Marco lied paralyzed on his bed after taking a bath. The sky on the horizon has turned slightly orange as night approaches.
The whole afternoon was used burying the corpses. Jessica helped bring the body to the empty lot while Marco focused on digging.
Things became hard since the job required physical strength and lots of stamina, which was something Marco doesn't have. Even using a shovel was a novel experience for him.
He could feel pangs of pain from his back, while his belly fat ached like there was no tomorrow, he couldn't raise his arm and leg at all due to muscle exhaustion.
However, even with all this negative news. He found the deed worth it, not because it was spiritually satisfying, but because he unlocked another feature from it.
Skill generation.
Dig Lv1 - Passive
When digging, there's a 1% chance to soften the target surface, allowing the tool to pierce easily into the target area. The higher the level of the skill, the more efficient the skill would become.
Marco was a newbie to using the shovel and after burying all the bodies, he suddenly received that the skill generation feature has been unlocked.
Successful actions have a small percentage of being turned into a skill. The more difficult the action, the higher the chances of obtaining a skill. The more familiar you are with the action, the harder it would be to gain the skill.
In addition to the digging skill, he also got the cardio skill, which is a great skill that could boost his stamina. The skill was simple, the higher the skill level, the longer it takes for him to get exhausted. Since he gets easily tired, leveling the skill would become easy.
The door opened and Jessica's head peeked out. "I cooked some food. Will you come out or do I bring your food here?"
"I'll head out. It's not a good habit to eat food while in bed."
On the table, there were fried eggs, opened canned foods, and rice. Marco didn't complain that there was too much food on the table since he was famished after everything that happened the whole day.
The two didn't speak while eating and they separated afterward. Like a true gentleman, he prepared some clean blankets and pillows for Jessica to use. He even helped to place the bedsheets in the living room despite his aching body. When everything was set and done, he locked himself inside his room and immediately fall asleep.
In his sleep, several updates occurred and remained on his system log.
-[Automatic passive feedback collection retrieved. Selecting adequate features...
-[Selection finished. Updates commencing...
-[Updating... 1%... 20%...
The next day, Marco woke up unable to move a single part of his body, Every time he forced to move, he could hear his joints cracking and popping all over the place.
Instead of forcing his body, he continued lying in the bed and went back to sleep. The next time he opened his eyes, Jessica was beside him worriedly waking him up. "Are you okay? What's happening? Why is your bedsheet so wet? Did you..."
Marco didn't understand a single thing she was saying and fell asleep again. When his eyes opened next, he felt a cold refreshing feeling on his forehead.
This time, he didn't immediately pass out. He removed the wet towel from his forehead and sat up. Beside the door, Jessica was leaning on her thighs, asleep.
Marco looked around and found a bucket of water next to the bed. After realizing that she helped him, he carried her up to the bed and covered her with a blanket. It was the least that he could do, and the reasonable thing to do.
He left the room intending to prepare some light breakfast.
Just as he closed the door, Jessica who was supposed to be asleep opened her eyes. Her eyes stared at thin air as if disappointed about something. Her over the roof confidence was starting to dim out.
She was actually sleeping earlier, but Marco doesn't know how to properly carry a sleeping person, which woke her up.
Instead of going out, she lazily rolled on the bed a few times before going back to sleep. After an unknown amount of time, Marco woke her up and invited her for breakfast.
"How are you feeling now? You were burning up earlier this morning, are you feeling good now?" Jessica inquired as she sat on the chair and combed her hair to the back of her ear.
"I was burning up?" Marco asked in confusion. As far as he could remember, he just felt extremely tired every time he opened his eyes.
"Yes, you are! I was even planning to pour cold water on you, but I felt bad so I stayed awake and nursed you. Aren't I good?" Jessica smiled and blinked sheepishly as if asking for praise.
They chatted about what happened as they eat and Marco learned that he was convulsing due to extreme temperatures. If it weren't for Jessica wiping his skin with a wet towel, he could have died earlier from heatstroke. He thanked her properly for taking care of him, then proceeded to clean the dishes.
After they finished their breakfast, they listened to the TV as they planned the things they have to accomplish today.
"The water and electricity might get interrupted after a few days. We need to get stocked on a lot of things if we want to survive. Our goal for today is to gather useful tools and stock up on food supplies." Marco said.
Jessica snapped her hands. "Then, I guess we're going to the supermarket."
On the TV, the situation has turned worse in large cities as the riots and fighting become uncontrollable. Unresponsive people were put down by law enforcement and there were no exceptions. Adult and children were shot as long as they don't listen to orders.
Martial law was needed to quell situations such as this.
Marco felt that the government has probably realized what was happening but still tries its best to control the panic spread. They continued calling the criminals 'terrorist groups' that aim to spread fear among the people. He doesn't even believe that there's one citizen watching believing the crap they were saying.