Wilona was at a complete loss. For one, she had just suddenly found herself stranded on a tiny island surrounded by murky swamp water. And two, why was she even here? Was there a reason? A grand purpose? Should she have just, oh, taken the afterlife instead?

  "I really wish I knew what I was doing right now," she muttered, frowning. Her expression quickly shifted into confusion as a transparent blue box popped up in front of her. The words weren't in English, yet she understood them perfectly.

  [New Quest! - Figure Things Out.]

  [Quest Type: Encouragement]

  [Reward: Recipe Book]

  ["Ok no! You're in a new world and now you don't know what to do! Start by opening your status screen and you should be able to figure things out from there! Good luck!"]

  Wilona blinked. Was—was this a reply to her complaint just now? Was someone listening?

  She tilted her head back to stare at the sky. "Uh, I'd like to go back to that place, actually? I really don't want this. Maybe you can transfer me to the afterlife instead?"

  Silence.

  Wilona sighed, her shoulders slumping. Well, that was disappointing. She clicked her tongue and cursed her past self for whatever cosmic mistake had led to this moment. "Guess I'm stuck here."

  With nothing else to do, she decided to test something. The blue box had appeared when she spoke, so maybe... "Status screen?"

  [Charges:]

  Soul (1)

  Mind (1)

  Instinct (1)

  [Professions]

  N/A

  [Pending Quests]

  Figure Things Out! (Completed!)

  Before she could even process what any of that meant, a book materialized out of nowhere and nearly brained her. Wilona let out an undignified yelp and barely dodged in time. The book thudded onto the damp ground, looking all too smug about its near-murder attempt.

  Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  She eyed the malicious object warily before cautiously reaching out. The moment her fingers brushed the leather cover, she jerked her hand back. "So this is all real?.." Her grip tightened around the book as she pulled it toward her. "What the hell?"

  Sure, the whole "being teleported" thing should have been proof enough. And the floating blue boxes? Also weird. But her brain had been happy to write it all off as some kind of hallucination. Now, though? Hallucinations didn't drop solid, physical books into your lap.

  "Ugh." Wilona groaned, rubbing her face. "Fine. Guess this is all real."

  With a resigned sigh, she turned back to the status screen.

  The [Charges] section had words with numbers beside them—probably something she could "charge," whatever that meant. But what did it actually do? Was it safe? Would she, like, explode if she charged her soul too much?

  The [Professions] section was blank, which felt vaguely insulting. Wilona frowned. The word "profession" usually meant a job, right? Did this thing just expect her to pick one? Or did it mean something else? Maybe it was more about being an "expert" at something?

  As if in response to her thoughts, another blue box appeared.

  [New Quest! - Professions? I Don't Even Know Er!]

  [Quest Type: Encouragement]

  [Reward: Lesser Magic Item]

  ["Well, it looks like you discovered yet another part of the system! If you wish to earn a very special reward, you should find out what this is!"]

  Wilona's brain screeched to a halt.

  Special reward?.. Lesser magic item?.. Magic??

  She inhaled sharply, excitement sparking in her eyes. "Oh, this is gonna be fun!"

  The fact that magic existed here hadn't fully hit her until now. She really should have figured it out sooner—she got revived, teleported, and handed a book from thin air! But, well, better late than never.

  Alright, focus. Magic later. Right now, she needed to figure out what "profession" meant in the system.

  Professional... professional what? Engineer? Assassin? All of those were jobs, which meant people had to be skilled at them... Did professional survivalists exist? They totally did, right? She’d seen them on TikTok! And sure, short-form content might have been brain rot, but it was trustworthy brain rot.

  Okay, so, how does one become a professional survivalist?

  "...By making a spear?" she guessed, with the confidence of a turtle challenging a hawk. "Maybe?"

  It was the best idea she had, so Wilona went with it. The swamp had plenty of resources—long stalks of reed, fallen branches within reach, and a lot of other vaguely plant-y things she didn’t know the names of.

  She started with the reeds, picking the toughest ones and slicing them with her dagger. The branch was trickier. She grabbed hold and tugged, but it was too strong to snap. That didn't stop her from shaking it around wildly until she heard a crack—

  And promptly fell on her ass when it came loose.

  But hey! A branch!

  Grinning, she retrieved her bag and got to work. Her dagger was surprisingly sharp, peeling away the wood with ease. It didn’t take long before she was holding something resembling a primitive spear.

  She checked her status. Nothing.

  Frowning, she tried improving it. She grabbed the reeds, tied them around the shaft—still nothing.

  Wilona groaned, glaring at her handiwork. What was she missing? Maybe a real spear needed a proper spearhead? Like a stone tip?

  Right. How did people even make those? She scoured her brain for an answer and—aha! Stone knapping! Cavemen used to bash rocks together until they got sharp fragments.

  Could she do that? Only one way to find out.

  Wilona started looking for rocks but got distracted by... were those eyes in the water?

  A fish lunged at her.

  She leaped back with a yelp, barely dodging its snapping jaws. It had the head of an alligator—oh, a gar! Brain rot saved her again. If she remembered correctly, these things had scales tough enough to deflect bullets.

  Which gave her an idea.

  What if she made it bite a rock? If its jaws were strong enough to ignore gunshots, surely they could crack a stone, right?

  She tested the theory. The gar chomped down, and the rock split apart in a single bite. Wilona gleefully scooped up the sharp fragments. "Thanks," she told the fish, before grabbing its tail. "You can go back to the water now."

  After dragging the gar back to safety, she returned to her project. She removed the old reed bindings, cut fresh ones, and carefully tied a sharp stone to the end of her stick. The moment she held it up to inspect her work—

  A new prompt appeared.

  [Professions]

  Survivalist [Novice]

  Crafting

  Wilona barely paid attention to the rest of her status before checking the quest. It was now marked completed, and her reward was...

  [Lesser Ring of Resistance]

  This time, she was ready. As the ring dropped from the sky, she caught it smoothly. Who knew where it would’ve ended up if she’d missed?