Most of the things that he remembered from the game were different in real life. It was expected and he should have figured things out much faster.
In games, you just need to press keys to input the command like "I" for Inventory and other features like crafting and building. However, in real life, he had to touch his pockets to access his inventory.
After opening the inventory screen, he sighed deeply upon seeing that he only had four inventory slots.
If he had a mouse, he could hover over the items to see their description. Unfortunately, there was no mouse available and he had to test things out one at a time.
It didn't take long since he only had to focus on the item for its description to show. All four inventory slots came from his jeans while his torso gave +0 slots.
"Should I change to pants with more pockets or wear something more comfortable to move at?"
"Whatever the choice, I would surely want to wear a hoodie and a backpack if I want more inventory space."
"The red bar with a plus icon should be my health. It's a no brainer that red bars are health and any person who claims to be a gamer who doesn't know that is fake."
"The yellow bar with a heart icon should be stamina and the white bar with arm muscle seems to be power or strength. I'm not really sure about these two so I need to do further experiments."
Under the four glaring inventory slots, Marco's nutrients appear to be at a good level since he just ate and is well-rested. To be honest, it was just a simple hunger and thirst.
Thirst level is full while hunger was a bit over seventy percent.
"It seems like I need to start eating a lot now," he said casually as if he wasn't eating enough.
The only reason why the hunger meter wasn't filled was due to his large appetite. The noodles he ate was just a light meal and isn't enough to make him truly full.
Due to streaming as a side hobby, Marco developed the rare ability to talk to himself. Often times, he would have to talk on his own to not feel lonely when he had no viewers on his stream. He wasn't a good talker and he doesn't have an appearance that would attract a crowd by doing nothing in front of the camera.
He continued to investigate and stumbled on the equipment section. It displayed all the essential items he was wearing.
Upon seeing his own avatar, Marco suddenly felt like he was a newly created character from an MMORPG game. Some of the equipment slots were empty and he only had the basic equipment to make sure he doesn't appear visually offending to other players.
"It's a bit disappointing seeing my clothes offer close to no defensive value at all, but I guess one point in defense is better than nothing.
"To be fair, I don't know the average defense value this new world has set. However, as a gamer, items that anyone can have are considered useless.
"You need unique items to proudly walk around the streets to display your strength!"
After recovering from his delusions of grandeur, he remembered that he still had a tutorial to finish.
He tapped the exclamation (!) tutorial icon but nothing happened. Actually, he didn't even feel anything, and yet he could interact with his inventory.
So he abandoned the tutorial and decided to experiment with the game functions first!
He picked up the smartphone from the computer table and placed it inside the jeans pocket. The jeans pocket readily absorbed the smartphone as if it was a black hole with a bottomless stomach.
The smartphone took one slot from the available slots.
Marco grinned. It seemed like everything was still the same just like from the game. That means he could stack the same items together and could fit larger objects than common sense allows.
For example, resources like small stones, branches, sticks, and the like could be stacked for one hundred items per stack. As long as the items were identical, they would be stacked once they enter the inventory.
The only exception were things that could be used as weapons. There are no questions to be asked since the developers programmed it like that. One of the probable reasons should be the differing durability.
Marco experimented for a bit wanting to familiarize himself with the real world's version of the inventory system.
He took the smartphone from the inventory slot and it appeared on his hand. Then, he put it back on the inventory slot, vanishing it from his hand. He instinctively inserted his hand on the jeans pocket and found the smartphone materialize there.
"Great! I can take items from the inventory as long as I want them. It also works the other way around. I can place items on my backpack and it would appear on the inventory!"
Marco was elated with the supernatural event that was happening to him until his mind wandered off to things that were happening in the world.
The crazed video he saw earlier. The killings...
The excitement he was feeling disappeared and turned into fear.
He quickly felt worried and opened social apps on his smartphone.
If the world really turned into a game, and the game was adapted from that game...
The zombies, the mutated animals, the random natural calamities and events... they could become real. All the various game elements could possibly become real!
All kinds of information and videos regarding chaotic events were flooding the socials.
When people jokingly commented "zombies", the fire was ignited and everyone's imagination ran wild.
Marco trembled in agitation since he knew the truth. He opened the TV and switched to a news channel. He rarely watches the news and this would be the first in a long while.
A black-haired woman appeared panicked while trying to make her way to the subway station entrance. Police officers and medical personnel could be seen rushing back and forth behind her. Too many people were rushing out, so she decided to settle down by the sidewalk and fix her long black hair.
She beamed a bright smile which brightened up her worried face.
"Goodmorning everyone. This is Meade Lobros, reporting live at the downtown subway entrance. As you guys can see, the people are panicking over here, rushing to get off the subway station. According to reports, a group of crazed individuals started killing people coldbloodedly. The police were already taking care of the situation, and I was only able to get here this quick because I was eating breakfast at the nearby XXX Cafe offering delicious meals. They have cheap yet tasty meals."
The camera shook a bit followed by a disgruntled man's voice.
"What are you doing? Are you advertising your sister's shop on live TV? Are you really going to be like this?"
"What are you talking about? We already agreed about this earlier!"
When the two were about to quarrel, a loud scream came from behind, and the people panicked more. The crowd ran faster and never looked back.
On the entrance to the subway stairs, a bloodied person tackled the slowest person to the ground and both of them tumbled forward. The slowest person among the bunch was a female office worker wearing high heels coupled with a tight skirt.
The bloodied person started biting the woman's flesh off as if no one was nearby.
A wailing sound from the police car echoed and two officers got off the car.
"Stop! Please stand up and slowly raise your hand."
The camera focused on the officer pointing a gun at the person chewing another person, followed by a sudden movement from the camera pointing towards the ground.
The cameraman's rattled voice echoed on the live TV. "Meade! Come here! Run!"
The TV showed a cheap-production of a running simulator that only showed footsteps and asphalt. Gunshots continued to echo the area, followed by more screams and loud panic noises from everyone.
"Albert! Help me!"
The camera shooting the ground stopped and turned.
Albert's feet were moving at a fast pace and based on his leg size, it seems like he wasn't that fit for running. He was more on the chubby side of things.
Still, he rushed back and was able to reach Meade in time. When she entered the camera frame, she was fending off an old woman from biting her. The camera swung back like it was attached to a kiddie swing before zooming fast towards the old woman's head.
Albert actually used the camera as a blunt weapon!
"Let's go! Get up!"
After helping Meade, the two hurried to the news van. The camera was placed on Albert's lap and Meade was being captured breathing roughly while peeking outside. She looked left and right, watching the situation outside of the news van.
The area was filled with terrifying screams.
Seconds later, she suddenly started shouting.
"Start the car! Start the car!"
Albert of course knew what to do and has been trying to start the engine ever since he stepped in the vehicle. Every time he turned the key, the engine would weakly start, then die off.
At the same time, wandering bloodied people got attracted to the vehicle and pounded crazily on the hood while some struck the windows. It took him several tries before managing to successfully start the van.
"Fuck yeah!" Albert's voice flowed through the camera, then the sound of the van's window getting pounded harder resounded.
Meade's clothes were stained with blood from the old woman. Her phone rang which prompted her to search for it in her pockets.
"Chief? Yeah... We're safe. You can see us?
"Why haven't you switched cameras! The people can see these! Everyone will panic!"
Albert, "Oh no, we have a problem. There's heavy traffic."
"No, no, no. We can't stay here. People are acting crazy..."
Meade scanned the area and pointed towards a side alley.
"There! Albert, go drive there! Let's head to my sister's cafe!"
Marco watched the whole event with bated breaths. The entire sequence of events was filled with action that even when he was just sitting in his living room, he could feel his heart race. He imagined getting chased by zombies or even fighting them, making him overly excited.
The TV station finally switched to its main studio. The professional male anchor appeared worried while clutching his printed report. His gaze was headed to the side instead of directly to the camera.
Words of concern were heard from him.
"Is he alright? Take him to the infirmary. Give him some fluids, maybe it's just heatstroke."
The anchor glanced at the camera and immediately acted like a professional. He introduced himself and the news network before continuing his work. He assured the viewers that everyone in the studio was safe and in no danger.
He continued reporting.
"Due to the sudden strange events earlier, a lot of accidents happened all over the country. These events caused people to go crazy and become war freaks. Be careful of encountering these individuals since they can't be reason with. Our reporters are experiencing difficulties capturing live footage, but we'll make sure to have everyone updated. For now, let's look at the weather forecast for today. Brother Kim, you may take the stage."
When the program switched to the weather forecast, Marco switched channels and watched other news networks.
All of their footage had something in common; they were full of chaos. People beating and biting each other to death.
Marco turned the TV off, then leaned back on the sofa.
"Of course, the world would change. I should have expected it. Now, I need to focus on how not to die.
"I don't have to worry about getting bit. Getting bit only causes debuffs, so there's no risk of dying.
"Also, only people that die turn into zombies. As long as they survive and get their debuffs treated, they should be fine.
"I need food and water, a light source too. I should get a few lighters. Right! Weapons too!
"Should I get out of these apartment complex or fortify my place?"
While contemplating what kind of things he needs, his gaze got attracted to the tutorial, and happened to blink his eyes.
The tutorial suddenly opened and showed a bunch of information.