> The HUD (Heads-up Display) can be customised with the use of implants. The modifications can bring it to a level where it can become a powerful tool and weapon. However, those implants do not come cheap. Nothing good ever does.
>
> Excerpt SYBI, Chapter 1: Welcome to the Apocalypse: What Just Happened?
"I accidentally shot myself in the thigh with one of my darts, " Tobi said, his face as red as a cherry tomato.
It was about mid-morning by the time Laura and I woke him up. Fortunately, the two of them fared much better than me. Laura only got a few scratches and burns, barely decreasing her HP by a quarter. On the other hand, Tobi suffered from self-inflicted friendly fire, giving himself a Poisoned debuff that cost him 1 HP per second for 7 seconds.
At least the darts weren't that powerful.
"How on Earth did you manage to do that?" I asked him, completely perplexed.
His blush deepened, and he just mumbled that he didn't want to discuss it.
Everyone agreed that we should treat ourselves for a job well done, and get a meal pack for each of us. The description assured us that the food would be compatible with our biology and came with a price of 80 credits a piece.
The food arrived in familiar takeaway boxes and was a standard meal of meat and veggies, but overall a complete mystery. The vegetables looked like nothing I had seen on this planet before, all odd-shaped and vibrant in colour. The meat looked like a standard beef steak but had the extra toughness you didn't get in a well-prepared cut. We didn't stop to contemplate them for long.
Perhaps because the food we had been eating was bland and lacking in variety, but this meal tasted like heaven. It was probably the first meat we had in weeks. I was kind of getting worried about becoming iron deficient. Maybe the shop would have a conveniently-priced multivitamin we could buy so we don't get all kinds of sick.
Thankfully, the portions were huge so Laura and I could have seconds later in the day, but Tobi scarfed it down like a starving man. It only confirmed my theory that he was holding back the last few weeks. The food situation was getting more urgent.
"Alright, who wants to level up first?" I asked once we were done with the meal.
"I'll go first, " Laura said and moments later shuddered when she levelled up. "That was uncomfortable."
"Yeah, that would happen," I said with all of the wisdom of the marginally more experienced.
Laura's eyes went unfocused as she read her status notifications.
"It says that I can choose my class now. Hm... I have three options here."
"Which ones did you get?" Tobi asked, seemingly bursting with impatience.
"My first option is a Writer class, " she said with a frown. "That's pretty useless."
"Why would it offer that?"
"Mom works... worked as a copywriter."
"Yeah, before all of this started. I wrote a few novels too, but I never did anything with them."
"That makes sense. What's the next one?"
"A Cook. Apparently, both of these are uncommon classes."
"All three of us can cook, " I said.
"My Cooking skill is at level 3 at this point," she said.
I was very jealous about that. I haven't reached level 3 in any of my skills yet. I didn't even have the Cooking skill, even though I cooked plenty.
There was no justice in the world.
"What's the last one, mom?"
She smiled awkwardly. "A Woodswoman."
"A Woodswoman? What's the description of that?"
"You feel the pulse of the forest, in a weird, sort of creepy way. But you know which berry won't kill you and which critter you can kill. Sometimes even the trees ask you for directions."
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The three of us shared a look.
"Does anyone feel like these System descriptions are kind of... inconsistent?" I asked.
"Yeah, this thing can't stick to a style to save its life."
"Which one do you think you'll pick, mom?"
"The Writer is useless, as I've said before. The Cook... If we had more people around, I guess it would make sense. "
"Yeah, perhaps it would give you skills to boost your speed while cooking or somehow get the most out of food."
"The Woodswoman though... I don't know how I feel about that."
"Why's that?"
It took her some time to gather her thoughts. Cloud wandered up on the porch and settled on the floor next to Tobi. The boy started to pet him absent-mindedly and the sheep let out satisfied gleeps. Cloud was a very strange sheep.
"I guess..." Laura started. " I guess it is still hard for me to let go of my life before the Integration. I loved my job. I was good at it. I probably wrote millions of words over the years. I didn't always like the words I wrote. It was a job after all. But I liked writing them. And having to let go of it is... upsetting."
I understood her very well. I didn't work as an accountant that long, in the grand scheme of things. But I worked hard to reach that point and it was starting to become a part of my identity.
My name is Diana. I work as an accountant. I am 25 years old.
These sentences were lumped together in my head.
"I think I will take Woodswoman," she said, practically radiating determination.
"Are you sure?"
She nodded. "It's time for me to be a grown-up and start looking forward. In an apocalypse, writers starve."
She must have confirmed her class selection because her eyes went all unfocused again, as she surveyed the skills she received.
"So I got five skills here. Hunting, Repairing, Foraging, Woodcutting, and Navigation, all level 1. It also says that I have unlocked Energy."
"Those are great skills! I have foraging as well. Not that I got to use them much."
"I also have two points to distribute."
"What do your stats look like?" I asked.
[Author's note: I'll just write it in a block, like Dee's stats.]
Name: Laura Baumgartener
Age: 39
Class: Woodswoman
Level: 1, 112/200 exp
Strength: 3
Constitution: 4
Intelligence: 3
Wisdom: 5
HP: 40/40
Energy: 30/30
"I'd put both of the points in intelligence if I were you. I figured out that Energy is directly connected with it, as the maximum amount you can have."
"I think I will put one in Constitution, and one in Intelligence. I would like to be as far away from dying as I can, " she said. "Tobi, it's your turn."
The boy took a deep breath and shivered as he accepted the level-up. As he read his choice of classes his face turned pale.
"What did you get?" his mother asked.
"I already know which class I will take," he said after a brief hesitation.
"Tobi! Tell us the options!"
"Doesn't matter. I already chose Weaver as my class," he said with the stubbornness only a teenager could have. He stood up, and Cloud followed suit. "I'll go get some water from the well."
Without another word, the pair started to walk away.
"Tobi! Come back here! What the hell did you do?! Tobi!"
He ignored her and disappeared around a corner with his pet on his heels. Laura slumped back in her chair and let out a frustrated sigh. I kept my mouth shut. The sky was darkened by clouds threatening to unleash a river upon us.
She seemed to calm down a bit after a while.
"He's a good kid, " I said.
"He is. But so stubborn sometimes, " she said. " Why would he do that?"
I shrugged, but I doubt that she noticed. Her eyes seemed a thousand miles away.
"He reminds me of his father in that way. He died when Tobi was four years old. "
"You haven't told me that."
"It's still painful. He was gone so suddenly. We never got around to getting married, didn't see the point. I wish we did because Mathias was a wonderful man. A good father too. I wish we got more time with him."
"What happened?"
"A car accident. A drunk driver T-boned him as he was driving home from work. He was an EMT."
"I see."
"I just wish to know what possessed Tobi to do this."
"I'm sure it will be alright."
"It will have to be. What kind of class is Weaver anyway?" she said and rubbed her face.
"Well, he can process the wool Cloud has. Not that the big cotton ball had given us any since that first time."
Laura laughed, tension seemingly pouring out of her. "The big cotton ball indeed."
The sky finally reached a tipping point and poured its heart out onto us.
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Name: Tobias Schneider
Age: 16
Class: Weaver
Level: 1, 109/200 exp
Strength: 4
Constitution: 5
Intelligence: 3
Wisdom: 4
HP: 50/40
Energy: 30/30
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Name: Diana Mond
Age: 25
Class: Homesteader
Level: 2, 43/300 exp
Strength: 4
Constitution: 6
Intelligence: 6
Wisdom: 4
HP: 13/60
Energy: 26/60