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Maeve thought { Accept?}

[Confirmed acceptance of rewards.

Skills have been accepted. The status will reflect new skills. The status will be available after the Official start for everyone.

The territory token has been accepted; please follow the arrow to claim your territory. When the arrow turns green, you have arrived in an area that can be claimed. Once Territory is claimed, you will have accepted all rewards.]

It didn't take Maeve long to figure out the world had turned into FS. The constant countdown timer sped up and pressured her to accept it.

She could only use seconds to break down and freak out before calming down and accepting. For a second, she even regretted starting to use the VR Helmet and contemplating using the game pod. Any gamer, story lover, and movie lover knows AIs and robots will take over the world and your mind. Now she has connected her nerves to a survival game taking over her reality. Is it happening to everyone or just her? Are only the people who connect through VR tools the only ones affected? Maeve knew now was not the time for this. This is her current reality. Best to think about survival.

So she grabbed her emergency go bag, Doe, and a metal bat then jumped in her car and followed the arrow. Ever since getting into games, Maeve has kept a go-bag at the front door. In case of any type of apocalypse, of course. Anyone who plays enough games and notices a particular pattern in the stories would get a little paranoid. Between the games and the world, where every year starts like a new horror movie, Maeve liked to be prepared.

Once she exited the building, she noticed the differences outside as she followed the arrow. The sky flashed blood orange like before or after a storm happened in Georgia(GA). It is almost 6am in GA; it shouldn't be that bright outside. Also, neon green mist rises from cracks in the ground, appearing in different areas. Maeve can feel a change in the air. Something big was happening, and it might not be just happening to her.

Maeve kept driving towards East Lake Station. The green mist was mainly going along the train lines, and if she got to the station, she thought she could see more of what was happening around her. That was also the closest spot with a decent amount of height within less than one minute's drive with no traffic from her house. She couldn't forget the timer flashing in front of her.

As soon as she was on the road, she noticed no cars were moving. Some vehicles were on the road, but some looked abandoned, others looked like someone was in them, but they weren't moving. It was as if time had stopped them in place. While driving, the arrow turned green a couple of times, but Maeve stuck with going to the station to see the situation from a decent height. If the arrow turned green there with the time she had, she would make East Lake Station her territory.

The arrow turned green when she got close to the station, and the timer had gotten down to 10 seconds. Maeve thought {Claim Territory} while hurrying to get close to the station. She hears the notification when she exits the car in front of the escalators and runs up them.

[Territory has been claimed. Please name the claimed territory]

Maeve didn't hesitate to name the Territory {Nevah}. It was the name of her parent's farm and had a special meaning. If any place she owned or was responsible for, she would want it named Nevah.

[Claimed Territory confirmed as Nevah. Nevah Camp has been claimed

All rewards have been accepted.

Congratulations on being a Top 10 Survivor of Doom is Nigh.

May you continue surviving.]

By the time the notification had finished, Maeve had made it to the bridge and was looking over the part of the city she could see. There were spots of green misting forming in sporadic places from the ground and variation colors of mist hovering over areas. It looked like the fire had spread from house to house to the trees along W Howard Ave.

Maeve was so shocked by this scene she didn't notice that the timer had started the last 5-second countdown.

5 seconds

The sound of explosions from what sounded like transformers coming down Dekalb Ave had Maeve spinning around towards the sound.

4 seconds

Maeve could only see the mists' colors from the dark surroundings of Dekalb Ave. All the lights had gone out. Maeve began to feel the pressure of fear of what was to come.

3 seconds

Maeve started thinking {This is no longer a game.} The fear of being unable to survive what was to come overwhelmed her.

2 seconds

{Is FS really coming into reality? Can I stay alive?} Maeve thought. Then she felt Doe pulling on her jacket. Maeve didn't notice until now that Doe was barking, whining, and pushing at her leg to get her attention.

1 second

Maeve thought {Survive, All I can do is focus on surviving}. Maeve told Doe{We have to survive Doe}. Doe barked in response, looking rearing to go.

A notification could be heard:

[March 3rd, 2023, 6 am Fusion Survival has been officially released]

Then two status windows appeared before Maeve:

/<Maeve Avani Johnson

Level: 1

XP: 5

HP: 1000

Profession: Owner of Nevah Camp

Skills:

Universal:

-Cooking (Beginner)

Proficiency: 0%

-Forage (Beginner)

Proficiency: 0%

-Hunting (Beginner)

Proficiency: 0%

-Fishing (Beginner)

Proficiency: 0%

-Sewing (Beginner)

Proficiency: 0%

-First Aid (Beginner)

Proficiency: 0%

-Navigation (Beginner)

Proficiency: 0%

-Shelter (Beginner)

Proficiency: 0%

Combat:

-Sustainable Heal

Proficiency: 0%

Competency Level: Beginner

DP: 3,840

Skill Level: SS

Upgrade: Void

Capabilities:

Strength: 10

Agility: 10

Vitality: 10

Intelligence: 10

Dexterity: 10

Pets:

Doe Lvl 1

>/

/<Nevah Camp

Territory: Campsite

Level: 1

Points: 100

Population:

Current Population: 1/150

Population Capacity: 150

Permanent Residents: 1

Temporary Residents: 0

Funds: $10,000; 10 Gold Dings

Advancements:

Unlockable Buildings:

Public Restrooms Lvl 1

Cost: 5 Points; $2,000

Public Bath Lvl 1

Cost: 30 Points; $5,000

Tent Area Lvl 1

Cost: 5 Points; $2,000

Yurt Area Lvl 1

Cost: 30 Points; $5,000

Canteen Lvl 1

Cost: 60 Points; $8,000

Mission Hut – Beginner

Cost: 10 points; 2 Gold Dings

Tailor Hut – Beginner

Cost: 10 points; 2 Gold Dings

Healing Hut – Beginner

Cost: 10 points; 2 Gold Dings

Owner Hut – Beginner

Cost: 10 points; 2 Gold Dings

Existing Buildings:

Campfire Site

Warehouse:

Level: 1

Size: 100 sq ft

Abilities:

Longer Perishable Time

Organize by Type

>/

Seeing her status and territory status, all doubts of FS coming into reality were wiped away. Some things were different from the game, like changing the surroundings, so the exact strategies she would use in FS wouldn't work here. She had to focus on adapting to changing situations and learning everything she could.

Suddenly the ground started to shake, and the sky began to change colors. The sun seemed to rise, and the blood orange became a calming peach color. It began to feel like the eye of the storm to Maeve. The sky stopped changing, but the ground went from small trimmers to immediate ones.

Once Maeve saw various colors being shot from above to different areas, she moved from the bridge. She knew this was the start of FS. When FS first started, it began with the card dash. Cards related to equipment and skills were sent everywhere for players to grab within 24 hours, with the colors of the card matching the level of equipment and skill equivalent. At the start of FS, you could use up to 7 cards, and it was critical to grab the best ones because it takes a long time to learn skills in FS. Equipment drops as rewards from monster killings were rare, and buying them from the shops was expensive. So anyone who didn't grab the cards initially regretted it.

So once Maeve saw those cards, she started running toward the closest Blue card. She chose to leave her car for more visibility to see all the cards' colors and be able to move around easier. She kept her go bag with her bat through the loop in the back for easy grabbing access, and Doe was running alongside Maeve. They ran back down the escalators down W Howard ST, passing all the yellow and silver cards.

After grabbing the blue card, Maeve notices Doe grabbing an orange card and belatedly realizes Doe has a status too. In FS, Maeve didn't have a pet, so she didn't know what pet restrictions were with the cards, skills, and equipment. She had to add this to a new thing she would have to learn and pay attention to. If Doe can level up and, at minimum, protect herself, it will aid in Maeve's plan for survival.

Maeve told Doe {Focus on the orange, blue, and purple cards. Grab as many as possible; let me know when you can't have any more.}

They only want to try to grab as many high cards as possible to improve their survival chances. They can only carve as many opportunities because FS is like a land mine. Only when you hear the ticking that you know you are doomed.