We found a supermarket after walking on a seemingly empty road. Most people were still in the middle of their beginner quests and many of the areas have been left empty like this one. The only living people we found in this place were gravely injured and their lives can't be prolonged. They're to die. I felt a little sad when I realised that there might be kids like Jay everywhere who're forced to either die or complete those shitty quests to live and what's there to live for? To see those corpses everywhere and carcasses of the common animals and birds found in the urban areas.
But this is what I live for. This is what I'm good at. This is what I'm in love with. This world it is and no other.
"Uncl— Big bro, what is your name?" Jay asked while picking up his favourite snacks from the supermarket shelves.
"You were about to call me uncle, weren't you?" I guessed his unfinished word. I don't look that old. As I started looking at my faint silhouettes on the cracked glass doors to the fridge containing dairy and other milk products. My hair wasn't neat anymore, my clothes weren't exactly very wearable anymore but I look cool, don't I? With a straight nose, not too big but just perfect and a jawline worthy of being called the sigma jawline. Slight traces of well defined muscles, lean and tall. How tall was I again? 177cms? 180cms? Doesn't matter.
"Um. Your name?" Jay disappointingly looked at me glaring at my own reflection keenly.
"Right. It's Yohan Wan," I told him and picked a pack of doritos from above his head, "You should eat all you want now and maybe find backpacks to stuff things into. We need new clothes too. These reek of blood," I mentioned.
"Backpacks are on the 3rd floor," Informed Jay.
"Go get them," I pat his back, "If anything's wrong, scream. I'll go check on our sleeping beauty," I put a protein bar in my mouth.
The blood stains on my pants felt so gross while my shirt was in tatters. The supermarket was eerily quiet and empty with all the rations, products intact, not stolen and sprawled around. That's surprising considering how there's a bunch of people who could've taken the things here. The malicious groups surely would've destroyed the remaining resources.
She was lying on the payment counter as I checked her eyes and pulse but something was wrong. Her pulse was getting worse and her breathing was strained. This is not a good sign. What about Jay? Did I miss something here? Is there anything in the air? The air seemed to be okay but then why is her pulse decreasing? She started to gasp for air soon and I couldn't think of anything that could cause this. I looked at the counter and found a mysterious vegetation's root that I've never seen before digging into her back. Is this the reason?
I picked her up and laid her on the ground with most of her torso supported on my leg and my arm supporting her head. The broken roots still fixed in her back as I started to pull it out one after another. Her expression looked like she was in so much pain. Well, bear with it. Her back was bleeding and her t-shirt was soon soaked in blood. Her body was pale and losing color for which I took off my already tattered shirt and tied it around her body as a temporary measure to stop her bleeding.
The plant started to release a sweet enchanting smell that I could barely resist from touching it. That is a carnivore plant with the characteristics to attract living things and devour them. Did it wake up when I laid her on the counter or is that it's hunting pattern? I didn't notice it at all. I put a pack of doritos under her head, gently laying her down and walked around the counter to check where the roots were growing from. The crooked stem of the plant was swollen like a nasty pimple with the white sap flowing out. This is what is giving off the sweet smell.
I touched the sap that fell on the tiles instead of directly touching the source that is the stem. The texture felt similar to a slime and it didn't stick to my skin either. I put the faint trace of the white sap on the tip of my tongue, it doesn't seem to be harmful to ingest ignoring the fact that it's roots were trying to devour her. The flower was upside down underneath the counter where the wires of the payment system were entangled with it's lightly luminescent petals. An upside down flower? As I looked at the roots, the stem and the position of the flower, it was as if this plant was growing upside down.
It was dark underneath the counter and the flower was slightly glowing, illuminating the dark space enough to be able to see without straining the eye. I looked around and found a pen, I used the pen to poke the stem where the sap was flowing out from. The pimple of a stem burst with the acids burning anything and everything in it's vicinity. I was so glad there was no electricity in the system, otherwise this would've been as good as a tiny plastic bomb. A drop of acid still landed on my pant and burnt a hole in it. That is one strong acid. The sap is eatable, tastes like sugar syrup but the roots and stem aren't. The flower can be used as a source of light if it can maintain it's luminescence.
I looked over the counter as I heard her groaning in pain and immediately rushed to find any medical supplies that could disinfect her wound and bandages. Alcohol! Alcohol is fine too and I grabbed a bottle of alcohol from the shelves.
Her face had lost all color. She was starting to look as pale as a ghost. Rolling her on her stomach and cutting up the back of her T-shirt, I cleaned the wounds and bandaged them.
"What are you doing?" Jay asked from behind me.
"Why were you up there for so long? I managed to discover a new plant in that time, not to mention, quite literally at that!" I continued to fix the bandages and secure them in place.
"I found a tree on the 3rd floor," He said.
"What?" I turned around to look at him and rushed to check if he was hurt.
"I'm fine. I didn't go near it. But it looked really pretty," He continued, "It was upside down"
That tree is carnivore too. With what I've discovered, this plant feeds itself through the roots that grow on the surface while the flowers and the tree grow in a dark area with no sunlight. Their ideal environment would be caves and tunnels. What is this plant? Did it exist before the apocalypse?
"Let's get out of this supermarket after you're done changing your clothes and packing up stuff you want, be quick," I told him and grabbed a random shirt and pants from the clothing section.
After I was done, I picked a few free size women's clothing and stuffed it in the bag. Sleeping beauty doesn't want to wake up, damn it and I don't know her clothing measurements.
"Done!" Jay exclaimed wearing a fluffy dark jacket on top of a gray tee and cargo shorts with a cap. His backpack filled with a lot of snacks. His tiny nose was bright and his excited eyes glimmered with a smile on his face. A smart kid.
"Say Inventory and then store bag," I told him.
His did as instructed and his backpack disappeared into thin air, looking at me with a confused expression, I told him, "That's how the system works. Don't worry, there will soon be a guide. Maybe"
"It... hurts," She murmured through gritting teeth, pushing down the pain and slowly opening her eyes, adjusting to the light.
Peek!
[Name: Luna Abraham]
[Age: 25]
[Attribute: Judge (lv.4)]
[Exclusive skills: Law enforcement (lv.2), Judgement (lv.3)]
[Overall stats: Strength (lv.3), Agility (lv.2), Physique (lv.3), Magic (lv.4), Dexterity (lv.2)]
[Overall Rating: A+]
[Remarks: An under-confident girl with excellent skills.]
Two skills right off the bat and both of them sound like they'll be overpowering.
"Right. I'm sorry, I was careless with your body. You have a few holes on your back. That's what's hurting so I'll suggest you to be careful with movement if you don't want to reopen those," I told her.
"HOLES? ON MY BACK?!" she exclaimed.
"Stop. I just said, be careful with movement," I glared at her. My glare paired with an expressionless face, she seemed scared. Such a pain.
[Overuse of the skill 'Reader' will cause blindness for 30 minutes. Penalty will commence in 5 minutes.]
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? WHEN DID I ACTIVATE THAT SKILL? Since when was it active?
Skill info 'Reader'!
[Skill: Reader]
[Type: Passive]
[Level: 3 (Will increase with usage rate)]
[Status: Active]
[Uses: Able to comprehend and assess the situation faster. Maximises efficiency. Can be used continuously after reaching a certain level without penalty.]
[Usage: 6 hours]
[Penalty of overuse: 30 minutes of blindness]
"I'm about to go blind for the next 30 minutes, Jay, I believe I can trust myself to you?" I looked at him. The random change of conversation topic surprised them and so did the news of my temporary blindness.
"Wha— WERE YOU HURT?" he asked.
"No, I'll get my sight back in 30 minutes. Its a system penalty for overusing a skill which I didn't notice was automatically active," I explained.
"Alright. Leave yourself to me!" He smiled, happy with the amount of trust I was showing towards him.
"Stop ignoring my existence," Said Luna.
"Ah, you were still here," I looked at her and then explained the course of action she was supposed to take. She quickly filled in some of the uncertain parts and I was impressed by her judgement. She's indeed excellent. I want to listen to her story sometime.
The light from my eyes started to fade. The scene infront of me started to look like a tunnel before finally erasing any signs of light from my sight. Like a person drowning in the depths of mariana trench, the unknown yet familiar world which I knew wasn't safe was preparing to swallow me whole the moment I let my guard down.
No matter what the penalties and tragedies, I can't bring myself to hate the system or this world. For some reason, I was unable to remember why I wanted the system.
Please stay safe and hold on for 30 minutes.