The desert didn't end.
Not in any direction.
I'd walked for what felt like hours, feet blistered and caked in soot-colored dust, before I saw a faint shimmer in the distance that turned out to be more than a heat mirage.
A settlement.
Or what was left of one.
The village was ringed by broken stone arches and threadbare banners that hung limp in the wind. Homes made of sun-baked clay leaned at odd angles. The people what few remained were bone-thin, lips cracked, eyes sunken. Kids didn't run or cry. They just stared, too tired to do either.
[Welcome to Mira'Sha. Population: thirsty.]
One woman, draped in white linen that looked like it had once been ceremonial, squinted as I stumbled into view. "A traveler?" she rasped.
I opened my mouth to answer. But the System beat me to it.
[TUTORIAL ENCOUNTER: THE GIFT OF WATER]
[OBJECTIVE: PROVIDE CLEAN WATER TO THE PEOPLE OF MIRA'SHA]
[DIFFICULTY: UNLIKELY (NO OBVIOUS SOURCE DETECTED)]
[REWARD: +700 HERO POINTS, "BLESSED WELL" STRUCTURE PERK]
[NOTE: SUCCESS WILL STABILIZE LOCAL MORAL ALIGNMENT AND PURITY LEVELS.]
[OPTIONAL: NAME THE WELL FOR EXTRA REPUTATION GAIN]
[WARNING: FAILURE MAY RESULT IN LOCAL STARVATION EVENT]
"Of course it's life or death," I muttered. "Why wouldn't it be?"
[LANGUAGE NEUTRAL. PROCEED.]
I turned back to the woman. "Is there a well?"
"There was." Her eyes dropped to the ground. "It dried up. Two years past."
I looked where she looked just a dusty patch of cracked stone. No shrine. No runoff. No moisture.
"No streams, no rivers?"
"This is the Black Womb," another villager said from a doorway. "The land remembers sin. It drinks hope."
Great. Emo desert.
I was about to say "Sorry for your existential geography" and bounce, but a new message pinged.
[SYSTEM SCAN COMPLETE.]
[ANOMALY DETECTED: FAINT AQUATIC THREAD DEEP BELOW]
[SUGGESTED ACTION: DIG HERE.]
[SUPPORT ABILITY ACTIVATED: "GUIDED HAND" (LV. 1)]
[YOU MAY NOW CHANNEL INSTINCTUAL EFFORT INTO DIVINE PURPOSE]
"You're kidding," I whispered. "I'm digging a hole?"
[CORRECTION: YOU'RE DIGGING A MIRACLE.]
[INTERNAL VIEWER POLL: 86% FAVOR SEEING YOU STRUGGLE PHYSICALLY. LIVESTREAM ACTIVATED.]
"You're all the worst."
I dropped to my knees.
The first few minutes were awful. The sand was packed and sharp. Every scoop shredded my fingers. A crowd started to form, but nobody said anything. Just watched. Judging me.
Or maybe praying.
Eventually, something clicked. The System's "Guided Hand" kicked in. My muscles moved more smoothly, finding the right pressure, the right angle. My nails stopped snapping. My grip stopped slipping.
And then. A cool draft.The sand around me darkened. I hit something soft. Spongey.
"Wait." I grabbed it.
A root. Thick, black, and wet.
The crowd gasped. Someone knelt.
[SYSTEM BOOST: DIVINE INSTINCT (LV. 1) TRIGGERED]
[AQUIFER BREACH IMMINENT...]
I kept digging. The hole widened. Shimmering threads of moisture soaked through the earth. Then, without warning, water.
It burst up like a gasp from the dead.
Dark at first. Then clean. Crystal clear.
The villagers screamed. One fell to his knees. Another reached out, hesitant, like it might vanish if he touched it.
[QUEST COMPLETE – THE GIFT OF WATER]
[+700 HERO POINTS]
[SETTLEMENT STATUS: PURITY STABILIZED]
[NEW STRUCTURE: THE WELL OF DELACROIX (NAMED AUTOMATICALLY)]
[REPUTATION – MIRA'SHA: "HE WHO DREW WATER FROM STONE"]
[HERO RANK INCREASED: #1,148 GLOBALLY]
I sat beside the well, soaked and exhausted.
One kid brought me a crust of bread. Another just… smiled. Like I'd done something impossible.
And maybe I had. It all bored me but I have to keep that to myself.
Hero Points: +700
Total Hero Points: 820
Hero Rank: #1,148