Game Tester In The Apocalypse - Chapter 8

Marco spent some time looking down on the ground, searching for rocks. Never in his life did he ever thought that a time would come where he would spend minutes searching for medium-sized rocks.

Apparently, the task only accepts certain sizes of stone. Anything smaller than an average fist is considered a ‘pebble’.

He already overturned and dug every available stone only to find dozens of them on the next plot. It was shocking to see items vanish and got automatically transferred in the inventory upon contact. However, as experienced as he was, he would never question the game mechanics especially if it’s something that makes his life easier.

After collecting 10 stones, he walked to the nearest plant and break the stem in the middle. The plant magically dropped to the ground transforming into brown sticks having the same length.

Marco collected three sticks from the ground and moved to the next tall plant. With a simple twist of the stem, the plant turned into another batch of sticks for him to loot.

“This is great! Though the leaves are gone, there’s probably nothing I would use them for, right?”

Though he was surprised by how the game affected the world, he readily accepted the changes happening around him. In the first place, he already owns a wondrous inventory system that should not have existed.

It took him a minute to break four plants and managed to get 12 sticks.

Ding!

[Congratulations! You have completed the first part of the tutorial. You now know how to collect resources.

By default, resources are automatically transferred to the inventory upon contact with the player’s hand. However, the player has to think of taking the item for the automatic looting to activate. Otherwise, every item you touch would be accidentally stashed in the inventory.

If there is not enough inventory space, the items won’t be collected and remain on their spot. When looting, identical items are stacked together instead of occupying a new inventory slot.

Extremely large items cannot be placed inside the inventory. (Limit is 5×5 meters.)]

New feature, Creation Platform unlocked!

You received a new task.

Craft an item using the Creation Platform.

Marco was stunned. “What even is a Creation Platform? System, at least show a pop-up or something!”

As if someone was listening to him, the main screen opened and the character screen appeared. On the top-left, a new tab appeared. Now there was a character tab and a creation tab.

His whole vision blurred slightly with the sole creation tab highlighted as if telling him to switch to that tab.

Understanding fully well how tutorials work on games, Marco blinked and the tab switched.

Welcome to the next step, crafting!

There is a multitude of recipes and blueprints available in the universe. Our crafting system offers endless possibilities and your creativity is the limit.

The most important thing when crafting is creativity. However, for this step, let us help you a little.

You received a blueprint!

Stone Ax.

A simple ax made from stone.

Damage: 9 Durability: 131

Required materials: x2 sticks, x1 sharpened stone, x2 rope

“Hey, where do you expect me to find rope?!” Marco raged after seeing the list.

You only sent me to search for sticks and stones but you want me to make something with additional material? How am I supposed to make the item then?

Marco tried to remember if he had rope back in his apartment.

“I don’t have ropes or anything that I can tie something with. The closest thing I have was duct tapes. That should work, right?”

“If that doesn’t work, I’ll just have to search for some in my dead neighbor’s house.”

While he was thinking, the morning wind blew and caused the grass to sway. He watched the empty lot filled with overgrown grass and realization came into him.

“I’ll believe anything that comes in the future if this thing worked.”

Marco crouched sloppily pulling the grass off the ground. His belly obstructed him from bowing down completely but his hands were able to get the grass on his sides.

The item entered his inventory after the conditions were met and took a random slot. The dirt was gone and only the grass stalk remained. Each uprooting netted him 2-3 grass stalks.

After collecting 20 grass stalks, he quickly opened the creation platform and began his experiment. He placed the grass stalks in the Creation Platform and a new small box appeared next to it.

Marco’s eyes shone brilliantly like a child finding something mystifying!

The grass stalks can be turned into grass ropes! In the creation results box, x4 grass ropes were displayed.

Marco didn’t know that grass has other uses. There were dozens of other applications, recipes, and blueprints for grass. Just like any other item, grass can be combined with anything. However, this incident happened because he was thinking of making a rope. The infinite creation possibilities grasped his intentions, thus resulting in grass ropes.

Marco tried to take the grass ropes with sheer will and the creation prompt appeared.

Create x4 Grass Ropes? Y/N.

Yes!

Marco rejoiced not because he could finish the task but because of the endless possibilities that he could take advantage of. The other reason was that he could return to his room after crafting the stone ax.

A loading bar appeared with a huge anvil at the center. A recipe for grass rope appeared together with an experience bar that quickly rose up to 20%.

In the system log section, lower left of his vision, a series of updates appeared.

Grass Rope recipe learned.

Created x4 Grass Rope.

He opened his character screen and saw the grass rope lying in his inventory.

Grass Rope (Low-quality)

A material made by an inexperienced craftsman.

Grass Rope Recipe (Entry-level)

A rope made by grass stalks. They aren’t the most durable material by they can do the work!

“Great! I can finish the task now since I can craft an ax now.”

Just as he finished cheering himself up, a resounding ding echoed next to his ears.

[Task complete. Craft an item using the Creation Platform.]