Chapter 3: Inventory & identify

Robert arrived at the lavish breakfast buffet, gazing in awe at the vast assortment of delectable options on display. As a growing teenage boy, food was one of his greatest passions in life. And the spread before him was a breakfast lover's paradise - piles of fluffy pancakes dripping with glistening syrup, trays of crispy bacon and sausage sizzling with flavorful fat, mountains of hash browns roasted to perfect golden brown, bins of fresh fruits glistening with morning dew.

His stomach grumbled loudly in eager anticipation, ready to indulge to his heart's content. But where to even begin? The choices were simply overwhelming. Robert's mouth watered as he imagined sinking his teeth into a tall stack of pumpkin spice pancakes, the sweet maple syrup melting over the fluffy cakes. Or creating a masterpiece of a breakfast sandwich with egg, cheese, and choice meats nestled between toasted English muffins. The possibilities for crafting the perfect start to his day seemed endless.

As Robert pondered the critical decision of what to attack first, a new message box popped up before his eyes: "New skill unlocked - Analysis!" Startled, he flinched backwards, bumping into his best friend Raj who was right behind him. Raj grabbed Robert's shoulder to steady him, furrowing his brow in concern. "You good dude? Still feeling dizzy?"

Robert shook his head dismissively and turned back to the buffet, hoping Raj didn't notice his brief panic. Above each dish, ingredient lists and nutrition facts now appeared in hovering text windows. His Analysis skill rapidly gained XP as he read through the options. In no time, it dinged Level 2, then Level 3 and continued increasing. By the time Robert filled his plate, Analysis had reached Level 5.

He frowned in frustration. In real video games, skill progression took time and effort. So why was his delusional "SYSTEM" advancing skills at hyper-speed for no reason? This supposed interface was acting glitchy, like a broken NPC in a shoddily coded game handing out rewards for no effort. Was this a symptom of his psyche fracturing? Robert pushed the worrying thought from his mind, determined to pretend everything was normal and enjoy his time with Raj.

"Everything okay? You've been standing there muttering for ten minutes," Raj said. Robert quickly composed himself and shook off his contemplative stupor. "Oh yeah, sorry just overwhelmed by the options," he mumbled in response. Raj grinned knowingly. "I hear you man, my eyes are way bigger than my stomach here too."

As they bantered, Robert noticed description windows floating above Raj's head listing his stats – name: Rajasekhar Reddy, level: 0, relationship meter 100/100. He quickly looked away before reacting, not wanting to explain another awkward slip-up. Glancing around nervously, Robert's heart sank as he realized every single person in the crowded dining hall now had personalized floating stat boxes. He groaned internally but tried to ignore the unasked-for details about strangers the "SYSTEM" was providing.

Turning back to his heaping plate, Robert saw it too was now cluttered with labeled windows documenting each item. A warning in angry red letters popped up on the tuna salad: SPOILED. Robert frowned. Should he trust imaginary warnings from his glitching psyche? But rotten fish could mean a trip to the doctor instead of comic panels. "Yo, earth to Robert! Come sit before all the tables are taken," Raj called out, snapping him back to reality.

Robert dumped his risky plate and grabbed a bowl of cornflakes instead. He then joined Raj at their table, hoping his supposed friend maxed out levels were enough to excuse his spaced-out behavior. Sitting down, Robert tried tuning out the text cluttering his field of vision. But the spoon and bowl insistently displayed LABEL, CALORIES, DESCRIPTION.

He focused intently on the spoon text, mentally trying commands like DISMISS, HIDE, MINIMIZE, DELETE, GONE. Suddenly, after thinking the word INVENTORY, the spoon disappeared from view in a blue glow! Raj froze mid-bite, bugging eyes staring wide-eyed at Robert's somehow empty hand, his bitten pancake dangling limply from his fork. "Where... where did the spoon go?" Raj stammered. "Into inventory" Robert blurted out Raj's eyes seemed to have widen even more if such a thing was possible.

Robert took a deep breath. Clearly this was no hallucination if Raj witnessed the spoon vanish too. He had to come clean. "Okay, don't freak out, but I have something crazy to confess..." Robert proceeded to describe the vivid "dream" and all the strange occurrences since.

Raj's eyes widened further as the unbelievable tale unfolded. "So when you saw the spoon disappear..." Raj began. "It means this is actually happening," Robert confirmed somberly. "No way!" Raj exclaimed. But deep down, he knew Robert was telling the truth.

Robert rifled through his menu options, locating the spoon in inventory. With intense concentration, he selected it from the grid and mentally dragged it back into view. The spoon reappeared on the table with a sparkling blue light, materializing in Robert's fingers! Raj yelped, nearly falling backwards out of his chair before Robert grabbed his arm to steady him. Nearby, a young boy around age 6 shrieked excitedly, his eyes wide with wonder at the impossible spoon trick he had just witnessed.

"Mommy, Daddy, look what he just did! It was magic, the spoon just disappeared and came back!" the boy exclaimed, tugging insistently on his parents' sleeves.

The boy's mother and father looked up from their plates indulgently. "That's nice, honey," his mother said with a gentle smile, before returning her attention to her pancakes.

"No, you're not listening! He made it vanish into thin air!" the boy persisted, bouncing up and down in his seat.

"I'm sure it was very exciting, sweetie," his father replied in a placating tone, ruffling the boy's hair affectionately.

The boy huffed in frustration as his parents exchanged an amused look over his head.

"Grownups never listen," the boy grumbled under his breath. He crossed his arms and sat back in his chair, resigning himself to the injustice that no one believed his amazing discovery.

Meanwhile, Robert and Raj hurried to finish their meals, eager to escape to somewhere private and further explore the unbelievable powers Robert now possessed.

Closing the door behind them, Raj immediately started peppering Robert with questions about the SYSTEM and his newfound powers. Robert held up a hand. "I know this is hard to believe. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it all. But clearly this is really happening to me...to us."

Raj nodded slowly as the reality sank in. "Can you show me the inventory screen thing?" Robert complied, pulling up the grid display and setting the option to share the display with Raj. Raj's eyes shone with awe and curiosity. For the next hour, the friends experimented with the SYSTEM's capabilities - adding and removing items, maxing out skills with no real effort. It defied logic, but neither could deny the impossible feats Robert could now perform.

As Raj enthused about the promise of real-life superpowers, Robert felt uneasy. "This power, it came out of nowhere when I least expected it," he mused. "but I don't understand why. Or how long it will last."

He met Raj's eyes, his expression turning grim. "What really worries me is that it said it needed to install itself directly into my brain. What could that do to me?"

Robert shuddered as he recalled the creatures' words during his vivid "dream" - that they had kidnapped him by mistake, thinking he was the Demon Lord. Was this "SYSTEM" something meant for that ominous being, now unleashed by accident into Robert's mind?

Raj pondered this new information, looking concerned. "You're right, that does sound risky. But whatever happens, we'll figure it out together." He put a reassuring hand on Robert's shoulder. "I know you're worried, but try not to panic yet. We don't fully understand what this is or what it wants."

Robert took a deep breath and nodded. Raj was right - fear and speculation wouldn't help right now. For the time being, Robert would proceed with cautious optimism, embracing the unbelievable while staying alert for signs of danger. After all, what else could he do?