[Barrier (Lv1) is active]
[Daily Maintenance Fee: 100 credits]
He immediately felt the difference. He took a deep breath as the air was suddenly easier to breathe in, and it felt like his pores sang at the change in temperature.
[Barrier (Lv1)]
[Information: Energy-based shield that surrounds a specific area and absorbs a predetermined amount of damage. Automatically controls temperature closer to the comfortable temperature for humans (maximum 15 degrees difference) and blocks dangerous rays of light. It can also inject and circulate a minimal amount of oxygen.]
[Details:
Level 1: Can easily defend against monsters below level 10. Monsters above this level will cause some degree of damage, depending on monster strength. It has a protected area with radius of 50 meters.
Life: 1000/1000
Maintenance Fee: 100 credits/day
Repair Fee: 10 credits/point]
It was activated just in time, as Caleb looked at the evil-looking beetle-things trying to get over to him stopped a few meters away by an invisible wall.
Pak! Pak!
He could hear the sounds of their shells clashing, as well as the odd buzz-like sound that emanated from them.
When he looked closer, not only their legs, but they also had razor teeth! It wasn't made of bones, but of chitin, but they still look super sharp. Judging by how they glistened under the hot sun, he had no doubt he'd at least lose a layer of skin.
Sure enough, because the number of beetle-things increased, some of them were pushed to the nearby trees. Caleb watched as the flimsy dried tree was cut cleanly because it was in the way.
He shivered, face ghastly pale. He pinched himself over and over, and at different parts of his body, as if lacking pain in any part of the body would somehow prove he was dreaming.
To be honest, there were so many weird things that he was still leaning towards this being a dream, and that he was experiencing this unusually detailed dream after playing with the game so much.
The other possibility was too shocking.
If he wasn't dreaming, then he was pulled into a world that had been dried out, nearly devoid of life, and crawling with monsters. Who could accept that?
He was the type of guy that was forced to undergo hardship, not because he liked them. He certainly wasn't built to live in the middle of the desert!
Well, it wasn't a desert per se. He wasn't sitting on sand but on dried, cracking soil. However, give it a few years and he wouldn't be surprised if this all turned to sand.
Why here? Why him?
{You are the player with the highest compatibility with the oasis system.} The childish voice sounded in his ears, crisp and clear as if they were right next to him.
"What do you mean by Player?" he asked, recalling his first notification that he received. "Can you please give me the setup?"
{Didn't you play the game? It was designed to introduce you to this world. This planet is a real world parallel to yours. Just that it got a bit unlucky and experienced evolution earlier than it should.}
So…this world was the basis of that game?
He looked around and then at the monsters in front of him. Belatedly, he realized that the reason the monster felt familiar was that it was a mob monster in the game!
The set-up for the game was like this: Seven years ago, the world changed to an unimaginable degree.
Everything dried up, as if most moisture in the world was sucked up. The animals, insects, and so on disappeared, presumed dead like the plants that they ate.
People were left with this endless land of dead things with nothing but the clothes on their bodies.
While the world changed like this, the humans remained as they were. How long could people just stand there with nothing? How long could people actually survive such a situation?
Fortunately, there was the system, otherwise everyone would've died of starvation and dehydration. Not to mention, they had to deal with the monsters that appeared soon after that.
LIke him, everyone had access to a version of the system, though there seemed to be some variation. What they were, exactly, he did not know as that was just the background story of the game, which ultimately focused on the business and lifestyle gameplay, along with some monster hunting.
The oasis, basically, was the miraculous property in the midst of this lifeless land. That said, the game was quite simplified and he was considered to have 'completed' it when he survived long enough to welcome his first guest. He doubted that was all that was happening here.
He just took a full week of playing because it involved a lot of grinding. A lot of monster killing had to be done just so it didn't fail and he could buy some of the facilities.
Not to mention, the first part of the game was just him looking for a place to settle down while defending himself against monsters. Ultimately, he chose an area going uphill for better vista. It was also relatively near what had been a sea, so there were salt flats.
He also chose one at the geographical center of the world, just because it was not too far away from him, so he might as well. This area also had the highest 'biodiversity' of monsters, which was advantageous in the game. Now, he was not so sure.
In retrospect, that game seemed to be focused mostly on the fights with monsters, and the oasis-building part was a lesser fraction of the game.
Speaking of monsters, the monsters in front of him were called the Emberlatch Beetle, which was considered to be a type of 'weak' mobs. As he was now, however, he did not dare call these little buggers 'weak'.
He shook his head and shifted his gaze to the semi-transparent logos at the side of his vision. There were a lot of differences compared to the interface in the game.
For one, there was no flag, market, or the signal logo available in the game. Looking back, it was really a simplified game. He did not know why he was so hooked on it. Was it because it was so colorful?
He clicked on the profile logo to check his stats.
[Player Stat]
Name: Caleb Harlow
Level: 1
Experience: 0/1000
Occupation: Master of the Oasis (SSS)
HP: 20/20
MP: 20/20
Stamina: 97%
Skills:
Active: None
Passive: Eye of Truth
Wealth: 0 Credit Points
Equipment: None
Status: Normal
[End Stat]
He admitted he was a little intrigued, but whenever he thought of this dried up land and the monsters crawling on it, that interest immediately dissipated.
Sigh.
After a pause, he looked at the reddish sky. "Can I go back?"
{Once the mission is completed, the owner will have the option to return to his universe. The achievements here can be mirrored and transposed there.}
"What mission?"
{You'll figure it out.}
"..."