Twisted Wonderland: Camp Vargas - Exercise in Survival

Chapter 1-5: Vargas Badges

Vargas announces, "As you progress through the challenges, you'll earn Vargas badges."

And presents the Vargas Badge. It's a red circle with a light yellow silhouette of a deer on it.

Vargas explains, "When you finish a challenge, report to a ghost. They'll verify you completed it and give you a badge. You'll have seven challenges to do over these three days. If you earn all seven Vargas badges, then your club passes and wins its prize. And if you DON'T get all seven, well... You don't need me to spell it out, right?"

"The club'll be kaput," Ruggie says.

"Whatever. We'll just do all the stupid challenges," Leona says, not really giving a care.

"So you're all clear on how this works? Great, then I'll go over your three challenges for today," Vargas says. First—survival! You'll need a safe environment to get through the next three days, and it's your job to make one. You're to gather firewood from the forest, build a campfire, and light it."

"That's Camping 101 right there," Ruggie says, "Wild animals tend to steer clear when a fire's going."

Then Vargas says, "Second—sustenance! You gotta learn about the ecosystem around the mine and scrounge up some grub. You'll catch fish from the lake, then clean and cook 'em up."

Then Ace says, "Come to think of it, I haven't eaten since this morning..."

And Vargas says, "Third—education! Put that book learning into practice and glean some new insights. You'll be going down an assigned tunnel in the mine and digging up a magestone. Each magestone must be at least one cubic centimeter and weigh at least three grams. Any fragments smaller than that will NOT count! The locations for each of these tasks are marked on a map you received with your instructions. You can finish them in any order, with any of your club members. You can borrow fishing rods and pickaxes from me when you need 'em. You have 'til sunset to finish all three challenges and get your badges. That's it from me. Now get out there and show some hustle!"

"Sunset's not far off, is it?" Epel asks.

"Sure isn't. These areas are pretty far apart too. Time's not on our side," Ruggie says, "There aren't enough fishing rods and pickaxes to go around. We gotta figure out the best order to do things."

Leona scoffs, "Pfft, it's not that hard. Just do 'em all at once."

"Huh?" Ruggie responds, confused.

And Leona says, "We need rods and pickaxes for fishing and mining, so just send as many people as we have tools. Everyone else can gather firewood. That way we cover all three jobs and no one's just standin' around. I dunno about the other clubs... But we don't have any herbivores who would need to travel in a herd, right?"

Soon, the club members are surprised.

Some even say, "...Yeah! You're right!"

Then Leona says, "Ruggie, you bounce between areas to give directions and allocate people as needed."

"Roger that!" Ruggie says.

Then Leona says, "Epel, you're good with all these tools, right? Stick with Ruggie and pitch in whenever someone's havin' trouble."

"Got it!" Epel says.

And Ruggie says, "That's our boss for ya!" He then asks, "...Wait, Leona, what are you gonna do?"

"I just pulled my weight and then some. I'm gonna grab a hard-earned nap," Leona says.

Character Ruggie Outdoor Wear Icon

"That's what I figured. Well, you're the boss," Ruggie says. Then turns to the campers, "Come on, guys, let's get to work."

"Yes, sir!" The club members respond.

Meanwhile, at another part of the campsite where the Basketball club is.

"The clock's ticking. Where should we start? Let's think through our options," Jamil says.

Floyd thinks, "Hmm... I'm starvin'. Can we start at the lake?"

"I'm hungry too. I second that motion!" Ace agrees.

"I have reservations about how seriously Floyd is taking this, but I agree the lake's a good starting point," Jamil says, "We should get food while we still have enough energy."

Over at the Track Club area.

"So we gotta fish, gather firewood, and mine a magestone..." Deuce says.

"Fishing takes a lot of luck. We might want to start at the lake. If we see the fish are biting, we could reassign a part of our group to start the other tasks," Jack says.

"Sounds good to me. Let's see what the sophomores and juniors think!" Deuce says.

At the site where the Equestrian Club is.

"My personal opinion is that we should prioritize the caves," Riddle says.

"I agree with Riddle. The mine's been closed for a long time, so it's probably hard to find even small fragments of magestones. We should get the most time-consuming task out of the way first," Silver says.

"No objections from me," Sebek agrees, "Though to be clear, Silver's argument did NOT persuade me. I had the same idea from the start."

"Oh, really? Then we're on the same page," Silver says.

"We most certainly are not!" Sebek says.

Meanwhile, at another campsite where Briar and the others are.

"Well, it looks like the clubs are splitting up into different areas," Tanzanite says.

"Well, it's best we go in a head," Briar says.

Then Grim happily says, "Okay, time for us to get to work too!"