Galen stopped and took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. He had always been taught that panic was the first step to failure; mental clarity was his only weapon now.
He began to organize the facts. First, he discarded any hope of external rescue; the Coast Guard did not answer calls in other dimensions. He was almost certain he was no longer on Earth.
And with the little information available, the only logical path was to follow the interface's instructions. He had absolutely no intention of volunteering to find out if there was any punishment for failing the Main Mission.
Determined, he started along the shore. The white sand seemed endless. He walked for almost an hour, sweeping the area with his eyes for any debris from the ship, luggage, or any other people. But there was nothing. There was only him, the turquoise sea, and the sun.
If he continued like this, he would have to take his chances and enter the jungle.
Then a sound cut through the monotonous noise of the waves.
"Help! Someone get me out of here!"
The scream came from inside the forest.
Galen did not run blindly toward the voice. He did not know what kind of creature or "flying boar" might inhabit that place. He approached the tree line with caution.
The border between the sand and the vegetation was abrupt and strange; the undergrowth was excessively tall, almost chest high, forming a green wall that completely blocked the view of the interior.
He entered slowly, using his hands to push aside the tall grass and flattening the underbrush to create a path, alert to any sound other than the desperate scream.
After walking for about ten minutes, fighting against broad leaves and vines, the voice seemed to be only a few meters away.
"For God's sake! All the blood has gone to my head, I'm going to explode!"
Galen pushed aside one last thick patch of foliage and stopped. The scene before him was so ridiculous he was speechless for a few seconds.
Hanging upside down from a sturdy tree branch, his ankle drastically snagged in a natural tangle of twisted vines and branches, was a man in his thirties, swinging back and forth.
He wore a Hawaiian shirt with colorful toucans and khaki shorts. His face was already purple as he struggled uselessly, like a fish out of water, trying to reach his own foot to free himself, to no avail. It looked like he had fallen from the sky and gotten stuck in that unfortunate position.
Galen ran to the tree and, without a second thought, grabbed the tangle of plants trapping the man's ankle.
"Try not to move too much," Galen instructed, pulling at the plant fibers.
To his surprise, the vines were abnormally tough, hard like rubber coated steel cables. Galen had to use all his body weight, sweating and straining his muscles to the limit, to loosen the knot. With a dry snap, the vine finally gave way.
The man tumbled to the ground with a dull thud, landing on his back in the flattened vegetation.
"Ouch..." he groaned, massaging his freed ankle as the purple color of his face began to give way to a healthier red. He looked up, breathing heavily. "Man... thank you so much. Seriously. If you hadn't shown up, I would've ended up as permanent decoration for this tree."
"It was nothing," Galen replied, extending a hand to help him up. "I'm Galen."
"Endric," the man answered, accepting the handshake and brushing dirt off his Hawaiian shirt. He let out a nervous laugh, shaking his head. "You know what the worst part is? I was on that cruise because I won the ticket in a company raffle. It was the first time in my life I ever won anything."
He looked around at the strange forest with a bitter smile.
"I guess I used up my entire lifetime quota of luck just to be unlucky on a grand scale now. This must be some kind of cosmic prank."
Galen observed the man for a second. "Did you see anything strange before waking up here? Besides the forest?"
"Did I see?" Endric's eyes widened. "A pig. A damn flying piglet with horns appeared in my face, spouted a bunch of nonsense about a 'Dimensional Island,' and vanished." He gestured in front of him, as if interacting with something invisible to Galen. "And now there's this blue screen floating in my vision with some crazy missions. Are you seeing that too?"
Galen nodded, feeling a weight settle in his stomach. Endric's confirmation was the missing piece.
"Yes, I have the same interface," Galen said, looking at the objectives in the interface. "That confirms one thing: we are not isolated cases. It's very likely that all the passengers from the ship, or at least the survivors, are scattered across this island."
He looked at the dense jungle and then at Endric.
"The main mission requires a group of four people. We are already two," Galen proposed, getting straight to the point. "I suggest we work together. Alone, our chances of surviving these three days decrease drastically."
Endric straightened his shirt, his panicked expression giving way to slight relief at no longer being alone.
"I'm in. Absolutely in. I wouldn't last another hour alone with these killer trees," Endric agreed quickly.
"Great," Galen said, turning to face the depth of the forest. "Then we have a plan. Our priorities are clear: we need to find two more people to complete the group, get anything that can serve as food, and, most importantly, find a safe place to spend the night before it gets dark."
Endric nodded and made a move to take the first step into the jungle, but was interrupted before he even left the spot.
"Wait," Galen said, holding Endric's shoulder and pointing to the remains of the vegetation still hanging from the tree where the man had been trapped. "Before we leave, I need your help gathering some of these vines. I had to use a lot of force to break them; they are very tough. They could be useful."
"And what are we going to want those for?" Endric asked, still massaging his ankle.
"For everything. Tying things together, building a shelter, maybe even as a weapon if things get tough. It's a valuable resource and it's right here."
Endric agreed, and together, they spent a few minutes collecting several meters of the plant fiber, which Galen coiled and attached to his belt.
They decided to continue into the forest, betting that the chances of finding shelter and resources would be higher than on the exposed beach. But the hike proved to be much longer and more exhausting than they expected.
They advanced through the dense jungle for almost three hours. The heat was suffocating, and the uneven terrain punished their legs, but what really started to bother Galen was not the fatigue; it was the silence.
Throughout the entire journey, Galen kept his senses on high alert, but he did not hear the song of a single bird. He did not see any squirrels running along the branches. Even worse: there were no insects. No flies buzzing.
The forest was visually vibrant and full of plant life, but completely sterile of animal life. It was like walking through a static painting.
Finally, the sound of running water broke the oppressive silence.
They reached a clearing where a small waterfall formed a natural pool of crystal clear water.
"Water!" Endric exclaimed, his voice hoarse. Thirst overrode any caution. He ran to the edge, knelt, and drank voraciously straight from the source.
"Endric, no!" Galen shouted, rushing up behind him. "Don't drink that without knowing if..."
Endric lifted his head, wiping his wet mouth with his sleeve. "Ah, come on, Galen. Look how clear it is. I was parched."
"Clarity doesn't mean purity," Galen reprimanded, his brow furrowed with worry. "It could have bacteria, parasites, and you don't know what's upstream."
Endric paled slightly, understanding dawning too late. "Ah... Damn it! I didn't think of that."
Galen sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Well, it's done now. All we can do is wait. Let's rest here for a few minutes to see if you don't pass out or start vomiting."
They sat on the rocks. Then, they heard a sound echo and saw a bluish window appear floating in front of them.
[SECONDARY MISSION AVAILABLE]
OBJECTIVE: Defeat the scout Goblins that have invaded the Dimensional Island.
Galen read the message and a chill ran down his spine.
"Goblins?" Endric read aloud, his voice trembling. "Like... little green monsters?"
Galen frowned, trying to connect the dots. His mind quickly went back to the flying boar piglet's words. 'Take advantage that for the first 4 hours the island is a Safe Zone.' He had completely forgotten that detail in the heat of the moment.
Galen looked at the sky. The sun had moved considerably since they woke up.
"He said the first four hours were safe," Galen corrected, his voice tense. "I woke up, spent an hour on the beach... then we took about three more hours walking here..."
He looked at Endric seriously.
CRACK.
The sound of a dry branch snapping confirmed what the interface showed. The noise came from the direction of the jungle they had just left, the same jungle that had been silent until that moment.
Galen and Endric turned slowly. The bushes shook violently, and sharp, ragged laughter began to echo, approaching the clearing.