Chef Gustaf was clean-shaven and wore a pristine white coat and hat. Given how many ingredients he juggled, it was impressive that he could keep his outfit so clean.
“How can I help you today, sir? Can I interest you in the day specials? We're making archaeopteryx thighs. They're delicious.”
Jack smiled and shook his hand. “It does look delicious. That’s not why I’m here today, chef. I took a request from this restaurant to make a dinnerware set.”
“Oh, that's right. We've been waiting for those. Marlene, handle the pans. There's someone from the pottery association here.”
“But I'm here busy with the sauce,” a piercing female voice shouted back.
“For goodness' sake, tell Christensen to handle the sauce. He can do both.”
“What about the soups?”
“Let them wait a little. Just do as I'm asking you, please. Otherwise, the pans will burn,” the chef screamed, never stopping his hands as he managed all the different pans, changing them from one burner to the next or tossing them. It almost felt like there were just as many ingredients in the pan as in midair.
A young woman with red hair and a long face emerged from behind a curtain and seamlessly swooped in, taking the pans off Chef Gustaf’s hands. Jack’s eyes widened. It was a player!
“That's more like it. So let's just see what you have there.”
10x[Turmeric Yellow Stoneware Bowl], 10x[Turmeric Yellow Stoneware Plate] and 10x[Turmeric Yellow Stoneware Pot] have left your inventory.
Calculating rewards…
The chef inspected each of the pieces of ceramic. Something about how he did it reminded Jack of his mother feeling fruit in the market. “I like them. They give a pop of color to the kitchen, don't they?” He sniffed a bowl. “I can smell the faint scent of turmeric. A nice touch. Thank you, potter.”
Completion rate: C.
Rewards:
+3,000XP
You’ve reached level 6.
+10,000XP in [Pottery]
3x[Sold&Proper Meal Vouchers]
1 gold and 30 silver.
Jack studied the rewards. He gained just as much experience in pottery in this quest as he had gained from the [Vase Shards] quest for the Historical Society. The increase in XP had been enough to help him gain two pottery levels in a row, but now, it only got him to 60% of level 8. Leveling up pottery was becoming harder.
The good thing about this kind of quest was that it also granted him some character-level experience! He had just barely regained his lost level and gone back up to level six.
The vouchers were a pleasant surprise.
Sold&Proper Meal Vouchers (Common)
Description: A voucher given to favored customers of the Sold&Proper restaurant. It can be exchanged for the day’s specials.
Meals were expensive in the game, and the next time he went questing, he could always come here instead of spending considerable money in the stalls. As for the monetary reward, it hadn’t turned out that bad for him. He was only paid 30 silver under market price. It was enough to break even.
“Thank you, chef.”
“If we ever need more, we'll make sure to let the Pottery Association know. Marlene, step away! You're doing it all wrong.”
“What is wrong, chef? What am I doing wrong?!” she demanded, annoyed.
Sheesh! What a temper! That girl has such poor manners. Why does the chef bother keeping such a bratty employee in his kitchen? Jack told himself while shaking his head.
“Look at that!” the chef explained. “There are ingredients all over the floor. You’re supposed to keep the food in the pan!”
“For goodness sake, chef. Let me just go get back to my sauces.”
“Go, go.”
Having finished his business, Jack left the bickering kitchen staff and used the opportunity to check on his character's progress.
CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: JackofDiamonds
Level: 6
Major: [Bushcraft], lvl. 6
Minor: [Pottery], lvl. 8
Titles: [Consistent Quality], [Museum Donor], [Novice Explorer]
ATTRIBUTES
Hit points: 100/100
Stamina points: 87/105
Movement Speed: 107%
Attack: 3
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Defense: 14
Block: 10
Strength: 5
Constitution: 5
Agility: 11
Intellect: 6
Luck: 5
EQUIPMENT
Right-Hand: [Wooden Staff]
Off-Hand: [Pinewood Buckler]
Head: [Empty]
Torso: [Simple Shirt]
Pants: [Beginner Slacks]
Gloves: [Worn Gloves]
Shoes: [Worn Shoes]
Cape: [Ragged Cape]
SKILLS:
Fighting: [Blocking Stance], [Heavy Strike]
Bushcraft: [Bush Immunity], [Camping], [First Aid], [Forage], [Kindle], [Rope Weaving], [Survival Cooking]
Pottery: [Clay Drying], [Clay Gathering], [Clay Molding], [Pot Firing], [Pottery Glazing], [Touch of the Potter]
He was still a noob with pitiful low attributes. However, it wasn't all that bad. As his character progressed, new features of the character sheet were unlocked, and he was beginning to look like a respectable gamer.
For now, he needed a break, though. Jack logged out.
*
Spending many hours in bed without eating was bad for Jack's stomach. His appetite was left untouched, though. He had no problem scarfing down dinner only one hour after lunch. However, after many hours without a meal and two large ones in a row, his stomach was heavy, and he felt queasy. It's no wonder people paid fortunes to get capsules. Playing too long with a VRX helmet was killing him.
Jack went out for a walk around the block. It was funny how many new things he was doing today. He had exercised in the morning, worked all day in a pottery workshop, and now was walking off his dinner. Who was this person who had taken over his body?
Even though it was a different day, it had been a good one, too. Running into Felix had been an interesting experience. He had never imagined that anyone could be so passionate about pottery. Additionally, the man was happy to help others progress. Jack thought that no one helped each other anymore and that no kindness was left in the world. After meeting Amari and Felix, he found himself revisiting his opinion.
He also thought about the quiet dinner he had just had with his parents. His mother looked tired. She always said that graveyard shifts were bad for her health. After seeing the toll this job took on his mother, Jack had promised himself he would never do night shifts. He chuckled. Wasn't that what he was doing in the game? Working all night long?
He then thought about his father. He still hadn’t said anything since the ultimatum. Jack couldn't help but feel some butterflies in his stomach. Was the ultimatum still in place? Or had his father given up on charging rent?
No. If his father had backed down, his mother would have told him. Then why wasn't his father pressuring him more? Why wasn't he all up in his business, demanding to know what kind of jobs he was applying for or how many interviews he had lined up? Why wasn’t he whipping him into a more responsible adult?
Could it be that his father had just given up on him? That he wasn't worth his scolding anymore? If so, that was strangely disturbing. He was starting to wish his father would return to nagging and snap out of his current lukewarm attitude. His silence was killing him.
Jack couldn't figure out what his father was thinking even after a few laps around the block. However, he did feel better after walking. His sore muscles, which had begun to hurt, appreciated the little exercise. His legs and shoulders loosened up, and his digestive system appreciated the little bout of physical activity.
Jack, invigorated by the meal and the walk, headed back home and went up into his room. He set an alarm clock in the helmet so that he would be notified in the game if he had been playing for more than two hours at a time. He had to make more stops. Otherwise, he would ruin his health. He put on the helmet and got back into New Earth.
Jack's figure materialized in the streets of Embersgate, near Sold&Proper. The first thing he did was to check his friend’s list. Robert wasn't online yet, but Amari was. He texted him.
“Hi, Amari.”
He tapped his foot nervously, waiting. No response, even after a full minute passed. Maybe he was busy questing, he tried telling himself. The other possibility was that he was ignoring him, but Jack hoped that wasn't the case. After another minute without a response, Jack put together a message.
“Hey, Amari! I’ve seen your videos. That Slayer guy is a real jerk. By the way, if you're up for another quest, I'm available. Let me know if you need a bushcrafter for an expedition.”
Jack patted himself on the back for putting a message that didn’t sound clingy or pitiful. It just made him sound like a cool guy.
Jack stretched his back, cracked his neck, and decided that after a full day of throwing pottery, he had to switch things up a little, or he would go crazy. He was already proud of himself for being able to do so much in one day, but he didn't want to see pots in front of his face for a while. Since the only person he knew he could run quests with was busy, and he needed a break from pottery, Jack decided that it was time to visit Piri.
The tip of the giant monument could be seen from everywhere in the city. Honing in on his destination, Jack headed toward it.
*
Jack faced the pyramid heroically, hands on his hips, locked in a power stance. “So we meet again, Piri,” he said, loud enough for the pyramid to listen. “You and I have had our differences… Yes. But it’s time we put them behind us and have fun together. It’s all water under the bridge. What do you say?”
The pyramid remained motionless and unresponsive, but Jack tried to imagine the pyramid’s mechanisms lowering the level of lethality. He double-checked that he had all the necessary supplies in his inventory and gently touched the pyramid.
Welcome to Embersgate Dungeon!
Select one of the following dungeons to begin an exciting new adventure:
* Water Under the Bridge I
* Infested Ruins
* Unlikely Alliance
* Quiet Storm
Completed:
* Ancient Maze I~III
* Piri’s Maze I~IV
Jack gulped. She did listen. He selected the first option.
As Jack’s figure appeared in the pyramid, he flailed his arms and tried to understand what was happening. His movements felt heavy and light simultaneously, and he was floating mid-air. “What?” Jack tried to ask as he looked around, but only a burst of bubbles came out of his mouth. “Aaaaah!” His scream was muffled by the surrounding water.
Given everything he knew about the game, Jack was sure he would die if he couldn’t breathe for too long. It made little sense that the developers would make hunger and stamina depletion such a hassle, only to slack off regarding being underwater.
Sure enough, a third bar had appeared under his hp and stamina. It was shrinking quickly. He'd probably die as soon as the bar reached zero. As awful as it had been to die in the digestive system of an allosaurus, he didn’t want to find out what it felt like to die drowning.
Jack whirled. He didn’t even know which way was up. What he did know was that there was light coming from somewhere ahead. He performed a few strokes toward it.
He finally broke through the surface of the water and gasped for air. He had emerged onto a well of some sort, and there was a lone burning torch, barely out of reach off the water. That was the light he’d seen. As he caught his breath, he saw the oxygen bar slowly fill.
Jack looked around and spotted one small stone platform. He hauled himself out of the water and tried to put himself together. If he was looking at this correctly, this maze was all flooded, and there were wells, such as this, where he could breathe before resuming his swim.
He looked at the stamina bar and saw it slowly recover, thanks to the nearby torch. He hadn’t bothered to have a meal before entering the pyramid because he thought he could count on the torches to recover health and stamina. This was the last time he was going to do that. Things weren’t going to be as simple as that from now on. Having this little stone platform to rest on and fill up his stamina was all the courtesy that Piri would offer him.
Jack punched the water, frustrated. He had even apologized to Piri. Why was she giving him such a hard time? What would have happened if he hadn’t apologized? Would she have thrown him into a maze flooded with acid or poison? Jack kept his complaints and theories to himself. If Piri listened to his ideas, she could glean inspiration for her next maze.