Into the Game

The new clothes fit perfectly.

The game didn’t care what your body size was; it would contort any outfit to the player. I walked back onto the road to find Michael waiting patiently by his backpack. It would seem that one rebuke was all it took to have him back off.

I dropped my old outfit into my bag and threw it over my shoulder. "Where do we find a wild boar?”

Michael shrugged. "They roam around the woods.”

“Can you track one?” I asked

“Don’t need to.” He shouldered his backpack; “We just need to walk away from the path a ways. One will find us.”

I headed into the woods. It didn’t take long until I heard a growl. I turned around to talk to Michael, but he raised his hand to quiet me.

I didn’t have time to argue. The wild boar rushed out of the underbrush.

I had been expecting a pig, something pink and cute. The thing that was charging at me was a brown mass of tusks and anger.

I reached for my sword, but I wasn’t fast enough. Michael grabbed the back of my collar and yanked me away from the snapping teeth.

I got my sword out and turned to face the next attack.

The wild boar turned and charged.

I stepped out of the way of its tusks. I had been ready for this attack. This time I slashed with my sword.

The edge of my sword connected with the wild boar’s shoulder. It squealed as it turned for another strike.

An arrow hit it in the rump, staggering its charge.

“Finish it!” Michael yelled from behind another drawn arrow.

I swung my sword and stabbed it in the behind the shoulder. The wild boar let out one grunt before it collapsed.

Michael walked up and offered me a dagger hilt first.

“What?” I demanded

“You have to harvest it.”

I pushed the dagger away. "I’m not doing that.”

“You would waste supplies?”

“You do it.” I pulled my sword out of the wild boar. I tore off a leaf and wiped the blood off the blade before sheathing it.

“You need to learn to do this.” Michael said

I took the dagger and bent over the carcass. As I did, light blue lines appeared on the fur. I stepped back.

“What was that?”

“The system has a built in aid program. It helps with targeting and harvesting on the lower tiers, to teach you how to do stuff.” Michael explained.

I scooted forward and cut along the lines. It didn’t take long before I had skinned the wild boar and started cutting chunks of meat off. I heard a fire crackling behind me.

“What are you doing?”

Michael took the meat from me and placed it over the fire. "We have to cook it now so it won’t spoil.”

I backed away as he finished the butchering. At least we would have something besides cherries to eat.