

In the end her pens were now occupied with four sheep, four cows, and nine chickens... though no rams, bulls or roosters, so she didn't really know how she'd get any more...

That was, until she realized that some of the chickens she'd fed were turning into roosters before her very eyes.

"Wait. No. Don't tell me-" She tried to deny what she was seeing, but it was futile as the roosters ran towards the chickens, and... well, I won't describe it.

---

Monika groaned as she rubbed her eyes with a sleeve. "That scene will be burned into my brain now. Just great." She massaged her temples, trying to ward off a headache. One thing she wasn't enjoying about having a realistic body was that the pain was just as real.

"At least that issue is solved. And I still have some time in the day to explore."

She really needed to stop talking to herself... but then again, who was around to judge her?

---

The plains didn't reveal much of anything new to her, unfortunately, but that thought was dashed away when she neared the edge between 'biomes', as the player had called them. The plains gave way to a colder zone, dotted here and there with pine trees. But what got her attention was the buildings in the distance. A village. An honest-to-god village.

She wanted to run there, see if there was anyone who could help her.

But the sky was turning dark already. And in the chance that whoever lived there wouldn't - or couldn't - help her, she'd have to navigate back to her base. In the dark. With monsters everywhere.

She vowed to check out the village the day after, and made her way back.

 

[Alien-Kun]

Like every morning at that point, Monika went off to gather herself some wood. She didn't get all that much unfortunately, as her wooden axe made the process much longer... and also it broke rather quickly.

She returned home to drop off the wood. And froze, remembering a thing. Why did she keep trying to reach the mountains? She had so much stone just underneath her!

And that's how Monika began to dig a staircase down into the bowels of the earth. Every few steps down she'd place a torch, and continue digging. mostly she gathered a bunch of stone, but there were also several coal ores and iron! Sweet, shiny iron! Sure, they weren't too many pieces, but it was a start!

...and also the pickaxe broke. But she had iron!

And now that she had a decent source of food - namely bread, eggs, rice, and in the near future also other things - she could take the time to wind down a bit and finally learn more about the system. First, was the 'status' screen.

[Name: Monika
Rank: 3
To next rank: 4/9
HP: 20/20 (+1/hour)
Armor: 0
LV: 0

Perk points: 0]

"Hm... well, this seems... simple? I already know that increasing my rank gives my perks, and increasing my skills gets me more perk points. I can assume that HP means 'Health Points' or something similar. The fact that I seem to recover one per hour isn't really the best, but that still lets me go from 'almost dead' to 'hale and hearty' within a day." Her brow furrowed a tad as she examined two particular entries. "I can make a guess about armor, but LV? Wasn't that something like levels? That doesn't make any sense though: isn't 'Rank' and 'level' the same thing for me, at least in game terms?" She sighed, slumping into her chair. "I can't figure it out just yet... I suppose I'll just have to see how it changes - if it does change."

The next thing on the list, was what the game called the 'Mobpedia'. She could guess on what that would be.

[Chicken - Killed: 0
Cow - Killed: 0
Sheep - Killed: 0
Skeleton - Killed: 0
Zombie - Killed: 1]

Yep, just about what she was expecting: a list of all the entities she had seen. She hadn't expected to see also the animals there, though. Still, she might as well check through all of them.

[Chicken - Killed: 0
Threat: 0/10
Food: seeds
Drops: ? (kill 1)
Weakness: ? (kill 5)
Resistance: ? (kill 10)
Origin: ? (kill 25)
???: ? (???)]

[Cow - Killed: 0
Threat: 0/10
Food: wheat
Drops: ? (kill 1)
Weakness: ? (kill 5)
Resistance: ? (kill 10)
Origin: ? (kill 25)
???: ? (???)]

[Sheep - Killed: 0
Threat: 0/10
Food: wheat
Drops: ? (kill 1)
Weakness: ? (kill 5)
Resistance: ? (kill 10)
Origin: ? (kill 25)
???: ? (???)]

[Skeleton - Killed: 0
Threat: 7/10
Food: none
Drops: ? (kill 1)
Weakness: ? (kill 5)
Resistance: ? (kill 10)
Origin: ? (kill 25)
???: ? (???)]


[Zombie - Killed: 1
Threat: 6/10
Food: none
Drops: Rotten flesh, potatoes, carrots, iron ingots.
Weakness: ? (kill 5)
Resistance: ? (kill 10)
Origin: ? (kill 25)
???: ? (???)]

"Alright, so just seeing something gives me a threat assessment of the thing - which I can absolutely agree with by the way - and killing more gives me more information. Makes perfect sense. And I assume that the last entry either is something I'll unlock with another achievement. Hopefully. Please don't be glitching again."

Trying to shake those thoughts out of her mind, Monika turned over to her furnace, where the iron was finally done melting into ingots. "And now, onto the hardest choice of the day: what do I do with these?"

---

Before even thinking about what to use the iron on, she made a pair of shears. She wanted a bed, stat.

After that, she decided to make a bucket. What good would cows do if she couldn't get some milk while she was at it?

Finally, with one of the two pieces she had left she made a shield. The skeleton in the forest came equipped with a bow, so it was in her best interest to protect herself from that... along with whatever else might come at her. The wooden tower shield felt rather unwieldy and heavy, big as it was, but she could make it work. At least, she could hunker down behind it and no part of her would peek out.

Decked out with her new gear - and with a new set of stone tools - Monika was finally ready to explore the village. Hopefully whoever lived there could give her some help.

---

As she passed the threshold between the plains and the colder biome. Now that she had the time to give it a more thorough look, she spotted many lilac flowers dotting the landscape. The ground also felt rather dry under her feet, the crunches it gave closer to gravel than the lush soil she was used to.

She turned her gaze back to the village, and a chill ran down her spine. "No smoke, no light, no activity. It's almost like- no, it can't be."

Yet, as she grew closer, more clues came into view. Broken windows and doors. Cobwebs. Vines. The village had been abandoned a long time ago.

Monika shook her head. "This really isn't the time, Monika. There must be something useful here, at the very least."

Most of the buildings she passed by were derelict, and she doubted anything worth taking would be in there. The one building she saw that looked better than the others was the local forge. She entered, noting the lack of a door even though the frame was still there. Something had ripped it off.

She hesitantly peeked deeper in. Thankfully the inside was rather small, the only thing of note there being a chest. She gave another good look around, and then opened the chest.

"Some bread... well, it doesn't seem stale. Does the game even have a food-spoiling mechanic? I suppose I'll find out in time. Oh, two more ingots. Fantastic! And these..." She pulled out of the chest a set of green gems, each as large as her palm. "Emeralds? Wonder why they'd be here..." She then went to pull out the last item from the chest.

The dull shine of iron met her eyes, but this time it wasn't a simple ingot. A helmet, in great condition - albeit a bit of dirt here and there - was in her hand. It had some heft to it, and as far as Monika could tell it was of good quality. She went to put it on, but found that her ponytail - messy and dirty as it was at that point - stopped her from wearing the helmet.

With a sigh, Monika took off the ribbon tying her hair together and donned the helmet in its stead. Not having her ribbon on felt like a part of her was missing, but she'd rather feel like that if it meant she'd avoid getting an arrow through her noggin.

A very familar growl came from outside, chilling Monika to the core.

"No..."

The stench of rot was next, confirming her fears. "There's a zombie out here. I... I can't get out. Where did it even come from?"

She was tired. Hungry. And wanted nothing more than to go to sleep in a proper bed, and to have a bath in an actual bathroom, instead of in a cold river. But most importantly? She was sick of this world always doing its best to wear her down! First her beloved disappeared, then she almost died because of some walking corpse, and then she thought she had found someplace safe, but no! It had to be a zombie village!

Monika didn't know when she had gotten up, nor when she'd pulled out her saber, but she went along with it. The sheer fury overwhelmed her fear, and as she burst out of the forge she threw herself at the zombie.

She smashed her shield into the undead's face, forcing it to stagger back as she cut it up piece by piece. Vile ichor sprayed out of its wounds: onto her blade, on her clothes, on the ground. She didn't stop until she cut its head off.

The zombie didn't have the time to fall to the ground, bursting into smoke as Monika kicked it away.

Monika's ragged breathing and her own heartbeat were the only things she could hear. Her anger had dissipated. Now... there wasn't anything. A thick haze spread over her limbs and mind, slowing her movements. She had a hard time holding up her blade.

She just wanted to go to sleep and forget everything.

She was too tired to make her way back, and looking up... yeah, it was turning dark.

With no better choice, Monika closed the entrance to the forge with some stone, along with blocking off every other hole she could find. By the time she was done, her arms felt like she'd strapped lead to them.

After placing a pair of torches for safety, she laid down on the ground.

---

"You only have to ask."

"State your desire."

Monstrous, echoing, ephemeral voices all around. Fear? Was she afraid? Yes, but no. Calm, but horrified.

"You already know what I want."

A voice. Not hers. Human. Male?

Black and white, white and black mixing around her. She couldn't see. Couldn't hear. Couldn't move, nor speak, only dark and light.

Light so pure it burned, so warm it soothed her soul.

Dark, endless dark, beyond life, beyond stars. Absolute void she lost herself in.

"You will have your wish."

"But on my terms."

Terms? Wish? She wanted- she was- what?

...someone. Someone so far away... who?

He was in the light, he was of the light. He was of her soul. And he was of the dark, of the endless void that gripped her so tightly and gently.

"Earn your dream. Dreams of lies, of truth, it matters not. Borne not of man or beast, but of concept, of love and will, you will grow. Have no fear, my child. They will learn to fear you."

The voice was around her. Was in her. Was her. Was the void. Was her soul.

---

Monika woke up ready to scream. The moment after, the instinct passed.

"Why was I... what happened?" She gazed around the dilapidated building, confused. "I... I killed a zombie. Then I felt tired, and barricaded myself in here... and I dreamed, I think? What was it..." Monika shook her head with a sigh. "It felt important, but I can't remember why. Maybe I just need to finally sleep in a proper bed."

She picked herself up and stretched a bit, working out the kinks in her back. "Sleeping on the floor isn't really the best choice, I suppose."

After peeking out, and making sure that there was nothing outside that would harm her, Monika left the abandoned village. No way she'd stay there for even one moment longer.

---

A quick breakfast later, Monika had a bed ready in her bedroom - that was finally seeing some use - and she felt ready to take on the day.

...Only after bouncing a bit on her new bed.

Still, after that there was a bunch of things to do. Mainly gathering resources, though. She felt like she had enough of exploration for the moment.

 

[Alien-Kun]

First things first, Monika needed to get some stock of what she had. A quick check of her chests revealed that she was actually doing pretty well on the wood and stone front... food was a bit more annoying, though she had enough to last a few days. She needed to do something about that, though: now she had also animals to feed.

But before the food, she had to ensure their safety... both the animals' and her own. The small palisade she had going on was decent, but she could do better. Especially with the amount of stone she had. Therefore, she would get some more wood and stone before upgrading the palisade into a proper, sturdy wall.

---

As much as she tried not to think about the dream, it always kept drifting to the forefront of her mind. What that voice said, about earning her dream... was it trying to encourage her? She hoped so, at least. Whether that thing was just a figment of her own imagination remained to be seen, but it was still nice to have someone -- or something -- cheering her on. In an ominous way, but cheering nonetheless.

"They will learn to fear me, huh?" She muttered to herself, swinging her axe once more.

[Woodcutting: +1 Lv]

"Yeah, they will."

---

Not much else of note happened while she was gathering materials, thankfully. She had a decently good haul of both, though.

Now, as for the wall... she could probably get away with keeping most of it wood, and only adding some small structural support with stone. She could use the remaining stone for something else.

The wall was now a hefty five blocks tall, Standing as a proud defender between herself and the outside. She might have to change the door at some point, though. It felt rather weird to go through a simple door with such an imposing wall. The player mentioned to her something about redstone contraptions while they were together... could she figure out how to make an automatic door?

Well, that was for the future. For now, though, she had to make good on her promise: making things fear her. And for that, she needed to stop being the scared little girl she'd been so far. She needed to become a warrior.

She pulled out her saber out of her inventory. It was a trusty tool, one she had relied on for the last few days, and it had saved her several times now. But she had the chance to pick, now. There were so many other options, and they were all great...

But maybe she didn't need to choose only one?

In the end, Monika decided to keep the saber. It was growing on her a bit, and she felt quite comfortable with it. But a backup was not something she'd scoff at. After some consideration, she went with a mace as her backup: simple to use, and it would help in dealing with any armored enemies: after all, a blade was hardly optimal when your enemy was covered in metal.

She was still stuck with stone tools, unfortunately, but she could make do until she gathered some more iron. For the time being, she had more pressing matters to deal with: namely, wood and food. Upgrading the wall took a hefty chunk of her wood stores, and she didn't want to run the risk of running out of such a valuable material.

The next morning she went off to contribute to deforestation once more... well, as far as she knew she was the only person, so she was the sole cause of deforestation. Did that make her a bad person? It wasn't like she was being malicious with it, and she did take the time to replant what she destroyed...

Stuck as she was in her thoughts, Monika barely had the time to realize that she couldn't feel any ground under her foot before she began to plummet down. She tried to grab onto the ledge she had just stepped off of, but her grip slipped. She tumbled down the sheer wall, and with a final crash she landed at the bottom of the ravine.

Rolling down a hill had been painful. But now? She couldn't actually feel much. A warm wetness stained what remained of her shirt, and she realized that she had started bleeding again. It wasn't accompained by the panic she would've expected. She felt... calm? No, not calm. Apathetic.

Another trickle of blood came from under her helmet, running down her face.

"Yeah, that would explain it," she thought. "I probably shouldn't be staying here, huh?"

With massive effort, Monika managed to roll around, and pull herself up enough to crawl. As she moved, something in her chest shifted. It wasn't supposed to.

"Broke a couple of ribs too, I guess," she noted to herself. And immediately ignored it. The pain was starting to catch up to her, and it was all she could do to keep it out of her mind and keep moving.

One block at a time, she made a set of stairs. Hoisting her body over each of the three-feet-tall blocks was utter agony. Her left arm gave out right before she could reach the edge of the ravine. Something had probably cracked there, and the strain had completely broken the bone. And yet she continued, gritting her teeth as she pulled herself out of that cursed hole in the ground. She wouldn't die. Not today, and not like that.

She laid down on the grass, a few feet away from the drop, attempting to regain her breath. Her chest hurt immensely with each breath, one arm laid limply next to her, and she was still losing blood. But for the moment, she was alive.

And hungry, as her stomach made present.

"Weird... I ate just before leaving."

But regardless, her body demanded food, and she provided. Though she hadn't much with her, she scarfed down what little bread and apples she had brought with her. It settled into her stomach, quelling its wrath for a while. She even started to feel a little better, the ache pounding at her head lessening just enough for her to think a bit more clearly.

Except, it wasn't only her head that was feeling a bit better. The ache in her chest lessened too, and she was starting to regain a bit of control over her arm. She wasn't sure if the bleeding was lessening, but it was still something.

"Wait, of course! Food is the key! This wonky regeneration mechanic that this game has, it functions off of food!"

She had no more with her, unfortunately, but what she had was enough to move again. Her stomach still demanded more, no doubt needing the nutrients to fix the extensive damage to her body, but she had that at home. It would put a dent into her resources, but it was fine. Better that, than death.

Monika staggered to her house. Hurt and filthy, but not broken.

---

She had to go through enough food to feed herself that her stores had only barely enough to last her another day.

But, she had a way to fix that. She hadn't actually had the time to do it, but it was a good time as any to increase the variety of her farms. She didn't have enough space to add more than one plant though, and there were other things she wanted to get done today. Namely, get her small house some improvements. She was starting to run out of space to put stuff, her chests beginning to overfill with stone.

With a new patch of rice in her fields, she now had a bit more food. Not only enough to last her on a day-by-day basis, but it would also let her stockpile a bit.

As per her house, she decided that a basement was a decent spot to put all her storage in. Well that, and it could serve as a bunker if it things went south... hopefully she wasn't jinxing herself.

The remainder of her day was filled with digging and running back and forth, as she cleared some space for a basement and moved all her things down there. It was not very big, just a ten by ten block area, but it did its job of holding her chests well.

And now... she needed a bath.

Thankfully her sheep were kind enough to lend some wool, so she could make some cloth to dry herself. She wished she could've made... any less rough fabric really, but she would endure. Maybe one day she would find some flax? Now wouldn't that be nice.

After the events of that day she would've preferred a chance to take a dip in warm water, but except for the furnace she didn't really have any way to heat up anything. Maybe she could come up with something later on, but for the time being, it was cold river water for her.

At least it was clean.

---

Night came, and Monika was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. She was tired, understandably so, but she couldn't fall asleep regardless. An ominous feeling niggled at the back of her mind, worry keeping her up. Not that she knew exactly what the worry was for. She had food. She had shelter. Her wood reserves were still low, what with her not bringing all that much back and using up some more to make the chests, but that was fine.

Right before she had returned inside, she'd caught a glimpse of the moon. Perhaps it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but she was almost certain that it had flashed a reddish color for a split second. She hoped it didn't mean anything.

The growls of the undead outside did nothing to assuage her worry.

---

She barely got any sleep. Breathing too deeply still brought phantom pains to her chest, and with every small twitch Monika expected to feel her bones crack again.

Thankfully it didn't happen, of course, but it still kept her awake. She came so close to death right there... a true death, not deletion. And honestly, she wasn't sure which option would've been preferable.

She didn't want to get up. She didn't want to go out in that... deathtrap of a world. She wasn't fit for this, she was just going to get herself killed for no reason.

But... lying down would mean she accepted to remain here. In this deathtrap. That she would give up on her only chance to truly live. And she'd be damned if she let anything take that away from her.

With renewed resolve, Monika threw the covers away, allowing the chill on her bare skin to properly wake her... maybe she should invest in some sleeping clothes at some point. Or more clothes in general. But for now! She had wood to gather, materials to find, things to build, and she had to properly arm herself. If anything, enough that she wouldn't be taken out by some random skeleton or zombie.

---

Leaving the safe haven of her walls got Monika a bit anxious still, but with her head on a swivel she managed to avoid any injury so far. In fact, she had gathered a whole lot of wood, saplings, and even a few apples here and there. The real catch this time, though, were another type of plant: specifically, wild potatoes -- which the inventory didn't seem to differentiate from normal potatoes, so they were probably good to eat -- along with some beetroot seeds. She'd have to get some extra space to her farmland, but that would get her a lot more variety in foods, which she sorely needed.

On the way back, though, a sound caught her attention. A hiss. Creeping her way towards the origin of the sound, Monika froze up as she spotted a pair of veritably massive spiders. They were about five feet across, reaching up to her thighs or so.

Just as she was debating whether to try and take them down, or take the long way around, one of the spiders turned towards her. Her hand went to her hip immediately, ready to pull out her saber... only for the spider to do nothing.

"Wait, so spiders won't attack? Interesting. Sure, it might if I get too close, but by all means I could get a move on and leave it be," Monika reasoned. On one hand, the spiders might drop some string, which could be very useful. On the other, it was a fight she could avoid if she wanted.

Well, one thing Monika could be glad for was that even in this cubic hellhole, spiders weren't pack hunters. With some luck she could deal with the two of them if she got them to attack one by one: those strings could be really useful, and go a long way in helping. She wanted some fish, dang it! But how...

With a mental shrug, Monika tried the first thing she could think of, and threw an apple at the spider that looked at her earlier.

She missed.

The spider glanced at the apple, then back at her. And proceeded to scuttle a bit further away.

Monika ground her teeth together a bit in annoyance, idly noting that her teeth didn't feel particularly dirty even after a week without a chance to wash them. Maybe whoever threw her here decided to give her that little mercy, and made it so she didn't have to? After all the crap she had gone through, she could believe it.

Pulling out yet another apple -- since she didn't have much else that she could throw -- Monika took her time to aim a bit.

This time she caught the spider right on the noggin with a dull 'thwack' sound. It whirled around to glare at her, and charged way faster than she expected it to. She attempted to place her shield between herself and the charging spider. It jumped onto the wooden board, smashing into her with all its considerable weight.

Her arm ached, but she took advantage of the spider being so close in order to stab it. The arachnid didn't seem to react to the pain, but her blade sunk deep into its body, giving her enough leverage to throw it away from her.

After such a hit, she expected the spider to consider running away, but instead she was surprised when it didn't relent in the slightest, barreling towards her again. This time one of its legs reached over her shield, knocking her helmet askew and leaving a scratch on her cheek.

The two struggled for a short while, the spider having wisened up enough to not let her stab it, while also clinging to the shield as Monika shook it around. The spider refused to let go, still trying to bite through the shield.

In a flash of inspiration, Monika whirled around and slammed her shield into a nearby tree, staggering the spider enough for it to let go, and allowing her to get one last stab in. And just as that was done, the spider burst into smoke.

With a huff, the girl turned to the remaining spider, finding that it had been staring at the fight. It hadn't joined, thankfully, but now that she had looked at it, it seemed... almost wary.

Too bad she wasn't in a merciful mood.

---

Before she got started on digging things, Monika realized that she had a Perk Point to spend, that she hadn't noticed before. She debated whether to use it to upgrade her Mining skill again, but considering that there was a very good chance of running into a ravine again... well, she chose to be better safe than sorry, and took an Acrobatics perk.

Nimble (Tier 1/3)
- Your movement speed and reflexes increase by 25%

Not quite what she expected, to be honest, but it would help a lot. She was certain that if she had that, she might've avoided falling down...

Monika shook her head, forcing the thoughts away. It was time to mine, not brood.

As she dug deep into the bowels of the earth, Monika realized that a few blocks sounded a bit... off. Warily, she broke them to see what was on the other side, shield ready to be called up if needed. Within a few minutes, the wall opened up enough for her to see the sprawling cave system on the other side. Even with the low visibility provided by the Nightvision perk, she could see the glimmer of minerals all around: more than she had ever seen at once, even. Finally, her luck was starting to turn around!

Swing after swing, she collected any and every thing she could see -- and actually collect -- leaving behind a lot of stuff that her stone pickaxe couldn't harvest. But that was fine, she could come back in a second moment for the red powder (redstone?), the gold, and the diamonds. Sweet, sweet diamonds!

"Eat that, universe!" She yelled, pointing up at the ceiling of the cave. "I can do this!"

---

Glaring at the wooden walls, Monika pulled up her sleeves, hefting her axe over her shoulder.

"Alright, wood. You did your job, but it's time for you to go. Let's get something a bit less... fire-prone."

And with that, she began to bring down the whole wall, slowly replacing it with cobblestone. It wasn't pretty, sure, but it was definitely sturdier and way more reliable.

Plus, as an afterthought she dug a moat around her walls. Filling it with water was quite the hassle, but it would help. She wasn't certain whether zombies could swim, or if they were dumb enough to actually go in the water, but it went a long way in helping her feel safer.

And good god, did she need the safety. She hadn't thought about it much at first, but the quest still weighed heavily on her mind, much like a rock strapped to her back. Just a few zombies were that bad to deal with, what would this 'Ender Dragon' be like?

"Why is it even called 'ender' of all things? Does it mean 'one that ends people'?" She scoffed a bit at the absurdity. "Kinda tacky, I'd say."

Still, even before getting into killing it, one point remained: where was she even supposed to find it? She hadn't seen any trace of civilization since... the abandoned village...

Of course! She hadn't actually checked anything. Sure, there might not be people, but maybe she could find books or something, anything that could point her in the right way. Or any way, really. She was sick of going around without an actual goal beyond 'survive'.

---

/

---

That night the groans continued, this time coming from a lot more sources. She had a really bad feeling about it, but there wasn't much that she could do about it beyond going out and killing all those dumb zombies...

Though she was quite certain that she wasn't anywhere near ready for dealing with a horde. She did feel a little confident in her abilities with one-on-one combat, but multiple foes at a time? Nope. First, she needed some actual armor. And a better weapon. And better skills.

Gosh, there was a lot to do, huh?

 

[Alien-Kun]

Right after awakening and a quick breakfast, Monika decided it was about time to fix two very important things. First, upgrading her arsenal a bit.

An iron chestplate and tools would work for the time being, although she'd have to see about giving the same treatment to the rest of her armaments.

Now with some iron helping in keeping the squishy bits where they were meant to be, Monika went on to tackle the next issue: her food reserves were massively dwindling. Between having to feed herself and the animals, her rice and wheat along with the apples just barely broke even. Not even that if she got hurt and needed more nutrients to recover.

Hoe in one hand, and bucket in the other, Monika steeled herself for some good, old-fashioned farm work... or what passed for farm work in a world made of cubes and nightmares.

She expanded her farmland massively, bringing it up to thrice its previous size... it actually took up a lot of space. She had to keep in mind to leave some plaths open so that she wouldn't trample her crops all the time.

Then, she finally pulled out a heap of seeds which had been metaphorically collecting dust in her inventory, going over the long process of planting them all until she covered the fields in greenery. She doubled down on the rice, mainly because she liked it and it served well as food for the chickens... well, not in reality, but it functioned well enough here.

She couldn't wait for the potatoes and strawberries to grow, too. It had been way too long since she had some baked 'tatoes, or some strawberry jam.

And some popcorn wouldn't go amiss, either. If only for the comfort of it.

---

Now, Monika was vegetarian. She was fine with meat, mind you, but she didn't appreciate the sheer amount of pollution that meat production caused.

Here, though? In a world where the only person -- as far as she was aware -- was herself? There wasn't much pollution to worry about.

She did feel a bit bad about cutting down a bunch of innocent animals, but... well, it was her or them. And with the limited diet she had available, meat was important to balance things out.

---

Armed with her brand new iron pickaxe, Monika was now ready to brave the depths of the earth... after lunch.

Man, she missed potatoes.

Anyways! Belly full and energy replenished, Monika ventured all the way down into the cave she had uncovered the day before. Which she had taken care to block off after leaving. After all, monsters appeared at night mostly, so it stood to reason that they enjoyed dark places.

And if that was wrong, no skin off her back.

She took care to light up her path as she explored the caves, harvesting everything that she could. And she could take a lot.

The cave was downright loaded with goodies, all ripe for the taking! The more she looked around, the more she found.

And she found one thing that she hadn't seen yet. A violet gem, shining brightly in the light of her torch, in the deepest part of the cave.

Thankfully it could be harvested by iron, she didn't want to waste even a bit if it was as rare as she assumed.

Plopping the gems in her inventory, she looked at what the game called them.

"...Mana crystals?"

Wouldn't that imply that magic was a thing? A thing she could learn, maybe?

No matter how much she tried, she hadn't been able to find anymore of those gems... or much else, really. It seemed that she had completely exhausted the mine.

Time to block it off and forget about it.

---

Exploring the dilapidated remains of the village was... not a good experience. But Monika powered through her apprehension as she stepped fully into the ruins. A feeling of dread lingered in the back of her mind, as if the creature that invaded her dreams that night had left a taint on this place.

Building after building, she attempted to find something, anything to make the trip worth it. The sun had begun its dip towards the horizon, when her prayers were finally answered.

She had stepped inside a much larger house than the previous ones. This one seemed in almost serviceable state, if not for the heavy coating of dust covering every square inch.

"This place is suspicious. Every building had some damage, except this one. What stopped... whatever happened, from happening here?"

Monika froze. Her last step sounded off. She looked down at the old carpet, and carefully stomped on the ground. It was hollow.

With a quick application of her saber, she made a hole in the carpet, finding a trapdoor. Her hands trembled in trepidation as she made her way down into what she assumed to be the basement. The way it was hidden, the way the house itself looked so suspicious... yeah, she doubted that this was just a wine cellar.

At the end of the stairs, Monika had to take a moment to steady herself as she walked into what she assumed was some kind of laboratory. None of the equipment was familiar to her, but it seemed in somewhat okay-ish shape, for being weird mad scientist/wizard lab equipment.

Several bookshelves were filled, although most of the books were too ruined to make out anything. Except one. On a table in the far end of the room was a violet book, the same shade as the mana crystals she had found before. The corners were covered in gold, along with a filigree in the same material decorating the cover.

Monika picked up the book, almost fearing that it would crumble in her hands. Her worries were for naught, as the book felt as sturdy as if it were new. Leafing through it she found projects for many of the tools she saw in the lab, along with annotations from who she assumed was the book's former owner, and so much more.

What attracted her attention though, was the last page.

I've made a grave mistake. The Void did not appreciate being chained down, and has made its rage known. Soul has abandoned us. The moon is now fully red, and the hordes are too thick for us to hold back. There have been no news from any other settlement... I fear they may be already lost.

If anyone finds this book, beware the red moon and the dark ones who herald it. Their master grows ever closer to freeing itself, slowly but certainly.

Then, just under that, someone else had apparently found the book, as the handwriting was different.

It begins
In the dark
Nightmares crawl
Red fills the sky
As the Blood Moon comes

From a poetic point of view, it was a bit shoddy. But knowing what it meant... a shiver shot up her back.

"I should probably get back... Maybe I'll bring some of this stuff with me too."

---

Honestly, at this point she didn't have a huge need for wood anymore, but Monika didn't want to get caught with her metaphorical pants down. Also literal now, since she did make a pair. Going around in a skirt for a week straight? That was all she could take, thank you.

The woods seemed to be rather quiet today, as nothing actually bothered her. She simply got what she came for, and left.

---

Monika's arms ached as she wailed on a log with her mace, trying to get a feel for it. While she preferred her saber usually, it was good to have some experience with her backup weapon too.

It was mind-numbing, and tiring, but she could power through.

---

A massive crash woke Monika in the middle of the night. The initial flash of annoyance was quickly replaced by terror as she looked through her window.

The walls had a hole inside, and monsters were pouring in. Zombies, skeletons, spiders, and some weird four-legged green things all scrambling over each other to reach her. Most of the monsters seemed to not be in such a great shape, she could see skeletons down a limb or two, zombies torn up and charred, even the spiders looked as if they'd gone through a blender.

And yet, they were coming.

Looking at the sheer number of monsters crawling their way into what should've been a safe place, Monika realized that her current armaments were in dire need of an upgrade. She didn't have enough materials for everything, nor the time to get it done regardless, so she had to settle for an iron shield and to upgrade from her stone saber to an iron one. While she could've gone for a diamond one, the diamonds were in a chest in the basement, and there was no time to get it. The iron instead was just a quick inventory command away.

Now slightly better armed, Monika made her way to the top of her house, the last bastion between herself and them. And she'd abuse what little battle tactics she knew to the best of her ability, to make sure it remained standing. She observed as the zombies and green things piled up against the wall, trying to climb over each other in an uncoordinated mass of limbs and flesh. The spiders were better off, scaling the walls directly.

With a furious roar she cut down the spiders, not giving them any chance to reorient themselves as she brought down the wrath of god on them... in this case god being a woman absolutely done with everything's shit.

Focused as she was on the spiders, one of the few skeletons with both arms intact took the chance to take a shot at her. The chestplate proved its worth as it prevented a killing shot from being such, stopping the arrow from piercing her lungs. Somehow though, the shot had enough power to punch through iron, and embed itself into her back with enough power to stagger her, and just barely graze her lung. If anything pushed the arrow deeper, it might have spelled her doom. But in that moment, Monika paid no attention to it. It was painful as all fuck, but remembering the agony of fracturing multiple bones this was relatively easier to deal with. Her shield arm felt a bit stiffer, but she could still move it, so that was good enough for now.

The zombies had begun to reach the ceiling too, alongside the skeletons that couldn't use a bow anymore. Whether by her swing, by being pushed off the building, or simply by having their head crushed under her foot, they all found their end in the storm of rage that currently was Monika. The skeletons on the ground tried to get a few potshots off still, but the arrows were either parried by the disposable meatshields surrounding their target, or by her own shield.

A zombie's head burst apart seemingly out of nowhere, but after a moment Monika spotted the skeleton that had shot her before. The bow in its hands had a glow about it, reminiscent of the mana crystals. Perhaps it was magical in some way. That by itself increased its priority on her kill-list immensely. But unfortunately she was stuck cleaning up the horde coming at her.

Using the pile of bodies -- which wasn't turning into smoke yet for some reason -- one of the few green things climbed up to her. But didn't attack. Instead it simply stood there, glaring at her.

That simple act threw off Monika enough for her to take a moment to notice the glow in the creature's chest. And then its hiss reached her ears, a hiss sounding not unlike a cartoonish dynamite stick getting ready to explode.

Just as her mind made that connection she kicked the monster away from her. And that seemed to be the right choice, as she sent it barreling towards its last few remaining comrades and the glow increased. The monster's chest began to expand, and then it detonated. Nothing remained of it, in the slightest. The same went for the other monsters.

...But somehow, the other corpses were still there.

That's when she saw it. Seven feet tall, rusted iron covering most of its body. It held a chipped greatsword in one hand, and a shield that at one point might've been magnificent but now was little more than a relic. What really took the cake though, was the gauntlets it wore. A metal black enough that it didn't even reflect the moonlight, but still very much visible.

The more she looked at them, something seemed to call out to her. She feared them. Hated them. And yet she wanted them, oh so much.

Those thoughts were abandoned as quickly as they came, as the massive undead knight -- because that was all it could be -- leaped towards her, landing right where she had been standing a moment ago. The roof under her feet quaked under the knight's weight, making her stumble back. Her unsteadiness cost her some blood as the knight left a cut over her upper leg.

She could still move, but the pain and fatigue was beginning to set in. But she didn't want to give up just yet: if some oversized zombie could make her go down, then how would she ever face a dragon? She was stronger that she gave herself credit for, and it was damn time to show it.

Her saber wouldn't do quite that much damage against an armored enemy, but it didn't matter. It was big and bulky, but she was a small target. Its sword took a long time to swing. She capitalized on it, dodging the sword and rushing into its guard, stabbing it between the plates of its armor. The rust gave way to the soft -- and rotting -- flesh underneath, a spurt of black blood-like liquid oozing out of the wound.

The knight tried to backhand her away, but she was already out of the way. She attempted a hit-and-run again, getting another spurt of black blood. The knight had wisened up though, elbowing her in the face. Monika staggered back, disoriented, giving the knight time to properly punch her in the gut.

Monika went flying away, almost falling off the roof. With incredible force of will -- or in hindsight, blinded by a mix of adrenaline and an alien sense of determination -- she pushed herself up again. And the knight laughed.

It laughed. A conscious laugh, raspy and deep, but a laugh.

When its laugh finally petered out, the knight gripped its old blade properly, and Monika could feel that it was looking at her differently from before.

"Not void..." It began, the voice sounding possibly even raspier than its laugh. "Not a soul either... an enigma. Or..." The sheer hostility in the knight's stance almost took her off-guard, if Monika hadn't been getting ready to kill.

"What drives you, incarnate?" It asked her, venom dripping off the last word unlike anything Monika had ever head before.

She refused to answer, instead charging towards her enemy. The knight took that as her answer.

"Die a warrior's death, then!" It yelled as it threw its sword at her.

Monika took note that it was possibly the dumbest thing a fighter could do, but considering the power behind that one punch, it probably didn't even need it. So instead of stopping, Monika sidestepped it and kept up her charge. She slammed shield-first into the knight. It grabbed onto the shield, but she had let it go already. Before the knight realized her trick, she cut the tendons in its legs, flooring it.

She went to cut its neck, when something told her to get away. Jumping to the side, Monika saw the sword that had been thrown fly back towards where she had just been.

The blade hovered next to its wielder for a moment, before flying off towards her again, ready to skewer her. Without her shield, Monika was forced to dodge it. It wasn't actually that fast, but her fatigue and wounds made it much harder. She ducked and weaved, doing her best to keep away and reach the knight. Whenever she tried, it would make a motion with its arm, and the sword would come to try and kill her again.

An idea came to her, and just when the knight was going to make another motion, she threw her mace at it. Her attack hit its mark, disrupting its concentration enough for her to get close and behead it.

The sword fell to the ground with a clang, but it was drowned out by the body's own fall.

Finally, the corpses began to clear up, bursts of smoke coming from the pile and the fallen knight.

Monika took a deep breath -- though not too deep, as it hurt -- and let out a long sigh. Then she sat down on the edge of the roof, surveying the damage as she ate a piece of bread. There was the hole in the wall, but that was an easy enough fix. The land had a hole too, so she had to fill that. A lot of crops got trampled... dammit. She just got done planting those, too.

Once her leg felt a bit better, Monika took another breath at the very painful thing she would have to do. With a thought the chestplate disappeared from her body, and she carefully reached the arrow shaft. And then yanked it out.

A muffled scream pushed its way out of her mouth, forcing her to bite down on her own arm to not start crying. Then, it slowly began to mend enough for her to start eating again.

"...I hate this place..."

[Achievement complete: Horde mode
- 1 Perk Point]
[Achievement complete: Look into the abyss...
-New Perk]

[Incarnate (Tier 1/8)
-Born of thought.]

"Of course, this too. Cryptic bullshit. Why the hell not." Monika buried her face in her hands, letting out yet another sigh. She then looked up to see the sun beginning to rise.

"...Fuck it, I'm going back to sleep."