You drop to your hands and knees to dig up the box.

After scooping away the sand, you manage to pry it free … and read the full writing.

It reads:

“Rusty Old Box”

It is, indeed, just a rusty old box.

“What a CHEAP trick!” you fume, disgusted. “This Daniel Throssell guy! Thinks he’s this copywriting genius … but he’s just some clickbait-writing HACK!!!”

You raise the box above your head to hurl it into the jungle when—

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

A voice behind you startles you.

“EEEEEEEEEEK!” you squeal. “Who are—”

A hand slams over your mouth.

Then you get a good look at who’s surprised you:

It’s … Daniel Throssell again.
(Hi there.)

I whisper in your ear:

“I have no idea how you got outside my lab, but like I told you in the first email, it’s dangerous out here. Still … why don’t you try opening that box you were about to toss away.”

You open the box…
to discover your FIRST bonus item!

“Now,” I whisper, “you get the idea of how this works. Find items, click to add to inventory. Standard video-game fare. But that’s enough mucking around.”

I look around cautiously and continue:

“If you want to live, come with me — quickly. And for goodness’ sake, don’t do anything noisy like throwing around rusty old boxes. They’ll hear.”

“Who’s … ‘they’?” you ask.

At which instant, from behind us…

Something enormous bursts out of the forest … and growls.

You drop the box and turn around…

…to see something that looks like a lion … but three times bigger than any lion you’ve ever seen in your life.

Your eyes go wide.

“What … is … that … thing?” you stammer, lifting a finger.

In response, I just pull out a shotgun and say…

Or return to your inbox for another email — the choice is yours…