There was a jeep in the middle of the desert, the driver was busy looking around his surroundings, dunes in front, back, and his sides. Looking at the horizon is also more sand and dunes.
The driver's face was sporting a combination of exasperated, disbelief, and wonder all at the same time. On his hand was his phone which failed to catch any signal and access the GPS app, the same notice was also given by the built-in GPS on his jeep. On his passenger seat was a stacked paper filled with presentation material his subordinate had given to him for review, it was filled with correction marks and Post-it corrections. He wasn't meant to be here.
On his body was a formal wear one wore for office activity, not desert exploring.
His jeep was clean and empty, except for the things he needed for his supposed today's work, there was nothing, nothing prepared for someone in a desert.
At least, his jeep was suited for all-terrain, so he won't have any trouble for that in the foreseeable future, except gas. Scratch that, his gas was already halfway down, he wouldn't last long, not with this gas-guzzling monster with bad gas mileage. He'll be stranded before long if he moves around too much, that was the reason he never moved in the first place, had the car gas run out, he'd have to though out the harsh sunrays outside.
"Am I really in another world? If so, then God, it is both cool and scary. Anyway, where does that guy send me to? It's desert but I doubt Earth's desert has that thing."
What he was referring to was a black blob with a rocky carapace and some pointy protrusion, it had some cracks that let out a faint luminescence. Based on his knowledge… and his instinct, he should ignore his curious urge to go out there and touch it. He wouldn't want to be the willing victim of "fuck around and found out", he was tempted but not now.
The creature who moves slowly is named an "Originium Slug", something he has never heard of, further bolstering the fact that he isn't on Earth anymore.
"Mrrh… should I just kill it? I'll also test something out with it."
As he said it, he materialised a gun with a gesture of his hand. It wasn't magic… well, kind of one, but technically he wasn't using any recourse of any kind to use it. It was among the "gifts" he received from the mysterious man that sent him here or the man he thought sent him here. When he requested these "gifts" as his privilege to go to another world, never in his life he would've thought it to be true, he was glad he took time to think about this, a week worth consideration upon consideration.
"I would've lessened the joke names had I known this to be real."
[Colonisation System Interface]
"…but I would've regretted it too if I didn't take the chance to slip in some silly things… Whatever, It is what it is."
From his point of view, he could see multiple floating holographic panels showing varied information, they were all controlled by thought only, and he couldn't touch them even if wanted to. It was a bit jarring at first, but he quickly adapted to it by focusing on what he "touched" and "Swipe", his hands did nothing but help him focus on what function he wanted to choose, he looked weird with his hand flailing in the air but it's the best he could do right now.
Right now, he chose a panel with "Personnel" written on it. In the panel was a list of names, he tapped one of them, and it revealed multiple options from Deploy, Recall, Contact, Deploy-On-Me, and many other currently greyed-out options. He decided to contact the person he had chosen.
"Hans, how's the surroundings? Any human settlement?"
["Nothing so far, Commander. Desert as far as I can see, you sure we are not in… maybe Namibia or American desert or something?"]
"We've seen a creature that didn't exist on Earth, didn't we? The originium slug, the one with a black stone carapace. Anyway, that is enough, regroup. Tell Rosemarie and Victoria to go back. The Jeep won't last long before it becomes nothing more than an oversized oven, we have to get out of here fast."
["Sure thing, Commander. Rosie! Vic! We're told to co-]
The call cut as Hans called the other two who went with him to investigate the surrounding area if there was any human settlement he could take shelter at.
The efforts fruit nothing at the moment, but the sun was no longer at a ninety-degree angle right at the top of his head. If the car lasted until sunset, it's a win for today, hopefully, the temperature will decrease as the sun continues to sunken at the western horizon. Food and drink are of no concern, the colonisation system he had was kind enough to give him some starting credit so he could buy some of the stuff available in the shop.
The unfortunate thing was, that his shop items were limited to the era of World War I, this was the reason why couldn't just resupply the Jeep's gas tank, at this time, unleaded fuel wasn't founded yet, he wouldn't risk breaking his by forcing it took a fuel unsuited for its need, he won't be able to buy it again from the shop yet. By God, he didn't even have enough credit to buy anything more expensive than simple food and drink after he used it to recruit the three people he called before along with their equipment and ammunition.
The system he received from the requirement he requests he made while unknowing of it being real, was military-themed, while it wasn't strictly limited to military things only, the system was geared to profit from prolonged conflict and physical victories of a clash. A complete defeat of every fighter of the foe side is worth more than a surrender mid-fight, but a victory achieved with zero casualties on the enemy camp is worth even more, add to that every single defeat of every single enemy fighter has its own rewards, this system incentivizes him to choose either of the extremes. It was either a complete pacifist or a complete violent defeat of anyone opposing him, that is if he wanted to maximize his profit, nothing says against taking the middle road. More of this topic will be continued at a later date when it will be more relevant, right now, we focus on the more mundane side of things.
His starting credits necessary to make a purchase at the shop were close to running dry, he could afford a simple tent available during that era but it barely provided the comfort his city dweller body needs. Any kind of structure he could afford was of the same condition as the tents, and while better than nothing, He still wanted to bet at the chance to find the already existing civilization and save up the credit for a more dire purchase in the future.
While he was thinking of far ahead plan and the current situation, someone knocked at his window. The one who was knocking was a German man called Hans Friederich earlier in the call, he recruited him from one of the system functions. Hitting a height of 199 cm, the German man was categorized as an experienced scout capable of hoisting the jeep despite his lean body. Well, he does cost a pretty amount of credits to recruit, so while it was a surprise what he was capable of, it was a welcome one.
This welcome surprise also applies to the other two who also cost the same as him.
The one who has red hair, who currently poking the originium slug with a stick she found nearby, her name was Victoria Parker, an expert fighter class who was also capable of lifting the jeep with ease and probably folding clothes… with the people in it. People wouldn't suspect her from capable of such feats looking at her smaller size of bodies compared to the towering Hans, she only stood at 162 centimetres tall with no visible muscles from the outside, but those who saw her when she changed clothes knew that she was sculpted underneath.
The last one is a blond-haired soft-looking woman, she alone wore a different uniform than the other two. While the other two wore a common soldier uniform with a bright colour resembling the desert surrounding them, she wore an eye-catching, bright red British grenadier uniform complete with the sabre on her hips. This eye-catching woman was named Rosemarie Weber, A capable field medic bestowed with some healing abilities that disregard common sense. While the skill was shared with the Commander, both have their differences, while the commander has to spend credits to perform the abilities dubbed as "skills", Rosemarie faces nothing of that limitation and is capable of dispensing the skills with no cost and no cooldown for an unlimited amount of times. One glance and it was all a person needed to know that her skillset was "unfair", in the sense that enough of her class on any battlefield could keep an army to be nigh immortal. She couldn't bring up the dead, only the commander could, even if he needs to pay some credits for it and there is some limitation to it, but why revive when you don't die in the first place?
Her abilities were [Heal], [Restore], and [Self-motivation]. The first skill instantly heals any kind of injury no matter how severe back to a normal state. The second ability is what could keep the fighter on the field for an almost unlimited amount of time since it re-energises any kind of fatigue from the target and also removes most kinds of temporary ailments like bringing back a victim suffering from a shellshock state, it could also neutralise the effect of blindness from a sudden exposure to high lumen-level light source and gives the target some degree of resistance to it for a short time. The last one is a buff-like skill that gives a significant boost to the medic's physical capability which also affects her battle prowess. But they can't be stacked on top of each other and her buffed state still couldn't overpower both Hans and Victoria, even the Commander still held some chance of overpowering her buffed state and he was only an office worker until yesterday.
Now we move to the "Commander", who was the start of all this thing albeit unknowingly. A person who held some significance in the corporate ladder of his company, none of them is relevant right now.
[Samuel Ethan Gilang Sudirman]
[Current Era: World War I]
This Era affected the things accessible in the shop, right now, Samuel was limited to things that existed from the earliest of the earth to the end of the First World War. A flippant curious search reveals to him that he could technically buy fresh dinosaur eggs… though the description said the eggs weren't fertilized, it was still interesting to be able to eat prehistoric creature eggs for breakfast in the future…
Getting back on the track…
[Personal Evaluation Descriptor] or [P.E.D.] in short, a flavour text generated in the place of numerical values to show his stats and physical capabilities. Samuel was described as someone who was slightly above average thanks to his routine exercise, his balanced diet, and his peculiar "superiors" with their interestingly physical hobbies who love to invite Samuel to partake in their hobbies. Despite his feats, the Descriptor said that had he gone to the army, he'd be the dryest coal loved by the drill instructor to be roasted every day. This function was specially requested by Samuel under the thought that it would be a more interesting way to read the player's stats as a GM than only reading the numerical values… guess who also suggests adding a lame quip at the end of every flavour text? He does.
Anyway, Samuel exited his car and approached Victoria who was poking the poor slug with a stick and Rosemarie who was noting something in her notebook, something about the originium slug as there is a detailed sketch of the slug occupying 1/4th of the page. Initially, he wanted to kill the slug to test one of his system's functions, the battling function where he will be rewarded with credits for defeating a hostile opponent. But looking at the helpless slug under the mercy of the redhead's incessant poking, he decided to save this test for the future when a more obvious hostile opponent appeared. Right now, he doesn't know yet the boundary between what is considered a hostile fighter, an enemy or what the system will reward him and those who will not give him anything if defeated. Also, as far as what he sees the entire time, it was mostly harmless, completely dominated by Victoria's poking stick.
"So, Ladies, what do we know so far about this slug?"
"Its carapace is dangerous, Commander, I might need to be revived soon."
"Huh? It's poisonous? You seem fine."
"For now, yes. I wouldn't call it poisonous, or maybe it is, I don't have enough information to go for. Previously, I wanted to take a sample of what kind of material it uses as its carapace. But I accidentally inhaled some of the dust when the wind blew… I'm ashamed, I was a bit careless. Currently, I feel some kind of burning sensation in my general area of respiration organ, I used my healing skill but it won't go completely."
"Then you go inhaling some more. 'For Science', you say."
Victoria interrupted Rosemarie's report by exposing her silly act fueled by her curiosity.
"We-well, I know, it's unbecoming of a doctor such as myself to be led around by her curiosity, but I was already a contaminated victim, a patient who has been contacted by an unknown dangerous element. Won't it be the next logical choice to use the chance to research as much as possible until I eventually expire? I could be revived after all, my temporary suffering is nothing compared to obtaining knowledge of an unknown disease, and it could save a lot of patients in the future! It is morally right for me to sacrifice myself and endure some pain if it is for a better future. As you know from my background, I witnessed a lot of what should be a preventable death, we just don't have enough information to make the right treatment and cure, and we lack ways to research it. What is the more suitable way to research disease on a human than by researching another human? We couldn't do it because it is just wrong to do experiments on a living human who is suffering from an incurable disease and hopes for salvation meanwhile a cadaver could only offer so much information. Right now, I could do it myself, I ca-"
"Yes, yes, let's stop it there. Rosemarie, reserve it for later. Each revive costs 100 credits, which doesn't amount much compared to other more expensive items available in the store, but right now, I have a zero income rate, every spending no matter how small is a 100% loss as I don't have any way to replenish the spent credits. I have exactly 3000 credits left to my name, I doubt 30 chances are enough because you know… I'm currently stuck to medical tools invented and made until the end of the First World War. I understand where you came from, but you have to shelf it for now. Relax, this system isn't balanced, it only took me a week to design this system, and no matter how much I plan, in that short time frame, there are bound to be loopholes to exploit. Let's just hope it doesn't take long before I find them."
Samuel doused Rosemarie's passionate rant with cold water of their current situation, he respected her passion and desire, but his current state of finance in the system doesn't allow for such a noble quest nor does his system have the right tools such as the advanced medical equipment he saw back on earth.
"…I understand."
"Good, …how's your throat?"
"It reached my lung already."
"What reached your lung?"
"The contaminant, spread fast but that's it for now. I can feel the burns spread but it didn't increase as fast as I thought it would be looking at how fast it spread."
"How long do you think you will last?"
"I can't give you the exact answer yet, Commander. Other than it spread fast, I don't know anything else yet. I could theoretically keep myself alive as long as possible, since 'heal' completely reverts the progress to its initial stages of spread. I think I'll just keep it for now and see what it does."
"It won't be infectious… won't it?"
"…I'll use a filtered gas mask and distance myself."
"You don't have to go that far, we-"
"Commander, this is the basic protocol, I… have breached it earlier by making direct contact with a foreign contaminant carelessly. Please, let me at least do this."
"Ok, granted. Which mask do you want?"
"The Great War… right. SBR, please."
"The German one is cooler though… okay okay, here."
"Thank you, Commander."
After giving her the mask, Samuel proceeds to have some more discussion with the team. They decided against the initial plan to wait out the sunset before making any moves, they drove the car until it was dry and then brute forced the rest of the way by walking until they met either the end of the land or some kind of settlement or something worth to make a shelter of. All the while during the drive, there can be seen at the back most of the seat, a woman wearing a red British grenadier uniform who looks menacing with her Small Box Respirator equipped. Samuel took back his words, seeing the woman sitting in a straight posture in the third row alone wearing the previously mentioned set of equipment was a new experience for him, she looked scary… very cool.
0o0o0
As expected, the car doesn't last very long but they also made a huge found. A jungle! Heavily contrasting the barren desert was a lush forest similar to the tropical jungle back on Earth.
After depositing, the Jeep inside his inventory, the group walked the rest of the desert on foot. Samuel also already switched out his outfit with… he just changed shoes and deposited his suit into the inventory, exchanging it with a simple brown leather cloak from the store. The bastard ran out of credits after stockpiling food, only leaving a small amount enough for 8 revives, twice for each person in the group.
0o0o0
A/N: This one originally has a few thousand more of words with heavy technical explanation... The first instance of me forgetting something of the technicalities I immediately axed almost all of 'em, lol. No way I'll remember all those numbers and scales and rules... even I'm afraid to forget something by the next chapter with only this much.
I promise I'll start updating this and the other fic weekly... um... bi-weekly... er... This is embarrassing... I at least will try not to make it updated once every six months. I'm sorry.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the fanfiction story I concocted from my dwelling, ho ho ho. *Spit chocked*