Ch 7 I still have a day job
Leaving the dungeon, my mind shifted. All my worries were suddenly gone. I hadn't realized the pressure I was under. But why was I not sick after the last fight? What had happened to me so that I could take down those monsters and smile? My mind wandered to my skill. I pulled up the skill list.
Skill
Lvl
Experience Gain
Organized Thoughts
3
28%
That, that doesn’t seem right. Why did it gain so much? What does this skill do again? Catalogue thoughts? List thoughts, order them, systemize them, index them. Make them more precise? More mechanical? More computational? More practical? Less emotional? Did my skill give me a way out of stress? I know it helps me think straight and focus better. But I didn't notice anything until the dungeon? Was it because I was under duress? Because my mind was stretching itself to keep track of things? This is why I was able to complete the dungeon? I started walking towards the terminal. My mind was nearly blank. The skills work in unexpected ways. I thought this skill would be more like a library I could call up at any time. But this. I gained two levels from puking, literally.
I reached the terminal. Pulling up the help guide, I pause. What could I possibly ask that wouldn’t seem so miniscule in comparison?
Input
Will monsters ever leave the dungeons?
Output
Only monsters summoned outside dungeons.
Monsters can be summoned? Or does that mean people as summoners? Shit.
Input
Why do dungeons absorb monsters?
Output
Dungeons recycle mana, to reuse on other monsters.
Pretty much what I figured but wanted to make sure. So, will the monsters be just repeats of others that were there and not sentient creatures? Should make some people less aggravated about the dungeons. One more thing comes to mind.
Input
Why was I able to clear the dungeon?
Output
Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance
I can't help but laugh. One of the most used lines. The system is using an adage, should I be worried? Probably. But not right now. I call “status”
Name
Level
Experience Gain
Credits
Arthur Turner
0
17.2%
225
Okay, feels like I have money to burn with how fast I'm getting it returned. What can I buy with 200 credits? Let's look at items for now.
Item
Armor
Weapons
Potions
Enchantments
Tools
Transport
Clothes
Furniture
Technology
Food
First, what do I need most right now? I have some food and a decent shelter. A good deal of clothes, a usable car, nice computer. I'm set on armor, maybe potions? Wait. My bed, that I killed. Yeah, let's check that out. I select furniture.
Item
Comfort
Surfaces
Decor
Plumbing
Storage
Lighting
Activities
Appliances
Non-human
Odd categories. But it works I suppose. Not everyone has the same idea for rooms. Could I update my bathroom without my landlord knowing? Or the lighting? Thinking about my apartment, should I update anything? I don’t really have a couch, just a reading chair. I don’t have a dining table at all, as I eat at my desk. I don’t own a tv, just do everything on my computer. Or maybe I should go home first? I have about an hour to work. I need a shower. Or a pristine. And find my work clothes, and maybe pristine them too. I close out the interface and go find my car. Remembering the pristine I shoved into my pocket I pull it out. Taking off my chainmail shirt I press the tag to my shirt. The little blood and gore that was there came off. I set a pristine to my pants as well. The shoes might be a lost cause with how I walked through the dungeon. I used the last of my pristine on myself. Wondering if I was walking around looking like an ax murderer. Less dust this time came from me. I headed to my car to drive home.
*****
Getting home, I still have half an hour to work. But I need my uniform to get there. I trudge up the stairs, I notice the door is clean? Why is the mark gone? I'll think about it later. Letting myself in, I unload all my equipment, I could and should have put it in inventory, I just forgot about it again. I shuffle to my closet, staring gloomily at my bed as I pass. Finding a sort of clean uniform, I pull it on. Double checking, I scribble out two more pristine and press one against the company shirt, the other against my comfy slacks. I can't remember where I left my hat. It's sitting on my desk where I left it. Should I? Yes, I jot down another pristine and place it on the hat. Maybe I should make a pristine wand? Just point and shoot, cleaning in a moment. I’ll think about it. Still need to sell my wands. Should I find the limitations first? Or let someone else do that? Post it to the message board? Maybe I could ask for enchantment ideas? But that’s sounds like a problem, if someone wanted copyright, they had best stick with my own ideas for now. Shit I'm going to be late. I grab my notebook and head out.
*****
Looking for parking in a strip mall is usually easy, you just have to park a little further down. Since I'm employed here, I'm supposed to park further away anyhow to let customers park close. Which I usually don’t have a problem with. But today it seems as if everyone and their dog is out shopping. I hurried into the sandwich shop. I wave to ‘call-me-Kate'. She always seems so peppy. It's hard to imagine that she's only 19. Compared to my 29, she's barely an adult. I find Lucas in the back, supposedly filing paperwork. “Sorry, about yesterday. Had a bit of a scare.”
“Didn’t we all? Good you came in today, shorthanded with everyone mucking about. Maggie called in, her kid was in trouble with the school again.” He mutters to me. Not loud enough for Kate to hear, she always makes a disappointed face when we discuss other workers. I nod to him.
“Only the three of us then?”
“Till close likely. You can close tonight, for calling in yesterday.” Sighing, but agreeing. That’s fair. If yesterday was at all like what today looks shaping up to be, they were probably swamped. I start checking the veggies, make sure the cold line is filled, and we have refills under the counter. Then the sauces, making sure the dates were right and nothing was past or off. Next came the meat. A group of three walked in and Kate took their order. So, I started making the first of the subs. Walking along I had my customer service smile on, asking which toppings and toasted or not. The older woman wasn’t very picky, so it went smoothly. Getting to the end, asking if she wanted a drink, snack or cookie. She replied no and waited for her friends to catch up. Seeing Kate on the second sub I went to make the third. Doing the same routine as the first, same questions in the same order, getting to the end. Kate rings them up and they go sit and eat. I go back to checking the stock. Meat looks fine. How's the bread doing? Plenty in the warmer, but need some more to bake for tomorrow, I think. Setting that up took less than an hour. Had two customers came in while I was doing the bread, two are easy enough for Kate to handle alone so I don’t bother going up front. As I finish cleaning the station up, I grab the bathroom kit.
“Bathroom check!” I called Kate, heading to the side of the shop. The female restroom just needs wiping like usual. The men's needs me to put on gloves again. The urinal always makes me want to place a target into the basin, a ‘point here!’ kind of thing. Spraying the bleach mix, I wipe it down with a paper towel. I checked the toilet, it looked fine, but I'll give it a wipe with another paper towel. The sink looks like it's barely used. Some dudes are just gross. Touch your junk, wash your hands. It’s a simple concept. headed back to put the cleaning supplies away. Another two people came in. Kate's got them. After degloving and washing my hands. I catch myself on the ring on my pinky. I had basically forgotten about it when I did the auto size, it fits so closely and so well, it looks nearly flush. Hearing the door again, a group of seven walked in. I headed over and started their orders. One sub at a time, customer service smiles all the while. Remember, I tell myself. You like your apartment.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
******
Four hours. That’s how long we had customers one after another. It's just after 7pm now. Most of the stores nearby close at the same time we do at 9pm. Just a few more hours. The throng of customers finally ended. Even Lucas had to come to help when we got a school bus. Why a visiting high school softball team would choose a subway to eat at I don’t know. But they did. With luck that would be the end of the dinner rush. Poor Kate has been run off her feet getting refills on the cold line. We didn’t have enough produce ready chopped. And since I'm faster with doing the line, she had to do the veggie cutting. The dining room looks a mess too. I sigh, grabbing a rag and spray, time to clean some more. “Get a drink Kate, water would help you.” I pass her by. Wiping all the detritus to the floor, knowing I'll be sweeping in a moment. I wipe down the tables and the chairs and booths. Don’t want to sit on wilted lettuce either. Going for the broom Lucas stops me.
“You want a break? I'm sending her home.” He points his head towards Kate, she seems a little out of it. This wasn’t her first big rush, but she's only been working here for four months. I shake my head.
“It's only a couple more hours, I can grab a drink. I'll be fine.” I told him. She really does look like she needs sleep. He heads to her. Their soft conversation follows me as I go sweeping around the dining room. Getting into all the cracks and corners, because ants are a problem around here. Especially with how old this building is. Putting away my utensils. I saw Kate was gone and Lucas was manning the register. “Let me run to the bathroom real fast and I'll take over.” I call to him as I move to the male restroom. After using the facilities and washing my hands. I move to the line, checking stocks once more. Refilling as I go. We don’t keep refills overnight as we bag up everything on the cold line, so putting it all out isn't a problem. Some of the meat looks a little dry so I mix it a bit. I start wiping everything down to give myself something to do. The counter, the microwave, the front panel of the bread warmer. The door of the toaster. All the cups are neatened, the wrappers restacked. Glancing at the cookie bin, you might need to bake more. “We’ll probably run out of cookies in the morning!” I called Lucas.
“Then we’ll bake them in the morning! Don’t want to keep extra overnight!” he calls back. I sigh, there goes my chance of nabbing the sweet sugar goodness of soft cookies. It was worth a try. I don’t think there were even any accident subs. So, I might be having pb&j again tonight. Or I could look at what food the interface sells, my thoughts light up. Imagining all the sorts of delectable treats and savory entrees that might be. With luck I could even afford them. Stretching, I glance at the clock. 8.30pm. I can start the closing cleaning, as long as I leave the line open. “I'm going to start the backroom cleaning, keep an ear out for the door?” I ask him as I pass the office by. I wait for him to answer, if he says no, I'll be here until 10, but if he says yes, I might get out of here right after 9.
“Sure, go ahead. I think everyone headed home anyway. Less shopping to do when stores are closing.” I grin. This wasn’t that long a shift, I never did get a break, because then I'd have to leave the two of them to handle a rush. That would just be mean. Lucas is a decent boss, so I always try to repay that by not being a shitty worker. Like sending poor Kate home, when she was clearly worn out. That was just him keeping an eye on the younger ones. I don’t think Lucas has kids, but he is softer with anyone under 21. Starting with the cold bread I box them for the fridge. The warm bread will be left in the back room, so they don’t go stale. I pull the refills from under the line and date them. The walk-in commercial fridge has a shelf just for off the line products, the refills go in back, so we never really have to rotate. I turn the ovens off, the toaster, the warmer. I grab a scraper and pull out three bins from the cold line. One of the irritating parts about the line is scraping the ice. Thankfully the drain works so I just have to scrape it off. I start chiseling it at one end and replace the bins as I clear an area. Moving down the line until I reach the other end. I wipe down the counter as I go. Now I just need to dump water down the trench to catch any food that might have fallen. Lucas comes out from the office and goes to the front door, locking it. “That time already?” I ask. I did not notice how quickly I was trying to get it done.
“Yep, anything besides the line left to do?”
“Sweep and mop, then the drinks machine.” I let him know.
“Drinks can soak till morning. They can clean them.” I grin, day shift-night shift shenanigans again. I start pulling everything from the line, grabbing the dates I already made out. Putting them away and wiping down the line took less than ten minutes. Quickly sweeping up and under everything behind the counter, I get the mop water. I don’t really need wet floor signs since Lucas can see me mopping. Mopping quickly, I re-moped to double check I didn’t miss anything. The back gets the same treatment. Just as quickly, it's not even 9.30 when I look for Lucas. “All done, need anything else?” I wait.
“Naw, go home. You're working tomorrow 11-4 though. Dunno who with yet. Not sure Maggie is gonna show.” Crap. Technically we are always supposed to have two people in the building, but that doesn’t always happen. Part of being a franchise and not a brand store. Tomorrow being Wednesday, maybe there won't be a huge lunch rush. I could maybe handle it on my own. Fine, whatever.
“Fine. But I'm getting lunch for this.” I look at him, trying to be impressive.
He snorts. “Sure, I won't even dock you for it. Just don’t go overboard with the meat.” I snicker. Yeah, I did that once. I had to pay ahead of my check, but it was worth it. I pause.
“I’m not sure everyone is going to keep coming to a shop. You check out the terminal yet?” I asked him, seriously. Most days I only hate this job because of customers, not coworkers.
“No, didn’t think to, if I have nothing to spend. Why?” He gives me a look.
“Because you can buy food through it. Anything really, weapons, armor, potions, furniture. But I thought you should know. I haven’t checked out the food part yet, but I was going to.” I speak. Thinking about my poor mangled bed.
His gaze shifts. He looks at the floor like it kicked his puppy. “Food? Why would they sell food? Dungeon stuff I can understand, but why does it have to be food?” Understanding his point of view, this store was his franchise, if it goes under, he loses all investment. The store selling food might be a huge problem if more people prefer it to human made food.
“I’ll check it out and tell you about it tomorrow. Maybe It only sells crap like health bars?” I try to encourage him. Calling goodnight, I head out. Lucas follows me to the door, to lock it behind me. No telling how long he’ll stay. Waving me off. I trotted to my car. Glad to see it finally cooled a little. Heading home was always nice.
****
Pulling into my lot, I stay in my car for a moment. I pulled my phone out and set an alarm for 9am. That should give me plenty of time. I head toward the bus stop, intent on getting a new bed. I call status.
Name
Level
Experience Gain
Credits
Arthur Turner
0
17.2%
765
Blinking at the numbers. My eyes don’t quite believe it. Seven hundred credits? How many people bought enchants today? My shift was only six hours! Trying to remember, I had 200 credits when I left the dungeon just before work, so I sold over thirty enchantments? That doesn’t seem like a lot, now I think about it. Word of mouth might be spreading. One person is all it takes. But still thirty people bought my enchantments. I'm a little giddy now. Definitely want to look at food now, but first a bed. I scroll through the screens.
Item
Comfort
Surfaces
Decor
Plumbing
Storage
Lighting
Activities
Appliances
Non-human
I select comfort. What else could a bed be?
Chair
Couch
Bed
Maybe I'll look at those later
Spring
Coil
Foam
Gel
Water
Air
Hybrid
Can't say I'm not seriously tempted to get a waterbed. I've heard they're wonderful for all temps. Since I know so little about beds, I just select hybrid.
Level of Firm
Level of Soft
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
Oh, that’s a tough choice. Without having touched it, it's hard to tell. I really like soft beds, but what if it's too soft? 3 or 4? Just right seems like it would be a three. So, I select three. And start cursing myself. How the hell am I getting this home?
Twin
40
Full
45
Queen
55
King
60
Cali. King
70
Ah, I still needed to select a size. My old bed was a queen, so I'd like that. But I'm not sure I could carry a queen size by myself to my apartment. Or get it in. But all my sheets are queen. Dammit. Maybe I could inventory the bed? Wish it had a picture. Selecting a queen bed, I wait to see what happens.
Nothing. Nothing happens. I check my inventory and it's not there. It's not near me. I check the terminal and see a screen.
Item too large for personal carrying. Item delivered to residence registered.
Oh, thank fuck. I didn’t have to do anything? Maybe it's even in the right room? I still need to trash my old mattress. I still have 700 credits, what the hell should I buy? Everything seems so cheap. I really want to go look at tech, or maybe transport. Food first. Then sleep. Not sure how long I’ll sleep. Or if my alarm will wake me.
Full Meal
Grocery
Decisions. I'll go with a full meal for now. I don’t want to have to cook or do anything tonight.
Soups
Salads
Sides
Appetizers
Entree
Desserts
Seems simple enough. I think I'll go with soup for now. Another screen to go through.
Portion
Cost
Starter
1
Meal
2
Choosing a meal is easy enough, hopefully that is a portion enough.
Vegetable
Potato
Meat
Another tough decision. Let's go with potatoes. Always filling.
Potato & Ham
Potato & Sausage
Potato & Mushroom
Potato & Cheese
Potato & Bacon
Potato & Broccoli
Choosing potato and broccoli, a bowl of soup appears hovering in the air in front of the screen. I grab it. It's certainly real, and hot as my hands quickly warm up. It smells wonderful. Can I put it into my inventory? I can. Hopefully it stays like that, and I get to my apartment fast enough. I close out of the terminal and fast walk back to my home.
Soon as I enter, I sit at my desk and pull the soup back out. It's still warm, barely cooler. No spoon came with it, so I grab one from my kitchen. I take a tiny amount on the spoon. It tastes wonderful. Soft potato, creamy soup, little bite from the broccoli. I take another few small bites. It really is delicious. It's cool enough now I can take a whole spoonful at once. I didn’t realize how large the bowl was until I was eating, but it's certainly big enough for an adult meal. I didn't notice how quickly I came to the bottom of the bowl. Spooning up the last little bit, the bowl shimmers and disappears in front of me. That was decidedly weird. But hey, no dishes to clean. But now I really am worried about the sandwich shop. Already midnight. Time to sleep. Wait, where's my mattress? Going into the bedroom, the old mattress was replaced by a new purple one. No sheets, but it looked nice. A rather flat top. No pattern on the sides or the edges. It was just as high as my old one, so I still don’t need a frame, for which I'm glad. I tug it up, light weight, so I don’t need to worry about making it up. Grabbing a top sheet, I toss it on. I can make it properly in the morning. I've been up too long at this point. Finding my pillow wedged by the wall I snag it and kill the light. Pausing, I turn it back on and go scribble out five more pristine. Stripping I use one on myself then I hunt for clothes, the comfiest I have. Applying a pristine to pants and underwear I redress and kill the light once more. I plug my phone in and crawl into bed. Smiling to myself. Today was good and bad and all the weird.