Chapter 3

"What's this? Apprentice grade?" Wesley pondered aloud, eyeing the unfamiliar classification. It was different from the usual items he'd come across. No matter, he thought, let's enjoy a good meal first. Having survived on bread since yesterday, a well-cooked meal was a welcome change. After expressing gratitude to his host, he savored the fried rice. It was delicious; the man truly lived up to his alias!

"This is very good," Wesley complimented Iron between bites. "I'd love to cook something like this myself."

"Well, young man, this is my simplest dish. If you're interested, I can share the recipe with you. Here, take this. I used to always write down my recipes, but I don't need it anymore. I can make this fried rice with my eyes closed."

Accepting the offered piece of paper, Wesley saw scribbled words on it. After a quick review, he realized it was the recipe for the 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."

Auxiliary skills? Wesley immediately brought up his status window. Once it appeared, he noticed an extra page following the Battle Skill section. He navigated to that page.

Auxiliary Skill:

Gatherer

- Forage: basic apprentice

- Lumbering: basic apprentice

- Mining: basic apprentice

- Fishing: basic apprentice

Artisan

- Blacksmith: basic apprentice

- Alchemist: basic apprentice

- Cooking: basic apprentice – see available recipes.

- Scroll Making: basic apprentice

Support

- Lockpicking: basic apprentice

- Detect & Disarm Trap: basic apprentice

- Runecraft: basic apprentice

- Inspect: basic apprentice

Social

- Leadership & Teamwork: basic apprentice

- Diplomacy: basic apprentice

- Haggling: basic apprentice

- Influence: basic apprentice

He checked the Auxiliary page with great attention, yet found no elucidation for each skill. He failed to recollect reading about these proficiencies in the Beta Guide as well. They were all at a rudimentary apprentice level; he inferred that repeated use would be necessary to augment their grade, akin to the star proficiency of battle skills. If this was indeed the case, it would likely necessitate a substantial amount of usage. Even for his accessible battle skills such as Power Strike and Mana Bullet, which he had employed incessantly for two days straight, they had not even filled up one-tenth of their first star rating.

"What's wrong, young man? You seem lost in thought. Was my fried rice that good?" Iron's voice broke his concentration.

Hearing Iron's comment, Wesley realized something. "You didn't see your status window?" he asked.

"What window?"

So we can only see our own status window, Wesley pondered. That's good, it will avoid others from learning about his stats and equipment attributes if he inspected them in the crowd.

"Try opening yours," he instructed Iron.

"Open what?" Iron looked puzzled.

"You can mentally call it up, but in your case, you can try saying 'status window' for the first time."

"Status window?"

After uttering the words, Iron suddenly sat up in his chair, bewilderedly staring at the empty air in front of him. His hand reached out as if trying to touch something. Wesley imagined his status window projection was floating in front of him.

"What's this?" Iron asked.

"It's the descriptions of your status," Wesley explained. "The first page you must be seeing now is your attributes window. It contains numbers that describe the basic limitations of your body."

"Huh?" Iron seemed even more confused.

Wesley sighed and asked him to sit down, then continued to explain what he knew. He covered attributes, skills, and the inventory system. It took almost an hour, with multiple questions, most of which Wesley himself wasn't entirely sure about the answers.

"Are you implying that our current reality is a manifestation of a game world?"

"I cannot confirm, but the regulations governing this realm bear resemblance to those present in a game world system."

"Does this mean that what we are experiencing is not authentic? Is it possible for us to return to actuality?"

"My knowledge on the matter remains uncertain."

"What about my spouse? As they are absent from this environment, can I assume their safety in the true reality?"

"I am unable to provide an answer."

"How do we transition back into veracity?"

Wesley sighed. This was getting out of hand. "Let's rest for the day," he suggested. "We'll figure this out somehow."

Iron opened his mouth, as if about to ask another question, but then thought better of it and nodded. "All right, let's take a rest. If you've really been walking around town, you must be tired. Let's go upstairs; I have a spare guest room you can use."

Wesley nodded in gratitude and followed him upstairs. They came up to a spacious room at the end of the stairs, not much furniture was in the room, there were two sofa chairs with a coffee table and rows of bookshelves along the walls.

Many cookbooks decorated the bookshelves. It seemed like his host might be a professional chef. There were several doors on two of the walls. Iron brought him to one of them.

"This will be your room for tonight, that door beside it is the toilet."

Wesley was about to thank him when he heard a beep from his God-eye monocle. He looked at his radar and was surprised to see a red dot that was slightly larger than usual in the vicinity. The red color on this particular dot was also slightly different. It was a darker red, like blood red. Its direction was around the front side of this house.

"Where's that door leads to?" He asked Iron while pointing to a door in the other wall.

"That's my room," Iron answered.

"Does it have windows facing out to the street?"

"Yes. I didn't board them up, but don't worry, those things can't climb up to the windows."

"I need to see outside, please excuse my rudeness," Wesley said while dashing to the door without waiting for Iron's approval. He opened them and went directly to the windows opposite the door. Iron followed behind with a dazed look.

Wesley signaled for Iron to crouch down under the window sill quietly. He motioned for silence. Iron obeyed and crouched beside him. Wesley peeked out of the window toward the strange red dot cautiously. What he saw surprised him.

There was a huge monster outside, about twice the size of a human, lumbering down the street. Its grotesque appearance sent shivers down Wesley's spine. The monster's skin was a sickly shade of green, with patches of rot and decay visible. Its elongated arms swung heavily as it moved, and its head was adorned with sharp horns. From its gaping mouth, rows of jagged teeth protruded menacingly.

"What in the world is that?" Wesley whispered, barely able to comprehend the sight before him.

Iron, who had also peeked out the window, looked equally horrified. "I've never seen anything like it," he muttered.

As they watched in terror, the monster turned its gaze towards the house, its eyes glowing with a malevolent red light. It let out a guttural growl, causing the ground to tremble beneath their feet.

"We need to get out of here," Wesley said urgently, his heart pounding in his chest.

Iron nodded in agreement, his expression grave. "But how? That thing is blocking the way."

Wesley scanned the room, searching for any possible escape route. Then, his eyes fell on the window. It was their only chance.

"We'll have to climb out the window," he said, his voice determined. "It's our only shot."

Iron hesitated for a moment, but then nodded. "Okay, let's do it."

Working quickly, they pushed the window open and hoisted themselves onto the windowsill. Below them, the ground loomed ominously, but they had no other choice. With a deep breath, Wesley leaped out into the night, followed closely by Iron.

They hit the ground with a thud, and Wesley winced as pain shot up his leg. Ignoring the discomfort, he scrambled to his feet and helped Iron up. Together, they sprinted away from the house, their hearts pounding with fear.

Behind them, they could hear the monster's roar growing louder, its heavy footsteps echoing through the night. But they didn't dare to look back. They ran as fast as they could, their only thought to escape the terrifying creature that pursued them.

As they rounded a corner, they saw a narrow alleyway up ahead. Without hesitation, they darted into it, hoping to lose their pursuer in the maze of streets. They ran until their lungs burned and their legs ached, driven by sheer desperation to survive.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, they emerged onto a deserted street, their breath coming in ragged gasps. They collapsed onto the pavement, too exhausted to go any further.

For a long time, they lay there in silence, listening for any sign of the monster. But all they could hear was the sound of their own ragged breathing and the distant wail of sirens.

Eventually, Wesley sat up, his mind racing with questions. What was that monster? And how had they ended up in this nightmare world?

But one thing was clear: they were in grave danger, and they needed to find a way to survive. With that thought in mind, Wesley turned to Iron, determination burning in his eyes.

"We need to keep moving," he said firmly. "We can't stay here. Not with that thing out there."

Iron nodded, his expression grim. "Agreed. Let's go."