When I woke up, I started thinking about what I had seen in my dreams. Maybe I was going crazy from the loneliness; who in their right mind would imagine letters like that? Although, now that I remember, they also appeared when I became a Viktor. I wasn't crazy; those letters are real.

  The idea of building something wasn't bad, but then I looked at my body—it was quite weak and unathletic, and it’s not like I have experience from my previous life. I was just a programmer who spent all day sitting down.

  I also thought about that evolution thing. What exactly does it mean? Is my body going to change? Or will they just give me skills? I don’t know; I guess I have to complete the mission to find out.

  "Alright, stupid voice," I challenged the air. "If you want to test me, I’ll do it so well that you'll have to give me five evolutions in one go."

  I got to work. My first idea was to build something up in the tree, but I discarded it immediately. Without nails, a hammer, or a way to chop wood, it was impossible. So I changed the plan: I would make a shelter of sticks and thatch on the ground, with a door and a fire to fight the night cold, which is a bit strong here. I thought about looking for a cave, but God knows what kind of monsters live in the caves of this world.

  I decided on a hut made of wood and foliage. I quickly started looking around for some materials. I had vines left over from the trap, plus the storm left a lot of branches scattered everywhere. I should also improve the trap so that what happened last time doesn't happen again. Well, I’d do that later; hunting is hard. I’m going to explore a bit to see if I can find fruit or something else to eat. And in any case, I could eat insects, even if they disgust me.

  I headed to the creek; from there I could look for food. Trees like water, so I assumed there would be some with fruit nearby. When I arrived, I looked around and there were trees, but they were empty—just leaves. This is going to be a bit complicated.

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  I didn't give up and followed the water upstream. I walked for about 10 minutes, and there it was: a bush with berries. It was exactly what I was looking for. A beautiful source of food; it was small, about my size—in case you didn't know, I'm approximately 3 feet tall— the berries were blue like blueberries. I approached and grabbed them, then put them in my pouch; this thing is very useful. I took enough for a day, so I won't worry until tomorrow.

  When I ate the first one, my palate exploded. It was very sweet and delicious; I thought it was going to be sour because of its appearance, but I see now that it's not. They were incredible; the only disadvantage is that I got blue stains everywhere. My hands and mouth were Smurf-colored, and the inside of my pouch got stained too. Well, whatever, I have food now.

  I went back to my tree and started gathering the branches, sticks, and leaves I found. Before I knew it, I already had a pile at the base of the tree; I had the materials. Now the thing was how to assemble the shelter.

  I realized I needed tools. Prehistoric humans used obsidian, but I didn't know if anything like that existed here. This planet looks a lot like Earth, but I’m eighty percent sure it isn't. I remembered that archaic humans struck stones against each other to create sharp edges, so I went with that option. I walked back to the creek; there I saw a lot of stones; maybe one would work. I started looking at stones—some were too heavy, too big, or too hard. I couldn't find the ideal one.

  I kept walking nearby and spotted a glint. Maybe it's what I'm looking for? It was among the undergrowth, away from the water. I approached and saw it: I found the Holy Grail. I don't know if it was obsidian, but it looked a lot like it: a black crystal, shiny and beautiful. Without meaning to, I think I'm becoming a fan of precious stones. I bent down and grabbed it; it was quite dense, but it was a crystal, so it would be easy to break.

  I hit it with another nearby rock. It was a sharp impact and—snap!—it fragmented, leaving a sharp edge. It was beautiful, and just by looking at it, I knew I could cut a hair with this.

  "BINGO! I HIT THE JACKPOT!" I shouted with excitement and gave a little jump.

  With this small knife, I felt like I could do anything, even take on the world.

  "At this moment, Samuel’s eyes were like a demon's; he was sparking."

  That damn voice again. I really want to know what it is. If it's narrating my story, does it mean someone else is watching me? That would be interesting. Well, I’ll leave those existential questions for another time. Right now, what I need is to survive.