Endless light [Rimworld SI/Multi-Cross]

In short: this is SI in Rimworld with global mods and very later not only in it.

Spoiler: warning

This my first post and englech it's not my first language yada, yada... You know how this is going, mistakes and bad translation can be everywhere in this work.
And I warn you: there will be cliche in the prologue and a little stupid description of the system at the initial stage, which I regret, but I cannot get rid of it.
There will be a system in the fic, but more often in the background.
The system is based on the original game with 200+ mods and a natural increase in “realism” and some simplification for the text.

Spoiler: used fandoms

Partially present: Metro 2033, RWBY, LOTR, WOD and some other small and/or large references.

Brace yourself and enjoy.

---

Prologue​

I’ve been standing at the bus stop for ten minutes and no one is there. No cars in both directions, no bystanders, no one. Although, perhaps, this is not surprising, who will voluntarily go out on Sunday, and even on holidays? This is certainly not taking into account the fact that the weather is not very good, even for me wrapped in almost winter clothes.
Small cold rain and sometimes sleet with constant gusts of icy wind is a pleasure for rare aesthetes who are not present around at the moment.

After standing still for a couple of minutes, I see a minibus coming out of the bend, which will take me to the city. An hour's drive is if in traffic jams, but given today's crowdedness, I can get there in twenty minutes. I pay by card for travel, the cost of which is steadily growing from year to year, and I sit in the front seat. I close my eyes and try to relax, there will be a subway transfer soon, and there is not dusty, but long work in a small shop of instruments and building materials.

The minibus started, and the music in the headphones, along with the quiet hum of the engine, began to lull me and, throwing a pre-sleep look out the window, I saw the car. Time seemed to have stopped and my eyes smeared on the radiator grill, working wipers trying in vain to remove rain drops from it and stopped on the mirrored windshield, a second, two seconds passed, and with a jerk the car continued its movement.

***

This is... What's going on?
Something is somehow not good for me.
I can't see, I can't hear, and I'm so cold.
I think I'm lying now. I feel nothing but cold. I'm dying?

Not good. I can’t believe that I’ll die so easily. A car accident is too commonplace. Too easy. I'd rather die in an accidental gunfight or a terrorist attack. However, my life will become one more unit in the statistics of road traffic deaths. It seems that people are losing their lives only from cancer and some kind of infections? Although all this is not important now.

But did I live my life well, was it right, was it full?
Yes. That is, after all, I lived quite moderately, did not break the law, did not harm people, and from time to time I could help someone if the right moment came along.
Is that right? It's good? Moreover, what about the usefulness of life? Since childhood, I was satisfied with sitting at the computer, and traveling, communication, food, “outdoor recreation”, my grandmother's summer cottage, all this basically brought more fatigue and boredom than fun, so it was a fairly fulfilling life for me. Although it depends on the point of view, remembering the endless lamentations of relatives about the wrong path, about procreation, about something so insignificant that I can no longer remember it, it seems to me that, probably, from their point of view, my life was completely empty and useless...
And it seems that it will end soon.
Although if I...
No...

***

Consciousness returned, as if someone had pressed the power button. What's happening? Where I am? Moreover, sensations, strange, but at least there are in contrast to the past awakening. I try to inhale and nothing happens as if there is no nose or lungs.
I open my eyes and see a gray concrete room and opposite a gray door that looks like wood. The body, where the eye reaches out, looks like a blurry black spot, in which I can only roughly guess its outline.

I'm alive? This is not a hallucination or a dream, is it? It becomes a little creepy, but there is no panic, on the contrary, calmness comes. Everything is in its place. Everything is as it should be. I try to touch my head with my hand, and with slight resistance, it goes through the place where the jaw and skull should be. An attempt to grab one hand with the other is also unsuccessful.
Apparently, I'm some kind of spirit or maybe a ghost?

“What do I need to do?” I said quietly, looking at the door.

There was a noise from behind the door.
Well, yes, it was pretty obvious where to go and apparently right now it was time to leave the room. Approaching the door, I put my hand on it, pushed it, and it opened, revealing a room for me with another exactly the same door and a window next to it.

“Come on!” came to me a sounding completely ordinary male voice from the window.

When I approached the window, the door slammed shut behind me. I looked into the darkness inside the window, but saw nothing but darkness. Expected Result.

“Hold tight and don't lose it,” said the voice, and a grotesque hand stretched out of the window, holding out a tag with number 98 to me. “Don't stand there, go further.”

I took the number, and his hand was quickly pulled into the window. Opening the next door behind it, it turned out to be a concrete room with a stage and rows of chairs that were almost completely filled with various, but similar in structure to me, ghosts, and almost each of them had a number similar to mine.
The door behind my back, as well as the last time, slammed shut and, seeing an empty seat in one of the middle rows, I moved to it and began to wait for the start of the performance.
The ghosts spun and walked back and forth as if trying to talk, but it seems that most of them either did not know each other's languages, or did not hear the interlocutor, or maybe they could not understand him. Only a few of them sat and waited in the audience seats.

There is no way to keep track of the time, the ghosts are circling rather chaotically, there are no clocks, and the internal counting for no reason gets lost on a random number every time I try to start it. The only thing that changed was the number of ghosts that sat down on the ground. The seats in the auditorium were slowly filling up.

“Attention! We are starting the lottery!” a voice from the stage distracted me from observing, on which there was already a wheel of fortune without any designations and a man with a microphone dressed in a suit and top hat.

“I’ll name the numbers now,” he said in a solemn voice. “Whose number I will name, will go on stage, spin the wheel and further Chance will decide your fate,” he happily waved his hands, jumping up a bit and continued. “You also, well, if you don't want to, you can’t go out and then, let's say it like this, and your fate will not be decided by chance!”

And the lottery began with unknown prizes. The presenter spoke, the ghost got up from the chair, climbed onto the stage, spun the wheel, and after private words from the presenter, he went out into the invisible space behind the stage, sometimes after the named number no one came out, and he called the next number. In sequence. Until he finally called mine.

“Number ninety-eight!” happy man in the top hat shouted.

I went up to the stage, went to the wheel, and looked at the host of this show closer. His face, which seemed normal from a distance, was actually absent, although from the curve of his grayish skin one could tell that he was smiling.
Immediately more, I grabbed the handle of the wheel and spun it, making only one full circle, it slowed down rather quickly and stopped.

“Great. Well… We can say that you are quite lucky. You can go. Number ninety-nine!” he continued to invite the participants of this unknown show to the stage.

This is all nonsense. However, I have no choice. I will continue to play by local rules since I started. Especially if I do not need to make any efforts for this.
Approaching the same door as the two previous doors, I saw a room the same as the very first one. However, this one had a table with a couple of chairs. Behind one of them sat another faceless person with a different headdress, Fedora, and not a top hat. Seeing me, the skin on his head stretched out into a kind of smile.

“I know. You do not fully understand what situation you are in, do you?” he says folding his hands in a house in front of him.

“Yes, probably... That's all, to be honest... This is probably not exactly what I expected from my own death or whatever it was,” I answered him in dismay, sitting down on a chair.

“I see,” he nods knowingly. “I am here to give some advice before sending, you have three questions, which I will try to answer in a sufficiently detailed way, after which you will exit the door through which you entered.”

Just three?
No! This would probably be the dumbest question I can ask now. To begin with, it is worth clarifying where I will be sent. This is critically important, because I probably got into the network of some kind of ROBs or something similar.

“Sending where?”

“To the continental world of the terrestrial type, which was once a testing ground, but now it has been abandoned for quite a some time due to the lack of the necessary... environment on it. Also, as a result of some tests, many of the subjects were "urgently released", which can be an obstacle to a comfortable life in this world, however, there are some positive consequences for the local population. Some experiments have positively influenced the survival of each individual and these improvements will be available to you, so as not to highlight you more necessary,” he continued, frowning a little. “And yes, you don't want to talk about your "unusual" origins.

This does not really clarify anything, apparently there will be some kind of aggressive fauna and possibly some anomalies, so there could be anything.
Probably, further it should be clarified what improvements he talked about? Or is it better to ask about what tests were carried out there? Although, probably, it will be clear with the improvements, but it's worth learning about the tests.

“What tests were carried out on this planet?”

“The tests had…” He hesitated for a second. “Quite a diverse nature, to list them all will be just a waste of our time. The main directions were the development of aura weapons and interdimensional defenses.”

Curious.
But very vague, it seems his relative talkativeness ended on the very first question. There is one last question left. Well, one of the options for life after death has already been explored, it remains to understand what awaits me after my next death.

“What will happen to me if I die there, after I getting there?”

“How lucky, maybe ohfive to us, or maybe not,” he straightened up and continued pointing his hand at the door. “And that's all. Please come out.”

Oh, I'm an idiot! It was necessary to ask why I was here at all, or at least why should they drop me off somewhere. A good thought comes after. There's nothing I can do about it. I don't want to argue with such an interlocutor, and the situation is not suitable for conducting a discussion.

Leaving the table, I opened the door, behind which, instead of a stage, there was a matte, absolutely dark surface.
Now is not the time for the fear of the unknown, everything is already upside down. Rejecting the brief fright, I stepped forward, completely immersed in it.

Silence and emptiness.
No gravity, no remnants of feels.
For an infinitely long second, the world around me disappeared.

 

The next chapter will be coming pretty soon.

---

Chapter 1.1 First day​

In addition, quite expectedly, the feels appeared again. They struck in the ears with the deafening sounds of the noise of trees, for a second blinded by the radiance of the dawn sun and the feeling of the earth under their feet with the wind on their face.
I'm alive. Wonderful. And I still remember who I am. Memories seem to be at this moment even a little clearer than before, which is incredibly pleasing. I look at my hand, there is no scar that I had been there since school. Although this was to be expected. I am completely healthy and totally hit.

Wherever I looked, trees and grass surrounded me. In front, to the left and to the right, at medium and long distances, the high peaks of the mountains were visible. A variety of boxes and supplies were piled up right under my feet.
Looking at them, I begin to guess where I ended up. Familiar, pleasantly yellow rations and blue packs of medicine as if they were taken from Rimworld. Well, of course, a proving ground, of course. Well, we can say that more than a couple of thousand hours were spent on theoretical preparation for this moment.

Maybe the local system was screwed to me? Slanting my eyes to the right, I notice that there, on the outskirts of my view, without interfering with the view, there is a translucent clock showing "15:59", a compass, a thermometer on which "21° C", a calendar on which was shown "September 6, 5500, Autumn" and perhaps the most important of these are the pause and start buttons. Exactly Rimworld, there is little doubt.
Even if it does not give me anything in the overall standings, the sandbox is still. Although we did not notice the opportunity to enter the menu, the existing one is already good.

I press a pause in my mind and the world around me freezes, giving me extra time to get used to a familiar system in an unusually realistic wrapper. Below, among several familiar buttons, such as "Projects", "Technologies", "Tasks", "World", "Factions" was the "Character" button with the tabs "Skills", "Person", "Health", "Privileges" and "Statistics".
Looking at the latter, I saw nothing, all the statistics were at zero, except for the line "As a settler" next to which was written "22c", switching back to "Person" I see a lot of skills reflecting my knowledge and skills in various areas of activity, short biography divided into “Childhood: Child. ___ was born in the civilized world" and "Maturity: The Low-Paid Worker. ___ after graduating from the bachelor's degree, he applied for a low-paid, but undemanding job". Name not specified.

Maybe I should take a new one or adapt the old one? Well, I can use a nickname, "Nito" is probably quite normal, I could never come up with a really original pseudonym, maybe I'll choose a better one later, but for now it will do.
Turning my eyes from the system to the supplies frozen in time, I find the charge rifle and next to it a stack of magazines for it.
I pause and grab the weapon along with the magazine.
Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I notice some movement and turning around I see that a mutated overgrown rat-dog is rushing towards me at full speed, a guard.
A pause is reflexively pressed, allowing I to see it better: a completely gray carcass, mostly covered with the same gray wool with long paws and a rather small muzzle, now frozen in a grin.

It seems that they should hunt in packs, but in my viewing angle there is no one but him so far, and let's hope that I don't have his comrades behind me. I will not have time to load the rifle, he is already too close. Literally five or six meters.
Such a rifle should withstand more than a couple of hits on this carcass, I just need to accurately calculate the blow. Intercept it more comfortably and with the help of a pause wait for the moment to strike exactly in his head.
So, I got myself together. Memorized, recorded.
Intercept the rifle, prepare a blow and press pause.
I press the start, I intercept the rifle.
Pause!
The grinning muzzle froze literally a meter away from me, already ready to jump. Getting into a baseball position as intended will no longer work, but playing golf is just right.
I press the pause. And with a sweeping blow of the rifle to the jaw, I throw back the approaching guard. For a moment it seems as if he is stunned, but he immediately rushes in my direction, albeit not as thoughtlessly as before.
I take a couple of steps back, keeping the distance formed after the impact. I lift my club and prepare to catch the creature on its next dash.
Without waiting, I take a step forward and try to smash his head, but he snarls back.
Stop, pause.
I need to rest for a couple of subjective minutes here, in a place where nothing but showing off vampires and devilish magic girls can threaten me.

...

Okay, I rested, got myself together and now I'm ready, let's go!
I take off the pause. Coldly and patiently, after waiting for the jerk of the creature, I stamp the butt of the rifle into its neck with full swing.
I feel something crackling under him and judging by the groan of the guard, this is not a rifle. After this blow, he could no longer offer serious resistance, so to guarantee he broke his butt still a couple of times, until it turns off completely.
Returning the rifle to its normal position, I picked up and loaded the magazine that had fallen out of my hands before.
A new day in a new life started pretty well.
Looking around I do not notice any more living creatures, except for the half-dead guard. Well, thank Khepri for that.

Probably, it is worth interrupting his torment, I'm not some kind of flayer. Approaching him in all its glory, I watch him in the trash, smashed by the butt of the muzzle. Well, of course, he was not handsome before, but now he looks really bad.
I switch the rifle to single shooting and resting the butt on my shoulder, aiming I shoot. By normal standards, a small-bore six-millimeter bullet pierces his skull through and through, leaving behind a small and neat hole, fully completing our fight.
Hanging the rifle on my shoulder, I once again inspect the surroundings, but I don't see anyone. Time to find a place to live in the sun.

But before scouting the surrounding area, I need to explore my new repository a little more. Let's start with an inventory of clothing and tools.
The clothes were a T-shirt, underpants, a backpack and jeans, all of ordinary fabric, a body armor made of steel and boots made of leather. There was a small walkie-talkie on my belt and my high-tech club hung over my shoulder. Nothing out of the ordinary except for the absence of a hat. Unusual.

Let's continue with fine motor skills. I stretched out my right hand and, spreading my fingers, did not observe the usual shaking. The hand froze like a mechanism, although it must be made of flesh and blood. I cannot look inside, but it looks like a definitely normal extension of the hand. Placing both hands in front of him, he began to connect, bend and unbend the fingers in different sequences, and each finger moved precisely and completely independently of the others, perfectly obeying the commands.

After doing a warm-up, I feel that neither my knees nor my shoulders hurt. Apparently now I am really completely healthy and even in very good shape, especially compared to the past. In addition, although it is certainly not as good as Isekai himself, it is still very pleasant. Okay, we're done with research for today.

Examining the supplies, I see a tent, a solid stack of silver rounds, a small stack of gold, five magazines and several zinc energy cartridges for the charge rifle and a box of advanced medicines, rations and components, and somewhere in the vicinity there must be wood and steel.

A solid start, the richest of the original, but not the most convenient because of just one settler whom no one will cover on the hunt, no one will help with a sudden illness or stupor. The only pluses are more technology at the start and better supplies.
Walk time.

Having walked literally a couple of tens of meters along the mountain to the northeast, I saw the dilapidated ruins of some building, and next to it, pieces of steel were piled into a large ordered pile, and a little further away from them, stacked in even piles of logs. Later I will need to transfer them along with supplies to the warehouse, but now I need to continue your journey.

Having walked about two hundred meters to the east, I saw nothing special, only a lot of trees, the ubiquitous rocks on the right hand and peacefully grazing boomalopes in the distance.

Let's see what's on the other side. But first, I go back.
There was nothing new or unusual on the way.

Passing the materials and supplies, I notice that the mountain began to deviate to the south and after sixty meters I see that a pile of steel scrap five meters wide is sticking out of the mountain and that after a couple of tens of meters the mountain begins to go northward, forming a kind of depression. After another twenty meters, I notice something unusual.
This is an almost grown tree of the soul, very characteristic for its appearance of leaves shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow, which looks... beautiful and completely smooth bark. Meditation next to it is one of two ways to get psionics, if played without mods, of course.

For me, however, this opportunity is not available, after all, I do not pull either an aboriginal or a lover plant in any sense. It will be useful later, if I recruit someone who fits the tree, then I get an almost free psionic.

Approaching the tree, I notice a healthy matte black coal seam hidden behind it by a rock ledge, at the edge of which some kind of ore with splashes of yellow crystals glitters. It would be convenient to build right here, near the tree.
However, the psychic potential of the tree will weaken if I start building next to it, so I'll probably go back to supplies and start building a small house, I should have time to finish it before dark.

On the way back, on the way to the supplies, I felt the unidentifiable feeling suddenly disappear. Most likely, it was some kind of psi effect from the tree and apparently, it does not spread further. Probably, then I'll line up right here, but point-blank to the rock and it is unnecessary to drag the supplies far away.

Having outlined an approximate place near the cliff, where she made a right angle, as if someone he once knocked a piece out of it. In three rounds, he dragged the supplies, fully using the backpack for stores, ammunition, silver and gold, and carrying boxes and a tent in his hands.
It took another ten passes to drag all the materials, since the steel was comfortable enough to carry, and the wood did not put splinters when touched.

Having opened the "Projects", I select the "Construction" tab and in the pop-up sheet of buildings, the wall and the material wood, in front of me, about a couple of meters away, a phantom contour of the wall appeared a meter long and wide and about three high. According to the anthology, with a pause, I mentally press the phantom, and it is fixed, starting to require five timber for its own construction.
I repeat, the operation was twelve times covering this entire corner with walls, leaving an empty space under the door on the north side, about four meters from the rock. I switch to the door and put it in its proper place.

It remains to understand how exactly to build, perhaps I just need to bring the material to the future wall and put them there?
After absorbing the heels of the logs, the phantom changed, becoming more distinct, as if more material, but still obviously ghostly. Having tried to squeeze the building, it began to fill up quite rapidly, materializing from bottom to top in about a dozen seconds.

With quiet delight, I watch as if the magical transformation of unprocessed logs into boards tightly fitted to each other.
Compared to other events of the day, it somehow did not work out anymore, although it was quite interesting. Probably even silver coins could become a wall. A quick pause check confirmed the assumption.

I notice next to the description "Wall of silver" a small button "i", after pressing which I see the basic characteristics of the future wall: Cost, Durability, Flammability, Height, Mass, Requirements for soil, Selling price multiplier and Volume, just below the parameter Bonus for meditation and even lower is the Speed of immunity generation, Scope of work and Difficulty for dismantling.

I switch the wall material to wood and see a decrease in Durability, Cost, Mass, Immunity Generation Rate and Work Scope, only Flammability has increased. Everything seems to coincide with the "original" world. So, probably enough rest, I need to continue working.

I unpaused and start scampering back and forth between phantom projects and a pile of wood. Having finished the construction quite quickly, I understand that I can build a roof. Approaching the wall and after all the same mental squeezing over the nearest walls a roof appears. Having closed all the available space inside the house with a roof, I can finally exhale. The starting house is ready.

Looking into Furniture, I choose and build a small chair with a table. Taking off my backpack and sitting down at the table, I take out a ration. Having opened it, I begin to unpack a sealed bag of food and at the same time open "Persona", looking at my professional characteristics, ranked by qualifications from incompetence to a skilled amateur and considering the character traits received in life and after it.

The characteristics could be divided into three groups, according to the interest in the skill or, more precisely, according to the Rate of Learning (hereinafter CSR).
The first was the CSR group of which was equal to 35%, it included "Livestock: 1", "Mining: 3", "Cooking: 5" and "Crop production: 3".
Quite rightly, never in my life was I interested in any of these areas, even if when I live alone I have to learn cooking, but it does not bring pleasure.

The next was the group with 100% CSR, these were "Ranged Combat: 4", "Close Combat: 5", "Art: 5", "Communication: 6", "Mental Labor: 6", "Medicine: 4" and "Construction: 6".

Chewing on a tasty ration that probably resembles meat with vegetables and the consistency of a paste-like mass of rations rolls over me memories of how in childhood I attended various circles in my childhood, choir, DDT, chess, various shooting galleries, training in shooting from summer camps and youth martial arts club, work. It seemed all this was literally yesterday. Each of the memories was clear, as if being watched live... right now.

Here I am in reality, in a fairly spacious auditorium with many other guys in the chess club, I sit opposite the teacher and the blackboard with a description of how the pieces move... Here in the summer camp I stand in front of the target, and the teacher shows and tells how to shoot a bow...
I stand in the shooting range combining the front sight with the whole and the target...
I practice strikes in a martial arts club...

In a flickering kaleidoscope, memories sweep past me, capturing, trying to drag me into the abyss of memory, inviting, calling me to drown in such pleasant memories...

Suddenly, the absorbed part of the ration ended, and the illusion of memories with some delay dissipated, leaving behind a slight melancholy. I reach out to grab the next part. Which was a dessert made from some sweet and sour candied berries. Starting to gobble up one by one, once again opening "Person".

The last was a group of skills with a CSR of 150% in which only one skill, "Craft: 3", was lonely. Being ready for a new flash of memories, I press it, but only having time to notice the memory of many disassembled boards and revolving hinges.

Skills are over. Let's see what individual features this system has divided my character. Let's start in order.

[Teetotaler]
[Nito does not accept the idea of having fun with "chemistry" and keeps away from alcohol and drugs]

It is what it is. Neither drank nor smoked and I am not going to. The examples seen in childhood in the faces of casual drunks and drug addicts have discouraged such desires completely.

[Underground]
[Nito prefers to be underground and doesn't need to go outside and see the sunlight. He never feels locked up or suffers from claustrophobia and darkness, no matter how long he is in the room.]

Well, yes, I can sit at the computer for weeks without seeing the sunlight, but how did you know? Given the negative number of friends at school, it's no surprise that this has become my main pastime. I have nothing against walking, but it's really easier this way. I sit and sit, good.

[Immaculate]
[Nito is always loyal to his partner and will never consider divorce. He also hates walking without clothes more than anyone else.]

Highlight this as a character trait? What for? This... This is... Although yes, it probably makes sense, sometimes people change partners indiscriminately or go naked, like nudist beaches? Although the reasons for this behavior elude me.

[Weak immunity]
[Nito is especially vulnerable to disease, pathogens and toxic fallout.
Immunity Generation Rate -25%
Toxin Sensitivity + 50%]

O! So hello from my last receptacle, to get sick with ARVI at least four times a year, this is about me. What do we have next?

[Eccentricity]
[Nito got some balls for the rollers, but this is a small price to pay for scientific talent.
Research speed х115%]

This... I have nothing to say... Did I have scientific talent all this time? This is the only new information in this trait. Move on.

[Unaffected by Death]
[Nito admitted that death is another part of life, and does not get upset when he finds out about a dead ally or sees one of the undead]

How can I not admit it? In such and such a situation, it is obvious to put it mildly. Apparently, character traits are located depending on the time of their receipt, and this trait was received literally yesterday or maybe even today, it is not possible to understand.

[Magically gifted]
[Nito has a magical gift. He can use this gift to become a magician by studying the mysterious secrets of magical manuscripts.
Movement speed +0.10
Healing speed + 10%
Immunity Generation Rate + 10%
Psychic sensitivity + 20%
Learning efficiency + 10%]

And this is apparently something that "increases the survival of each individual", although maybe he was talking about the interface?
Well, now I won't ask him, but the gift is truly royal. The discovery of a magical or physical gift in an original loaded with mods was far from trivial and it was possible to do this only figuratively speaking having metric tons of magicite, which could be torn off from the same merchants only with their hands or overpaying several tens of times.

Having closed all the interface windows and going out into the street, I remember that I need to build a couple more structures of the first day, moving a dozen meters to the east, I place an illusory project of a village toilet made of wood and already closer to the project of a well made of wood, returning to the house, I stumble upon a tent.
I install it in one of the corners, which is closer to the doors and so that the entrance is visible from it. I collect the necessary wood and transfer it to projects, immediately building in the correct order and using both.

After washing my face with clean water from the well, the only thing left for me to do today is to climb into the tent and pass out.
It is necessary to gain strength, because tomorrow it will be necessary to outline the nearest goals, determine the direction of development and what is now in the "Technologies" tab, establish what kind of protection around the house, clear the surrounding space from trees and maybe I will have time to do something else. There are no forces, although the clock is only "21:45".

Having reached the tent and having previously removed my boots and jeans with a bulletproof vest, I fall into it.
The floor of the tent is surprisingly comfortable.
As well as a small pillow with a blanket included. As soon as I lay down, fatigue covered me with my head and I fell asleep.

 

Well most of my text decoration has evaporated. Why? How? Unclear.
Lay out a couple more chapters tomorrow.
Comments, clarifications, corrections and criticism message are welcome!

---

Chapter 2.2 Target and Fortification​

Waking up from the rain drumming on the roof, I look at the clock "04:35". Almost seven hours passed. Amazingly, it really happened.

Only now the realization of what happened yesterday began to catch up with me partially. I died. I died to death. And now isekai'd. Unimaginable.
This illusory, unrealizable dream, which yesterday became a reality, opens up theoretically unlimited potential for development. But based on the gained experience, any impossible can be possible. The dead can rise and live, magic can exist, democracy can work and mutants from parallel worlds may well bite my throat if I'm not careful enough.
Just a second of these reflections and the main goal was chosen and unconditionally accepted. It wouldn’t have occurred to me to choose another goal, nor even the shadow of the thought of rejecting it would have arisen.
However, I still need to outline the immediate and average goals in the plan to achieve the main goal, which is quite natural for my condition:

"Get the Best Waifa in All the Worlds!"

...

...

Well shit, how stupid that sounds. I hope I never have to write it down anywhere, or say it in front of anyone. I need to protect yourself from telepaths, just so that they don't see this crap.

At least the necessity and feasibility of this Goal is beyond doubt. How can it be achieved?
The average goal will be to get a way to travel to other worlds, I will need to find at least one, but preferably several, and ideally of a different type. So that when I visit an anti-magic world I do not get stuck in it when using only the magical method. Although it will be possible to get into it in this way, that is still a question.

And the immediate goal will probably, obviously, not die and build up resources in any form to fulfill the average and subsequently the final goal. The question remains in the form of a time frame, although if time can be nonlinear or theoretically there are an infinite number of worlds...
Well, there is too little sense in these reflections. I will not rush, let everything go on as usual. I will rely on the will of Fate and Fortune.

Fine. It's simple. I have every chance of a successful implementation of this plan. You just need to not screw up too often. Lighter than easy.
As I ate another ration, the rain was still tapping lightly on the roof. When I finished, it almost stopped.

The freshness after the rain was stupefying. I have not been in nature for a long time. I put on my armor and having done my morning chores and breathing deeply, I inspect the house from the side.

It looks, of course, rather sickly, at the first opportunity, it will be necessary to replace the walls with stone ones and build a bastion with embrasures.
First, I need to move the well further from the entrance, it should not be a convenient shelter for hypothetical raiders. Approaching the well, I look inside. It is dark and the water is splashing somewhere in the depths.
Taking a step back and touching the wooden gate, he pressed the dismantling button. Six seconds later, the well was sharply compressed by falling down with a wooden tile depicting a well on the ground.
It looked crazy.

The proportions contracting, made the well for a moment convulsively and unnaturally bend into its current state. In appearance, the tablet, in comparison with its original, is rather small, square in shape with a side of no more than half a meter. And although there was depth in the well, now in its place is the usual flat earth. The only difference is that there is no grass on it yet.
Lifting the board with one hand. I move with her a couple of meters to the east, where the interface still shows the presence of available groundwater. Later I will put several walls in order to exclude the possibility of using the space behind the well as a shelter, but for now, it's time to deal with the embrasures.
The most durable of the available are the "Steel embrasures", which are essentially the same wall, but in comparison with the admissible "steel wall" is twice as expensive in steel, plus it requires a little wood, but it has twice the strength and is sufficient a wide hole to shoot through, but not wide enough for anything to creep through.
Taken together, this makes them quite comfortable on the defensive, especially against someone who doesn't fire back.

Approaching the corner, I remember how “a long time ago” in my past life I built such fortifications, inside the game, of course, but now this fortification experience will be enough to build a small bastion protruding a meter from the walls. I move the corner wall and the southern wall that follows it to the designated place next to the well and put embrasures on the left and right in front of their previous location, bypassing the transparent phantoms of the buildings on the right, I put two more embrasures.
Having entered the house, I fill them with resources and immediately build.
Looking from behind the embrasures at the wall of trees, I understand that without clearing the surrounding space, the effectiveness of the defense still leaves much to be desired. Taking out the gun, I take aim, trying on for more convenience in the future. The entire western wall can be seen quite well, not counting the trees growing here and there.

Trees also block the area in front of the corner of the bastion, but the fragments of stones scattered nearby are already a much more serious problem. It will be necessary to start processing them into stone blocks tomorrow, after harvesting the nearest trees.
The last but not least is the zone of the northern wall, in which, I remind you, there is a door. Which is also quite convenient to shoot, even if you have to completely press into the front embrasure to aim there, and here, too, the ubiquitous trees and debris block part of the view.

Deciding to devote the rest of the day to them, I look at my watch. "14:46" Hmm, was it me who fiddled with embrasures so much, or when I was lying around in the house? Does not matter. Time to become a lumberjack, although I think with only three in skill it will take just an abyss of time.

Approaching the tree, I habitually experience the only interaction I understand with it. And after ten minutes, nothing happens. Okay, never mind, I'll wait. I have time to spend on felling trees.

...

Half an hour! Half an hour for one tree! Bad, slow and veeery boring. There is nothing to do, except to observe the surrounding flora and fauna, and I should not be too distracted from the tree, otherwise the "push" will fly off and I will have to start all over again.

The only good news is that it at least brings additional wood and what no, but experience. It is a pity that not to raise some general level, but only professional and rather slowly. The next level will turn out only somewhere in the tree after three or four, but at least something.

Eight trees and one ration eaten after the sun begins to decline, and I begin to feel sleepy. So I tumble into the tent and turn off, covering myself with a blanket.


***


Having habitually woken up and having completed my morning affairs, I set off to continue the monotonous clearing of trees. Boring work that was interesting only at the very beginning.

It is interesting and even very entertaining to watch how trees two and sometimes three of your height turn into an even pile of trees.
The first time seven. After that, it's already a routine. So, having cut down a dozen more trees and having received the fourth level of the "Crop farming" skill in the process, I decide to change my activity.

What do we have in the "Entertainment" tab? In the original there was a post on which the settlers threw horseshoes. With newfound precision and dexterity, I'd like to mark something. Yeah, there he is.

Having built a steel post about knee-high near the embrasures, four horseshoes appeared next to it during the construction process. Having picked them up and choosing one, I moved back about five meters. The horseshoe lay comfortably in the hand, and its mass pleasantly pulled the hand a little.
I slightly change the stance and throw a horseshoe aiming.

The clang of sparks from the horseshoe that bounced off the embrasure hit the ears unpleasantly. Probably it is worth throwing softer. Another flash of forgotten memories is passing everyday. The horseshoe throw reminded me of carefree years, of spending time with my father in nature and playing a flying saucer. That was a long time ago.

How are my parents? I hope they get through this incident somehow. Friends... Well, they will probably cope...
A lump rises in my throat for a second.
There is no time to be sad about the past, that life is gone, and I must...
No. I can and will only look ahead.

Having finished with the memories, I throw another horseshoe, this time almost without a swing. With a pleasant sound, it knocks against the post.
I throw one more, undershot.
One more hit.
Collect the scattered shells, repeat the throws. First second Third Fourth. I throw them one by one, and only the last one flies a little to the right of the column. The other three give out a pleasant ringing from hits.

A sense of satisfaction comes to me on the way to the scattered shells. Like a pood off the shoulders. Surprisingly relaxing activity. Collecting the horseshoes scattered near the column, I notice that the first throw left a small but noticeable scratch on the wall under the embrasure.
As usual, I focus my attention on the wall and see the strength of "599/600". I press the fix and sparkle the scratch disappears after a second. Leaving behind a flat steel surface. Fine.
Well, probably enough rest.

“Time back to work,” I say, looking at the trees.

Then the ear picks up some noise, the cries of some animals, bleating and something not quite legible.
Taking the rifle more comfortable, I begin to carefully move towards the strange sounds.

A dozen meters later, because of the fragments of stones and trees, an ordinary goat begins to be seen and after another moment it turns out that its enemy is the guard, but this other, the fur of this is noticeably lighter, and it already looks rather battered. Of course, the goat does not shine either, but it is clearly more cheerful than its opponent.
I decide to continue monitoring.
They all also stand opposite and stare at each other. I notice that the guard on his side has several as if stab wounds, and the goat's front limbs are scratched in order. Apparently the hot phase of their clash has already passed and now there is a battle for attrition, intriguing! A goat, if not a combat unit, should be weaker, and the guard is just a combat one, don't look that a scavenger, so I choose him as a favorite, but which of them will actually win?

A second of tense confrontation passes.
One more, two, three...

And the guard breaks down in a desperate dash trying to flank the goat, but it decisively rams the guard with its horns!
Crushing blow!
And apparently for the favorite of the tournament, this turns out to be the last straw of pain for this day. He falls off his feet and cannot continue this battle.
This is the end. The winner is the Goat!
I applaud her silently. These guards are still meeting one by one, it would be good if this continued.

If I could trace where they come from, maybe I’ll get to the Metro.
Although why do I need this Metro now? They will kill and return to the gray rooms of this circus. I'll manage somehow without third chances. Before such trips, I must first create a solid material base. Which is what I am doing now. Well, not right at this moment, of course, but in general.

While I was thinking, the champion of this deadly battle hobbled a couple of meters and collapsed into the grass. Well, I guess I'll repay this goat for the entertainment and check something at the same time.

I walk up to her and turn my attention to the interface.
So, "Mountain goat, female, return 6". Let's look at the "Health" tab. First on the "Blood Loss (Medium)" list, followed by bleeding lacerations on the left and right front legs, and a bite wound on the right. At the bottom of the information window, it also read “Bleeding 439% / d (death in 3 hours)”.

I see the blood loss change to "Blood loss (large)". I will not hesitate any longer. Let's start treatment.
Immediately, on some parts of the goat, ghostly bandages began to appear, which slowly materialized one after another, stopping the bleeding. Casting a glance at the silver medalist of this battle, it turned out that the guard had already metaphorically glued the flippers together. The loss is not great. I leave the champion to roll over and heal his wounds.
Well, since the life of the goat is out of danger at the moment, then I'm done. I can return to your main activity.

Having cut down a couple more trees, before sunset I transfer all the timber I have obtained recently to the warehouse and, having completed the already familiar evening routine, I go to sleep.

 

In my time zone next day already start. Happy Halloween!

---

Chapter 3.4 Target and Defense
​

​

Morning in nature is wonderful, but only when there are no bugs, mosquitoes, spiders or anything else trying to get closer and eat something.
Insects are nasty. Just disgusting, disgusting creatures.
Most of them, except for butterflies, praying mantises and ladybirds, and probably sometimes spiders. If I do not look closely, then they are still all right. But, for example, mites or parasitic worms?
Iu~ It makes me shiver as I remember their hideous appearance. The usefulness of insects such as common worms or those very small spiders in the wild is obvious. Nevertheless, because of them, I have not got out for several years in the "wild" nature. Mosquito swarms and mites with midges discourage any desire.

Why did I remember this? Because for the past three days, with fairly stable and warm weather, I have not noticed any of the above creatures. It's weird, even if I'm not going to complain about it. However, such a nice addition is still worth noting.
We need to continue to strengthen the defenses of the settlement, various enemies can come at any moment, and only what I build now will help me stop them. Now it is necessary to change the material of the walls, because wood, as a material for the construction of defensive structures, to put it mildly, slops.

I'm building a "Stone Cutting Table" of wood next to the entrance. Moreover, going out into the street I grab the first "Chunk of Shale" that caught my eye, a serious infection. It weighs twenty-five kilograms. I can't get more than one. Not even because of their weight, the weight of one lifts without much problem. However, because of their awkward, slightly rounded shape.
After forty minutes of labor, twenty even blocks of shale, weighing one kilogram each, are formed on the desktop. Fine.

After turning on the pause, I begin to think. To clear such debris from the environment closest to the house, I will have to perform this operation thirty-seven more times. Spending about forty-five to forty minutes each would take about a thousand four hundred and eighty minutes, or about one full day. The pause seems to be intended for calculations, each new thought does not fly away, but as if "hangs" in the mind. An incredibly handy tool. Like the whole system.

After processing three more identical fragments of shale and processing the fourth one from the side of the view, an alert popped up [the squirrel is going crazy], expanding it I see a description [the squirrel looks extremely aggressive and will attack anyone it sees].
Hmm, well… Enemies of the same level as me. I understand. Well, nothing, my time will come when I will have tough enemies, and not lone guards and squirrels.

As if, in fact, I see cool anime battles on giant sharpeners in the future, so that sparks from every blow are everywhere, and cool skills here and there, and teleports there, and all this is bang-bang, pew-pew, pee-pee, poo-poo... Then I will find myself a waifu, become a farmer and create a gigantic robot for my son and...
“Haa ~,” groan escapes from my chest along with a heavy sigh.

The preparation of the base will last another three or four days if there are no accidents, which will slow down the preparation. The next step after the defense will be the creation of normal bedrooms, otherwise living in a tent is certainly cool. But not a week in a row.

Having finished with this fragment, I went through the embrasures, to expect this squirrel.
Even such a small danger should not be underestimated. One accidental small scratch can lead to infection and death. Of course, the chances of this from a squirrel are small, but they are not zero. So we are preparing a rifle. One hit is enough for a squirrel to turn it into minced meat.

After a couple of dozen rather boring minutes, about thirty meters away, I notice a shadow slipping by.
Coming!
Again I watch her a little closer. Not completely cleared trees and bushes periodically obscure her view. The rifle lies comfortably in my hands, I see a squirrel running out from behind a tree through the scope and shoot.
Miss. Chips fly from the trunk of the tree next to her.
Another shot. Miss. The bullet goes somewhere in the ground.
Another miss. A couple of branches are tearing from a nearby bush.
And one more. A couple of seconds for more accurate aiming.
And another rain of wood chips. Miss.
A piece breaks off from an uncleared fragment. Miss.
Of course, the shooter of me is so myself, nevertheless, they started with something, I console myself. Just training in shooting at a small and moving target. There is nothing like that in a couple of extra shots.
Miss.
Miss.
And one more mistake. Oh my cartridges.
Miss. I notice that "Distant Battle" became the fifth during this "great defense" from the squirrel.
Miss. Straight heart breaks, every shot flies somewhere by. How not to aim, and the squirrel is spinning like crazy.
Miss.
Miss.
Finally, the decisive moment. Another shot turns her carcass into a leaky mess.
Fourteen shots at a squirrel. Not terrible, but not great either. Good for the first time. Oh, already "17:31", lunch time.

After eating one ration and going to the well. I put new slate walls replacing wooden ones. Their volume of work is four and a half times more, which is compensated by an increase of almost two hundred units of strength and, most importantly, zero flammability.

In the middle of updating the third wall, some of the blocks suddenly fall out of it.
Construction error.
So, this requires detailed consideration. After turning on the pause, I open "Characteristics" and in many different speeds, chances, efficiencies and qualities with resistances I find "The chance of successful construction is 95%." Good enough. At the next level, it should become something like "97%" or "99%", if my memory serves me right, and then such small incidents will come to naught.

Having brought the required materials again, I complete the replacement of this and two more walls, raising the "Construction" to seven and the chance of success to "98%".

It's enough for today.
The sun has almost completely set over the horizon. Time to get some rest.
Approaching and sitting on a nearby stone, I manage to capture how the last rays of the sunset illuminate rare and distant clouds.

Soon the night came into its own and, looking up to the sky, I see thousands of stars in a clear sky without a trace of light pollution. I saw such a sky, before that only a couple of times in my childhood and several more times in pictures on the Internet, but of course, they did not reflect the full beauty of this landscape.

Sitting here in another time, on literally another planet, and watching now as if the endless and endless heavens with stars shining on them. The atmosphere was magical, indescribable, indescribable, if you like.

A small shiver crept all over my body. I think Lovecraft and his Other Gods, and the 40k Chaos, Flood, Entity, Brotherly moons, Reapers, star eaters and an infinite number of literally divinely powerful entities and random apocalypses. All this and much more exists, if not in this, then in one of the parallel realities. This whole world is like a grain of sand in the desert.
Probably, there is no need to twitch about this, anyway I cannot do anything with them. I'm not even close to being a “Chosen One” like Freeman, Shepard or Isaac. The engineer, not the baby in the basement.

Well, that's enough thinking for today. For now, we need to focus on the immediate tasks. We need to finish the defense and electrify the warehouse house. And the most immediate task will be to get enough sleep.
Another day is over and only the calendar at the periphery of my vision does not allow me to get lost in the count of days. It's only been four days and so far, everything is pretty good. Closing my eyes, I saw the clock show "00:34" and immediately fell asleep.


***


I cannot see anything. The darkness around me is bottomless and formless.
Feet do not feel the floor and I can't feel my legs.
There is a vague feeling that something is near. Something is so close that I can reach out and touch.
But even applying all the forces it is impossible to move even a finger.
After an indefinite time, indistinct contours begin to shine through in the dark.
An undefined mirror surface stretches across the entire view.
It presses and seems to hang over your head. It goes in all directions, without edges and as if with no end. It is as if I am both outside and inside her. An incredible duality strikes me, preventing me from moving.
From the blind spot in the darkness escaped a multitude of metal arms laced with gears and hinges. Surrounding and grabbing me carried away from the wall somewhere to the side. Fear gripped me even more as the mechanical arms began to tighten around me.
If at first they left a lot of space, now it was already a bit crowded. The pressure grew more and more. They'll crush me now!
The electrical discharge seemed to pierce every nerve in my body and...
...
Am I awake?

Ah, again. This dream. In pre-secular times I saw him several times already, mostly when I was ill. It was remembered perfectly, although it was difficult to describe what happened in it.

Although now there are differences. At the end, some kind of mechanical hands were added. Well, at least I didn’t wake up broken into the trash, like in previous times. To understand what this dream means is now not possible. Maybe someday I found some kind of medium or psychic who will explain what this garbage was.

Tent, blanket and rifle in place, time "05:03". It is still dark outside the window, which means that the day has not begun yet. In addition, I can sleep some more.

...

Second awakening today.
I slept well again, here the days for selection are good in this regard. The energy is so rushing, I already want to build or do something and I have what. Not all walls have changed the material from timber to slate yet. Therefore, I need to fix it.

After spending an hour, I complete this task. Then what? Further processing of the wreckage. Today and somewhere else three days.
Grab the piece, bring it to the table, cut it and throw the product of labor somewhere in the corner of the warehouse. Repeat the cycle from the beginning. It must be boring, but a strange excitement haunted me as I began to dismantle each new wreck.
Somewhere in the middle of the process, I got the fourth level of the "Crafting" skill and this was the only unusual event of the whole day.

***

The sixth day began, and it began with a drizzle from the very morning.
Having left the horseshoes a little, I continue clearing the area and processing oil shale until nightfall. Routine, pleasant routine.
Having a snack on a ration identical to the past, I finish this day.

***

The seventh day, except for rain, is identical to the sixth day.
Beautiful days.

***

In the middle of the eighth day, I realized that all the stones around the house had been cleared, which meant that it was necessary to start electrification.
Although it is worth cleaning up the warehouse before doing this, it has been worth it for a week without cleaning. Previously, cleaning a room without a broom or a vacuum cleaner would have been relatively impossible, but now with this interface, dust and dirt almost literally disappeared before our eyes. As comfortable as ever.

After sitting for a while, resting and thinking, I decide to put the wind generator on the west side of the building. It will still be far enough from the Tree so it shouldn't disturb it.

Having passed to the contrived place, I see that the generator will not work even at one percent of its capacity. I forgot about the uncut trees on this side of the house. Well, not in vain did I drag this steel with components here? I plan and make one more run for resources, build. Slowly enough, a windmill protrudes from the phantom contour from the bottom up.

As I thought, its blades do not move and this means it is time to continue the routine actions. It's time to clear the area of trees again. To some extent, cutting down trees with this method is more convenient than lugging around with the debris, but for some reason it is still much more boring and monotonous work.
A couple of trees later, the sun had already set over the horizon. The day was over and after eating dinner, I went to the tent to sleep without dreams.

***

Another day full of routine began and then it ended.
The most ordinary morning, tree cleaning, literally flashed before my eyes and it turned out that it was already evening, and I was again lying covered with a blanket in the tent.

This routine brings back memories of the years of school life and the recent many months of life spent at work. Here you come on your first day, blinked, and the salary is over already right there. Don't look that a month has passed.

Everything now is somehow simpler and at the same time more complicated. Previously, I didn't really fear for my life on an ongoing basis, but life was essentially aimless, probably even empty. Fun and little work, nothing big.
Nothing great. Nothing special, except for some customers.
Now, feeling inside the blazing fire of an achievable, albeit distant Goal, I have a feeling that I am capable of everything, that great achievements in the future are really awaiting me and that no difficulties will be able to break me.
Somehow, having completed my thought, I surrendered to the power of sleep, and it came, as always, instantly.

 

On next day will be another chapter.

Spoiler: useless words

Some place can cortrupt by translate, but i can't make them better now.
Enjoi!

---

Chapter 4.10 Defense​

The early morning was quite normal.

After going to the generator, I see that there are not so many trees left to cut down. The work this tree can be finished today and my comfort will be soon after I research the batteries and build nutrient paste dispenser and electric lighting and refrigerator. The "Research" tab is still to be understood, but it does not burn, so let's postpone.

Only having cut down the first tree I notice the sudden activation of the pause and the notification that has come out from the side.

[Ntasanberium]
[Hostile aliens from the Ntasanberium faction are stationed nearby.
The enemy attacks immediately.]

O! This may already be serious. Although the faction's name looks like a headbutt on the keyboard, this is not a reason to underestimate them.

I take off the pause and, just in case, dismantle the generator. I would not like to allow it to be damaged by the attackers. The wind turbine is six in length, two in width and three meters in height.

Watching how such a colossus squeezes into a half-meter square is something… with something. The spectacle is not so new, but much more spectacular than the dismantling of the well.

Throwing a metal square near the entrance, I go into a corner with embrasures. No one is visible yet. This collision should be much more dangerous than all the previous ones put together. It will be a sentient creature, most likely with a weapon.

I try to get a better hold of the rifle, but the strap digs into my shoulder unpleasantly. I hear blood pounding in my temples.
Seconds pass, but he still does not here.
After two minutes of agonizing wait, a figure in a hat and with some kind of weapon in his right hand, running as fast as he can, becomes visible in the distance.
Finally. I'm tired of waiting.
To rest the butt on the shoulder, combine the front sight, rear sight and running figure, everything is as taught. Exhaling slowly, I press the trigger.

The tree that suddenly closes the target acquires a fresh hole. It's a pity that the entire area in front of the base has not been cleared yet. This would make the defense easier.

I have enough ammo anyway. Maybe cheat a little with a pause? Why yes? Not worth it.
By the way, it is probably worth taking him alive, otherwise, there are not enough people in my settlement, it's time to recruit.

Taking aim again, I release the trigger and the shot, instead of being hit, disappears, making a translucent film visible right in front of the enemy, who is also fearlessly throwing at me.

Pause. Yeah. I see he has some kind of energy barrier. Looks like the shield from the original. Although no, a shield like a sphere should surround the character, and long-range weapons are almost useless with it, it does not pass projectiles in both directions, and my future friend is clearly carrying some kind of submachine gun or something like that. This barrier looks more like a shield of Glory or an aura from RWBY or perhaps some magical analogue of them. It will be necessary to check this later.

Okay, well, I sort of put it on the shelves. Now on tactics. He does not seem to be planning to evade, rushing straight in the forehead. What is he only thinking about? Or so hopes for a shield? Well, I have an answer to that.

I'm taking off the pause. It takes less than a second to switch from single-shot to semi-automatic. Controlling the release of the energy rifle is quite simple, but with turning the pause on and off, shooting at a target of normal growth becomes child's play.
The new triple hit does not even make him slow down, rushing like a locomotive.
In the second three, the first hit, like all the previous ones, flashes harmlessly, bouncing off the shield.
The second makes the shield flash much brighter.
The third punches his left arm.
A cry of pain. Oh, signs of sanity began to show. The enemy begins to twist a little and hide behind trees, all the same stubbornly going on the offensive.

The first shot from the next cut-off encounters a shield that has partially recharged, which immediately flashes brightly again.
From the next shots, the enemy, apparently having received an increase in intelligence along with the wound, dodges by leaping behind the trees.
I'm waiting for him to appear. Probably he will not be able to sit there for a long time with such a wound and if it does, then I'm right there and I have more time and patience is likely too.

If I think so, it’s kinda strange that his shield became active again so quickly, the aura should recharge longer, at least half a minute, but here in just a couple of seconds, this will need to be figured out later.

After just a dozen seconds, he jumps out from behind a tree and gets into three consecutive hits.
The first removes his shield for the third time, the second penetrates somewhere into the torso and the last hits the head, sending him to the land of dreams.

Something, it seems too much if I want to take him alive.
Well, let's see how he is there, since I'm already quite an experienced physician, almost a professional doctor, yeah.

Approaching the carcass that has fallen apart on the ground, I understand that he is still alive and, judging by the interface, he is seventeen years old and his name is "Jerk."
Is it such a name, or is it a nickname? It is unclear, but he will die in four hours from three heavy and a couple of moderate bleeding. Well, I need to save him.

I start dressing. I also notice that after that head hit, his ear is missing. It just needs a pun. Maybe... Something…
For example, "You woke up very early." Not bad, N. As always, great pun. Everyone will be love it.
I can't wait for him to wake up. The dressing is over. The fifth level in "Medicine" is obtained and I grabbed his lying weapon and carried the guy wrapped in bandages into the house.

I need to put it somewhere and I not made for now normal rooms. Okay, let him lie in the bastion for now. On the floor. I hope he doesn't get stuck while I'm walking here and there. Along the way, I take away his shoulder bag in which there are only a few magazines under the submachine gun, and a bunch of bullets in bulk.

After going to the well and typing water into the well bucket, I brought it to the Jerk. Using the interface along with water washed the blood off him. Even the clothes were cleaned, as always, everything in which the interface is involved becomes extremely convenient. Soon I won't even be able to wipe my ass without him, oh yes, I already.

Anyway, getting rid of such a versatile tool, even if it makes me lazy or something, is too sickening for me.
Okay, while the wounded man is resting, I’ll go and chop trees, nevertheless, now, with two hungry mouths, the issue of electrification is even more acute.
Going outside and putting the windmill back in place, I start cutting down. Five trees later, I hear that the wounded man has woken up.

Approaching and looking into the embrasure I see him lying and squinting at me. It is necessary to somehow start a conversation so that he understands that I am an even, normal person and that I need to grab onto the entry into my settlement with both hands and feet.

But he starts the first conversation and says:
“Give me food, dog,” from such blatant arrogance I almost fell into a stupor. Only a pause saved me from a minute's search for an answer to this unreasonable insolence. Maybe I'll hit him? Like "My strong, yours to listen to mine"? Nah, he have the aura or its analogue, so even with wounds, getting involved in a fist fight with him is not the best idea. Everything needs to be solve with the help of diplomacy and manipulation.

“When you normally ask, maybe I’ll give it to you,” I say neutrally, returning to the felling of trees. If at least he does not attack in the evening, then it will already be a success. However, just in case, I switch the rifle to automatic mode. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

Having finished working until the evening, I transfer the chopped pieces of wood to the warehouse and, after eating the ration, I decide to go to the prisoner.

It would be inconvenient to fully enter the makeshift cell with an area of two by one meters, so I stand in the doorway. The prisoner, meanwhile, is reclining leaning against the northern embrasure and looking at me.

“Let's introduce ourselves?” I decide to strike up a conversation from an acquaintance. “My name is Nito. And I am the head of this settlement. What is your name?”

He looks away and hesitates to answer.

“Everyone calls me a jerk all the time. But my name is Seymour Allen,” he says, looking at me again. “Sorry... What... drove, then in the afternoon. I mistook you for someone else.”

“Well, you didn't harm, so... Anything can happen” why did he change his mind so drastically? Later I can ask him about it.

“Can you please bring me something to eat?” He asks, politely choosing his words.

A minute later, I return to him holding out the ration in my left hand, putting my right on the rifle. He carefully picks up the ration and eats it in just a couple of minutes.

“And now Alain, please answer a couple of my questions. For starters, how did you find me and why did you attack?”

“So this… The head was recently informed that a new settlement had sprung up three days later to the south. And a new faction, so I was given a responsible mission to reconnoiter and destroy. Even the machine gun and cartridges were given,” he says excitedly.

“What other machine gun? You only had a pistol.”

“So it is submachine,” he explains as if I'm an idiot.

“No matter. What about reconnaissance?”

“Well, I seem to have failed... but they will save me, that's for sure!”

“Surely they'll send another scout, right? Who could it be?”

“Kert will go. How to drink to give, it will go. He was wounded in the raid before last, so that last month his group left without him, and he has been messing around and drinking for about a week,” without restraining, he dumps everything as a kid.

“And he, like you with this shield?” after these words, Alain is noticeably embarrassed, hiding his face with his palms. “And explain what it is.”

“This is Aura. She protects and... Heals and they quite rare...” he squeezes out of himself.

“Rare? How then were you released alone into the unknown, if it is rare?” something here does not fit or they lie in my face.

He's already turning his back on me completely. Apparently, I won't get any more information today.

“Okay, keep your secrets,” I decide to retreat. “Goodnight.”

Silence was my answer. Nevermind. Some progress has been made. I wonder how long it will take to properly recruit him? Free hands are needed yesterday. Let's see.

Resting my head on the pillow and closing my eyes, sleep habitually engulfed me.

 

Spoiler: explanations

I work hard two days and cant have time to make translate, butt tuday I am free and do this. I'll do one more tomorrow.

---

Chapter 5.11 Electricity and Square Meters​

Looking at the tent awning, I feel that something has subtly changed since yesterday.
The fabric was gray, low-key. The light from a torch, which was involuntarily built sometime in the process of disassembling the debris, freely penetrated through the canopy, periodically shaking slightly.
After another couple of minutes of savoring vague suspicions, I finally noticed a change in temperature. "30°C", warm, but not yet roasted, at least indoors. I will need to work in the sun today, and I don’t envy my future self. Well, nothing, it's time to start the day.

Taking my ration, I notice that the initially filled box is already more than half-empty, and given the doubling of the consumption of rations, it will very soon show the bottom. Several scenarios arose in my memory in which the settlers first descended to forced cannibalism, and then slowly ate each other until the last of them starved to death.
Shaking my head, I try to throw out stupid thoughts.

There is plenty of food around, but she certainly does not know about it yet. However, if need be, I'll start hunting. This of course will delay all other projects, but I definitely will not die of hunger.
All sorts of muffalo or the boomalops run periodically in line of sight. Still, the climate around is quite mild, relative to the poles or deserts. It's a pity that there is no refrigerator, and I even in theory don't know how smoke meat. Therefore, I can't make long-term food supplies right now. Therefore, electrification comes first.
Oh, yes, I still have a prisoner, I need to give him a morning ration, and greet him like a human.

“Good morning,” I tell him, handing him the orange rectangle.

“Good morning, and bon appetit,” he sits down more comfortably so as not to eat the awning.

I notice that he has no more bandages on. In addition, looking into his "Health" I see only the permanent absence of the left ear and an insignificant loss of blood. Amazing. A normal person would probably recover to this state for at least a month. And here, in one night, lying on the ground, without any medicine.
I need to get used to this and stop being surprised by the little things, for the locals this is probably in the order of things, but I don't seem to need to wave some kind of unusualness in front of everyone. And in general, I am sure that much more serious and unusual incidents await me than this.

“Yeah, well, bon appetit, Alain,” and after small pause and. “Don't get yourself bored here, I'm goin working.”
Well, yes, there is nothing to sharpen the fringes, I need to bring the windmill into working condition, otherwise it not only does not stand in its place, it also does not work because of the trees that have not yet been cleaned.

I take a metal square with a rolled-up windmill and go out into the street. The sun is firing as hell. Again, I observe strange distortions when setting the windmill in its place. Fortunately, the windmill, put in place, creates a comfortable shadow next to it. Standing under which it will be possible to cut down the trees closest to the windmill in relative comfort.

Necessity forces me to work again until the sun goes down. Well, nothing can be done about it, at the initial stage of setting up the base, there is little variety, especially when of all the necessary starting skills I have at a normal level only "Construction", the usefulness of which cannot be overestimated. By the way, I would like more "Plant growing" and "Mining". All the same, I live close to the mountain, I need to dig deeper, but anyway it is later things.

A day of monotonous boring work flies before my eyes, and when the sun once again sets over the horizon, the last tree blocking the windmill disappears. Tomorrow it will be necessary to lay the wiring into the house and, having cleared the room, it will be possible to build a refrigerator and a paste dispenser.
Taking two rations, I go to the prisoner in the cell.

“Hi, I hope I won't interfere?”

“I'm in captivity and not busy with anything, so no.”

I guessed about it, but I had to find out for sure.
I give him food and sit down next to him on the field myself. Having dined together and thus creating at least some kind of atmosphere, I decide to start search information.

“So what about this aura, can you tell?” I pause a little. “It seems that this thing is useful and interesting, right?”

“That's right, yes. But I kind of said everything, protects and heals. It's all.”

“Tell me then, how did you get it? And does anyone you know have it?”

“Well, she appeared a couple of days ago,” he hesitated. “Well, I, like, as I left the settlement, she took it a day later and appeared. They say that this is how it was, and the head of the guard received it.”

“He run away too?” I decided to clarify.

“Well, no, in some kind of raid,” he noticeably hunched over. “And they also said that our boss, who came from the central one, was supposedly bewitched by the sorcerer, and from that he received an aura and some magical power,” then he straightened up. “But this is just a lie, I know that magic does not work out that way, and so does the aura.”

“And how do you say somebody can get magic?” the question is burning, magic, ideally, can become a tool that is not inferior in usefulness to the interface.
“My grandfather… told me when was still alive, that it seems like you need to find a magic book. And the magic will somehow be. Like this, or be born with her.”

“And in your settlement there were magicians, except for your boss?”

“We sort of had rumors that some of the caravans was using magic, but who exactly is unclear.”

Well, everything is clear with him. Moreover, about the aura with magic is unclear. In terms of the game, with magic, everything was quite simple. I found a volume, and if there is a predisposition, I sucked it in, and here we are use magic.
There are some vague rumors, I will need to find someone more informed and question him thoroughly.

“Understand. How do you feel about vegetables by the way?” I deftly translate the topic.

“They fine, but why did you ask about them?”

“Just because.”

“I see,” he looked at me in bewilderment.

"Listen, how about changing your settlement and standing at the beginning of a new faction?" I again abruptly translated the topic. “You'll become an influential person later, do you now?”

“I understand,” it seems that he does not understand.

“Look: you enter now and you will immediately get a comfortable bed. And in a couple of days, and his room. We will have to work, of course, but where won't I have to, I'm right, right?”

“Well, yes,” he agrees, and adds. “So the old schizophrenic said.”

“In any case, now it's time to sleep, but think about it. Surely, your faction had revered founders, right? In addition, fate itself gives you a chance to become one of the respected people, is not it? Goodnight and think Alain.

“Goodnight,” he says, not looking interested.

Wow, I hope I had a normal conversation. It is a pity not to be seen in the interface of the "Society" tab, it would be easier to speak and understand the interlocutor knowing what and whom he likes, but how to look for a passage in the dark and blindly poke in different directions.

Always hated meeting new people. In addition, with those with whom I know that I will part and will never meet again was easy enough, much worse were those with whom I had to communicate for several months or even years.
Of course, sometimes they became my close friends, but more often than not people realized that I had committed many war crimes in Yugoslavia, and we stopped communicating. It's a joke, of course.
But I think the meaning of the analogy is clear.
Anyway, it's time to sleep. Well, at least in the evening the temperature dropped down a bit and falling asleep would not a problem.
The eleventh day in a new but partially familiar world has ended.


***


I wake up, eat breakfast and feed the prisoner. No accidents, except for the jumped and already perceptibly frying temperature "37⁰С", did not occur.

I go outside to stretch my legs and see that the windmill is already spinning quite vigorously.
Returning to the house, starting to expand the premises, I begin to use the interface to the full by digging uphill using the "Mining" skill, along the way taking out marble and stone fragments to the warehouse. They will come in handy in the near future, albeit only after processing.

After about an hour of rather unhurried mining, pulling one of the debris that broke away from the wall, suddenly a strange feeling of filling appears inside, as if it even became easier to breathe. After a couple of minutes, an alert appears on the side.

[Mana Surge]
[The planet's celestial orientation has shifted, causing a burst of mana. All creatures attuned to magical power will gain mana at an increased rate.]

Well, except for unusual sensations, this does not give anything, so I can ignore and continue to work. After a dozen hours, the place was sufficiently cleared, and the recovered debris turned into even blocks.

Half an hour later, the cutting table and the dispenser with a funnel were installed and the wiring was carried out to the dispenser. After the installation of new equipment, it became quite crowded in the house, everything is right next to each other. Somehow, all it fits in the available space, leaving the path for the passage.
Fine.
Not Fine.
I forgot about the freezer. Well, apparently, we will not taste the pasta today, today we will still eat rations. It seems like pasta has a terrible taste in the game. I hope it will be at least bearable, after all, the pasta, albeit theoretically not very tasty, but fraught with some key advantages compared to cooking ordinary dishes and the most important and useful of them is me I think that it does not require time for cooking.

I visit Alien and for empty conversation about the weather and food we eat our rations. Before leaving, I need to ask him.
“Well, haven't you thought of it yet?”

“No, probably not yet.”

“Okay,” well, not today, means not today, Moscow too was not built in a day. “Well, come on then, good night,” I decide to end the conversation.

“Good night,” he says, rather detached.


***


The thirteenth day, for almost two weeks I have been surviving quite tolerably well on this unfriendly planet. Although the blame for such progress can only be blamed on the interface, HUD or system. Whatever you name it, but the essence is the same. I hardly would have survived even the first day without her.

Again the already familiar sequence of actions: breakfast, have a few words with Alain and return to yesterday's work. This time, clear the space for the refrigerator and at least two, and preferably three rooms.
The very first meter of rock destroyed in a new day meets me with a handful of magicite falling out next to a piece of marble.
Valuable sparkles, which are crystallized mana, are usually not lying on the road, but today seems to be a good day or it has played that yesterday's event has not stopped working.

Ugh and why I was not interested in the miner's craft before?
Maybe it wouldn't take so long to clean up now. Moreover, tomorrow afternoon it will be time to go on the first normal hunt. The stock of rations is getting smaller every day.

In the morning, it will be necessary to complete the expansion of the premises, and in the afternoon to go out. Something like this, for one more monotonous work, another working day ended.
After having dinner with Alain again and chatting with him about minor events, I go to bed. Hunt and pasta are waiting for me tomorrow. And now — a long-awaited dream.

 

Spoiler: Link on original work

If you want more chapter and you know ru language you can see original work here:
https://ficbook.net/readfic/10736743#part_content

---

Chapter 6.14 Hunting​

Waking up in a comfortable temperature, during the night it dropped from "33⁰C" to "24⁰C", excellent. However, I didn't even try to do something magical even in the past days, and it seems now that I haven't got up yet, it's time.

I take a deep breath, trying to feel something out of the ordinary. Something other than oxygen entering my blood through the lungs, something the sensation of blood inside my body, something called "magic".

Breathe in. Exhalation. Breathe in. Holding my breath. Exhalation. Breathe in. Exhalation.

I don't feel anything. Only bones, organs, flesh and blood. Hardly shouts like "Fireball!" will be able to help me, so I won't even try to do such things.

Apparently, the control of this energy without a teacher or books is not available to me. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to. Anyone in my position would like to try magic. I think I will somehow survive this delay.

Coming out of the tent and moving a little away from the walls of my settlement, I stand in my usual boxing stance on a little uneven rocky ground.

After doing a basic warm-up and remembering how they taught me, I do a blow from the left into the air. Two, one more, left uppercut. Hunger pierces the stomach. I didn’t have breakfast, and indeed I had to work, but I was waving my hands here.

I notice the appearance of a small sign in the far corner of my field of view: the magic tide is over.

And rightly so, I feel that the feeling of an imperceptible mosaic that supplemented the sensations inside is gradually disappearing. Evaporated like smoke in the wind. I don’t feel it anymore and I can’t even... I don’t understand what I felt. It's hard... Even to catch the full memory of him. A couple of drops fell on my bare head and hunger once again reminded me of itself. Time to go home.

Entering the house and once again trying to find the departed sensation. I did not find anything special inside.

The rain began to drum on the roof.

In addition, I in turn somehow didn't want to go hunting. Fortunately, at least there is still a stock of rations, and there is also an occupation, however. Taking a couple, I go to Alan.

He had already woken up and was sitting in the back of his "cell".

“Good morning,” it's a bit dark here somehow, then I will need later to put a lamp here. “How did you sleep?”

“Morning ...” he reacts a little sluggishly to my coming.

“Well, here, take your food,” I say, handing him the ration.

“Thank you,” Al says briskly.

Having eaten the rations along with my prisoner, I returned and continued to dig with the comprehensive help of the interface of the rock formation. After three hours of work, I notice a familiar notification pops up in an already familiar place.

[Nstaberium]

[Hostile aliens from the Nstaberium faction are stationed nearby.

The enemy attacks immediately.]

Therefore, here are the unexpected guests and apparently, with bad intentions.

I quickly run to the embrasures, and there Alain sits and looks at me.

Pause. Thoughts began to jump back and forth with lightning speed. If he decides to run away, or if I get hurt, then I won't have a chance to fight off him. He has no injuries and has a full aura. All that remains is to hope for some form of Stockholm Syndrome in my prisoner and believe that he will not stab me in the back. Or...

If I try to shoot him now, then the chances of success... are not so great, after all, there is less than a meter distance, and the rifle is long enough aaand he still has the aura. Apparently you will have to use diplomacy, there is no other choice. Unpause.

“Shall we change places?” let it be behind my back, I will believe that Fortune will guide me and will not bring down my undertakings like a house of cards.

“Okay?” he agrees in bewilderment, surprised by my haste. “What is actually happening?”

Apparently he did not receive a notification, but here is the question by the way, if he joins my faction, will he receive such notifications? Well, in the future we will find out in practice, but now we need to be confident, as if everything is under control.

“We need to keep the line,” I inform the obvious, “someone is attacking my settlement.”

Moreover, the minutes of anxious waiting dragged on. Now I am ready to attack more than last time, and immediately I notice a figure slowly walking in the fine rain. I move it a little closer, switching to single and checking in a pause that the rear sight and the figure are perfectly aligned, I squeeze the trigger.

The hit knocks out a small burst of spray from the enemy's body and he falls face first to the ground. No aura, no shield, just flesh. Maybe he's not alone? I hastily look around in other directions and do not notice anyone. It seems to be one.

“Well, what is it?” asks Alan.

“Yes, nothing,” I turn to him.

“Here, I shot a raider with one shot. Look yourself,” I point in the direction of the attacker with my hand.

“So he's not dead.”

I begin to turn towards the enemy and ...

A sudden push on my shoulder turns me around and throws me to the ground.

The pain is sudden, but not deafening, I can still think.

Pause!

A pause temporarily stops pain and small ringing in the ears. Another convenient, but probably not decisive trick of the system.

Let's see "Health".

The right arm and forearm are injured by a 7.62×39mm BP bullet and the arm is also bleeding quite seriously. Fortunately, the bullet pierced me to take off without hitting the bones.

So what was that? Besides my own idiocy, there is no one to blame. Alan, he warned me, and I don’t turn back, if the bullet had hit, it probably went not through the arm, but through the chest. My armor looks like a class of the second or third, or ideally fourth in appearance, so it protects the sense from it from such a cartridge as from a sheet of paper.

The amount of damage I received would probably not have given me time to make bandage, but sent me straight to the gray rooms. From this day on, you need to carry at least a couple of medical packs with me, otherwise they only collect dust in the warehouse.

In the meantime, you need to lie down and bandage. I take off the pause and the incredibly loud machine gun fire starts to deafen me. In the process of self-dressing, which, it should be noted, is an order of magnitude longer than usual, the machine gun becomes silent for ten seconds. And when Alan tried to look out, machine gun starts shoot again, almost knocking his hat off.

Squeezing together with the prisoner on the floor next to the embrasures, I finish dressing my wound. I'm waiting for the end of the steel rain pouring over the embrasures and, apparently, literally the entire surrounding space is approximately at shoulder level.

The shelling stopped.

Pause. Should I get out?

It is unlikely that he will die from one hit, at least one more is needed. Judging by the cartridge, this is the RPK or its analogue. Even taking into account the enlarged store, most likely it is already empty, this is hardly another snag. Well, don't leave me, Fortune!

Taking off a pause, I straighten up to my full height, taking the rifle at the ready.
I aim, shoot, and immediately again squeeze myself into the blood-stained earthen floor under the cover of the embrasure from the burst of deadly bullets sweeping behind me.

After some time, the Heavy begins to reduce the burst cutoffs. In addition, after another couple of minutes, having issued a long queue, it calms down again.

All this fuss took only thirty minutes from receiving the notification. It seemed as if hours passed under this endless shelling. I look at Alan looking at me with round, amazed eyes. Can I forced him look out? Or will it affect my "heroic" image? Oh, to hell. I switch the rifle to automatic fire.

“Can you see some?” I nod in the direction of the attacker's man.

Without saying anything, he rises a little and looks out into the street for a second.

“Well, what did you see?”

“He’s lying around, maybe dead,” my scout said uncertainly.

“Or maybe not, it's clear. You look after him then, if in a couple of hours he is the same dead, call me.”

“Okay,” Alan nodded.

To risk getting up?

Probably not worth it. I’ve already got myself a risk today. On all fours, I get out to the main hall in the house. I see that the paste dispenser lacks nine HP, apparently, some bullet hit it right through the doors and embrasures, it's dangerous. Having repaired it, I continue to clean the premises.

Battle is battle, and I need to clear the space and probably it is worth building a normal room for Alan, after all he deserves it.

Exactly two hours later, a prisoner called me.

“Still dead,” he informed me.

I open the front door, looking cautiously in the direction of a possible threat. Alan doesn't lie. Dead man lies and does not move.

I'm starting to get closer. Forty meters, thirty, twenty, ten, from five meters I see that I can use the interface to receive information from it.

Dead. Thirty years old, name is Kermit. He died of blood loss, after two wounds to the torso with energy projectiles tore apart a lung. He carries only a working RPK with him of valuable items, but already without ammunition and a good hat that looks exactly like the hat of Crocodile Dundee.

I will take the RPK and the hat, he has nothing to do with it, but it will come in handy for me. Probably it is still worth burying and it is better to do it now, despite the intensifying rain. Later, I will wind up in business and, for sure, I will not be able to find time for it.

“Yes, and the rotting skeletons do not look very good,” I think, remembering the dead squirrel still lying around the windmill and a couple of corpses of guards lying in the grass here and there.

Digging a grave without a shovel is not an easy task, to put it mildly. Fortunately, in the "Projects" "Miscellaneous" tab there is such a construction.

Having built a grave, which was expressed in the form of a hole in the ground two by one and two meters and another heap of earth on the side of it. Throwing a corpse into it was not difficult, after that the earth returned by itself to its original place.

I return home and notice multiple chips on the walls and embrasures. All the walls on the north side were damaged, not much, but a couple of percent of the strength was removed from each. The fix only took about ten minutes.

Having washed off the remnants of blood from myself, which the rain did not wash away, now I can continue the repetitive actions to clean up. At this rate, it will soon be possible to build a refrigerator and start stocking up food.

In the evening, having habitually grabbed the last couple of rations, I dropped in to Alan's for dinner, which was held in silence.

And then I went to bed. Tomorrow I still have to go hunting.

 

I liked translating this chapter

---

Chapter 7.15 Pasta and Room​

Early morning greeted me with a new alert. Achievement has been obtained.

[Hold out the quarter]
[Hold out 15 days.]

Okay, well it really deserved. Moreover, even if this achievement does not give anything material, still there is a certain feeling of satisfaction inside. I can imagine that with lower characteristics, I could die on the first or second day, and without the power rifle, Alain could calmly stuff me with lead. In such a world, the strongest wins and apparently I need to become stronger.

A smile stretches her lips by itself.
I am isekai, of course "I need to get stronger." How could it be otherwise? However, I cannot do it alone. There is not a single chance that I will ever be able to tank someone of the level of Scion or even Nihilanth in one person. Now even a squad of ordinary people with normal equipment jump out and there will be nothing left of me but my name.
Coming out of the tent, I observe a disappointing picture of a completely empty ration box. If I do not want to die of hunger, then today is the day of the hunt. In addition, the sun shines well, warmly and pleasantly outside. Except that, I cannot see the animals up close.

After stuffing a couple of medical packs in my backpack, I went northwest, along the way noticing multiple potholes in the trees closest to the house. I walk past the grave of yesterday's raider and after another ten minutes walk, turning behind a large rock, I meet a site of a burnt-out forest and a dormant red lynx.
Need to synx around her, he-he-he. No matter. Lynxes do not seem to attack people, but they are somehow reluctant to annoy such a beast with their flickering, even if I am hunting.

Bypassing it and going further north I notice in the distance a small, five or six heads flock of muffalo - large herbivores, somewhat reminiscent of buffaloes without horns with blue wool. I freeze for a second, remembering the information from the game - adult muffalo weigh about one and a half centners, and you can still cut wool from tamed ones, like from sheep. Well, the latter is not so important now, the main thing is to get food.

Selecting one who was standing apart from the others and changing the firing mode to single, I take aim. A light push to the shoulder, followed by a soft bang, and the animal is injured. Another shot and the muffalo falls dead. It's hard to miss on such a beef. The rest of the herd began to scatter even after the first shot, and when I approached the corpse, they had already managed to hide behind one of the rocks.
Hanging up the rifle more comfortably, I try to lift the carcass, and, surprisingly, it rises, and quite easily. It seems healthy and big, but light, well, be it.
Grabbing so that it was more comfortable to carry, I drag it to the base, leaving a trail of blood behind me, and once again bypassing the already familiar, but still sleeping lynx. Well, it's easier for me.

The animal's corpse flopped onto the cutting table.
In reality, I can only theoretically imagine how to butcher such a hefty body, but I do not have any butcher tools, but even the smallest knife, not even a spoon, off course except HUD.
Well, seven troubles - one answer. I will use the interface here as well. I try to mentally push the carcass and after a couple of minutes it transforms into three separate and neat heaps: meat, skin and bones.
Delightful. Even blood hardly leaked from such and such a carcass. Even apart from what leaked out along the way, it should probably have flooded the entire floor.

For now, let's leave the skin and bones as it is, and lift the meat and throw it into the funnel connected to the dispenser. It's meal time. Now press the button on the face of the dispenser.
Does not react. I press harder, but the result is the same. Doesn't work, but I already want to eat. Even in "Health" a mark appeared, "Malnutrition (minor)."
I notice that the wind direction is displayed as calm in the interface. Apparently, the wind turbine does not supply electricity. It turned out awkward. We will be patient, but for now, I will expand the room further.

After an hour of work, I see that I can already do a freezer behind the dispenser, albeit very compact in size. By placing a door with a pair of walls and separating the future chamber from the rest of the room, I fill in form a formation, filling them with bones as material. I finish the construction of the chamber by installing an air conditioner in one of the walls, which takes up almost all the remaining steel.
Already finishing the air conditioner, I see that the wind has appeared, and hence the electricity. Having installed it, I immediately change the required temperature to "-9 ° C". The refrigerator is ready.

Here is the moment of truth, I press the button. In a machine, the front opened a previously inconspicuous window from which a bowl fixed on the holder came out and a viscous gray mass, paste, began to flow out of the tube above it onto the plate. I remember in the original they wrote that it tastes disgusting, well, apparently now I and a prisoner will have to check it out in practice.
The light under the holder blinked invitingly. When I lifted the bowl full of pasta, the holder drove back into the car. I press the button again and the process of creating the paste is repeated again.
With two bowls of pasta, I go to the same hungry as me Alan.
“The rations are over,” from the doorway I decided to upset him. “Now we will eat this,” I hand him a bowl.

“Oh, I know what it is. Pasta, huh? They say somewhere in these mountains there are whole warehouses filled with pasta.”

“Really? Just pasta?” what a nonsense, it has a shelf life at normal temperature for about fifteen hours.

“Of course not, they say there are many more weapons, mutants, ancient secrets!”

“And what is the reliability of these rumors?”

“Zero. My grandfather told me that he himself was on one of the expeditions and they found nothing in the mountains except a senseless death.”

“And your grandfather was evidently a wise man, where is he now by the way?”

“My grandfather is gone,” he pauses. “Three years have passed.”

The conversation quieted down on this. We looked at our pasta for a couple of seconds. It looks like nothing like that. I see Alan holding a bowl in two hands and drinking pasta. Well, we'll have some. There is no smell, but the taste... Strange, a little viscous liquid is absolutely tasteless, but it has a strange aftertaste, not that bad, but strange.
I understand why many people may not like to swallow tasteless viscous slurry. But she's not that bad, definitely not "-6" in the mood, but maybe "-2" or "-1". How is Alan by the way? After taking another sip, I empty the bowl and lower it, I see him sitting with an almost full bowl and staring at me in surprise.

“What? Am I eating something wrong?” maybe you can eat it only one sip and I have violated some cultural code?

“No, it's just... You ate the whole portion of the pasta in one gulp,” he says with a slight grimace.

“Well, yes, I kind of ate it.”

“And you weren't twisted by the taste,” he grimaced even more.

“Well, yeees, so it is not so bad.”

“It's disgusting.” He looked into his bowl. “Disgusting and nasty.”

“You're going overboard. It's quite...” I'm trying to find the most capacious word describing the taste of pasta. “No taste, I guess.”

“Well, yes, well, yes,” he presumably sarcastic.

“Yes. That's right,” I say, putting an end to the discussion of pasta.

By the way, where did the bowl go? She was right in my hands. I look around, but nothing but earth and sand is visible on the ground. Can I ask Alan? I watch him gag trying to gulp the pasta as well. I probably won't distract him from eating this magnificent dish.
Coming out of the prisoner's "apartment" I feel a wave of heat and realize that I made a mistake in installing the air conditioner. I installed it in such a way that it began to conduct heat from the freezer to the interior of the house. Therefore, now inside "52 ℃", I will probably postpone a full-fledged solution to this problem until tomorrow, but for now, I can get by with a half-measure. Opening the door, the temperature inside quickly dropped to quite acceptable "26 ℃".
Actually, perhaps it is still worth making a daily supply of pasta in case of another calm, four things should be enough. A minute later, a full day meal for two people was prepared and placed in the refrigerator. Now I can go to sleep.

Lying in the tent and holding the hat in my hands, I try to remember the face or at least the name of its past owner. Who was he? How did he live? Did his name start with a "K"? Probably.
I'm sure I must feel something about interrupting his life. Most of the characters in the books mourned this. It really reflected reality, right? I do not understand. How can I say I'm sorry for him if I can't even tell what his name was?
I don't seem to feel anything ...
Stop, I was wounded yesterday, and I definitely forgot it. Apparently, in the morning everything had already healed, so much so that there was no trace left.
Well anyway, I have a nice hat now. It was quite unusual to walk with a bare head, nevertheless, forgetting the habit of wearing something on your head to protect I from the cold or the sun is quite difficult, and not really necessary.
With the completion of this thought, sleep overwhelms me.


***


The darkness is around, only a bloody and strangely curved dagger clutched in his hand is visible.
“Aaaaaa,” for no reason and deafening half-moan I half-howl.
A second later, the environment changes abruptly and I burst into hysterical laughter, and then, dropping the dagger, I scream again, clutching my head.
And suddenly ...

I open my eyes.
Dream? Rather a nightmare, such a manifestation of emotions is unusual, if not to say otherwise. Screaming out loud? No, no, some kind of nonsense. Screaming, or even raising your voice without a serious reason, is simply excessive tension of the vocal cords.
This, if I may say so, disgusting, downright sickening to even hear an excessive increase in voice. Surely this is from childhood, when the screams of quarreling parents prevented me from sleeping. In any case, this should be a thing of the past. Now is the time to start the day and start eating and fixing the air conditioner placement.
Although no, I see that at night while I was sleeping, a new notification about containers crashed nearby arrived. Probably worth going to them, there may be something valuable or perishable. Fortunately, upon opening this message, a clear sense of direction to the location of the fallen objects appeared inside.

It was still quite dark outside, a light and fresh breeze was blowing. After walking a couple of meters in the right direction, I see how the Tree standing in the distance is muffled with a dull glow over its entire surface.
Looks pretty. Well, I’ll have time to admire even later, I need to go.
Passing to the burnt-out section of the forest, I notice several metal structures that had apparently been some kind of delivery vehicle, but now they are only suitable for scrap metal.
One of them even contained the contents. Well, what do we have here?
Human skin shirt? Fucked up, it's literally someone's face on the side. Well, maybe someone will buy it, I won't wear it.
Elven leather boots. Well, these ones at least look normal and are quite pleasant to the touch. At least some profit. I can go back.
I look through the embrasure to the prisoner.

“Good morning.”

“Mm? Yes... Good-bye,” he replies, not fully awake.

“Now I'll bring breakfast, wake up. Come on,” having squeezed out a couple of portions of pasta I go to the prisoner.

“And here is our breakfast, very nutritious and very healthy.”

“And not very disgusting and very tasty,” he parodies me.

“That's right,” I easily agree. “Bon Appetit.”

“With great pleasure,” Alan says with a sour expression.

In silence, we start eating pasta. So far, it’s going well, maybe later I’ll even feel sick from seeing her, but so far it’s okay.

“OK, bye, Alan, I went to work.

“I'm Allen,” Allen clarifies. “Actually, you can call me whatever you want,” he says with a wink.

“Oh, well, this is... Okay?” it turned out somehow inconvenient, how many times have I called him wrong?

“This is differently better than name-calling.”

“It's true. Well, don't get sick, Al, and I went.”

It is extremely simple to solve the problem of heat by living not inside, but outside the mountain, you just need to remove the heat outside. It remains only to dig out of my refrigerator through the western wall, by the way, there is a windmill on the street at about this place.

The rest of the day flew by instantly. The monotonous hammering of the rock was replaced by the construction of a roof with a wall and after the transfer of an air conditioner to this wall and rewiring.
Already putting pasta for dinner, I notice that the torch stopped burning some time ago. It is probably worth building a few lamps tomorrow, otherwise it will be dark at night.

The supper went off calmly. The chatter about nothing brightened my interlocutor's taste of this exquisite dish and was not a burden to me.
After wishing each other good night, another day ended.

---

Spoiler: calembour

sneak+lynx=synx
in original its been "на крысичах" whats mean "like rat" and have "рысь"(lynx) inside

Spoiler: heavy sigh

Yea I explane my puns, how did you now?
chad.jpg

 

Spoiler: schedule translation

today another one closer to the night and three days later a couple more

---

Chapter 8.17 Time and Technology​

New day. New morning.
Urgent work is still not finished. Although the threat of hunger has passed, there are still two things that need to be done yesterday. Make normal rooms and research "Accumulators" so as not to be left without energy in calm weather.

After a quick breakfast with the prisoner, I begin to plan the site for the buildings. Fortunately, there is enough space for one room. The setting of room, of course, is not like in a five-star hotel, but it is better than before. A small table, a couple of chairs, a bed and a couple more meters of free space.
One problem - there is not enough light here, it will need to be corrected. I put one lamp project in the future room and another one in the main room. During the planning process, I notice that the door to the house is still made of wood.
Disorder. I drag the door to the new room and build a much stronger slate door in the previous place.

It is a pity, of course, that there is not enough space for two rooms in any. But never mind, I’ll live in a tent, and Alu’s sleeping on the ground for a week and in a “room” two by one clearly did not add the idea of joining my settlement.

Building the slate door and walls took up most of the day, the remainder of which was spent prior to dinner creating a pre-planned interior with furniture and lamps. And now, the moment of truth.

“Get up, come on,” I declare going to Alan. “You're moving.”

He gets up without question and follows me. A short way into the base and we are there.

“Well, now you’ll sleep here,” I point out to Al to his new living space.

“Almost at home,” he draws out.

“Now I'll bring pasta, wait a bit,” and I leave the room, “bon appetit,” I say when I return and put a plate of pasta on the table.

“Thanks, you too,” he says, smiling until he looks at the pasta.

I pour another tasteless portion of pasta into my mouth. Still not so bad. I look at my prisoner.
Sometimes I wonder what is in his head? Surely it's hate to pasta right now.

“Hey, Al,” I say after waiting for him to take a break from eating pasta.

“M?” He asks with his mouth full.

“When is your birthday?” By the way, it is interesting that the year is divided into four months by fifteen days and lasts sixty days, respectively.

“It was just recently, the fourth of Jugust, but what?” and now is the seventh of June, what happened that day? Oh yes, that nutty machine gunner, well, probably next year we will celebrate.

“Yes, nothing like that. Happy with the past birthday, it turns out.”

By the way, this is what my interlocutor turns out to be... Sixty to seventeen will be... About a thousand. Divided by three hundred and sixty-five, is he three years old by normal standards?
In addition, how old am I then, by their standards? Twenty-two years is about eight thousand days, if divided by sixty, then I would be about a hundred and thirty by their standards. Yes, I'm an old man, and an ancient one. They have a life expectancy of about eighty!
I specially checked the characteristics at myself.
Wait, do I have such a lifespan now too? How are these... These one-day-live moths? With a lifetime of thirteen Earth years? No. Surely, there will be an opportunity to somehow increase this stub. For the remaining years, I am sure that I can find a solution, otherwise... Otherwise, I will not have time to fulfill my Goal, which is the only thing that is impossible.

“Hey Hey! Nito!” Al shouts at me.

“Don't shout, please,” I block my hands from him, still shocked by the unexpected discovery.

“I need to call you. And I, like, just asked "When is your birthday?”, and you turned pale as death. Everything is fine?

“Fine. Im good. My birthday is in Aprimay,” so, and the number turns out, somewhere at the end of the month, but not quite. “Thirteenth. On the thirteenth of Aprimay,” there was a pause in air for a few seconds. “Well, I'll probably go to sleep. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”


***


“Ahrrh,” I wake up wheezing and waving my hands in different directions trying to drive something away.
Oh Chin Chin, what horror I dreamed about... And what, by the way?
Only, it seems, insects again and some kind of hands and something else... After a second, the details of the dream have already completely flew out of my head. The only reminders of a dream were the feeling of inexplicable horror and a T-shirt slightly wet with sweat. I hope the dreams will return to their former course soon.

I have breakfast with pasta during a leisurely and meaningless conversation with Alain.

From urgent matters, it remains only to deal with research, batteries right now and some kind of analogue of "not dying of old age" in the next ten years. And first I need to make a research table. If anything can improve and prolong my life in this world, then it will definitely be there. At the same time, let's see how it really looks.

Almost half of the warehouse had to be moved in order to properly arrange the project. However, he was still able to fit on the now really extremely cramped base.
After its construction, the "Technologies" tab became more... Material? Rather clear. Well, let's see what's inside.

I go up to the table and mentally poke at the "Technologies" button. The whole field of my vision is obscured by various research options. Some were related to each other as similar technologies, but at different technical levels.
As, for example, "Basic prosthetics", which includes recipes for creating completely primitive prostheses with methods of their integration into the body, and "Prosthetics" which already has quite modern prostheses from my point of view, but requires studying not only itself, but also the technology "Microelectronics".
The next in the progression is "Bionics", but neither what it gives, nor what is needed for it, except for the previous technologies, is unknown, the next technology does not even have a name.
There were also dead-end branches. Such as: "Beer brewing" or "Plain curtains". There were many such technologies, but not the majority.

To summarize, the types of technologies can be designated as studied, known and unknown. Naturally, the unknown prevailed, and the studied were in the minority. Maybe someday this will change in the opposite direction, but this will require serious work.

In the cluster of well-known technologies, I find and click "Battery". The technology rectangle stood out, but nothing else happened.
I close the technology window. Apparently, I need to interact with the research table. I put my hands on the table and see how it appears before my eyes...
What is that, a fuckin Tetris? We must assume that research is this? Okay, strange, but actually, why not? I'm not going to complain about that.

I press the start button and start playing banal Tetris. I could never play it at high speed, and then after a while new blocks began to appear so quickly that I did not have time to unfold them normally and naturally saw my honestly earned eight thousand two hundred twenty points, which immediately dropped to zero, instead filling the research progress visually by about one-fifth.

Something I already got hungry, although strange and I literally just ate. Clock indicates that it is already eight in the evening. This little Tetris game lasted about six hours. Apparently the coming days will be greatly accelerated with this kind of pastime.
I collect more pasta and drop in to Al.

“Well, how are you doing?” I put the plates on the table and sit down at it. “Have you got used to it already in a new place?”

“Yes, I'm not complaining.”

“By the way, have you ever researched technology? Or maybe your grandfather?”

“No, technologies are being researched in the capital. We all know this. Normy people don't do that thing,” he waves his hand at the pasta.

“Why so?”

“It seems like no one is interested in it, and for research a lot of time is needed and a special place of production and it is not allowed to create it everywhere.”

Again, no specific useful information. Although what to take from the baby, hehe. In addition, so far it is not clear how other people see technology research or how it turns out that a person living for such an insignificant time, from my point of view, can, however, quite reasonably express themselves and be a normal seventeen-year-old person. Question after question, and hardly anyone can give me answers.

“When do you think other guests can visit us?”

“Well, here they will probably immediately collect a raid,” he said thoughtfully. “When else will they return after the past, when they will have a rest and if there are no more convenient goals. It may be in two months, or even three months.”

“Well, good if ypu so,” I would like to ask you something else, “do the merchants come to you? Maybe they will come to me someday?”

“Oh, well, earlier about five years ago, when we were still in the world, well, we did not fight, that is,” he clarified. “Then yes, every couple of months they came to us. Travelers from Stkhis in the south and from Eastown in the north were frequent caravans. Sometimes people from distant cities passed by, and my grandfather boasted. I remember that once I saw an elven caravan. Even in childhood, they say,” he adds a little thought. “And elves too, of course. They were beautiful, they say, not to describe. And all in the same armor, sharp and rounded like that. Behold.”

“I’d like to see the elves too, right?” for me too, maybe there will be thousands who lived there by local standards, and by earthly hundreds of years, experts who will tell how this world became what it is.

“Yes!” He exclaimed cheerfully.

“Well, I probably too,” after that I finish the pasta and say goodbye to Allen I go to bed.

I am sure the coming days will subjectively be even shorter than the first week.


***


A sharp squeak and some kind of fuss outside woke me up.
This is the first time I wake up here myself. Let's see who disturbed my peace.
I leave the tent and walk in the dark past the stone cutting table, enter the bastion and look out into the embrasure. The lynx stood a couple of meters from the door and was eating some small animal.
Wow, the meat itself came to the settlement. Because of these embrasures, the lynx no longer seems so dangerous. I take aim and with a light recoil, the shot overtakes its victim. A large carnivorous cat loses a part of its skull if it gets hit.

“Brainwash to you,” the commentary of the situation involuntarily breaks out of my mouth.

Just in case, I examine the surrounding area and apart from the already dead lynx, do not notice any animals. Still in the dark, I butcher a lynx, getting all the same three piles as from a muffalo, except for the changed names of meat and leather. I go into the "refrigerator", which is hardly much colder than the rest of the room, from which only the name remains with the inoperative windmill.
Throwing the meat into the funnel of the dispenser, I take a couple of bowls with a pre-applied pasta. It is a pity that it is not stored for long, it is likely that if the electricity does not turn on, then coming here in a few hours I will not see it.

I knock on Al's door. All the same, now he is in a more civilized cell, and I can show some manners.

“Come in,” his voice is heard from behind the door.

Opening the door I see him sitting on the bed with a sleepy look.

“Good morning,” I say, putting the plates on the table at the same time.

“Do you like these comfortable apartments?” Simultaneously with these words, the wall lamp began to blink and after a second shone with a soft white light.

“With the kind. Thanks, not bad,” he takes the pasta and adds. “Better than before.”

“You're welcome. Now we enjoy our meal.”

“Yeah,” Al says, not so enthusiastically.

As usual, having finished the pasta earlier, I leave the cell and go to the research table. Apparently now this day will be sacrificed to "SCIENCE!"

I start a game of Tetris and finish it with a little more points than I saw yesterday that night has already come. As expected. I didn't seem to do anything, but in the end I got incredibly tired.
I fill up the pasta and go to see my prisoner. He knocked on the door again and, hearing something positive from behind the door, entered.

“Dinner has come,” I make him happy.

“Hurray...” he mockly rejoices.

The evening meal was about minor things like shark dangers, sledgehammers and their combinations.
Having said goodbye, I literally with the last of my strength reached the tent and collapsed into it, instantly disconnected.

 

Spoiler: dome ass thing

One second after I post Chapter 8, I deep understand something about "I" and "you" in eng language. Its: "You" don't mean "I". Obviously. I totaly knew someshing like this will been hapanning.
Now I redacted all past chapters to more correct text. Anyway enjoy.

---

Chapter 9.20 Technology and Lull
​

The sound of the downpour drumming on the roof woke me up. Freshness in humid air from rain at «16°C» is pleasant. Time for breakfast. Tomorrow happened again, it will be necessary to replenish stocks of meat, since nothing else burns. After piling pasta on disposable bowls and knocking first, I go to Al.
Already habitually greeted and barely had time to start breakfast, as the radio that had been silent all the days before came to life, starting to hiss with a crackle of transmission interference. And after emitting a rather long series of beeps, she fell silent, and an alert appeared in my interface, or rather a quest.

[Revenge for Choco]
[Vengeful PAI threatens the [Hawk Brood] faction. The leader of the faction, the leader of [Tona Choco], asks you to take the wrath of this PAI on yourself. Offering goods worth about five hundred silver in exchange.]

Something I do not want to accept it, the danger is unknown, and the reward does not seem to shine, to put it mildly. Let it hang for now, then I'll probably give it up. Right now I need to do research, after all, it seems to me that it is somewhere in their depths that everything that I need so much is hidden.

Having said goodbye to Alain, I return to the research table. On the way, I see that the lamps began to blink violently, again there is little wind. I hope at least it is enough for cooling.
By the way, it is interesting, will there be a Tetris game for each research or for each branch of development its own mini-game? Well, as they say, we will find out in practice.

The party has begun. Figure after figure rose to the right positions, and, gathering in a line, disappeared. The speed increased slowly, and at some point I again lost control of the situation. The figures piled up in a heap and I looked up from the table, again watching how all the points I earned became research, and that it was already night outside.

Dinner time. The meat was silently processed into a paste by the machine, quickly and conveniently. Alan was still messing around in the cell until my arrival. After the research, there is somehow little strength left, so that even an ordinary conversation did not stick. After finishing the paste and saying goodbye, I tumble into the tent.

What a good day. I hope there will be more of them, days when I can just slowly develop technologies. Nothing dangerous or unexpected.
The quest does not count, I can refuse it and most likely, without consequences, I guess. In any case, I already need to sleep and I hope not to dream.


***


The downpour has been pouring for more than a day, no matter how flooded the base, although it probably does not threaten us, after all we are near the mountain and the slope of the soil will not allow water to flood my little house. There was not enough meat in the car for two portions of pasta, so I took another portion from the refrigerator, as I usually visit Alan. Another pasta breakfast quickly turns into meaningless conversation.

The hunt is also routine. Entering a steady downpour and walking to the Tree, I notice a rather plump turkey or turkey aside from it. Even though I’m already wet, I don’t intend to stay in the rain longer than the minimum possible. A couple of quick shots that still hit the turkey in the carcass knock it down on the spot.
I grab it and run back home. Well, at least the rain is warm enough, so there is no need for special drying, it will dry itself. Except for shoes, of course, walking back and forth is not very pleasant to squish. Cutting poultry takes significantly less time than cutting a muffalo, but it is not surprising.

Grabbing the pile of meat that has appeared, I put it into the funnel of the dispenser. Now the meat will last for four days. Great, we can continue to spend my short century on technologies that can prolong it. Fortunately, there are only a couple of days left for the batteries to kill and they will be ready.

As soon as I began to build the first lines, a bright warning full of inner danger interrupted my light trance state.

[Fire!]
[A fire has occurred due to faulty wiring]

After reading it, I got a strong sense of direction to the place where the fire took place.
Having run into the refrigerator, I see a funnel and partially meat burning with a bright orange flame. I come closer to the fire and try to put out the fire with the usual interaction.
I see that the fire has slightly decreased, a couple more impacts and it goes out completely. The repair has already been worked out, so it goes without incident. The meat is slightly burnt, but it seems to be still edible, which means it will be processed into a paste without problems.
The incident is over, I can return to Tetris.

After graduating from the game, I try to see in the research window the number of research points that I did not have enough to fully study the batteries. There are literally about two, maybe one percent of the strip left, well, apparently it's already for tomorrow.

Dinner in a pleasant company takes place normally. I can already go to bed, the day has passed richer than yesterday, but everything is the same serene.
The fire was dangerous, but not large enough to spoil the peacefulness of the day. I hope tomorrow will be as calm as today.


***


For the third day, the rain has been pouring down tirelessly. Nothing interrupts this sleepy, calm morning, which, as usual, began with breakfast. And it ended when Al started asking questions.

“Listen, Nito, you’re a traveler, right? From the stars?”

So what should I answer? I remember that small warning, but the question is: how serious is it? And what part of my origin is secret? Can I get off with general answers?

“Yea like that,” I answered vaguely.

“Can you tell us how it was?” he asks, squinting.

“No,” I answer calmly and confidently.

“Yeah,” held out Al. “Everything is clear, I will not ask any more,” with a satisfied grin, he continued to eat pasta, as if he didn’t want to know about life on other planets.

Apparently some local peculiarities of etiquette. I myself wanted to ask him where he came from, but asking now, after refusing to talk about myself, would be somehow tactically incorrect.
I’ll wait a couple of days and if I don’t forget, I’ll ask, but for now it’s worth going back to research. After finishing the pasta and saying goodbye to Al, I set to work.

Having collected literally four lines, the game interface goes out and a notification appears about the end of the research.
Meanwhile, a black rectangular box appears on the table, about the length of the index finger and a couple of centimeters thick. Turning it in my hands and looking closely, I realize that one of the ends looks like some type of USB.
And where to insert this "USB stick"? Maybe eat this? It seems like there are no holes in the table or... I probe for possible connections that may hide hidden drawers of the table, until I touch the so-called tabletop. Having lifted the lid, and in this case, literally the "lid", I see that there were drawers in the table all this time.
Or rather, the table itself was a drawer and in this box, on a small depression, there were "ports" in even rows, apparently just for these flash drives. A quarter of these ports were already filled initially, I wonder what will happen if all of them are filled? Although, probably with a similar current speed of research, this could take several tens or rather hundreds of lives of local people.

I will not hesitate any longer. I insert the USB flash drive, open the «Energy» section, and see how the result of my labors in the form of battery building technology flaunts there. Finally, my eyes will end scene blinking lamps.
It remains only to build it. What is the problem with. The available steel will not be enough, fortunately, even to the south, near the base, there was one deposit. The only pity is that I will have to work under such weather. Well, okay, getting wet is temporary, and the built battery will make my life easier for a supposedly long time.

I open the door and gusts of wind with rain begin to whip in my face, somehow penetrating under my hat.
Maybe all the same to rest a bit? Well no. I will rest when I can shove my work off to someone else, but now everything depends only on me, which means that work does not wait.
Closing the door behind me so that nothing leaks or runs in, I go in the direction of the windmill. It is spinning and maintenance is not required yet, I can go further.
Going around the windmill, through the rain, about ten meters away, I see that the rock there noticeably changes its color. Apparently this is the "deposit" of steel, or to be precise, deposits of some ancient scrap lying here since time immemorial.

I used to stand trying to concentrate on the impact being performed. Drawings in which the scrap has formed during lying brighten up my standing in the pouring rain. After three hours of work, the first meter of steel was finally extracted. It is a pity that this will not be enough, I will have to more work in the rain. After another three hours, the mining work was completed.

I hope in the near future I will have some workers to do this for me. Otherwise I can’t stand and stare at the wall, even such a textured one for six hours in a row, it’s too much. Now it is a matter of much more convenience in life, but nothing less will force me to do it.

As luck would have it, as soon as I collected the extracted magicite and steel, the downpour, which had lasted for three days, ended abruptly and the sun began to appear from behind the clouds. Hmm, well, at least I got the required resource. After standing in the rain for six hours But he could sit in a dry house. Oh, okay, what is it, it was yes passed. Just like rain.

Taking the extracted to the place of construction, which is in the refrigerator. Alas, there was no better place. Free space, in principle, remained only there, unless, of course, block the passage. The construction itself was worth all of the mined and most of the old remnants of steel, as well as the ubiquitous components. They look as if, if I had at least some kind of knife, I could open it.
Well, this is for later, when the workbench appears, then I will think about it. Now all that remains is to connect the battery to the system and I can rest a little, since there is nothing-urgent left.

Having connected, I see how the indicator on the top panel of the battery began to slowly fill with an orange glow. Apparently it worked, good.
I went out into the street, and there was no trace of the former clouds. Tol

Only shallow puddles and humidity of the air indicated that it was raining at all. Taking the horseshoes in my hands for a while, I throw them on a post.

When I'm fed up, I decide to wander around the territory a little. It seems that nothing has changed, the same rocks and trees as twenty-three days ago. I didn't remember, of course, it's just that the interface has a calendar.

While I was resting, evening came smoothly, which means only one thing - dinner, and, I hope, no questions about my past. Returning to the house, I notice that there is no more annoying flickering of the lamps, which means that everything works for sure, well.

After typing the pasta and going to Al, I see that he seems to want to tell me something, but either he does not dare, or he is shy. Maybe he has already decided to join my faction? Well, I won't put pressure on him, let it be his decision. The supper passed in silence.

“You wanted to tell me something?” I decide before leaving to ask him.

“Not... No, that is, yes. This is...” Alan hesitated perceptibly. “Good night,” he said, exhaling.

It sounded like he changed his mind to say something at the very last moment, or he really just hesitated. Well, it makes no difference to me, I'm not going to go to him for deep answers.

“Good night to you too,” I say as usual and leave, closing the door behind me.

Before going to bed, I need to choose the next technology to study. After I brought into the house the last handful of magicite crystals I got, I felt something from the research tab. Opening it, I see that the previously unknown technology "Processing magicite" is now open, and from the next technology branch, "Enchanting", "Engraving" and "Secret craft" became visible.
Wow, magic! Enchantments in stock.

I want to, but inject. A magician technology, cheap to study, unfortunately requires, or, to be precise, required specific and rare resources, such as jade or devil cloth, and it seems that gold and uranium were also needed. And also an awakened magician is desirable. Not like me.
So, in terms of resources, I will not pull such things in any form. But more than three times expensive for research technology "Fundamentals of Microelectronics", I will fully extend the resources. Of course, if you consider the resources that are now in the memorable deposits in nearby mine.

Unfortunately, the choice is obvious and the technology is seven and a half times more expensive than the previous one will be next in line to be studied.
So, the plans have been completed, I can sleep. Having risen from the table at which this time I was thinking my thoughts and going into the tent I lay down and instantly fell asleep.

 

A small spoiler for my English-speaking readers

Spoiler: The following fandoms will definitely take some part in the work

METRO 2033, RWBY, LOTR, Crossed, Lovecraft Country, Madoka Magika, WOD and Worm.

---

Chapter 10.23 Beginners and Map​

Morning is good, but apparently not today.
Another notification of the Nstaberium attack woke me up and disrupted the peaceful idyll of the past few days. This time, concentrating on the notification, there was a feeling that this time the attackers would not come as usual, from the northwest, but from the northeast. Of course, this makes it neither cold nor hot, but last times I don't seem to remember this. Not that important.

I leave the tent and take a position behind the embrasures. It has just begun to dawn, from the animals in the distance I can only see a goat accidentally wandering into the territory, peacefully nibbling the grass. In general, a pleasant landscape, probably. The rocks on the north side, stretching from west to east and leaving only two, albeit wide, passages to the nearby territory, grass covering the ground wherever possible and trees already fairly grown on the surrounding area, which it would be nice to cut down again.

Whiling away the time looking at the terrain, I do not lose my vigilance and constantly look into the passage where the current attacker should come from. And he come. Staggering and periodically kissing a hefty wooden bar mug. When he comes closer, I notice a strange-looking pistol in his right hand and a small barrel behind him.

Coming even closer, he finally notices me or my fortifications, and, visibly staggering, raises the pistol trying to aim with an outstretched hand. I won't wait for him to fire. I move the scope to his armed hand and shoot.
An accurate hit knocks him off balance, but does not knock the weapon out of his hand. Another shot hits him in the torso and he is clearly out of the fight.

Well, let's see who is so brave that drunk climbs into battle? I approach cautiously, keeping it at gunpoint, and periodically pausing the situation, for greater confidence.
Another man seventeen years old by local standards, wounds to the arm and torso are not fatal in themselves, but the bleeding is serious and will finish him off within an hour. Let's see if I have time to patch him up, after all, his death is meaningless to me, but his life can help me. The wounds are quickly wrapped in bandages emerging from nowhere. Although he will soon die of natural causes from old age, or from his progressive alcoholism.

I transfer it to Alan's old "cell", let him sleep it off, maybe he can say something useful. If not, I'll release him. I don't need problems in the form of an alcoholic in the settlement, let his native settlement feed him.
At least he brought me an energy pistol with the same type of ammo as my rifle and a dwarf beer in a keg. Based on the interface, five mugs like the one he drank from during the attack should be enough. Maybe it will come in handy later.

It was just about time for breakfast with Al. Get some pasta knock greet go into the room and start eating. The actions are already so familiar that the mind hardly monitors their implementation, almost turning off in the process. Routine as it is. Moreover, it seems that there is nothing but my goal that is better than a routine. Being absorbed in small events on the way to something beautiful. Fortunately, Al is silent today, except for the return greetings.

Having finished breakfast, I head to my desk. Fundamentals research begins and is still Tetris. Well, at least not a rhythm game, I would not survive it. I seem to be getting better at blocking with every batch.
Moreover, how is the new prisoner doing there? Looking up from the table, I look into the room with embrasures. The drunk is still asleep, periodically moaning in his sleep in pain. Well, apparently we'll deal with him tomorrow.

Another dinner, Al is still silent. The meat is coming to an end again, which means I need to go hunting again. Okay, we'll figure it out tomorrow, but now I just want to sleep.


***


The morning usually begins with breakfast. Having greeted Al, I see that he is still silent, and one might even say sullen. It will be necessary to ask him about yesterday's, and apparently today's not quite ordinary state.

“Hey Al,” I say, almost finished. “Why are you so dull lately?”

“Yes, I... I should have been saved already, raid...” he rests his forehead on his crossed arms, closing his eyes. “Apparently, no one will come for me. Nobody needs me.”

O! This is the place for basic support phrases. I love them.

“But I need you, Al,” I say, smiling, trying to be as convincing as possible.

“Uh-huh,” he still nods sadly.

The basic phrase doesn't seem to work, it sucks. Okay, let's try next time.

“Well, come on there, do not be sad, but I went,” I abruptly turned off the conversation.

“Uh-huh,” he says without changing his pose or tone.

Now we need to check that drunkard and go hunting. The prisoner is still there, only he has stopped moaning. Just sleeping. Well, okay, maybe he will come to himself at least during the day, but for now it's time to hunt.

I walk along the usual road past the grave, and, next to the already green, burnt-out clearing, I see a mountain goat. And here is the meat.
Aiming knocks down again suddenlybut the radio began to make noise and peep. Again, apparently some kind of quest is coming. Some of these sounds, or, probably, melodies, are similar to the previous one. Maybe this time it will be something useful. When the sounds from the radio stopped, a new alert flashed in front of my face.

[Defense Baellon]
[You are being contacted by an elf architect, two thousand six hundred ninety-four years old, named Baellon. He hides from the vengeful PAI, whom he recently insulted, and asks you to hide him, in return promising to join the settlement.]

Again, this LII or is it different? This time, at least the reward is good, I guess. Maybe he's a psycho cannibal, what kind? Although this of course would not be a problem, I will not particularly prohibit other people's wish list in my settlement. The main thing is that they work, do not rage and on working days are not in a state of intoxication, no matter what.

It's what I want and what I afraid. These PAI are still, who knows how wide their capabilities are? Maybe an army of mechanoids will be landed on me in an hour?
But he is still an elf, even by my standards, he lived for about four hundred years for sure, if not more, he probably knows and knows something useful. He would have given more information ...
Ay, okay, I need at least some kind of assistant in this settlement. Of course, I won't die without him, but getting such an assistant would be very useful. With a satisfied smyle I accept the elf's offer.

The alert disappeared. Most likely, he will not arrive immediately, which means there is time to finish with the current work. I find a goat moving slightly away from its place with my gaze. I aim at the front of the torso, and exhale, shoot. The animal falls to the ground lifeless.
The local fauna is, of course, strange here. Probably only in zoos there would be such a peaceful and unafraid, living creatures running everywhere.
In the process of carrying, I see a notification about the arrival of Baellon. Then there is one more thing about a gazelle who has gone mad, somewhere next to him. I hope he will make it to my base in time, or maybe he can handle it himself? Let's see.

I put the carcass in the refrigerator and hear someone knocking on the door. And when I open it I see that it is ...
In the shining rays of the sun, before me appeared young-looking, tall with unimaginably clear, beautiful features and ...
Something unimportant.
Can't take your eyes off, it's ...
“You it, huh?” he says.

“A?”

“Come through?” either asks, or asserts the elf and raises the carcass of a dead gazelle to the level of my eyes.

This completely knocks me out of contemplation. This is the first time I've seen someone looking like this. Already at the beginning, I caught my breath for a second. The rumors did not lie.

“Yes, s-of course,” I stammer a little and step out of the aisle. “Put it there, on the cutting table,” and indicate exactly where.

He bent down a little entered the house, walked to the table, put the gazelle on it and returned to me. His face no longer knocked me out of myself, even if it looked extremely elegant. I've never seen anything like it.
Approaching at arm's length, he knelt on one knee.

“I am the elf Baellon. I want to join in Settlement. Will you accept me?”

“Yes,” I replied, not at all perplexed.

He still sat in front of me without changing his position.
Pause. Does he want something else? Is this some kind of local ritual? Oh, have an idea, maybe I need to answer him in his own manner? It should work.

“I am the man of Nito. I accept you, the elf Baellon, into this Settlement.

Having uttered the last word, I felt something strange, but familiar, and at the same time the "World" button became active.
Pause. Let's finally look at the map that has become available to me.

My settlement was on the corner of a gigantic ridge running from east to southwest and just beyond the settlement, which turns northwest. This ridge is interrupted in three places near the settlement by nameless rivers flowing from the Sea of Calamity, located at close range on the other side of the ridge.
Although, if I understand the scale of the map correctly, then this is more of a small lake than a sea. One of the rivers flowing out of the sea must flow right next to the western part of the settlement.
In the distance from the western side, I can see several more "Hadwik" settlements from the Nstaberium faction, the "Sthis" faction of the Atlas faction and another settlement from the southeast, located further than the sea, "Hithlum" with the High Elven Council faction.
From north to east stretched, completely repainting the entire ridge east of my settlement, a wide strip designated as "Toxic Wasteland".
Perhaps the guards live there and accidentally wandered over to me. I will not check this in the near future, but as a working theory it will come down.
Considering that near the settlement, in all directions, there are either impassable mountains or toxic wastelands, I was extremely lucky to be located in a patch of temperate forest untouched by radiation and toxins.
Although, to get to me, the caravans will need to either walk next to a hostile settlement from the west, or pass through the wasteland, or raft along rivers across the Bed Sea. It will be necessary to find out how there is with water travel.

Turning off the pause, I watch the elf get up with a knee and take a step back. Only now I manage to see that he is wearing a cloak, elven twin swords and a small one that looks like my walkie-talkie are hanging on his belt.

“What do you order, Lord?” He asks with a small grin.

Did he catch the reference? Or is it the Elves' way? In any case - not an insult.

“Take care of carcass cutting and build yourself a bed somewhere, there was still a little space in the warehouse. You can build, right? How are you with growing plant?”

“I can,” he nodded.

Is he talking about the first thing or about everything at once? Well, he knows how, let him know how.

“As soon as you are free, clear the nearest twenty or thirty meters from the trees around the base, and transfer all the timber to the warehouse.”

“It will be done,” he replied shortly.

I see him walking over to the cutting table and starting to stand over him and the gazelle carcass. In the meantime, I'll take care of the sleeping beauty. He's probably already awake. I look into the camera and see that he really is no longer asleep.

“You. Troublemaker, can you walk?” I decided to clarify.

“Kha-kha hr-rg,” he cleared his throat. “Well, this... Like, yes, wait a minute, boss, do not rush.”

“Come on,” the man slowly opens his eyes and sluggishly stretches. “Move, drunk,” the prisoner began to rise. “Up. And now let's go,” grabbing his arm, I almost pull him out into the outdoors.

Surprisingly, he does not smell at all, neither fumes, nor sweat, nor anything else, although by his appearance he should stink decently.
It is strange, although if I think about it. I have not smelled smells from the very beginning of life in this world. Except for the smell of moisture from the rain.

“Everything, further myself,” I let him go. “At least thank you, I would say that he stayed alive.”

“Oh, this... Where is my pistol?” He looks piteously at me.

“Confiscated. You can forget about him. And now go to your settlement and not a corn on my eyes,” after finishing the phrase, I see a new notification appear.

[Hum]
[The distant PAI archtek emits psychoactive signals. They reach you through the orbital amplifier and drive people crazy.]

Indeed, it is felt as if an invisible and weightless wave swept through me for a moment and a whisper began to be heard behind my back. But so far, nothing maddening. Tolerable.

“Would you give me something to eat before the hike?”

A waste of resources, though man... Well, okay, not ice sea. We will not die from the loss of one paste. Having entered the house and having collected one portion of pasta, I return to the already former prisoner.

“Here,” I say and hand him the bowl.

“Thanks!” he bows. “Give Two health you! Thanks!” He says, backing away and bowing.

Unusual, but okay. Let's get back to work. Research will not complete itself.
The cubes line up, the lines disappear, repeat until the speed of the cubes falling becomes unbearable.
Another day is almost over. It remains to bring Al's pasta and have a thorough talk with Baellon at the dinner table.
Quickly giving the pasta to Alena, I go out into the street and see how the elf is sportively knocking down new and old trees. Small ones in just a couple of tens of seconds, and healthy oaks in a couple of minutes. Wonderful.
I come closer to him.

“Baellon,” I called out to him. “Dinner time.”

“Got it,” he nodded, and picking up some of the timber, he went into the house. I also grabbed the available pile and went after him.

I dumped the wood in an accessible place in the warehouse, which now is no longer there, and admired the healthy double bed that blocked the entire passage. Having applied the pasta, they sat down and began to eat.

“I have a number of questions for you Bael,” probably worth clarifying. “Can I cut it like that?”

“I prefer to be addressed by my full name.”

“Well, Baellon,” look what a fussy, “I would like to know how you offended PAI?”

“It happened two days ago. When I almost crossed the wasteland, I noticed a small transmitter on the side of the mountain and, out of curiosity, activated it. And then you know what happened,” that was enough to offend the PAI? Okay, there are more important questions.

“Well if so, good. You have lived a long life by local standards and can you say what could be a threat to settlements in this world?” Given the presence of the Aura, I already assume a grimm, probably hordes of ancient machines, mutants and raiders, but as if there is still magic there can be some kind of danger and it will give.

“Yes. People, machines, creatures from the depths of the earth and the heights of space, human fears and the abyss of magic. I don't know any more dangers.”

Yeah, the first ones are clear, next he probably means bugs and something else, fears are grimm, and magic is also not clear.

“Please clarify what you mean by the "height of space" and "the abyss of magic"?”

“The cosmos conceals secrets that even the most persistent mind cannot solve. Don't discuss them,” he pauses. “Reasonable, carried away by their magic and excessively delving into it, can...” I can see how he finds words with difficulty. “Lose his mind and then they... They can change and begin to destroy everything that is close to them,” this somehow painfully close reminds me of something that I don’t want to say even in my thoughts, let’s hush the topic.

“We figured it out, there are still a couple of questions. How did you end up so deep in the wasteland?”

“I went to this settlement.”

“Why?”

“Our king saw how it came about. And when it became clear that it would not disappear instantly, I volunteered, nevertheless, my time had almost come.”

“Your time? What are you talking about?”

“Ah, this... I am already fifty-seven years old, by our standards. It's time to gain some experience.”

“I see. The last question for today. When's your birthday?

“Second Decembary.”

This concluded the dialogue, which looked more like an interrogation than I would have liked. Soon supper was over, and we lay in our bed.

 

I would like to keep in touch with those who read this work. Even if there are one and a half diggers.
I changed Beta, from a shitty, to a decent one. So these chapters underwent rewriting and mass editing. I need to start the translation from zero, but I have no time!
I am already writing new chapters, because now BETA IS EDITING THEM FASTER THAN I CAN WRITE A NEW CHAPTER!
So if you want to see new chapters (of higher quality ofc), then learn (google translate) Russian, what else can I say? Sometime I maybe find time to translate, but not now.
Now I do not say «goodbye», I say «до свидания».