The notification flickered to life before Eokimo's eyes.
[Ping — System Notification]
[Find another Candidate – 0/1]
[Reward – Map]
[Penalty – Death]
[Time Limit – 2 Days]
Eokimo's jaw dropped.
"What?! Death? Seriously?"
He paced in circles, flailing his arms in frustration.
"How am I supposed to find someone I've never seen, in a world I don't even understand?"
He stopped, glaring at the system window as if it personally offended him.
"And the reward is a map—great. Just what I needed. A map to celebrate my funeral."
He exhaled slowly and let his shoulders drop.
"No… think. If there's a two-day limit, the other Candidate must be nearby. It wouldn't set an impossible task."
He nodded to himself, regaining a thin line of confidence.
"How long could it really take?"
---
(One day later…)
"—I take it back! I take ALL of it back!"
Eokimo crashed through the underbrush, hair a complete disaster and eyes slightly unhinged.
"I'm dead. I'm actually dead," he muttered, slapping a branch out of his way.
"Oi! Candidate! Human! Anything! Answer me!"
His shout sent a burst of birds exploding into the sky.
"Great," he said flatly. "Even the wildlife thinks I'm annoying."
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
"At this rate, I won't even have a corpse left…"
Then something thin and gray caught his eye.
"…Smoke?"
He straightened, eyes narrowing.
"That could be him."
With renewed hope, he moved quickly but cautiously toward the source.
---
Eokimo crouched behind a bush at the edge of a small clearing.
"Footprints," he whispered, brushing the dirt. "Fresh ones. Someone was definitely here."
He scanned the area.
"…And what is that smell?"
He leaned forward—
His foot caught on a root.
"Wai—!"
He toppled out of the bush, landing face-first into the earth.
"Ugh—!"
Pushing himself up, he blinked dirt out of his eyes…
…just in time for his brain to freeze.
There, a few meters away, behind a fallen log, crouched a boy—dark hair, flushed face, and the most horrified expression Eokimo had ever witnessed.
The boy wasn't fighting monsters.
He wasn't cooking.
He wasn't even camping.
He was—unfortunately—clearly in the middle of relieving himself.
Both of them stared.
Time stopped.
Reality quit.
Then—
[Ping — Quest Completed]
[Find another Candidate – 1/1]
Eokimo felt the overwhelming urge to scream into the earth.
"Y-You've gotta be kidding me…" he whispered, voice cracking.
The other boy still hadn't moved.
He looked like a deer caught in divine headlights.
Eokimo swallowed, forced the most awkward smile in existence, and raised a stiff hand.
"Umm… hello?"