Chapter 8: Earthling Fairy

Chapter 8: Earthling Fairy

[Time until nightfall: 32 minutes...]

“There’s only thirty minutes left before nightfall,” Jack said, turning away from the glowing blueprint interface. “Let’s start the construction process now, then head inside the cabin to grab something to eat before turning in. Tomorrow morning is going to be extremely busy.”

‘Even though I spent endless hours playing the game back on Earth, the actual reality of this world carries so many subtle differences,’ Jack thought silently, rubbing his sore neck as he stared at the ash-filled horizon. ‘It’s definitely not like playing behind a screen.’

“You actually said something sensible for once...” Aria yawned dramatically, her tiny shoulders slumping as she rubbed her eyes with two small fists. “I am absolutely exhausted from dealing with this terrible heat and your loud mouth all day.”

Walking over to an open, flat section of ground within the fifty-meter safe zone, Jack opened the system’s base construction menu. He selected the blueprint building he had unlocked from the reward scroll and placed the virtual outline onto the designated area.

[System Prompt: Selected Structure — Dwarf Worker Cabin]

[Requirements Met: Volcanic Stone x5]

[Do you want to start construction?]

[ [YES] / [NO] ]

Immediately, a semi-transparent blue timer materialized in the air above the foundation:

[Construction Time: 01:59:58]

[System Hint: Assigning a Dwarf Worker unit will reduce construction time by 50%.]

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll make good use of those dwarfs once I summon them from the blueprint,” Jack muttered with a quiet chuckle. “Come on, Aria, let's head inside.”

Pushing open the heavy door, Jack stepped into the cramped wooden cabin. The interior was barren—containing nothing more than a thin, simple mattress and a lone pillow resting on the hard floorboards.

Sitting down on the edge of the mattress, Jack opened his inventory and pulled out a basic ration of bread. He tore off a small piece and held it out toward the tiny fairy hovering beside him. Giving her a full loaf was out of the question, considering a standard loaf of bread was literally larger than her entire body.

Aria snatched the piece of bread with both hands and immediately began stuffing her cheeks full. Watching her eat was undeniably cute—her tiny jaw working double time as she munched away like a hungry chipmunk.

‘Though calling her entirely cute feels like a bit of an understatement,’ Jack thought, his gaze inadvertently landing on her slender, surprisingly voluptuous figure as she hovered in the dim light. ‘With features like that, she literally looks like a living anime figure that somehow came to life.’

Curious about her exact parameters, Jack focused his sight on her and opened her system status panel:

---

[Name: Aria]

[Age: 25 years old]

[Race: Earthling Fairy]

[Level: 0]

[Class: Water Mage]

[HP: 15 / 15]

[MP: 350 / 350]

Jack blinked, his eyes widening in pure disbelief as he read the second line.

“Wait a minute... Aria, you’re from Earth?!!” Jack blurted out.

Aria stopped chewing mid-bite, swallowing hard as she tilted her head in confusion. “Earth? What the heck is an Earth?”

“You’re from the exact same world as me! That’s what I mean!” Jack explained, pointing at the glowing text. “Our home planet is called Earth.”

“Aha! Nonsense!” Aria crossed her arms haughtily, puffing out her cheeks. “I am from the great Tree of Life!”

“I... I don’t have the slightest clue what that is,” Jack said, shaking his head. “But more importantly, you’re twenty-five years old? You’re literally a year older than me!”

“HEAVENS! How on earth do you know that?!” Aria zipped right up into Jack’s face, her azure eyes narrowing suspiciously as she glared at the floating blue screen in front of him. She squinted at the text and gasped in pure outrage. “Earthling Fairy?! What kind of ridiculous insult is that?! I am a noble Fairy of the Tree of Life!”

“It probably just means that your Tree of Life happens to be located somewhere on Earth,” Jack reasoned calmly.

“NO! The Tree of Life is our home world—the world of all fairies!” Aria shrieked dramatically, waving her piece of bread in the air like a tiny weapon. “Your stupid system is completely wrong!”

“Okay, okay, calm down,” Jack raised his hand in surrender. “Look, I think I have a pretty good idea of how you ended up here now. The system probably misidentified you as a human survivor when allocating starting territories, but realized its mistake at the very last second and dumped you right in the middle of my base.”

Jack leaned back against the wooden wall, looking at her seriously. “Which means... if you ever want to get back home, I’ll likely have to find a way back home first.”

Aria froze mid-air, her tiny hands dropping as her jaw slowly opened. “Does that mean... I’m stuck with you until both of us manage to get out of here?!”

“Yeap.”

“Agggh!”

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