When Hera walked through the door, her body froze. That numbing tingly sensation covered her once again, and her eyes were closed shut.
A few monts later, she regained control of her body, Hera had just arrived in what looked like a forest, with large green trees all around her. The sll of grass and flowers, the singing of the birds, and the sunlight that would shine between the trees, that gave the entire area a fairytale-like atmosphere.
Before Hera started walking, a notification appeared in front of her.
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Role test: Explorer
The green forest and its residents hide many secrets, discover most of them to complete the test.
This area is part of a simulation. The denizens of this place have limited interaction capabilities.
Current discovery progress 0%
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Hera stared at the words. It was an excessively broad mission. There was nothing to give her a direction on how to start. What if there was sothing hidden under a rock she needed to find? Or if a specific tree had a specific marking that needed to be deciphered?
She let out a lengthy sigh. Hera never expected the explorer's test to be easy, but this seed unreasonable. On the other hand, she was in the middle of a forest that ca right out of the books she read when she was little. A small part of her was happy that she had the chance to explore the entire area.
Before starting to move, Hera tried to understand her surroundings a bit better. There was a constant bird chipper, but no noise from the trees. That was odd. The noise reminded her of wind and small critters moving about. But nothing was moving in the forest. No small animal was walking about, no wind rustling the branches, not even bugs zooming around.
Unsure if this weirdness was part of a room or just of the simulation, Hera started walking. She had no idea where she should go, but standing around wouldn't help. Doing her best to find any hint of the path she should take, Hera heard an unfamiliar noise.
She kept walking towards this new noise, not recognizing it at first. After a few monts, she realized it was the sound of a river. For the first ti since she began the exam, Hera realized how thirsty she was and dashed towards the sound.
The trees were still the sa even here, but soon the earth soil gave way to a rocky area, with a clear water creek running in the middle of it.
Hera walked close to the riverside and was about to grab so water with her hands when she stopped.
"Calm down, Hera. Rember what you learn. Every ti you find a source of water, you need to check it before drinking it."
She grabbed a small rock and tossed into the river, seeing if anything would co out. She waited for a couple of minutes, but nothing ca to the surface, and the stone she tossed was lying still at the bottom of the brook.
The second step was to see if any animals drank that water. Hera looked around, trying to find any markings or tracks that could show that animals ca here, but to no avail.
She followed the creek, hoping she could find so sign of life near its headwaters. Her throat was dry, and she was feeling lightheaded. Still, Hera pressed on, wanting to make sure if that water was drinkable.
After hiking for a few minutes, Hera saw a larger rock sticking out of the riverbank. On top of it, there was sothing that looked like a giant green apple.
"Is that a real apple?" she mumbled to herself.
If it was, she could not only quench her thirst but also eat sothing. But it was too obvious. It felt like a trap.
Hera picked a tree branch and approached the rock. When the thing was in range, Hera poked it with the stick. It was surprisingly soft, almost as if she was poking a pillow. She gave a harder push, trying to topple it.
Suddenly a hole appeared, spinning around and closed around the tree branch. Snatching it from Hera's hand and throwing it in the river.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!"
Hera's eyes went wide in shock.
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The apple was... speaking?
A pair of big blue eyes appeared above the hole. That now, Hera could see it was actually a mouth.
"So? Why the hell are you poking with a goddam stick?" the apple yelled in an unexpectedly deep voice.
"I'm... sorry?" Hera replied weakly.
"You better be! I was having a nice long nap, and you wake up like that? What is the matter with you?"
"I just.. Thought you were an apple. The stick was to make sure it wasn't a trap or sothing like that," Hera said.
The apple opened its mouth a few tis as if trying to find the words to reply.
"Why, for the system's sake, would anyone put a trap in the middle of a forest?" the green apple asked.
"Well, this is a test, right? I don't know what to expect. I'm thirsty and hungry, and you kind of looked tasty," Hera replied.
"If you are thirsty, just drink water from the river. And hungry, just eat so bark or whatever you humans eat. What do I have to do with any of that?"
The apple jumped up and down, spinning in place to face Hera more easily.
"Can I drink that water? I wasn't sure I could, so I was trying to see if any animals were drinking from it."
"Oh, for the love of... Don't tell you are here without even having the observer or inspect skills," the apple rolled its eyes.
Hera needed a mont to process that phrase. Seeing an apple talk and roll its eyes was offputting. When she gathered her thoughts, she realized. Using [Inspect] or [Observe] never even crossed her mind. She looked down, blushing a bit before replying.
"I... forgot I could."
"You, forgot...." the apple shook its body like a disapproving teacher, "Kid, you need to step up your ga if you wanna get through this. Otherwise, you're screwed."
"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you," Hera replied.
She stared at the apple creature for a while, still trying to figure out how it could be alive.
"What?" the apple asked.
"Nothing, sorry... do you have a na?" Hera asked.
"Yes, I have a na. Do you think only humans can have nas?" the apple creature huffed.
"No, I didn't an like that. You are just the first talking mons... creature I've ever seen, so I'm not sure how this all works. Can we start over? I'm Hera nice to et you,"
She attempted to hold out her hand but changed her mind midway giving the apple a slight bow.
"Oh, that was creepy. Do you always go around bowing to people?" the creature asked.
"Well, no. But you are not actually people," Hera replied with a smile.
The apple squinted while staring at the recruit.
"Touché, maybe you are not as slow as it seed. I'm Peaches. Nice to et you."
"Peaches? But you look like an a..."
"I LOOK LIKE WHAT?"
Before Hera could finish the sentence, Peaches yelled towards her. Hera was taken aback, not only by the reaction but by the fact that even without a nose or eyebrows, peaches seed to be frowning.
"Like an... an... adorable teddy bear. Calling you a fruit seems unfair," she finally said.
Peaches squinted even harder at Hera.
"You know, I don't like you. Too flattery, too absent-minded. Get lost so I can go back to my nap," the creature said while looking back towards the creek.
Hera frowned, why Peaches was so an to her? She did nothing to deserve that.
All she did was poke him with a stick...
Wake him from his nap...
Treat him like a monster…
Said she wanted to eat him…
And called him an apple...
Realizing she was in the wrong, Hera agreed that it was better to leave him alone. The problem remained, she needed so information.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you, Peaches. And I don't want to cause you any more trouble, but can you tell what's around here?" she asked.
Letting out a lengthy sigh, Peaches turned around again.
"Around here? There is a forest, then trees, then forest, then trees, more forest over there, and more trees that way, a bunch of wood through there and more forest here. What else do you expect to find in a place like this?"
While talking, Peaches tilted his head towards various directions, Hera paid attention to where he pointed. It almost ford a compass rose. She picked her tablet and quickly made a note about it on the map, along with marking the point where he ntioned wood. It could be nothing, but it was a weird way to talk about trees.
"Thank you. I'm just going to drink so water and be on my way then," she said.
"Why are you telling ? Just do whatever you want," he grumbled.
Hera kneeled near the water and activated her [Inspect].
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Mineral Water
H20 - Polar inorganic compound
Title - Universal solvent
Water from a mineral spring.
This drinkable water is rich in calcium and magnesium.
It is considered hard water.
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There weren't any apparent problems, so Hera drank so water. It was colder than she expected, and it had a distinct flavor very different from the water she would buy in a store. It was more refreshing in a way.
Hera looked at Peaches, who was still with his eyes open, looking at the forest. She wanted to know what type of creature he was. However, rembering what happened when she used that skill on Helena, she thought it was better not to invade his privacy.
Before getting up, Hera washed her face with the water.
"Thank you for your help. I will be going now," She said, unsure if that was the right thing to do.
Peaches just looked at her before closing his eyes. Hera started walking in the direction he said there was wood. For so reason, his phrasing was bugging her. She moved closer to the first tree before looking back at the river. That giant talking green apple was there, unmoving as an old man resting by the river. Before leaving, she quickly activated her [Observe].
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Peaches
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She let out a sigh.
"Well, I guess it was too much to ask."
Turning around, she kept going in the direction of 'wood', hoping she would find so sort of clue about what to do next.
As she left, the giant talking apple opened his eyes and saw a notification.
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Target by low level [Observe]
[Disguise] in effect
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"Honestly, this new batch has no manners," Peaches mumbled.
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