2 Chapter 2

Coming to with a blistering headache and covered in sand confirmed for Yusif that he wasn't dreaming. It wasn't that he thought it was, it all felt far too realistic for it to, but it was all just so surreal. Off to his left was a gulf leading to the ocean, and to his right was the rest of the beach he landed himself on, littered with large--fat and colorful birds he recognized as Dodo's, animals extinct on his world. Well, his old world.

Sitting up while clutching his forehead, Yusif squinted his eyes at one of the Dodos. "I guess this is really happening. Well, priorities." Standing with a huff, he briefly brushed the sand off his pants before holding up his wrist and tapping the crystal imbedded in it.

A holographic display appeared above the gem, showcasing what he assumed to be his 'status'. As Yusif expected, his stats were all average, or at least what he assumed average to be. Obviously he wouldn't have max level stats at the start.

Shaking his hand, making the interface disappear, Yusif stretched his arm above his hand, finally giving his surroundings a good look. If he were being honest, it was easily the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

The sea behind him was clear, letting Yusif easily see the terrors beneath-- and he wasn't planning on visiting them anytime soon. Aside from the admittedly cute Dodo birds, there were other amazing creatures. Smaller ones like a lone Pegomastax which he decidedly scowled at, having bad memories of it's kind, and larger ones, like the Triceratops peacefully grazing on the grass. If not for the fact that these were literal dinosaurs, Yusif would have thought this scene was pleasant and let his guard down.

"Now. Next on my list." Strolling over to the closest bush while watching out for a group of Comps, or Dilophosaurs, Yusif began plucking the bushes. Obviously he couldn't simply press a button and harvest it, so he had to do it by hand, but it luckily wasn't a very difficult process, especially with his new body. He pointedly flexed his massive bicep.

Standing back up with a handful of purple berries he identified as the Mejos-- the others stashed away in his inventory-- Yusif walked back down onto the beach and threw one of the juicy berries out onto the sand.

Only a few seconds later, a fat bird with light green feathers waddled over and nabbed the berry in it's beak, gulping it down, and immediately afterwards turning straight to Yusif. With a grin, Yusif crouched down as the Dodo waddled its way to him, holding his hand containing the Mejo berries out.

"We're going to do great things you and I." He said as the bird began eating from his palm. "I'll make you the best Dodo to ever exist." The bird ignored him in favor of the purple berries the strange creature offered it, but Yusif didn't exactly mind.

As the Dodo ate the last berry, Yusif could have swore he heard the sound of a triumphant horn going off, but casually dismissed it as him going insane. He pat the birds head, it pressing against his palm in affection that made Yusif glad he chose to be a tamer.

"I'm going to name you... Lulu." He proclaimed as he held the bird in front of his face. "I don't care if your a boy. You can have a girly name." Until proven otherwise, he would continue to treat Lulu like a girl. Not that it mattered. It-she was a bird.

Lulu honked/chirped. "I know you have no clue what I'm saying, but thank you for listening to my inane rambling." Setting his new companion back down on the sand, Yusif stood up, once more dusting the sand off from his pants.

With a nod, Yusif and Lulu (Lulu just watched) got to work. He picked stones off the ground, dismantled bushes for everything they had, and something he wish he hadn't, punched trees, and he was now the proud owner of a mediocre stone pickaxe.

The pickaxe allowed him to actually mine rocks instead of using his fists--which he didn't try. He did so, and after collecting a hefty amount of stone and flint, he also now had a similarly mediocre stone axe.

"Finally." He huffed. "I don't have to Minecraft my way to get wood."

Through the whole process, Yusif earned a couple levels, putting all his points into movement speed, weight and stamina, also noting that his food and water stat were abnormally high, a result of one of the drawbacks he took.

Gripping his axe, Yusif turned to Lulu. "Well. Let's set up some semblance of a shelter. And by that I mean I'll set up a shelter and you can watch."

Collecting more resources, he first made a campfire. Unlike collecting things, placing structures was actually fairly similar to the game. He could craft a fully intact campfire, place it down, and light it within seconds.

And just like that, after only an hour in his new world, Yusif was sitting on a log in front of the unlit campfire. It was only a few hours past noon afterall, he wasn't going to light it.

Turning to his bird companion, Yusif frowned and said, "I'm bored." Lulu pointedly honked, to which he replied, "Yeah yeah, I know." He didn't know. 'Yeah' he confirmed in his mind. 'I'm definitely going insane.'

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By the time the sun fell over the horizon, Yusif had set up a small structure. He'd decided on holding off on making a large structure until he found his builder companion-- unless she was dead, he idly thought. She might of not spawned in a relatively safe area like him, but he put those particularly grim thoughts aside.

Because he wasn't limited by the mechanics of the game, it was surprisingly easy to collect resources. Rather than getting a few dozen thatch and wood from trees, he could bring down the entire tree and take all the materials for himself. And like that, he'd spent the entire day 'grinding' and earning a couple more levels. He'd also tamed a big ass turtle he named Joe with some Azul berries, and had a few runins with blastidly annoying Dilophosaurs, which he'd taken care of himself. Lulu wasn't very good at anything but eating just yet, but that would soon change. She would be the best Dodo, or Yusif would die trying. Primal fear worked just fine on them though. To spit even more in their faces, he'd eaten their corpses for lunch.

Without anything to do after building his temporary home and bored out of his mind, Yusif went to sleep in his sleeping back with Lulu in his arms. Joe regretably couldn't go inside. The floor could barely handle him standing on it for a few seconds, his shelter wouldn't survive the night if Joe slept inside.

Halfway through the night, he'd been awoken from his already light sleep by a knock on the door. Somehow forgetting it was already past midnight-- and he was on an island filled almost solely with dinosaurs, Yusif blearly sat up, shouting "I'm coming..!"

Standing up with a huff, Lulu squeaking in protest, he hauled himself over the door and roughly opened it.

"Are you Laura Croft?" He questioned, seeing the person at the door. Even if it might of been in part his still awakening brain, the woman looked very similar to the explorer, having back length brown haired tired into a pony tail, deep brown eyes, and tanned skin. She wore what looked closer to a sports bra than an actual top and denim shorts, but her overall appearance was of someone who'd been on the run for a while, which was probably the case.

The haggard woman crossed her arms and shook her head. "No, I am not, nor do I know who that is. My name is Talia, no last name." She trailed off, looking at him expectantly.

"Oh. I guess I'm Yusif, Yusif Callahan. Not trying to rub in my presence of a last name by the way. Anyway, whatchya doin' here? I kinda thought I was the only one here."

She looked behind her before turning back and saying, "Can I come in? It's been a long day."

Shrugging, Yusif stood aside, allowing her inside, to which she readily did. Talia looked around with an apraising eye, and gave him an approving nod. "I'm surprised you could make something like this here."

"Yeah, well, it's note that impressive when I've got a manufacturer implanted into my wrist." His eyes honed in on her own wrist, finding a gem similar to his own.

Talia self-conciously rubbed the surface, stating "Yeah.. I woke up with this too. I assume you did to?" He nodded. "When did you get here? I still don't know how, but I woke up here this morning.." He nodded again, to which she looked somewhere between like she was expecting it and suprised.

"I don't understand.. I returned home, went through my normal routine, and went to bed.. Next thing I know, I'm on this crazy island filled with fucking dinosaurs!" She began sounding almost hysterical at the end, but Yusif supposed he would have too if he was in her position. Warnings made all the difference.

"Not far from what happened to me.." He trailed off, not bothering to come up with a story. "Hey, wanna see something?" Talia raised both eyebrows before nodding.

Smiling slightly, he went over to his bedroom--which was about 3 meters away from the living room-- and grabbed Lulu who had stolen his spot in the sleeping bag. Holding her up by the armpits (wingpits?), Yusif returned to his position, saying "This is Lulu, my pet dog." The bird in his hands squeaked indiginantly.

Talia, in spite of everything, laughed softly. "She's very cute. How did you manage to tame her? All the creatures I've seen here have been nothing but hostile.."

"Well, I just fed her some berries. It wasn't that hard. I just have a way with supposedly extinct creatures I suppose." Talia laughed again.

"I saw a huge blue turtle outside.. You tame that too?" Yusif nodded. "That.. Wow. I don't know what to say."

The beginning of a smirk played on Yusif's mouth. "That would be Joe. I would let him sleep in here, but he's way too big for that. Almost broke my floor when I tried earlier."

Talia smiled before a look of realization crossed her face. "Wait, you said you just showed up today? How the hell could you build this house in a single day?!"

Yusif rose an eyebrow questioningly. "Have you even checked out that crystal on your wrist? It's not just for show you no." If her face was anything to go by, Talia hadn't tested what the gem could do.

Hesitantly raising her wrist to eye level, she tapped it, looking surprised when the holographic display appeared. She gasped, seeing the life-like display of her model off to the side and her attributes. "This.. It's like a video game.. And.. This must be how you did it? This is incredible!"

Yusif nodding, agreeing full heartedly. "It really is. I've been doing work collecting materials and building this house, and now, I'm level 18." Talia's eyebrows shot up into her hair. "Mm, I've been spending my points mostly on movement speed and health, and I'd say I'm probably around 10% faster than an olympic runner now? It's pretty cool."

Somehow looking even more surprised, Talia began fervantly scanning through the interface, muttering to herself. Nearly a minute later, she woke up from her trance, looking a bit sheepish. "Sorry.. This is just all so.. New, and.. I don't want to say exciting, but it is. You know what I mean?"

"I understand what you mean." He agreed.

Talia once more looked around before turning her attention back to Yusif, looking a bit hopeful. "So, uh.. Do you mind if I stay here.. with you? I wouldn't be a freeloader, I swear. I'll help however I can. I was actually an architect back before, you know, whatever happened that brought us here. I'm sure with- mgrph!"

Yusif stuck his hand on her mouth. "Do you do that all the time? It's annoying." She glared at him, removing his hand. "Yeah, I don't mind. Living by myself on this island sounds kinda depressing anyway."

Talia beamed a grateful smile as she suddenly looked even more haggard. "Do you mind if I sleep? I've been basically running all day.."

Yusif quirked an eyebrow. "You do realize you don't have to ask my permission to do everything, right? If we're going to be living together, this will be your house as much as it is mine, and I'm sure you'll be making plenty of changes soon, right?" She nodded.

Opening his display, Yusif quickly crafted another sleeping bag and layed it a few meters from his own while setting Lulu, who had fallen asleep in his arms, onto his own.

With a grateful look, Talia propped open the sleeping bag he just set up, saying "Thank you, really Yusif. I honestly thought I was going to die.. Seriously, thank you. Good night."

Nodding, Yusif crawled back into the bag, using Lulu as a hug pillow. "Good night Talia."