"This can't be happening to me in such a short span of time!" Celeste almost shouted of frustration. Few moments ago, she was discussing with Widget on why he put her name in the credits of HIS report but now, there was no village, no jungle, no report and of course, Widget wasn't supposed to be here, and... He wasn't here too.

Why was the deity, or whoever he is, tossing her around? Was it cursed, the cruise ship? So, is everyone doing the same thing as hers? Maybe yes, maybe no. She wanted to believe the other option for her sanity.

Talking to ghosts wasn't frightening enough that she was now here. After she had finished her mission in the last world, she found herself trapped in a virtual reality game, surrounded by people from video games, dramas and/or music videos, whatever this even was... How did she know? She was inside a bubble where it was written 'Your only way out is to beat the game. Are you in?' The best part? There was no "No" option here. Reluctantly, she clicked "Yes".

'How will you escape your prison? Choose one of the following:-' A cracked voice said and several options flashed before her.

'Choice A : Pick up a sword and start farming. Can't beat the bosses if I'm underleveled.'

Huh? Pick up a sword and do what? Farming? What's that supposed to mean? Video games was one thing Celeste hated now.

"Let's check the second option." Celeste muttered.

'Choice B : Become the next kpop star and compete with some of your favorite artists.'

"What the he...!" This time she almost cursed out loud. Of course, she likes kdramas and artists as such but, this was totally absurd. How would she even do that training!

She remembered reading an article about Momo from Twice. She had to lose 7kg in a week. She resorted into going to the gym everyday without eating. She was so afraid of gaining weight that she didn't want to drink water, so she had one cube of ice. FOR THE WHOLE WEEK.

Thats an extreme case, but shows how hard trainee life can be for some people. And she'll obviously be the 'some' there.

"Another option..." Celeste regretted saying that as soon as she saw the third option.

'Choice C : Win the hearts of all the characters in the game to overload the game's circuitry.'

"Hearts of people?" To say that romance wasn't her forte would be an understatement. She never had a boyfriend or girlfriend of any sort besides people from orphanage. But, they weren't friends, they were basically family. She was too sure of herself that she wouldn't be able to get anyone fall for her let alone talk about a love that ruins game's circuitry!

"Another..." With heavy heart, she moved ahead...

'Choice D : Tame all the dinosaurs in the world and become the sole sovereign of all things prehistoric.'

Unfortunately, that was the most realistic one, given the circumstances so far. She had fought with Rain Dragons, what's some Titanosaurs Rex?

Without thinking much, she clicked the fourth option and then realized what a Trex was... She was talking about the same Tyrannosaurus, who was a bipedal carnivore with a massive skull balanced by a long, heavy tail. Relative to its large and powerful hind limbs, the forelimbs of Tyrannosaurus were short but unusually powerful for their size, and they had two clawed digits. The most complete specimen measured up to 12.3-12.4 m (40.4-40.7 ft) in length; and 8.87 metric tons (9.78 short tons) in body mass.

Although other theropods rivaled or exceeded Tyrannosaurus rex in size, it is still among the largest known land predators and is estimated to have exerted the strongest bite force among all terrestrial animals. By far the largest carnivore in its environment, Tyrannosaurus rex was most likely an apex predator, preying upon hadrosaurs, juvenile armored herbivores like ceratopsians and ankylosaurs, and possibly sauropods. Now, she wasn't too sure of her choice. Unfortunately, there was no back option. She was doomed...

'Your quest begins now. You can choose one item to bring with you. It could be anything.' The voice inquired.

"Anything?" Suddenly, Celeste had an idea.

'Anything. Just say the name and the system will provide it.'

"Them give me Momotaro Dumplings." Celeste grinned.

The Momotaro Jirushi's Millet Dumplings (a.k.a Wild Beast-Taming Pellets) was one of Doraemon's gadgets. The gadget was based on the food called Kibi dango (きび団子) and a hero named Momotarō (桃太郎), who used the Kibi dango to recruit his three beastly retainers. She was so glad to have watched the show in her teens now. Of course, she loved Doraemon already but now, it had solidified too a certain extent, with no going back.

'Very well. All the best.' The game echoed enthusiastically and a small packet fell before her. It was the Dumplings! The bubble around her vanished slowly and she stepped out.

At first, it was hard to follow the dinosaurs but, she learned to do that with a LOT of troubles. She continued feeding the dumplings to everyone. The very first pet she tamed was none other than a Stegosaurus! It was munching the leaves when she slipped inside the nearby bush and fed it the Dumplings. That made things easier as she now has a home. By home, she meant the back of the dinosaur.

Afterwards, the Stegosaurus had a fight with Diplodocus where she found her second pet. The peace wasn't long when a Triceratops entered the region and Celeste had another dino added to her collection. Numerous herbivores later, she finally found the Apex herbivore. The Brachiosaurus. The largest complete dinosaur we know of was Brachiosaurus ("arm lizard"); it reached 23 m in length and 12 m in height (about the length of two large school buses and the height of a four-story building).

There was no trouble for few months when she found the flying reptiles in her collection, small carnivorous joined in and then came the Apex predator. A Trex.

It was a nice day and like other days and sauropods, Brachiosauruses were eating directly from trees and plants placed in their exhibit. They were showing a preference for tall seed plants like cycads. Though their massive size protected them from predators, they were vulnerable to attacks by Tyrannosaurus, and can bleed out and die if not tended to by a medical team. She was thinking about the Nat Geo facts when she had the honor to see and tame a Tyrannosaurus Rex!

Now, her collection was almost complete and so was the Dumplings. The game voice echoed.

'Bravo! You've cleared this conquest. What would you like to do now?'

There were two options :

• Advance to another level

"Never..." Celeste shuddered at the thought and her eyes moved to the other option. It was something which her eyes longed to see.

• Back Home

"Home..." She touched the option.
-----------------------------------

"Why were you out for such a long time... We thought... You were never coming back... What was I going to say to Elina and ..." Suzanne sobbed.

"I'm back... That's what matters, right?" Celeste said in a hoarse voice. She was in a hospital and was informed that she had woken from a long coma... She hadn't asked for the details yet, afraid of the answers.

What matters was that she was back. The dream had ended thankfully...
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Number of words : 1100
_________________________

Used a Cutlass
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1500 -> first island
500 -> second island
1500 -> third island
2500 -> fourth island
4500 -> fifth island
2500 -> sixth island

Total after 3 islands = 3500
Total after 6 islands = 13000

Island 3 and island 5 -> (scurvy) 500 + 500 (lime + orange) = 1000

2 compass (50+50 words) = 1600

Total = 2600

Remaining = 900 (after 3 islands)
New total = 10400

Island 7 -> Siren's Curse
Two cotton balls -> 800 (to cure it)

2 silver lunette -> 3200 × 2 = 6400
1 Cutlass -> 1600

New Total = 10400 - 8800 = 1600