49 What to explore (1/2)
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 moments 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 smell 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 something 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 seemed unreasonable. On the other hand, she was in the middle of a forest that came 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 moments, she realized it was the sound of a river. For the first time since she began the exam, Hera realized how thirsty she was and dashed towards the sound.
The trees were still the same 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 some water with her hands when she stopped.
”Calm down, Hera. Remember what you learn. Every time 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 come out. She waited for a couple of minutes, but nothing came 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 came here, but to no avail.
She followed the creek, hoping she could find some 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 something 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 something. 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.
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 me 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 me 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 something like that,” Hera said.
The apple opened its mouth a few times 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 some 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 me you are here without even having the observer or inspect skills,” the apple rolled its eyes.
Hera needed a moment 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 game 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 name?” Hera asked.
”Yes, I have a name. Do you think only humans can have names?” the apple creature huffed.