Chapter 4

Sharon's one-room apartment was cozy. 

It was clean, bright, and orderly, with white lace curtains on the windows and flower pots on lace doilies… 

It's a pleasant atmosphere. 

The shower was just as clean, with various tubes, jars, and bottles neatly arranged on their shelves...

There was really no hot water.

When I opened the faucet, the pipe started to shake, and a thin stream of rusty, muddy, barely warm water trickled out.

I apologized and hurried to the basement, but immediately, I thought the worst had happened: the boiler in the communal area had broken down.

This would cost several thousand dollars to fix and take a week of work from a crew of experts I would still have to find. 

Luckily, it turned out fine, and the boiler was working properly. Since it wasn't the boiler, it had to be the pipes and faucets. 

Therefore, I went to check those.

I discovered that the entire problem was with the section of pipe leading from the main riser specifically to Sharon's shower and kitchen. 

It was clogged, and that was the reason for the low water pressure and the vibrations.

With these conclusions, I returned to Sharon.

"The pipe needs to be replaced, Sharon. It's almost completely blocked."

"The pipe? And when?" 

Sharon frowned.

"Right now. It'll take a few hours. I have everything I need."

"A few hours?" 

Sharon's face shifted from frowning to bewildered.

"But how can… I…"

"You can use the shower in my apartment for now. There's no one there at the moment, and I'll be busy here for a while and won't disturb you."

I understood her confusion. 

Judging by the time of day, she had just come home from work. 

She wanted to take a shower to wash away the sweat from work and the dust from the street, and then this unfortunate situation occurred. 

By the way, she also smelled like she hadn't just come from work but from an intense physical training session, followed by a series of full-contact sparring matches. 

The dust in her hair wasn't entirely from the street. Well, who knows what a young athletic girl might have been up to.

"Th… thank you, Mr. Blank."

Sharon replied, stumbling slightly.

"I'll be quick."

"No problem, Sharon."

I made an "OK" sign with my fingers, grinning stupidly and scratching the back of my head. 

'Ah! Cute girls are my weakness.'

Whether in this life or the previous one… But with my current figure and appearance, all I can do is scratch my head and not expect anything.

It took me about twenty minutes to get the pipes from the utility room, carry them upstairs, plug in and set up my tools, and do all of this.

Just in time for Sharon to come back, clean and refreshed. She went straight to her bedroom to use a hair dryer to dry her fancy hair, closing the door behind her.

With a calm conscience, I shut off and drained the water in the riser. 

I patched the holes where the old plaster had come off, painted the pipes, removed the dismantled metal, and cleaned up after myself… not too much to do! 

"Ding"

[Skill Acquired: Handy Man]

Attention! 

[Agility +1]

"Ms. Sharon! Come check the work!" 

I shouted cheerfully, sweeping the last of the debris onto the dustpan.

"Already?"

Sharon's surprised voice came from the kitchen.

"You said it would take a few hours?"

"How much time has passed?"

"Two hours and fifteen minutes."

"More than one is already too much!"

I smiled. 

She smiled back and turned on the "hot" faucet, and hot water flowed joyfully.

"How wonderful! You have "golden" hands, Mr. Blank!" 

Sharon said happily.

"I had no idea you knew about plumbing."

"Ding"

[Experience +100 points.]

"What's there to figure out? It's not exactly rocket science!" 

I chuckled.

"Do you happen to know anything about electricity?" 

She immediately perked up.

"What exactly do you need?"

I asked, catching the wave of interest.

"The outlet in my room stopped working."

She lowered her eyes and almost shuffled her foot.

"Show me."

I smirked, wiping my freshly washed hands on the offered towel. 

Afterward, she led me to a melted outlet, above which the corners of the wallpaper were burned, and nearby was a fire extinguisher, foam type, with a broken seal. 

"How did this happen?" 

I asked with bewilderment, examining this wonder.

"Here." 

She sheepishly handed me an extension cord with eight sockets, a thick wire, and a melted plug at the end.

"And what was plugged into it?"

I asked suspiciously.

"Two heaters, an iron, and a vacuum cleaner." 

She replied even more sheepishly.

"How did the circuit breaker not trip?" 

I was surprised.

"Circuit breaker?"

Sharon didn't understand.

"You know, the thing with a lever next to the meter."

I explained, already approaching the circuit breaker. 

I opened my mouth wide and twitched my eye because the circuit breaker was in place and working. 

The only thing was that the lever was attached with a paperclip and a long spring to the top edge of the electrical panel box, keeping the lever in the "on" position... 

That was it. 

Game over. 

I silently went downstairs for a new outlet, wires, and electrical tape…

"Ding"

[Handy Man +1]

[Experience +50 points]

"Don't do that again." 

I said seriously, pointing at the freed circuit breaker after I finished.

"It doesn't just click for no reason. It turns off the circuit when there's too much load, saving you from a fire, Sharon."

"I understand already."

She replied, lowering her head like a guilty child.

"And get rid of that fire extinguisher. Buy a powder one, and remember, powder! I can't believe you didn't get killed when you tried to put out the wiring with that! That's almost certain death!"

"Well… When it sparked, I dropped it right away, and then the lights went out in the whole house…"

"You were lucky."

I sighed. 

"All it would've taken was for you to step into the puddle with the edge of your foot, and that's it. You'd be dead.

Sharon turned pale.

"I won't do it again." 

She replied, looking lost.

"I hope so."

I sighed in response.

"Well, I'll be going then."

"Wait, Mr. Blank!" 

Sharon exclaimed.

"I made a meat pie. Can you stay and have some?"

"Meat… pie…"

I slowly said, loudly swallowing the saliva that had rushed in, and my stomach growled audibly.

"Ding!"

[Wild Hunger has evolved into the negative effect "Gluttonous." This decreases Health and Energy by -1 per minute]

"Yes, yes."

Sharon nodded. 

"With cheese and garlic."

"With cheese and garlic…"

I repeated dreamily after her, and then I slapped my cheek hard with my palm, using the pain to chase away the temptation and the enchantment.

[You received 2 damage.]

[You received 1 damage.]

"I'm sorry, Sharon." 

I forced a pale and guilty smile.

"I can't… diet…" 

Lifting my hands, I let go of my belly, allowing it to jiggle noticeably.

"Diet." 

Sharon said sympathetically, shaking her head in understanding.

"Diet, yes…"

"Diet…" 

I sighed, trying not to ignore the delicious smell wafting from the kitchen and not to drool on my clothes. 

"I'll be going…"

"What about the pie?" 

She asked with confusion. 

"I can't eat it all by myself… figure…"

"There's a student living in the apartment across the hall."

I recalled.

"He's been late on rent for a week… I think he's really tight on money… and food…"

"Right, Peter…" 

Sharon remembered.

"Thank you, Mr. Blank."

"You're welcome, Sharon." 

I smiled. 

"And sorry about the pie…" 

Leaving out the door, cutting myself off from the incredibly tempting smell of meat.

[You received 1 damage.]

[Will +3]

It was only the first day of the diet, but I was already feeling down as I ate cabbage, green onions, and milk. 

I gazed gloomily out the window, thinking about the fact that this was only the first day of the diet. 

The very first of a series is yet to come, and I already wanted to strangle someone with my own hands… and the two Will points I lost over the last hour didn't console me at all... Furthermore, the "Gluttonous" went back to just "Hunger" but showed no signs of disappearing…