Chapter 6: Side Missions and Two Pits
With shelter from rain and wind, with a sleeping bag that despite its jammed zip still retains the ability to provide its user with warmth, on an island where the current occupants only number two and only one of those is human, a good night sleep should therefore be obtainable. A pity no one told the half buried rock lying near the centre of teepee's 'circular' floor space.
Russell yawned, bleary eyed and half bruised. His sun reddened arm withdrew from the depths of the sleeping bag and flopped on top of it instead. Night had come quickly after he'd finished making his tee-pee shelter using the specifications provided by the System. The sun had sunk below the horizon without pause and thanks to his uninterrupted view, he could somewhat understand why the ancients thought that it was swallowed up by some mysterious force. The sky above him had blackened without him noticing, yet when he looked up to view it, he witnessed a breathless display of unfamiliar stars.
Unfamiliar, used this way it could be misconstrued. After all, an average man living with his parents in a suburban development within a bustling city could not be said to be familiar with the skyscape that appeared every night, but alas was buried beneath a haze of smog and light pollution. He was also one of the many children to grow up thinking they'd once caught the phenomenon of seeing a bright, moving star in that dirty yellow sky, when actually, it was an airplane. So even though the stars that he had witnessed were not the stars surrounding the Earth, he was unfamiliar with both astral views.
As he dug his way out of the confines of the sleeping bag, writhing somewhat like a worm that had been unearthed, his stomach began to rumble. Ugh, he was not looking forward to plain salad of wild vegetables again.
"Good morning, Your Majesty!"
The greeting came from the island's second and non-human occupant, the System cum seagull. It looked bright and chipper this morning, full of energy. Russell felt a bit irritated.
"Morning," came the lacklustre reply. Russell was not a morning person. That probably was due to his second persona; programmer by day, gamer by night… okay so that didn't sound as impressive as when he'd joked about it before, when drunk.
He yawned, wondering if he could order an espresso and a croissant before recalling his meagre balance of points, the go to currency in this broken game. He sighed and headed to the beach to wash his body a bit before tossing on the clothes that had finally dried overnight. His stomach grumbled again, so he chewed something that looked a bit like a dandelion leaf (he'd been reassured before that it was edible), before checking to see if he had any missions to earn points.
There appeared to be no new main missions, just the side missions he'd managed to unlock the day previously. They didn't seem like they'd bag him any decent points. Unfortunately, he was sort of out of options.
[Side Mission - Create a fire pit]
[Items required; a spade, some firewood and some large stones]
There were a few instructions underneath. Russell retrieved the plastic spade and grinned, before heading inside his teepee. It should be noted that even though he successfully removed the stone that had kept him awake half of the night, forcing it to become part of the firepit really didn't give Russell the sense of revenge he'd been hoping for.
The fire pit really wasn't difficult to make. Grass that had remained undisturbed since the dawn of time (aka, yesterday) was dug out to form a bare circle in otherwise green carpet. Some of the top soil was then removed to make a shallow bowl then it was framed by several stones and filled with dryish twigs. Well, they were not as damp as yesterday anyway. He managed to light the fire after several attempts and torn up bits of cardboard from yesterday's boxed sandwich. It was a bit on the smokey side, but it sufficed.
"Hey, System," Russell called out to the seagull when checking over the second side mission. "What's a 'dunny'?"
[Side Mission - Dig out a dunny]
[Items required; a spade and lots of effort]
[Note, should be dug away from fresh water sources, sleeping and eating areas]
"Ah, that is where you humans have both numbers one and two," the seagull informed him as it flapped its wings, "drop a log, unpack a fudge, take a dump…"
"I get the picture," he rubbed at his forehead as if trying to relieve the strain. Actually, speaking of using the bathroom, he felt like the backdoor would soon need clearing out. Looks like he should get on and dig that hole…
[Side Mission - Create a fire pit completed]
[Mission Rating - B- (Helpful Hint - Next time use dry wood!)]
[Reward 10 points]
[Side Mission - Dig out a dunny completed]
[Mission Rating - B+ (Nice Job, very quick pace!)
[Reward 10 points]
A hand covered in a torn piece of cloth that had then been dampened with water reached out to grab the metal canister that had been sitting very close to flickering flames in the fireplace. Inside it, various green leaves and bits of mushroom floated in boiling water. The man used a pair of clean twigs as if they were chopsticks and dug out the vegetables within the soup, blew upon them before placing them in his mouth and chewing. His nose wrinkled.
"How does it taste, your Majesty?" The seagull asked, curious. It didn't have the need of eating.
"Like wet salad," the man complained. Who knew, ham and cheese sandwiches (without mayonnaise) cost 40 points.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Ebonsolaris
Ebonsolaris This chapter is a bit shorter than I intended, I don’t usually write on Thursdays, not usually in the mood on this day during the week for some reason. Next one should be better, but probably will be posted tomorrow x
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone