Chapter 1.03
1.03
Erin discovered her cleaning seemed to work like a skill, then trekked to a stream for water. A giant flathead fish ambushed her and stranded itself on land, which she butchered for food, cutting her left palm badly. She returned to the inn, improvised a bandage, and endured a painful night.
Summary
Erin spent the day maintaining the inn and testing what she suspected were effects of classes and skills. After dusting the common room for a short while, she noticed the floors and surfaces were suddenly spotless, far cleaner than her efforts alone could explain, suggesting Basic Cleaning had taken effect. She briefly mused about Classes and Skills, including the Innkeeper and Basic Cooking, and worried about local threats like Goblins and the rock-crab-thing while planning for food and water.
Needing water, Erin left the inn, passed the blue-fruit orchard, and reached a nearby stream. Dehydrated, she drank too quickly and suffered sharp stomach pain, then washed in the freezing water despite the cold.
While at the stream, a giant, flat-headed, four-eyed predator fish lunged at her from the water. The attack left the creature stranded on land, and Erin avoided serious harm. Taking advantage of the situation, she butchered the giant flathead fish for meat but sustained a deep diagonal cut across her left palm in the process.
Erin tore a strip from a curtain to bind the wound and returned to the inn. She spent the night in severe pain, managing the injury as best she could. The chapter closed with Erin back at the inn, its common room conspicuously clean, and her hand bandaged after the harrowing encounter at the stream.
Major Events
Inn cleaning effect manifests
After dusting for a short time, Erin found the inn’s common room unexpectedly spotless, indicating an unusual cleaning effect likely tied to a skill.
Erin travels to the stream
Erin left the inn, passed the blue-fruit orchard, and went to a nearby stream to find water.
Giant fish ambushes at bank
A giant flathead fish lunged at Erin from the stream but stranded itself on land as it attacked.
Butchering leads to hand injury
Erin butchered the stranded giant flathead fish for meat and suffered a deep diagonal cut across her left palm.
Improvised bandage and painful night
Erin bound her wound with a strip of curtain and returned to the inn, enduring severe pain through the night.
Major Appearances
A young woman from Earth who stumbles into a fantasy world and takes refuge in an abandoned inn.
aka Erin, the young woman +20
Small inn where Erin is present; currently occupied by her. Noted by the Watch as having been abandoned years ago but Erin is using it; the Drake and Klbkch enter here to investigate.
aka the inn, Abandoned hilltop inn +10
A fish found in local rivers that secretes a damaging mucus. Klbkch identifies Erin's wound as caused by contact with this fish's mucus (a poison-like affliction) rather than a simple infection.
aka Flatfish, Giant flathead fish +6
Minor Appearances
A class focused on running inns, hospitality, and tending to guests and establishments.
aka [Innkeeper], Innkeeper (class)
A foundational Skill that enhances a user’s ability to clean surfaces and spaces efficiently.
An entry-level culinary Skill improving preparation of simple meals.
aka [Basic Cooking]
World mechanic where thinking races gain levels and classes. Some classes can be gained suddenly by satisfying class requirements without formal apprenticeship (e.g., gaining Farmer levels by growing many carrots). Some creatures (animals, Dragons) cannot level and instead retain natural might.
aka The Skills, leveling system +11
A strategy board game from Erin’s world that she uses to focus and cope with pain.
Small green humanoids with red eyes and sharp teeth that chased and slashed at Erin.
aka Goblins, little green things +5
Referenced
Entities by Type
Quotes
“Huh.”
“When you level in dreams, you level in real life?”
“Right, food.”
“Just in case. I should also get a bow and arrow or something, right? Too bad I have no idea how to shoot anything. Or have any idea how to carve a bow. You carve bows, right?”
“Firewood. If I could cut the wood away, that is.”
“Weird.”
“Dusty. This is stupid.”
“Goblins.”
“...With shark teeth. That’s messed up.”
“Barely. They’re not that dangerous. They’re like kids. And I can beat up tons of kids even with knives. If I’m careful.”
“There’s the rock-crab-thing. Does it eat Goblins?”
“Pheh! Dusty.”
“Was that me?”
“Right. I need a drink.”
“It’s really hot.”
“I could drink a Gatorade. Or a Pepsi. I like Coke too, though. What about Pepsi and Coke and Gatorade? Gatorpepcoke? Pegatoroke?”
“Feel sick.”
“Where—where was it?”
“Water!”
“...Bath time.”
“Hm. So, [Basic Cleaning] was really a skill after all?”
“Gah! Cold!”
“Then I’d be eaten by something else. Underwater Goblins, probably.”
“Maybe today won’t be so bad after all.”
“...Ow.”
“Bandage.”
“Screaming is bad. Quiet.”
“Still hurts.”
“Pawn to E5. Pawn to F4. Pawn captures F4—King’s Gambit Accepted. Bishop to C4, queen to H4. Check. Bishop’s Gambit. King to F1, pawn to B5. Bryan Counter-gambit. Bishop captures B5, knight moves to F6. Knight moves to F3…”
“W—wh—”
“Hah! Take that!”
“Is that thing made of rocks?”
“Right. Lunch.”
“Discovery one: fish are heavy.”
“Discovery three: fish stink.”
“[Basic Cooking]! Give me—baked fish!”
“Ew. Ew. Ew.”
“Come on. Get out of there.”
“Come on. Cut. Cut!”
“Oh. Of course.”
“Right. Knife cuts.”
“Um. Is it three bars of iron and two sticks to make a pickaxe? Or can I make a wood sword by punching trees? Why couldn’t this be Minecraft instead?”
“...Nope. But wait a second. What about fallen branches? Or—”
“Stupid Goblins.”
“Dustrag. Let’s do this.”
“Seriously. Goblins.”
“But I won.”
“They were eating the blue fruits. So they live nearby. Wonderful. I’m going to run into them again. Which means I need a weapon. Great.”
“Uh. What happened to the dust?”
“I wasn’t even dusting for more than—an hour? Two? And it’s all clean.”
“Time to find some. Or I’ll die. Whichever comes first.”
“Water. Water is water. Because water. Where’s the water?”
“Cogapeptorade?”
“The stream!”
“It was there. So if I’m here…there?”
“It—it hurts. It really hurts…”
“B-being numb would be better than being really cold.”
“...Huzzah. What a great skill! I mean, I might have to fight off giant crabs and Goblins, but at least I’ll be able to clean the floor while they eat me! I wouldn’t want to leave a mess.”
“And if I follow the stream long enough, do I get to an ocean? Or just a lake?”
“Huh. I guess [Basic Cooking] doesn’t work on fish.”
“...Huh?”
“Ahh. Ah.”
“It hurts.”
“Still hurts.”
“I get it. It’s a bad day, right?”
“Pawn…pawn to E4.”
“The floor is clean. I am not.”
“Monsters, monsters all around. And not one of them looks edible. But at least there’s blue fruit that smells like cleaning fluid. And at least there’s a dusty old inn. And at least I have four levels in innkeeping. Huzzah for me.”
“Or not. Knock on wood.”
“Discovery two: kitchens have knives.”
“Fish. Fish with huge teeth. I hate this world so much.”
“Aaaaaah!”
“Ew. Mutant fish with teeth.”
“...Sushi?”
“And hey, I need food. So it’s time to chop stuff up.”
“Oh. Oh god. Why—why is that yellow? What is that?”
“Okay, okay. Let’s just…get rid of the bones? And the—the squishy stuff.”
“Alright. Can’t go around it. Gotta go under it. Goodbye head, look out belly, here comes the knifey.”
“Four minutes. Four minutes is a long time not to be breathing, right? Okay—”
“A really frickin' cold bath.”
“Sort of clean. You couldn’t eat your dinner off it, I guess. But that’s why we have plates.”
“Unless they stab me in my sleep. Or there are lots of them. I’m probably safe if I make sure they can’t get in without me hearing it. I should block every way in but have, like, an escape window.”
“There is no way I’m eating that. Cooked or raw. Actually, there’s no way I’m eating any of this without a frying pan.”