NOVEL WEB I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm – Chapter 9
I tried to think of which lifeforms to add to my planet once back at my domain with Mr. Flippers.
Sadly, the only ones I could decide on as a definite were phytoplankton as a primary lifeform and a small fish that feeds on it as a basic lifeform. The exact species of fish was still up for debate, however.
As for my second primary lifeform, I was leaning towards grass, but a large part of me thought it would be way too boring of a choice.
"I am designing my own world, Mr. Flippers; should I really have it dominated by something so boring? Don't get me wrong, I love grass as much as the next guy, but I just don't have the heart to add it."
Aside from simply being boring, grass on its own does not really play a major role in the ecosystem. Even though it may be a major food source for some animals, I can only choose a maximum of two that could be complex enough to eat it.
There was also my lingering feeling of wanting to do something different from the other Seedlings that hindered my decision. Grass was something so simple that I was fairly confident many others would either choose it or have something that's closely equivalent in their realms.
Yeah, screw grass. I'm too cool for that. Maybe I should go with algae instead then? I already have two of my choices locked in for the ocean, though. Obviously, I need to add something or the entire continent will just slowly erode away if I just leave it purely rock and soil. My scale must be too big. Instead of thinking of it as a continent, should I just treat it as a new island?
Volcanic islands such as Hawaii sprout up randomly sometimes hundreds of miles away from other lands. Despite this isolation, many of these places are known for their lush and exotic life. Clearly, the plants didn't just magically appear. Even in the case that some birds dropped seeds as they migrated, the volcanic rock would have needed to be softened and broken down before most could take root.
I thought back to how these islands developed and quickly thought of one thing: lichens. These weird fusions of algae and fungus have pioneered almost every one of these places far before other simple plant life and broke down the hard volcanic rock to make their settlement much easier.
Lichens are extremely useful to the pioneering settlement... but there is no way I'm choosing them.
Although they are very beneficial to the initial occupation of these islands, lichens do not serve much use once the island becomes able to support more complex forms of plant life. There was no need to choose this simple fusion of an organism since I had already covered the continent in broken-down rock and soil when I first created it.
Though much of it got covered up by lava flows caused by the whole lead incident, the layer was relatively thin and should be broken up fairly quickly by natural erosion. Even the areas that got the most drastically affected and had entire hills form would eventually be covered up by sediment from the nearby loose rock.
The thought of lichen did make me think of something similar, but far more useful: moss. Moss is very similar to grass in its ability to produce oxygen, prevent erosion, and provide some food, but it also could do something far more important than grass can: it can decompose organisms.
One thing that the sheep instructor never mentioned was the inclusion of microorganisms. In the case that there are no bacteria present, decomposers are a must-have unless you're willing to deal with thousands of animal corpses filling the landscape. This was one of the few cons I had in my attempted journey to Antarctica; since it is too cold for the bacteria to be active, there are countless penguin corpses dotting the icy plains.
I guess I should be thankful I was sent here before I needed to see any of those dead penguins... I don't think my heart could've taken it. Actually, screw it. There's still a week left to think about this.
While turning to Mr. Flippers, I decided to put a hold on the realm talk and give the adorable creature in front of me some attention.
He probably feels like one of those corpses; he has pretty much been stuck waddling around doing nothing for the past few days while I work. It's no wonder he seems to prefer Julia. There's still a bit of time before we meet up, thankfully.
I got off of the chair and sat down on the floor next to the confused penguin.
Mr. Flippers stared silently as I grabbed my backpack and pulled out a deck of cards I used to play with the captain during my trip.
"Hello, tiny one," I spoke as I began shuffling the cards in my hand, "I will now introduce you to a little game I like to call Blackjack."
I proceeded to deal both of us a card and used the chair next to me as a stand-in for a sort of dealer.
This probably was not the best choice with only two real players. He's a penguin though, so he probably won't understand what's going on anyway.
I summed up the main rules and the whole premise of getting as close to 21 without going over as I gave each of us a second card.
A King of spades and 3 of hearts.
"Hit," I said as I gave myself a third card.
It happened to be a 5 of clubs, making my total 18, so I decided to stay and not risk going over.
"Squawk" the penguin shouted after watching what I did.
I handed him a card, which he proceeded to peek at before squawking again.
"Huh? You want another?" I asked, only for the penguin to nod his head.
"... well alright. Remember, you can't go over 21 though," I reminded him as I handed over his third card.
Mr. Flippers peaked at the card again before placing it back down and staring at me silently.
Does that mean he's staying? Did he not go over?
Deciding to ignore it, I switched to playing as the dealer. I laid the cards face up as I drew them. As the chair started with a 4 of spades, I hit two times giving it an Ace of diamonds and Queen of spades.
"Alright, the dealer stays at 19. I lost this one, what about you, Mr. Flippers?"
The penguin flipped over his cards revealing a 3 of diamonds, an 8 of clubs, and a Jack of hearts. It was a perfect blackjack, exactly 21 points.
"How the heck did you do that!?" I exclaimed, "Okay, you're not just a cute penguin, but also a lucky one. Beginner's luck doesn't last forever, though. We're playing another round!"
I re-shuffled the cards and dealt them out again, only to be mercilessly crushed another 16 times in a row by the tiny penguin. At the end of the gauntlet and with my pride in shambles, I laid flat on the floor with a smug penguin looking down on me.
"How... it's not possible," I muttered while the penguin began building a card castle on my stomach, "Even when I was controlling the dealer I still couldn't win."
Was I always this bad at card games? If I was, then why the heck would I bring a deck of the freaking things on the boat with me?
It wasn't as though my hands were bad. There were even a decent number of times where I got 20 points, but the tiny penguin would somehow get 21 almost half of the time and have the dealer bust when he got barely below it.
"Screw it!" I shouted as I shot up, sending cards flying off of me, "New game- it's War time, baby!"
I explained the rules of the game as the two of us gathered the scattered cards. Since this game was much simpler than Blackjack, I figured that no matter what my natural talent was at the game, we would be on equal footing.
We finally finished picking up and shuffling the cards, so I dealt them out equally between the two of us.
Sorry, chair. You're not needed in this one. I can defeat this smug feathery boy by myself.
"3, 2, 1, war! Yes!"
My first card was a 5, while his was a 3. It was a petty victory, but a victory nonetheless. We continued playing however and I noticed that the cards he collected gradually began to outnumber mine. There was one key reason for this:
"How... how did you get all four Aces!?"
The game quickly ended in my defeat. I realized my mistake soon afterward; I challenged the king of luck to a match involving purely that.
I laid back down on the floor and surrendered to my fate as Mr. Flippers built another castle on top of me.
Please tell me this game of war isn't a sign of anything.
