The next day, Tobi awoke earlier than before. Earlier than anyone else.
There was no confusion this time. No suddenness. It was just the dull soreness in his feet and shoulders. Oddly, it felt like his body recovered a lot faster than he was used to. Nothing inside him felt strained or tightened anymore. He lay still for a moment, readjusting to the breaths around him until it felt ordinary again.
The dim library was lit only by the ashen sunlight spilling into the still room like cold water, broken only by Tobi's slow ascent and the minute movements scattered across the floor.
The young man treaded softly across the room between the bodies, retrieving the unfinished book from the previous day. He returned to the same table, and the cool wood sent a shiver through his hands. Opening the book back to the page he had creased, he began.
And he read.
Time passed by like a river's current. The village outside slowly stirred to activity, distant sounds of footsteps and voices. Inside the library, people were in and out of consciousness. A couple of others had joined him at the table. At one point, Isla broke down into tears about her family, and especially her beloved dog. Comforted by Marie, who tried to give her hope.
After a total of two hours, Tobi reached the final page. It wasn't difficult to read. The content was just different from what he was familiar with. Diagrams that favored usability over elegance. Materials listed under new names he memorized. Concepts that ignored rules and regulations, instead braced for wind and sudden impact.
Tobi closed the book and sat back, his hands now resting on the table, digesting the last page of information.
And then he remembered, 'The quest.' The thought came without urgency. That was more worrying than if it were urgent. His thought willed the system before his gaze.
The blue overlay information changed drastically.
[Quest Complete: Survive]
[Duration: 24 hours]
[Result: Success]
[Evaluation: Recorded]
[Reward Applied: Vessel Stabilization]
"What the f..." He blurted with his calm broken, only able to catch his words on the F. Despite everyone awake looking at him in confusion, no one woke up.
Marie smiled and whispered to him, "Are you okay, love?" Her voice was gentle and reassuring.
With a quick breath to quell the embarrassment, he replied in a hushed voice, "Yeah... I only just now looked at the quest having an evaluation."
"We mostly had the same reaction last night while you were still out and about... or after you went to bed. Surprised you didn't wake up from that."
He scratched the back of his head with light laughter, "Did anyone reveal their rewards?"
Marie shook her head, "Other than Isla revealing she got an ability that couples with her original one."
Tobi nodded and thanked her. He looked down at the table, reflecting on the past two days.
His sense of belonging to this new world was strange. It hadn't felt wrong when they arrived, but nothing had felt right either. 'Where is the panic, the fear? Why am I so calm? I haven't even thought about a shower, I've used their outhouses without thinking twice.' He buried his hands in his face, ignoring everything around him.
He stayed still, covered, longer than he meant to.
When his hands finally lowered, the world before him was still the same.
Isla and Marie exchanged words quietly.
Michael leaned against a wall in the same now-dirtied hoodie, arms crossed, eyes unfocused on something invisible in front of him.
Kiki read through massive books and continuously checked the system.
Everything felt like it was normal. Which only unsettled Tobi further, who inhaled slowly before pushing his chair back and standing. 'Sitting still won't do anything. I need to find something.'
As he stepped away from the table and towards the exit, the same screens Kiki and Michael were glued to greeted him.
[Quest: Integration]
[Objective:
- Participate in local systems of labor or exchange.
- Remain within the current settlement.]
[Time: Until sunset.]
[Reward: Temporal Alignment.]
[Failure Reward: Alternative Quest.]
The quest lingered in his vision just long enough for him to process, and then it vanished.
Another transparent blue panel was beginning to form, but Tobi willed it away the moment it showed up. Unwilling to view it, there was enough to think about already.
He gently opened the doors the best he could, while remaining quiet. The clean morning air brushed his face coolly. Even the air felt easier to breathe in today than yesterday.
The village was already awake.
People flowed through the paths with purpose. Tools passed between hands. Buckets carried water. Happy voices carried by the wind and laughs echoed near the well.
Everyone talked to anyone, but no one paid attention to Tobi as he walked towards the fountain.
He preferred that. Being stared at would have felt like walking through a circus.
Ms. Jewelle stood near the fountain again, speaking to two villagers at once. When their conversation ended, her gaze shifted, landing on Tobi, as if she had expected him all along.
"You're awake early," she said.
"I wanted to get up nice and early," Tobi replied. "I was hoping to help again after eating. Join the two working on that house."
A small smile touched her lips.
"Good. Builders are always needed. I'm glad you're settling in." She winked playfully, vigor still in her aged bones.
Tobi laughed a little, "Maybe too much." He paused and turned to walk towards the warehouse. Before he got too far away, he called out to her, "Thank you for letting us stay here."
...
After arriving at the warehouse and eating some easy-to-grab foods, Tobi went to the house he worked on the previous day. The same two from before were working on the house, and they warmly greeted him. The two returned to the conversation they had about last year's festival.
Unaware of the festival, Tobi opted not to join the discussion. He worked hard instead, mixing clay, setting timber, and laying straw.
The work came more easily today. Nothing was lighter, but his body responded more effectively.
His hands remembered motions faster than his mind needed to think them through. Clay packed tighter beneath his palms. Timber was aligned with fewer adjustments. Even the strands of the straw bundles felt more cooperative than before.
Every movement came steady and without the latent stiffness of before.
One of the builders glanced toward him after a while.
"Hey, you're starting to move like us now!"
Tobi wiped his hands against his trousers.
"I read up a little."
The man gave a quick nod of approval. Conversation faded again after that, replaced by the rhythm of their labors. Above them, the sky stretched cloudless. Time passed without announcing itself.
By midday, the outer wall stood fully reinforced. What would have taken the two builders several more days now looked a lot closer to completion.
One stepped back, squinting up and down the frame.
"We might set the roof tomorrow at this rate."
The other nodded once, then replied, "Good timing too. Storm season isn't far."
They paused beneath the thin shade of the unfinished structure to eat. Bread, salted strips of meat, and cool water passed between them without greed.
Trust felt like the currency he used to earn back on Earth.
Work resumed shortly after. They worked until the sun's descent began and shadows unnaturally stretched across the ground.
It's not like they were exhausted, but they only had so long to put up everything before it was incredibly dark out.
As tools were gathered, one of the builders gestured toward the village center.
"Eat with us if you want. Saves the walk."
Tobi considered it only briefly before nodding.
In the village square, where several villagers had gathered, several semi-circle braziers had been lit, with pots above them. Ms. Jewelle was among the villagers, one of the larger pots she was paying special attention to, constantly stirring it.
As he sat, conversations drifted so easily around him, crop yields, hunting routes, preparations for colder months. And newly sewn clothes, written works, and sung hymns.
No one particularly went out of their way to ask him questions, but they included him when he spoke. Of course, he listened more than he spoke. He couldn't sing or sew!
Not only that, but his eyes were focused on a new system message that showed up as he walked.
[Quest Complete: Integration]
[Duration: Till Sunset]
[Result: Success]
[Reward Applied: Temporal Alignment]
It was an odd reward. The difference was immediately obvious to him. There was no physical sensation, and yet everything felt settled. It felt like he was present in each moment. He hadn't noticed it without a frame of reference, but before felt like he was almost spectating his life.
As if an invisible drag had vanished, something he had never noticed resisting him until it was gone.
Nothing about existing here felt temporary.
Tobi stared at the panel a moment longer before dismissing it. A bowl of aromatic stew was passed along to him...
Later, when darkness settled fully over Windhollow, he found himself walking back toward the library without needing to think about the path.
That realization almost made him stop.
Tonight, he walked like someone returning home.
Inside, blankets already covered most of the floor again. The murmurs were quiet as many had surrendered to sleep already.
Tobi lowered himself onto his usual space, muscles pleasantly heavy, hands faintly dried out from the clay.
He stared at the low ceiling.
Not hoping for a miracle this time, and when his eyes finally closed. There was no lingering hope of waking elsewhere.
Only the quiet certainty… that tomorrow would begin here.