Early in the morning, Reed opens his eyes, still feeling exhausted despite the hours of rest.
"That fight took more out of me than I thought..." Reed mutters, stretching his arms.
"Yeah, maybe don't go attacking random animals next time," Jack chimes in from the side.
Reed turns to Jack and says, "I just really wanted to level up, okay?"
Jack rolls his eyes before adding, "Still, why was there a snake that big in the first place?"
"You still call that a snake?" Reed scoffs. "That thing was huge! Calling it a snake sounds weird—I'd rather call it a serpent."
Jack nods in agreement. "Now, show me your second 'move.'"
Reed grins and uses his second move [Thousand-Segment Strike], The user's arms extend like segmented bamboo, delivering a high-speed flurry of reinforced punches or slashes.
Jack watches as Reed's arms extend, striking rapidly like segmented bamboo. The sheer speed and force of the flurry impress him.
"Not bad," Jack comments, crossing his arms. "Looks like you finally got something good for close combat."
Reed smirks. "Of course. Now I can fight up close without relying only on my bamboo spikes."
Jack says, "For a second move, it's pretty good." He pauses before adding, "Wanna see my third move?"
Reed, still playing around with his [Thousand-Segment Strike], turns to Jack and asks, "So, since it's the third move, you're close to unlocking your ultimate, right?"
Jack replies, "Correct. If this were still in the game, I'd be unlocking my 'C' move, which is equivalent to a third attacking move."
Reed, excitedly asks, "So this should be decently strong, right?"
Jack responds, "I'm not sure. If this fruit were from a high rank, then I could guarantee a strong ability, but since it's a low-level fruit..."
Reed, not backing down, quickly asks, "Don't you already know since they give info straight to your head?"
Jack looks at Reed, dumfounded, and shakes his head in disbelief. "Are you stupid? Didn't you experience it already? It only gives you the name!"
Reed lowers his head in embarrassment. "Can you use your move already?"
Jack chuckles and nods, then starts moving back.
Reed, puzzled, asks, "You're moving away?"
Jack responds, "The name suggests a storm."
Reed, understanding, nods and steps back as well.
Jack takes a deep breath, then extends his arms, forming a T-shape with his body. A massive storm of rice grains erupts around him, swirling violently with incredible speed, shredding everything in its path. The air is filled with the deafening sound of high-speed grains cutting through the environment.
...
[GrainStorm]
The user creates a massive cyclone of rice grains, shredding everything in its path with swirling high-speed grains.
...
Reed, standing safely outside the area of effect, whistles in awe. "Now that is scary."
Jack, standing in the center of the storm, remains unaffected as he observes. "Interesting... I'm not being affected."
Jack, deep in thought as he walks over to Reed, mutters, "So if I trap them with [Sticky Grain Rice] beforehand, I can basically... control the area and trap them within the storm."
Reed, watching the storm rage on, sweatdrops, "This thing lasts for so long."
Jack, finally arriving next to Reed, agrees, "Yeah, normally in-game, a huge AoE like this would last only 10 seconds at most."
Reed suggests, "Let's stay here for now. I want to see how long this lasts."
Jack nods in agreement.
...
The storm dissipates, and Reed comments, "So around 30 seconds." He pauses before turning to Jack, adding, "Not too bad, right?"
Jack stands up from his personal 'rock' and replies, "You're right, but too bad no one's sticking around in that area for more than 10 seconds, since it's guaranteed they'll be out of the AOE."
"True," Reed quips, "I would get out of the area ASAP, not taking any chances." He thinks for a bit before adding, "I wonder what my third 'move' is now."
Jack sweatdrops. "You just unlocked your second 'move,' don't get too hasty."
Reed adds, walking toward the boat, "You never know!"
Jack sighs before following Reed to the ship.
...
On the ship.
Reed notices their water supply running low and turns to Jack. "We're running out of water. Should we get some from Foosha Village?"
Jack hesitates before answering. After a moment of thought, he says, "We should... but news of someone dying might have already spread."
Reed pauses for a moment before saying, "We're running low on water, so it looks like we have no choice but to go there."
Jack nods solemnly before sighing, "I just hope they don't suspect us."
Reed remains silent for a moment before giving a nod and heading toward the village.
As they walk, Jack suddenly remembers that he hasn't claimed his mission reward yet. Without breaking his stride, he opens his system and quickly claims it.
(Jack) 4500 » 6000
"Claim the free money" he nudges Reed
Reed blinks at the nudge before realizing what Jack meant. He quickly opens his system and claims the reward. "Can't say no to free money," he mutters with a slight smile.
(Reed) 4000 » 5500
Reed and Jack chat casually as they walk, soon arriving at the village. The usual peaceful atmosphere feels tense.
Noticing that everything seems normal, they cautiously search for a place to buy water, scanning the village for a shop that sells drinkable water.
They find a shop and step inside. Reed approaches the counter and asks, "Do you have water?"
The man behind the counter nods. "Yes, we do."
After purchasing the water, they step outside, only to hear a sudden scream. Confused, they—and the nearby crowd—turn toward the source of the sound, spotting a woman frozen in fear.
"IT'S HIM!" the woman screams, pointing directly at Reed. "He's the one who broke into the house!"
The crowd grows tense. Whispers spread like wildfire as people recall the horrifying discovery of a dead body. Some villagers instinctively step back, fear and suspicion evident in their eyes.
Reed's heart races—he was sure no one had seen him when he took the money a few days ago. Panic creeps in as he struggles to keep his expression neutral.
Jack, sensing the tension, keeps his voice steady as he cautiously asks, "Who broke into a house?"
The woman hesitates for a moment before firmly pointing at Reed. "Him! It was him! He used some kind of strange power to create bamboo spikes and broke into the house! I'm sure of it!"
The woman then adds, "He probably killed that poor woman a few days ago too!"
Jack freezes for a moment, realizing that the woman might have connected Reed to the murder, but then quickly understands that he accidentally framed Reed himself.
As Jack stands there, Reed, noticing the tension, quickly responds to the woman, "I didn't kill anyone!"
Jack, snapping out of his thoughts, quickly realizes the danger of staying any longer. He grabs Reed and starts pulling him away, heading toward the outskirts of the village before things can escalate any further.
The onlookers shout, "Liar!" as Reed and Jack make their way through the crowd. Jack, still holding Reed, quickens his pace, determined to get out before things spiral out of control. They head toward the outskirts of the village, the shouting growing fainter behind them.
Reed, shocked by the sudden impact of the rock hitting his head, instinctively reacts by launching a sharp bamboo stalk toward the direction where he thought the rock came from. The crowd, now frightened, begins to scatter, some of them shouting in panic as they flee from the scene. Jack pulls Reed away, urging him to move faster as they leave the village behind.
As they head back to the ship, Jack notices Reed's hand shaking. "You good?" he asks. Reed hides his hand in his pocket. "Yeah... just shaken up," he replies, forcing composure. They continue toward the ship, the weight of the situation lingering.
Reed breathing heavily as they arrive at the ship, Jack notices this and tells him to check his level. to which Reed looks at him confused.
Jack, noticing Reed's confusion, sighs and says, "Just trust me, check it."
Reed nods, checks his level, and then asks, "What now?"
"Do you notice any changes?" Jack asks.
Reed shakes his head. "No."
"Exactly," Jack replies. "If you'd killed that guy, you would've gotten some experience points!"
Reed lets out a sigh of relief, realizing Jack is right. He had feared that he had actually killed someone.
Jack nudges Reed's shoulder, saying, "You good now? At most, the guy's probably just badly hurt." He pauses before adding, "The stat points don't add that much damage; in the game, they barely made a difference."
"Although with enough points, it will make a difference," Jack added. Reed nodded in agreement, and they both made their way to the ship.
In front of the ship, Reed stops, looks at it, then glances at Jack and asks, "Should we get a better ship? One with a cooking area?"
Jack nods, already tired of eating bland rice every day. Taking their belongings out onto the shore, he glances at Reed and says, "You buy the ship this time." Reed nods in response.
Reed opens his shop and looks for a decent ship. After a while, he asks Jack, "What about this? It's called [Ocean's Grace]."
Jack thinks for a moment and then asks, "Do you think it has a cooking area?"
"It better have! This thing costs 5000!" Reed quips, looking at the ship.
Jack says, "Alright, buy it." He pauses, then adds, "I hope this thing is worth it."
Reed nods and buys the ship, causing their old ship to vanish and be replaced by the [Ocean's Grace].
The [Ocean's Grace] features a deep crimson hull with gold accents along its curves and carvings. The figurehead, a serene ivory mermaid, is highlighted with gold. Three masts support white sails trimmed in gold. The deck, made of polished dark wood, is lined with golden railings, decorative rugs, and lanterns. The captain's wheel, crafted from oak with gold inlays, complements the regal design. The ship moves gracefully across the water, its crimson and gold colors making it a striking sight on the sea.
(Reed) 5500 » 500
Jack's eye twitches as he looks at the red ship. "Why did you choose this? It's red!" he sighs. "We're going to be visible from miles away."
"Well, technically it's crimson," Reed says with a matter-of-fact tone. "And crimson happens to be my favorite color!"
Jack sighs and says, "Let's take a look around the ship," to which Reed nods.
As they enter the ship, they notice it has electricity. "It has electricity?!" Reed exclaims.
"Now that's surprising," Jack comments.
After a moment of thought, Jack adds, "I don't even hear a generator or anything similar."
Reed nods and says, "I'm going to look for a kitchen and start loading our supplies."
Jack responds with a nod, adding, "I'll explore the ship."
...
Jack arrives on the deck, noticing the four cannons on each side, totaling eight. "Eight? That's a lot," he mutters to himself.
He then heads to the front of the ship, inspecting the mermaid figurehead. "I wonder if we can sell this gold?" he muses.
Jack shakes his head. "Probably not, since this ship is straight from the system." He then moves back, heading to check if there are any bedrooms on the ship.
During his exploration, Jack encounters Reed, who is carrying the water they bought earlier. Jack asks if he found the kitchen, and Reed nods, replying, "Yeah, it's over here," before leading the way.
Jack follows Reed to the kitchen, which looks amazing. "Beautiful," Jack mutters.
"Yeah, I thought the same," Reed says, setting the water aside.
"Let's go explore more," Jack suggests, and Reed nods in agreement.
After some further exploration, they come across the bedroom—or rather, the bedrooms. There are several rooms, but only four in total.
"I thought there would only be one," Jack says, and Reed adds, "I thought so too."
"I choose this one!" Jack exclaims, pointing at a door.
"Then I'll take this," Reed adds.
Jack enters his room and surveys the space. The room only has a bed, a window, and a single bedside table, leaving him a bit disappointed. However, he considers the large amount of free space available.
Jack checks the quality of the bed and, satisfied with how soft it is, lays down. "It might not have a pillow, but it's good enough," he mutters to himself.
He then stands up, deciding to leave the room as there's not much he can do with it for now.
Leaving the room Jack then heads to the steering wheel and waits for reed there
Reed arrives soon after and asks, "Should we leave then?" Jack simply nods in response.
Reed takes the wheel and says, "We follow the compass for now."
"Alright, wonder where it takes us this time," Jack comments from the side.
End of chapter.