Ash huddled in the corner of a ruined barn, his back pressed to the splintered wooden wall, breath fogging in the stale, fungal-tainted air. His fingers curled tightly around the broken crowbar—the system still labeled it as Tier 0, durability 17/30.
Not great, but it was the only thing standing between him and the hostile world outside.
The shelter he'd constructed wasn't much—three walls propped with metal rods, loose fabric tarps stretched overhead, reinforced with crumbling panels stripped from rusted machinery. One side was left open to keep smoke from building up. The system had marked it as "adequate temporary structure," but every creak made his heart race.
The rain outside had slowed. Redroot vines glowed faintly in the dark, pulsing like sick veins through the forest ruins. The moon, or what passed for one, was a murky orb behind shifting clouds.
Zero checked the system log again.
[FOUNDATION CORE SYSTEM - TIER 0 FRAMEWORK ACTIVE]
[Journal Log Entry: Day 001 - Recorded]
[Tutorial Progression:
Shelter: Complete.
Water: Incomplete.
Food: Incomplete.
Threat Awareness: Incomplete.]
His stomach growled.
"Figures," he muttered. "Survive the dimensional drop, wake up starving and thirsty."
He leaned forward, adjusting a heat plate cobbled together from scrap wires and a shattered solar cell. The system had helped simulate the circuit. Sparks flickered. The heat core hummed.
[Tool Station: Primitive Heating Module (Jury-Rigged)]
Status: Unstable.
Duration Remaining: 3h 11m.
He extended his fingerless gloved hand toward the flicker. "Better than nothing."
Hours Earlier
After scavenging parts from a collapsed irrigation pump and stripping wires from a cracked vending machine, Zero had finally managed to assemble something resembling a fire-safe heat plate. The crowbar was essential—he couldn't have dismantled the vending machine without the reinforced pry motion the tool enabled.
[Material Gained: Rusted Circuit Board x1]
[Material Gained: Melted Polymer x3]
[Material Gained: Scrap Metal (Junk Quality) x7]
The system's minimalist HUD displayed everything cleanly, pixel-like, with sleek blue overlays. Every collected resource updated with a soft chime that made his survival feel like a game—only, this game didn't allow saves.
He accessed the Journal Log Entry Menu.
[Journal Log Entry - Day 001 continued]
Disassembled vending machine and pump. Constructed jury-rigged heat plate. No signs of sentient life. Biomass seems reactive. Redroot confirmed. Strange that the system tracks "Threat Awareness" — does that mean something's watching?
He paused.
"…Does it?"
He highlighted the word Threat Awareness in the HUD and blinked twice.
[Tooltip: Awareness Index - Based on observed anomalies, passive dangers, and hostile patterns. Data still collecting.]
"Great. So I'm a walking signal flare."
Around midnight, a different notification rang.
[Dismantle Progression Unlocked: Tier 0 Tool Threshold Met]
New Option Available: Processing Station Blueprint (Prototype)
He blinked.
[Requires: 8x Scrap Metal (Junk Quality), 2x Crude Circuit Board, 3x Broken Paneling]
The blueprint hovered before him, rotating. It resembled a hybrid between a press machine and a grinding basin.
[Function: Converts Junk Quality and Tier 0 Resources into Tier 1 Low-Quality Resources]
"Now that is progress," he muttered.
He set it aside. Too tired to build it now.
Dawn
A pale crimson glow lit the fog outside. Dawn—or whatever passed for it. Zero crawled from his makeshift shelter, stretching sore muscles and rotating his shoulders.
The air smelled worse than last night.
Sweet rot.
Faint ozone.
[ENVIRONMENTAL ALERT: Biomass Expansion Detected Nearby. Recommend Scouting.]
He tapped open the system's Compass HUD. A blip pulsed 80 meters west.
Time to explore.
He reinforced his crowbar with a length of copper wire—did nothing, really, but made him feel better. Then, he stepped beyond the broken fence.
The world outside was something out of Dysmantle meets Subnautica on land—every structure was a relic, overgrown with corruption. Thorned vines. Decay. Old-world buildings swallowed by nature.
He dismantled two desks and a twisted bench. Materials added up.
He even found a broken drone.
[Object: Inert Drone Shell – Phase Designation: UNKNOWN]
The system didn't offer interaction.
"Maybe later," he whispered.
Near the blip was an overturned vehicle—some kind of heavy salvage runner, judging by the tracks and exhaust. Inside, rotten uniforms and melted comm units. No bodies.
He pinged the system again.
[New Base Location: Potential]
Would you like to mark this location for future development? [Y/N]
He clicked Yes.
On the way back, he spotted movement. Fast. Low.
A blur near his shelter perimeter. His breath caught.
Then it was gone.
He rushed in. Inventory untouched. Scrap barrels undisturbed.
Except…
Two rations were missing.
He squinted. No tracks. No signs of forced entry. Just… gone.
His crowbar trembled slightly in his grip.
[System Entry Updated: "Unaccounted Resource Loss. Unknown Factor."]
That night, he wrote again.
[Journal Log Entry - Day 002]
Constructed heat plate. Located potential vehicle: Heavy Salvage Runner (ruined). Observed moving anomaly near base. No damage, but two food units missing. Built temporary torch-light perimeter. System didn't alert. May begin work on Processing Station tomorrow.
I've decided: no matter what this world is—game, purgatory, alien sim—I'm not giving in. I'm going to build.
One wall. One flame. One clawed mystery at a time.
He saved the log and closed his eyes.
The world watched.
And deep in the echoing ruins, something stirred.
[Redroot Bloom Node Reactivity Level: Escalating]
[Designation: "ZERO" Now Active in Regional Grid]