Sandrine, the corporate slave who ruined her health by typing on a computer keyboard for all her adulthood, against a pack of huge rats.
The outcome was obvious.
However, curiously, Sandrine didn't feel as much dread as she thought. After blocking the first attack, she pushed the rat back and took a defensive stance, machete forward. When another rat jumped towards her, she instinctively swung down, slicing the rodent and cutting its head open.
Seeing the other rats so surprised, she didn't wait and took out the pitchfork from her inventory, thrusting it with her left hand while her right hand was once again swinging the machete.
In just a few breaths, three rats were down.
She kicked one more and impaled it with the pitchfork, and the rest got scared and ran away.
Sandrine stayed in a defensive stance, grabbing the machete and pitchfork tightly, trying to catch her breath while staring in the direction the rats had disappeared in. She was shocked by what just happened, and had a hard time regaining her senses.
"Did I just… Can I fight ?"
Sandrine took a deep breath and tried to calm her beating heart. Things made less and less sense. She kept discovering new things about herself that were completely contradictory. For example, having a desk job but knowing how to fight. Or being a bit crazy but doing well in a corporate job. How did she even know that she had never been in Vaucluse, so she could use the 84 number freely in her nickname ?
Sandrine shook her head. Thinking about it obsessively wouldn't suddenly reveal the answer. She needed to focus on what was in front of her.
She shook her arms to try and relax her muscles, but her hands were still shaking. She didn't have much strength, and this short battle had been enough to thoroughly exhaust her. However, the silver lining was that the rats seemed to be the only danger in this shop. Seeing Paquerette calm down at the entrance, Sandrine didn't wait anymore and went straight for the wooden chest.
Paquerette wasn't with her, but the mare, who had passed her head through the door and was looking at her, didn't seem overly worried, so Sandrine opened the lid immediately. Inside, there were three familiar little pouches.
"Three backpack extensions ? That's 30 additional slots in one go !"
With this, Sandrine could loot everything she would find, and trade the surplus for what she needed most. No more worrying about space !
"I was right to take a risk and explore."
With all that inventory space, Sandrine didn't wait and looted everything she could in this shop. Everything that seemed still usable and all the cooking machines and processors that could be disassembled for useful parts, she took everything. There were probably a few smart people who knew mechanics amongst players, those machines would eventually find new homes.
As long as it was tradeable, it was worth it.
It took her a while but Sandrine thoroughly looted the shop. As soon as she had finished, she put everything she wouldn't use on the trade platform, in exchange for stackable things she needed, like hay, water, cans, and hygiene products. This allowed her to free some space by stacking up supplies on the same slots in her backpack, while also accumulating everything she needed.
She was slowly turning into a hoarder.
She hesitated to also take the shelves, those could be useful for trucks or RVs, but it was still too early in the game, people were still struggling to get food, shelves wouldn't sell for several more days. She didn't want to hold onto them for too long and waste inventory space.
She exited the store and petted Paquerette's neck. Even when she wasn't next to Sandrine, the mare was still useful as a danger detector. Truly the best vehicle there was !
Sandrine curiously checked out the server chat and was shocked at the number displayed. So many had died since the beginning of the day less than two hours ago !
[Server chat (8,614/10,000)
-My leg is stuck in a bear trap, I'm bleeding out and I can't get away. This is the end of the road for me
-help me plz need bandages help
-Leaving the road was a mistake, the game wants to kill us !
-I was scared and didn't want to leave the road, looks like I was right !
-newbie protection my ass
-fr if the protection is this hardcore I'm scared of the real thing
-Don't enter restaurants, the food has gone radioactive, got poisoned !]
Everyone was panicking in the chat, it seemed that exploring the side of the road was a hellish experience for everyone. But as dangerous as it was, scavenged supplies were starting to overflow the trade tab. Unfortunately, a lot of people only wanted to trade for food.
Sandrine looked at the time. It was only about 8am right now, and since the daily mileage was a small 20km, she could continue to explore for most of the day.
She continued onto the commercial street. Every building seemed to have a chest inside in addition to the scavengeable supplies. However, Sandrine didn't try to get every chest. Paquerette was the choice maker, and she didn't allow Sandrine to enter any restaurants. Everytime Sandrine was going towards one, the mare would bite her shirt and refuse to let go. According to the server chat, some decomposing food emitted poison, so Sandrine always trusted Paquerette and didn't get close to those places.
For the other buildings, there were sometimes rats or spiders, sometimes traps, falling shelves, or rusted nails waiting to tear her apart. Trusting her instincts and Paquerette's warnings, Sandrine still succeeded in reaching two more chests. One contained a 20kg sack of potatoes and 5kg of salt, the other chest had a foldable bed with two sets of bed sheets and a pillow. It was really fantastical, Sandrine had never even imagined a foldable bed could exist ! It was the size of her palm when folded, but then she could throw it on the ground and boom ! A double bed ! Magical.
With this, she could be sure that this roadside opening event was truly heavensent. Sure, she could die every second, but the rewards were incredible !
Sandrine ducked to dodge a steel pipe that was flying towards her head and used her machete to parry a flight of rusty clothhangers. The clothing store she was in contained nothing of use. Every synthetic fabric had deteriorated and natural ones had rotted, there was nothing she could grab except a few clothhangers.
After dodging the traps, she reached the wooden chest. Opening it excitedly, she discovered a foldable shower and a set of toiletries. Much like the bed, the foldable shower was palm sized, and it unfolded into a complete shower stall with a shower curtain, and little shelves to put in your toiletries. It worked by filling the tank with water, but she couldn't control the temperature.
Sandrine was overjoyed. After getting a bed, she now had a shower ! The death game really was fair, giving rewards as much as it gave trials.
Humming happily, she got out of the shop and looked around. She had looted everything she could on this street. The other buildings didn't have a chest and had limited loot value, or were too dangerous to enter by Paquerette's standards. It was now 11:30am, and they should try to find a relatively safe place to eat at.
"The park seems like a good idea. It's in an open area so we can see danger coming, and if the water is clean enough I can wash up."
Paquerette didn't seem to have much of an opinion, so Sandrine led her towards the park she had seen from the road. The buildings might be crumbing down, but the park was flourishing. The trees had grown thick and lush, with dense foliage hiding the sky. The number of bushes and plants was astonishing, as if Sandrine was entering a jungle. There were a few berries here and there, but since she didn't know anything about which plants were edible, she didn't dare to pick any.
Finally she reached what might have been a small pond, but now was a huge lake with clear water. It wasn't as polluted as she thought, but considering the nature of the survival game, she didn't dare to drink anything.
Paquerette approached first and smelled the water, but ultimately didn't drink it. She instead went to graze on nearby grass, ears happily pointing forwards. It had been a while since the mare ate something else than dry hay or canned vegetables. Fresh grass must be very appetizing right now.
Since Paquerette didn't seem anxious and didn't avoid the water, Sandrine took it as a sign that this place was safe and took out the washbasin full of dirty clothes and fabrics. She had gotten a block of Marseille soap in the trade tab, a French soap that could be used as laundry detergent and dish soap, so she decided to use the next hour to clean everything.
This morning's activities and fights had already tired her a lot, and her arms were now shaking, but Sandrine wasn't the type to forgo an opportunity. For once she had enough clean water to wash up, she wouldn't miss out on it !
After cleaning the clothes, she scrubbed the things she had looted today, like dusty pots and pans. Once everything was cleaned, she unfolded the shower, filled the tank with lake water using a pot, and went on to wash up. Her hair definitely needed a good scrub, and she had sweated a lot in the morning, so taking a real shower was refreshing. It would have been even better with hot water but Sandrine wouldn't complain.
It felt good to be clean, Sandrine felt as if she had gone back to civilization. She took out a drying rack she had scavenged and cleaned to dry off her clothes, and was about to prepare a meal when she heard strange howling sounds.
Paquerette had moved farther than she had initially thought, probably enticed by the fresh grass, so Sandrine didn't notice right away. However, right now the mare was surrounded by a pack of wild dogs, as big as wolves. Their teeth were sharp and their spines were bent, looking like the night monsters. They seemed to have been contaminated by the black fog, and they were hungry, about to jump on Paquerette.
"Don't you dare touch my bestie !"
Sandrine couldn't stand to see anyone threaten her horse. Barefoot, wet hair wiping her face, butt naked, the girl ran like a madwoman towards the hungry pack, taking out the machete and the pitchfork from her inventory.
It was unclear if the pack was scared off by her weapons or her crazy appearance, but the dogs stood frozen in place long enough for Paquerette to kick one and rear high, falling back on another whose spine made a crisp sound when it broke.
When they came to their senses and started moving, Sandrine was already upon them. She swung her machete in all directions, thrusting the pitchfork into every strand of brown fur she could see, piercing skin and eyes. However, the dogs had probably gone crazy because of the black fog, acting like the night monsters and the snakes in the chests, showing no intentions of backing down. They were too hungry.
Still, the situation wasn't so bad. The dogs may be feral, but Paquerette and Sandrine were getting used to the survival life, fighting everyday with chest dangers. Kicking a corpse to block an incoming attack, Sandrine watched the teeth aiming for her arm clamp onto a limp back, and plunged the machete into the attacker's skull. Turning around, she tripped another dog with the pitchfork's staff and watched Paquerette kick the life out of it. After a few minutes, only two dogs were left, and this situation wasn't even dangerous anymore. Faced with crazy animals that wouldn't back down, dodging and counterattacking was enough to bring them down.
This time, Sandrine felt really tired. Her body still wasn't in a good condition but she had insisted on exploring and fighting, which had taken a toll on her. It was probably the end of the roadside event for her, at least for today.
Sending her weapons to the backpack, Sandrine went to assess Paquerette's state. The mare had been bitten a few times on the legs before Sandrine came to help, but thankfully it didn't seem like a big deal. It was still bleeding a bit but the wounds were shallow. What made her uneasy, however, was the potential diseases that the dogs could carry. Sandrine didn't have any medicine or disinfectant.
"I guess we'll just have to trust in your constitution… The stat is pretty high so it should be okay, right ?"
To reassure herself, Sandrine still took out some soap to clean the wounds, and used the bandages she had cleaned to protect them nicely.
"You're settled for now but tell me if it hurts."
The mare snorted, and at this moment a loud buzzing sound filled Sandrine's head.
[Paquerette's favorability has reached 25]
[You have reached the necessary conditions to acquire the 'Tamer' job. Do you want to accept ?]
Sandrine blinked a few times.
"A… Job ? I think I saw that on my game screen…"
It had always been empty until now, but apparently you had to fill hidden conditions to have one. Something hidden so well must surely be good ! Moreover, 'tamer' seemed like something that would be useful for Paquerette.
Sandrine didn't think long, she just selected 'yes'.
[Congratulations on becoming a tamer]
Immediately, information flooded Sandrine's brain. It was nauseating and dizzying, but despite the unbearable pain, it only lasted a second. Then, it was as if she had somehow become an expert at taking care of animals.
In just a breath of time, she had gone from being a confused horse owner to knowing how to trim hooves and install horse shoes. And it wasn't only about horses either, she now knew how to take care of cats, dogs, poultry, and a lot of different animals.
But that was just the basics.
With the tamer job, Sandrine had just learned that she can have several pets at the same time by taming wild animals, and that pets could evolve into magical creatures if the right conditions were met.
Paquerette was just a horse for now, but she could become so much more.
"This is crazy, I gained such a good thing !"
She couldn't wait to get more pets and test everything out !
Just as she was thinking this, she heard soft whimperings. In the direction the pack of dogs had come from, she saw a small puppy. It looked normal, probably not yet contaminated by the black fog. Sandrine's face broke into a huge smile.
"Here's my next bestie !"
The puppy couldn't help but shake, watching a crazy naked woman walk slowly towards him.