Embark on a 'Choose Your Own Adventure'-style journey through cloud-native development in this engaging conference talk from GOTO Aarhus 2023. Follow an anthropomorphized application's treacherous trek from source code to a running application in a development environment. Learn about crucial decision points in the development process, including container image building, image storage, application deployment, database setup, schema management, and application development. Explore various CNCF projects and tools such as Buildpacks, Lima, Harbor, Kustomize, Helm, CDK8s, Crossplane, SchemaHero, and more. Gain insights into cloud-native technologies, system design choices, and the broader ecosystem through interactive demos and audience participation. Suitable for beginners and experienced developers alike, this presentation offers a unique perspective on the complex path to production in modern software development.