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The wind over the valley carried the scent of pine resin and woodsmoke. Shan Liang sat near the communal fire, listening to the quiet crackle of burning twigs while sorting bundles of medicinal herbs in her lap. Xie E was repairing a spear beside her, his hands steady, his gaze sharp despite the calm atmosphere.
It had been two days since the strange "System" had come into her life, two days in which she had been testing its panels in quiet moments when no one was looking. She had memorized her Status, studied the Humanity Progress screen, and even tried the Analysis function with trivial questions—more to understand how it "spoke" than to get real answers.
But there was still one unopened panel. The Task & Mission function.
For some reason, she had been hesitant to open it. A feeling in her gut told her that once she saw what lay inside, her life would truly start moving in a new direction. But now, under the fading orange light of dusk, she decided she couldn't delay any longer.
She closed her eyes and willed the panel to appear.
The familiar, weightless presence of the System flowed into her mind, followed by the crisp, emotionless voice that somehow carried a faint undertone of approval.
[Opening Task & Mission interface.]
[Scanning local environmental conditions…]
[Analyzing settlement resources, population size, and seasonal patterns…]
[Generating first primary mission for Host.]
A faint chime echoed in her head—clear, precise, impossible to ignore. Then the text appeared in her vision.
[Primary Mission: "Preserve Life Through the Cold"]
[Objective: Implement sustainable food preservation methods in the Host's current settlement to ensure adequate supplies throughout the upcoming winter.]
[Provided Method: Dried Meat Storage (Stone Age adaptation). Includes cutting, salting (or herbal substitute), air-drying, and smoke-curing techniques suitable for current environmental conditions.]
[Reward Upon Completion: Knowledge Module — "Foundations of Agriculture I" (grain storage, drying techniques, basic pest prevention).]
Another block of text followed, tinged in faint silver rather than plain white.
[Optional Chain Bonus Task: Successfully implement the dried meat preservation method across three or more settlements before the first snowfall. Unlock additional reward — "Irrigation Principles & Crop Rotation (Intro)".]
Shan Liang blinked slowly, reading the words twice to be certain she understood them. Then she looked over at Xie E.
"This… thing just told me winter is coming soon. And it gave me a way to store food so no one starves."
Xie E didn't laugh, didn't scoff—he had never been one to dismiss her. Instead, he set the spear aside. "Tell me everything."
She explained the method the System had given her: how to slice the meat into thin strips, how to use certain bitter herbs as a preservative when salt was unavailable, how to hang the meat in a smoke hut to keep it dry and safe from insects.
Xie E listened intently. "If it works, this could save many lives. I've seen too many winters where we buried more people than we saved."
Shan Liang's hands curled around the herbs in her lap. She thought of the frail children whose bones had shown through their skin last winter, the elders who had wasted away because the hunters returned empty-handed. She felt a surge of determination.
"We'll start tomorrow," she said firmly.
The next morning, she gathered the people of the settlement—men, women, even the older children—and explained the method. At first, there was skepticism.
"Meat rots after a few days," one man said, frowning. "You can't keep it through the whole winter."
"That's because you've never dried it properly," Shan Liang replied. She spoke with quiet certainty, the kind that made people lean in rather than turn away. She demonstrated the slicing method, the hanging racks, the use of fragrant smoke. She explained how even in deep cold, the meat would stay edible if stored properly.
They tried it.
For the next month, she and Xie E worked tirelessly. The hunters brought in game, and the villagers learned to cut and cure the meat. They built drying racks over slow-burning fires, feeding them with green wood so the smoke would curl thick and steady. The scent of it drifted through the settlement day and night.
At first, the people treated it as an experiment. But as they saw the results—strips of meat that stayed firm and dry, tasting rich and smoky even after two weeks—they grew excited.
One elder woman clasped Shan Liang's hands, her eyes damp. "If this works in the deep cold… my grandchildren will live through the winter."
By the time the first racks were full, Shan Liang remembered the silver text of the Optional Chain Bonus Task. Three settlements before the first snowfall. If the System's reward could teach her how to grow food rather than just store it…
She discussed it with Xie E. He agreed immediately. "We can't do it alone, not in time. We'll need help."
They approached the villagers, explaining that they wanted to bring this method to other settlements. To her surprise, several young men and women volunteered to join them—not just as guides, but as teachers themselves.
So the group set out for the next settlement, carrying bundles of smoked meat as proof.
There, the reception was easier. People could taste the proof themselves. They worked fifteen days in the second settlement, with help from the volunteers who had already learned the process.
The journey to the third settlement took longer, over uneven ridges and narrow passes. But by now, the process was efficient. Hunters were instructed from the first day, drying racks were built by the second, smokehouses by the third.
When Shan Liang saw the racks full by the end of the second week, she felt a quiet satisfaction.
The silver-text task from the System was technically complete. But when she thought of the other villages she had passed in her travels—places where people would face the winter with nothing but chance—she couldn't bring herself to stop.
She gave a speech in the central square of the third settlement. She told them about the other villages, about how knowledge could save lives. Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried a weight that made people listen.
"I can't reach every settlement before the snow falls," she said. "But all of you can. Teach what you've learned. If even one child lives through the winter because of it, it's worth the effort."
Her words struck something in them. A pair of traders who had just arrived from a distant settlement stepped forward. "We can carry the method back to our people," one of them offered. "We'll form groups. Spread the word."
And they did. Like the first stones in a landslide, the movement began to roll outward.
Weeks passed. The cold came early, sharp and biting. Snow dusted the ridges by the end of the first frost moon. Hunting became harder, but the stores of dried meat held.
Shan Liang and Xie E spent the winter moving between the three original settlements, checking the storage, treating those who fell ill, and sometimes just listening to the stories around the fires.
She kept waiting for the System to speak again, to tell her the task was complete, but it remained silent. Perhaps, she thought, it was waiting to see if the preserved food truly lasted until spring.
When at last the deep cold eased and the first sunlight of early spring spilled across the valley, Shan Liang stood on a ridge and looked down at the settlements below. Smoke curled from their hearths. Children played outside, thin but alive. No one had died of hunger that she knew of.
Her heart swelled with quiet pride.
The task wasn't just a mission. It had been proof—proof that knowledge could change everything.
And she had the feeling the System's next words would change her path yet again.
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