Chapter 8. Another Player

He waited for a while after knocking, while paying attention to the blue dot on his radar. Before his knock, the blue dot had been moving around, but after the knock it became static. He assumed it must have heard his knock. He knocked on the door again, heavier this time. The blue dot still stayed in its place.

'Was it pretending to not hear my knock?' Jack thought.

He lost patience and knocked for the third time while yelling, "Hey, I know you are inside! Open up!"

After a moment of silence, he heard footsteps rushing to the door. The blue dot was coming. Tensing up, Jack jumped backward and took out his sword and magic staff.

After several clicks, the door opened.

A middle-aged man wearing casual attire was staring at him with a bewildered look. The look turned to joy, but was almost immediately replaced fight when the man noticed the sword in Jack's hand. Realizing the man was not a menace, Jack put away his weapons. The man's expression now changed to relief. Using his God-eye monocle, Jack could see descriptions floating above the man's head.

*

Master Chef (Ranger, level: 1)

HP: 110/110

*

'He is a player as well,' Jack thought, though he wasn't sure if he should call himself and the man players. Players, after all, were participants in a game, and he was not at all sure if this world they were in right now was a game or real.

"Yo– You are… a person!" The man stammered.

"That I am," Jack answered.

"Oh, really? Really?" The man stepped forward and grabbed Jack's shoulders hard, as if afraid Jack was just a figment of his imagination.

"I haven't seen anybody since… since all this started! Do you know what happened?"

"No, I'm confused as well," Jack said. "You've been here all this time?"

"Yes, of course. Why would I be wandering around with all those things outside? Come in, hurry, before those things show up!"

'He must be referring to the monsters,' Jack thought. The man went back inside and beckoned Jack to follow. Jack complied and went inside. Jack immediately liked the neat interior of the house; simple furniture decorated the house, no fancy stuff or ornaments. A sofa and a small coffee table were beside the boarded up windows. Opposite to them was a small table with a small clock and some family photos on it. He heard the clicks again and turned to see the man locking up several bolts and latches on the door.

"I was afraid I was the only one left," the man said as he led Jack into the dining room, "Would you like something to drink?"

"Yes, please," Jack replied.

The man poured some water into a glass and brought it to him. Jack looked carefully at the glass.

*

Drinking water (Junk consumable)

Alleviate thirst

*

He drank it and asked, "you really didn't go out at all?"

The man sat down opposite him. "I did, when it first happened. After the loud ringing stopped, I tried to find my wife. I thought she must have gone out, so I went to search for her. And that's when I saw those dead people on the street. One of them chased after me and I barely managed to run back to my house. That's when I boarded up the windows and added some more locks on the door. What was it? Was it a virus epidemic? Like the ones in those old apocalyptic movies that you young folks like to watch?"

"I don't think so," Jack said. He didn't think it would be a good idea to tell him about the skeleton monster. That would destroy his theory of the apocalyptic epidemic. "You mentioned loud ringing? What about a bright flash?"

"What bright flash?"

"… Don't worry about it."

"I just can't make heads or tails about it," the man continued. "After the loud ringing, there was this woman's voice. And then a black box appeared as if by magic. Inside was a bunch of stuff. I tried to move away at first, but it was like something was holding me. I couldn't move away from that box. So I picked up this knife, figured I could at least use it for cooking. Afterward, there was the woman's voice again, saying some stuff which I didn't understand. After all that, I started searching for my wife."

Jack was speechless, 'This guy has absolutely no idea what is happening. Not like I do either, but at least I grasped the class, level, and combat mechanics. This guy just stayed at level 1 all this time. Wait a minute! This means that what happened here was not limited to gamers. This guy doesn't sound like he's played any games in his entire life.'

"Forgive me; I was so excited to see another person that I forget my manners. My name is Bill," the man extended his hand.

Jack shook his hand, "Jack." He gave his real name since Bill did the same.

"So, you have been roaming around since yesterday? How have you avoided those things outside?"

"I haven't," he replied.

"You haven't?" The man was confused. "You haven't been roaming? Are you a nearby resident then?"

"No, I mean I haven't avoided them," Jack took out his sword. "I killed them."

The man was flabbergasted. "With a knife?"

"Dude, this is a sword…"

"Young man, this is not the time to be joking around. Unless you have a gun, don't think about confronting those things outside."

Jack just nodded silently. He was already tired out after a full day of journeying; he was not going to waste his resting time arguing with this uncle.

"Are you hungry? Why don't I make you something to eat?" the uncle offered.

"I don't want to be a bother."

"No, no bother at all. I enjoy cooking. It helps to calm my nervous mind." By the time he finished speaking, Bill had scrambled into the kitchen. Jack could hear the sounds of cooking not long after.

'Guess there was a reason he had chosen that alias of his,' Jack thought, smiling.

While he was waiting, he looked at his status window. His Strength was already 28, but his Dexterity was lagging behind at 25. He had 1 free attribute point and 1 free skill point for Fighter class and 1 free skill point for Magician class. After some contemplation, he still kept the free skill points for later, but once again added his free attribute point to his Dexterity, increasing it to 26.

The sounds of cooking subsided, so he closed his status window. There was a good smell coming from the kitchen. Not long after, Bill came out carrying a dish. He put it on the table. It was simple fried rice, but the smell was rich, and the color and appearance were very enticing. Some text appeared above the dish.

*

Egg Fried Rice (Food, Apprentice grade)

Recover 50 HP

Increase stamina and mana recovery by 50% for the next 3 hours

Ingredients: 1 Rice, 1 Egg

*

'Apprentice grade? What was this?' It had a different classification from the normal consumable items he had gotten till now. 'Never mind, let's enjoy a good meal first.'

He had been eating bread since yesterday, a well-cooked meal was much welcomed. After giving thanks to his host, he dined on the fried rice. The taste was delicious, the man well deserved his alias!

"This is very good," he said to Bill while still munching. "If I could cook a fine meal such as this, it would be great."

"Well, young man. This is my simplest dish. If you want to learn, I can share the recipe with you."

Bill held out a small piece of paper. "Here, take this. I used to write down my recipes, but I can make this fried rice with my eyes closed."

Jack took the offered piece of paper. Some words were scribbled on the paper. After reviewing it, he realized it was the recipe for this fried rice. Suddenly, he heard the mechanical notification again, "you have learned Cooking Recipe: Simple Fried Rice."

"Congratulations, you have unlocked the Auxiliary Skill page, you can review the skills inside the Status window."