Finding Objects

BANG!!

Ash was startled awake by the loud sound, his heart seemed to stop beating.

BANG!!

'What the hell is that?" 

He grabbed his sword which was placed beside him then got up from his bed.

THUDD!!

The bedroom door fell from its place, pushed by the tiger.

Ash immediately drew his sword.

"What is it?!" Maya, who also woke up, opened her room door.

"Stay there, Maya! SHUT YOUR ROOM DOOR!" Ash shouted. Maya obeyed and quickly closed the door again.

The tiger immediately jumped and pounced on him. Ash dodged to the side and plunged his sword into the tiger's body.

The beast immediately died on the spot.

Just as Ash was pulling his sword out of the dead tiger's body, another one came in, growling.

He saw his friend lying stiff on the floor and immediately pounced on Ash. Ash nimbly dodged and swung his sword towards the tiger's body.

The tiger's body was immediately split into two.

'Huh?' Ash was a little dumbfounded at his own increased strength.

'It turns out there's a point in increasing stats,' he thought happily as he approached the bodies of the two dead tigers, and crouched down.

"Maya, come here!" he shouted at Maya.

Maya opened the door to her room and came hesitantly.

"What the heck?!" she said when she saw the door to the room lying on the floor, then slowly approached Ash. Her face was slightly pale in the moonlight.

She asked Ash, "Are you alright?"

Ash turned to her with a grin, and said, "We have a supply of meat to eat during the trip to the pterodactyl lair."

***

After several days of being in the world of 'Finding Objects', he started to get used to the strange things that happened in this world.

For example, after he killed the two tigers that had entered his room, suddenly the bodies of the two creatures disappeared. In the Inventory, a supply of meat and fangs will appear.

Or suddenly he finds an item that didn't make sense to be anywhere, like finding matches and firewood in a cave.

Each place has different characteristics or themes, even though the two places were different. For example, from the hotel where they stayed, which was located in a tropical rainforest, a few hundred kilometers later was a pterodactyl nest with a barren area.

The problem was how to transport from one place to another.

And so he grumbled as he walked towards the pterodactyl nest with Maya.

"Why are there no vehicles? We should have taken the jeep at the pyramid headquarters first," he grumbled.

"And before you made it, your body was all riddled with holes from being shot at by people in military attire," Maya teased him as she walked in front of Ash.

Ash pouted. He wasn't so tired from walking because his endurance had increased, but he was annoyed because, for him, it was a waste of time. Why are there cars or anything else here if he has to walk?

Maya laughed seeing him still pouting and teased him again, "Ah, come on. Consider this exercise to make our leg muscles strong, right?"

"Tch."

Ash clicked his tongue.

Then he realized that Maya was walking and moving nimbly among the trees and dense tropical plants.

"Tch," he clicked his tongue again.

***

They walked for five days. Sometimes they rest on tree branches or spend the night in caves. Sometimes they have to clear out caves filled with bears or other animals. Because of this, they never worry about a shortage of food supplies.

Maya also brought salt and some other spices that she found in the hotel kitchen. So all the meat they cooked didn't taste bland anymore.

On the fifth night, they sat in front of the bonfire in the cave. The cave location was not far from the pterodactyl's nest.

While leaning against the cave wall comfortably because they were full, the two of them were busy examining their respective screens.

Ash scrolled through his Inventory screen 

[Inventory:

⇒ The Captain's Diary: 1.

Item Rank: Rare.

⇒ The Captain's Map: 1

Item Rank: Rare.

⇒ The Supreme Magus' Grimoire: 1

Item Rank: Special.

.

.

.]

'Ah, I forgot I have the Captain's Map,' he took the map from his inventory, then opened it. 

"Hmm..." he muttered while rubbing his chin. "This is the map of this game world, right?" he asked rhetorically.

Maya raised her head from the screen she was fiddling with, "What?" he asked.

"Come here," Ash beckoned Maya over, "This is the map of this world, right?" he asked while spreading the map on the cave floor.

Maya moved closer to Ash and joined in examining the map.

"Ummm… that seems about right. Only this map is more complete and detailed," she answered, pointing to several places on the map. "Look, this is the hotel where we were. Here it is also written what items are in the hotel."

"The Supreme Magus' Grimoire," they said in unison.

Confused, Ash asked, "If this item is on the map, that means the person who made this map has already taken the item, right? Then why could we find it in that place?"

Maya chuckled and answered, "That means the person holding the item is dead. Items that no one owns will return to their original place. A reset of sorts."

"Oh, I see... " Ash nodded.

"This map is as accurate as my Treasure Sense skill," Maya muttered as she looked down at the map.

"Maybe the maker was the same as you, a Theft," said Ash as he picked up a map from the floor.

"Hey, I haven't finished looking yet!" Maya exclaimed.

Ash folded and returned the map to his Inventory, then said casually, "I have you, why bother opening and closing the map."

Maya pursed her lips and returned to her original seat, ready to sleep.

***

They arrived at the edge of the tropical rainforest and saw barren and rugged hills stretching out in front of them. As far as the eye could see, there was only one large tree, but it looked dead and had no leaves.

Several pterodactyls appeared to be floating in the air. They measure about three to six meters in wingspan. The beaks of each could be up to seventy centimeters long.

Ash swallowed his saliva. He could feel that his life might be at stake this time.