...
The moment Harper returned to his room, he checked his panel.
Indeed, compared to what he saw in the pure white space, the panel now had a lot more information.
...
Number: 18146
Forum nickname: None
Name: Harper
Inherent talents: Luck (lost), Clear Mind
Skills: None
Character creation opportunities: 0
And below this panel, a small panel had appeared.
Life Occupant: Jerome
Talents: Savant Syndrome
Skills: Practical Mechanics Lv1, Mysticism Lv1
Unsettled points: 128
...
Wait, Savant Syndrome?
Harper furrowed his brows.
It seemed that Asperger's syndrome did indeed give Jerome some abilities that were different from ordinary people.
Mysticism?
Where did a 17-year-old kid come into contact with Mysticism?
Harper immediately thought of that contact named "Thanatos".
Mural... what exactly did it refer to?
It seemed that under the cover of social anxiety, there were many mysteries to explore in Jerome.
It was just surprising that the son of a mechanic had not mastered the skill of mechanics until now.
Harper took a deep breath.
He needed to find a way to quickly integrate into this town.
Making the mechanic's son also a mechanic apprentice was a good way.
He leaned on the bed, flipping through the thick book.
【'Practical Mechanics' experience +1】
【'Savant Syndrome' bonus activated, you will gain an additional 1 point of experience on top of the base experience bonus.】
【'Practical Mechanics' experience +1】
【...】
Bit by bit, slowly filling the skill bar's groove, Harper's slightly restless mood gradually calmed down.
The father and son spent the night without a word.
...
The next morning, when Harper woke up, Jefferson was already sitting in the repair shop, busy.
Sunset Town was not small, and Jefferson was the only mechanic in this area.
Harper peeked out.
Jefferson seemed to sense something and looked back, "There are energy bars in the kitchen, remember to eat breakfast."
"Oh."
Harper responded.
It didn't seem like he didn't care at all.
Although the energy bars were hard to swallow, at least they could fill the stomach.
At 17, it was the time to grow the body. After a night, his stomach was growling with hunger.
Harper walked to the kitchen, and sure enough, he found a can of energy bars among a pile of pre-packaged meals.
A small energy bar as thick as a thumb could make people feel full for several hours.
Harper put one in his mouth, turned his head, and suddenly noticed the rice cooker placed on the side of the stove.
This rice cooker was very different from those in the first world, more like a pressure cooker.
But it seemed to be broken, revealing the messy wires inside.
Broken?
No wonder yesterday's rice was cooked like porridge.
Harper stared at it for a while, then walked towards the shop.
"...What's up?" Jefferson lifted his head from his work and asked bluntly.
"The rice cooker is broken."
"...I know, I'll fix it when I have time."
When will he have time?
Jefferson's worktable was already piled up with appliances waiting to be repaired, and customers kept coming in.
It might take a very, very long time for him to actually have time.
"I'll fix it."
"...Ha?" Jefferson expressed doubt.
Harper didn't explain much, walked up, and started rummaging in Jefferson's toolbox.
Surprisingly, Jefferson didn't stop him, just looking a bit puzzled.
Repairing a rice cooker was the first chapter of the first volume of the "Practical Appliance Repair Manual" he read yesterday.
If Jerome had carefully read that book, then completing the repair wouldn't be a difficult task.
But...
Hadn't he always looked down on the work of a mechanic, wanting to be a cyber folklorist?
...
【Repair completed, 'Practical Mechanics' experience +100】
【'Savant Syndrome' bonus activated, you will gain an additional 100 points of experience on top of the base experience bonus.】
【'Savant Syndrome' activated multiple times, you obtain the negative bonus 'Fatigue', duration 1h.】
【'Practical Mechanics' level raised to Lv2.】
【Talent unlocked: Nimble Hands】
Harper put down the screwdriver in his hand and looked at his palm.
Soft, slender, flat.
It seemed something had changed, yet it seemed nothing had changed.
He just felt that the slender palm could now do some things more flexibly that he couldn't do before.
For example, squeezing into a small gap to fiddle with the connecting screws hidden deep inside.
He straightened his back, yawned, and a wave of fatigue washed over him.
Harper returned to his room and fell into the covers.
Why did he repair it?
Harper thought for a moment, this was a kind of surrender, but also a kind of probe.
He was creating a common topic between himself and Jefferson.
Harper couldn't always not talk to Jefferson, nor could he always say meaningless things like "Hmm", "Oh", "Okay", etc.
He needed to trigger some new conversations, some deeper content.
Also, he didn't want to pretend to be sick anymore.
Social anxiety might have been a merit that helped him get through the hard times in the past few days. But in the days to come, it would be a stumbling block to his progress.
He needed to start with Jefferson and remove people's stereotype of him.
Harper admitted that this was somewhat risky.
Sudden changes could make suspicious people think more.
What if they associate it with "Arrival Disease" and initiate another review?
Harper felt that as long as he wasn't subjected to torture, or the "brain-machine" type of black technology that directly reads brain memories in sci-fi novels, he might be able to make it through.
Waiting quietly for the crisis to come - that wasn't his style.
At lunchtime, Jefferson put down his unfinished work and walked towards the kitchen.
Taking care of Jerome - this was an important thing he wrote on his memo.
He forgot to repair the rice cooker again today, Jefferson sighed, he was too busy.
Endless repairs didn't give him a moment's time.
His eyes swept over the rice cooker, and then stopped there.
Repaired... it's fixed?
It looked... pretty decent?
Jefferson's actions were faster than his thoughts, he had opened the interior of the rice cooker with his screwdriver before he had even reacted.
"..."
It was indeed repaired.
And... the repair was perfect, the wiring was neat.
Jefferson was silent.
He poured rice and the corresponding scale of water into the pot - obviously, he was so eager that he forgot to wash the rice.
Connected the power supply, a beep sound.
"Cooking in progress, please wait."
"Gurgle gurgle, gurgle gurgle."
Three minutes later, a pot of beautiful rice appeared in front of him.
"Very normal."
Jefferson said softly.
"It's just the content of the first chapter of the first volume of the 'Practical Appliance Repair Manual', it's expected to be able to repair it."
He said so.
It's just that those eyes, which usually looked somewhat murky, were showing some sharp light at this moment.
---