As Duncan came upstairs, he immediately went into the bathroom and got out of his dirty clothes, and took a shower. He should have taken it before eating probably but the usual crew downstairs didn’t take offense at the Ghoul splatter on his clothes and he was a bit distracted.
As he was washing his long hair and dirty body, he thought about the implications of what Wazsh told him. He was turning into a nanobot-infested cyborg on both ends. It would be fine if it was just on this side but he was scared of what he would become at home.
The thought of something that could change your perception of reality to the point you think it’s real was not a pleasant thought. You might as well have schizophrenia and it would be almost the same.
Looking in the mirror at his beard, mustache, and unruly hair he sighed and then proceeded to wash his teeth. He took out the fresh clothes he got washed at Clara’s and wore them. He packed up the dirty ones and brought them downstairs again.
Wazsh was cleaning up the kitchen as Duncan came from the stairs.
“Are you alright?” Wazsh said as he saw him.
Duncan nodded before asking, “Will Clara come tomorrow?”
“She should be here in the morning,” Wazsh said as he nodded.
“Please, give her this to wash,” Duncan replied and fished out the money from his inventory.
“Sure. Are you still worried about the nanobots?” Wazsh asked.
Duncan nodded before asking, “Do you know a good barber in town?”
“A barber? Why? You want to have your hair and beard trimmed?” Wazsh asked.
“Yeah. I don’t want to look like Jezus anymore,” Duncan replied.
“I could do it or you could just adjust your look in your character sheet,” Wazsh replied.
Duncan had a surprised expression on his face when he asked, “What do you mean to adjust my look?”
“Go to the avatar window and concentrate on your body. Not the items you wear,” Wazsh replied.
Duncan did as he was told and opened up the avatar view. There was a 3D image of him wearing his current clothes floating in front of him. He concentrated on his face and an option [Adjust] popped up. He clicked on it mentally and he was greeted by a sort of character creation option page.
He could adjust the hair, facial hair, scars, tattoos, and birthmarks.
Duncan quickly chose what he considered a normal short hair look and a clean shave.
“Damn it, Duncan! Now I have to clean your hair up from the whole kitchen,” Wazsh suddenly yelled.
Duncan looked startled for a second and then looked down and saw heaps of his hair and beard hair all over the floor around him.
“I am sorry. I didn’t know this would happen,” he quickly said and started pushing the hair in a pile with his boots.
Wazsh facepalmed before saying, “It’s my fault really. I should have warned you to do it somewhere else.”
After about 10 minutes they cleaned most of the hair up and Duncan asked, “How does this even work?”
“The nanobots in your body can modify it somewhat. They just told your hair to fall off at a specific length. There could possibly be a lot bigger modifications possible to your body however they are locked. Some could probably even make you handsome,” Wazsh replied.
Duncan rolled his eyes and replied, “Thank you for the explanation.”
He went outside of the bar and shook his shoulders and hair vigorously on the street as he still felt itchy from all the hair.
After Duncan came back inside, he rushed to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. He could have used the avatar menu but he preferred his own eyes. Duncan nodded at himself as he looked exactly like it showed him in the menu.
He checked his stat sheet and saw he gained 3.5 in Charisma stats just from cutting his hair and beard.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Well, at least I don’t look like a hobo anymore…” he softly said and closed his stat sheet.
His head was now a lot lighter and he felt refreshed.
He came back down to the kitchen and heard Wazsh mumbling.
“I am sorry I made you do extra work,” Duncan said.
“It’s alright. Since you came here things have brightened up a lot. I have to take the good and the bad,” Wazsh said with a smile.
“In sickness and in health until death does us part,” Duncan thought and shuddered.
He shook his head off the nasty thoughts and said, “So, I have been thinking. There probably are some skills simulated. I guess stealth is one of them. Curses could also be just in our heads. I guess it makes no difference though if they have real effects.”
“Yeah. Well, here it does not since it’s the same for everyone,” Wazsh replied.
“Yeah, on Earth it would be different. I could use Stealth on a player there but not on a normal… I mean normal as in not a person infected with nanobots,” Duncan nodded as he rationalized that new information.
“You need to stop treating nanobots as an enemy. They are basically a tool,” Wazsh replied.
“I guess, however, the power they have to change my perception of things doesn’t sit right with me,” Duncan replied.
Wazsh smiled before he said, “But you are alright with all the other boosts you get with them. Hypocrite!”
Duncan rolled his eyes before replying vehemently, “Who can guarantee they won’t change my memories or how I treat someone.”
“It’s in the Terms of Service if you would bother to read them. They can only change things related to the reality show. Except for the original inhabitants. They have their own unpublished set of rules,” Wazsh replied, shaking his head.
“And you trust them?” Duncan replied.
“I don’t doubt the power of contracts and lawyers in our Universe,” Wazsh replied.
“You say that like there exists some kind of Court of the Universe where I could appeal,” Duncan replied with anger in his voice.
“I think I already told you too much. Earth is not ready for too much information yet. Good night!” Wazsh replied and left the kitchen.
“Fine,” Duncan yelled after him as he was leaving before thinking on what he should do next.
Finally, he decided to read some more books before he calls it a night.
Looking at his to-be-read pile, he was deciding between Herbology vol. 6 and Traps from beginners to experts vol.1. He decided to finish Herbology and be done with it. Also, the level-ups would bring him more stats than from Trapmaking.
He activated his Reading skill on it and after 35 minutes he finished the book. The new knowledge was safely stored in his head as Identify once again leveled.
[
You have Learned Identify Level 9.
Intelligence +0.9
Wisdom +0.9
]
Duncan took a big breath before he continued.
“Just two more and I am done with Herbology,” he mumbled as he activated Reading on volume 7.
After just 25 minutes since it was a thinner book, he was done. Reading and Herbology achieved new heights as he massaged his temples.
[
You have Learned Reading Level 11.
Perception +1.1
Intelligence +1.1
Wisdom +1.1
]
[
You have Learned Herbology Level 5.
Endurance +0.5
Wisdom +0.5
]
“One more,” Duncan said as he activated Reading on the last volume of Herbology. He was done in 20 minutes and only Identify achieved a level up.
[
You have Learned Identify Level 10.
Intelligence +1.0
Wisdom +1.0
]
With that out of the way he decided to take in some fresh air before going to sleep. He opened the window and looked at the unfamiliar stars. There was still a golden veil covering a part of the sky from the black hole slowly devouring all the gas and other matter around it.
Duncan thought about what to do next and remembered the two new skills he had: Meditation and Mana manipulation. The way he left things in the hospital was also weighing on his head as he knew he only had one day before he should go back and find a way to leave it.
His phone was dead so he would have to ask someone to call him a cab or an Über. He was happy he at least had money at hand which could solve most of his problems there.
Duncan ran Mana manipulation and tried to create a rune at the source as it was described in the book. He was somewhat successful at that. The filling part of the rune still proved too hard and he was soon out of mana. The skill leveled to level 2 and he was satisfied he at least made some progress.
[
You have Mana manipulation Level 2
Wisdom +0.2
]
Feeling weak he started using Meditation and once he got full of Mana again the skill leveled up.
[
You have Meditation Level 2
Intelligence +0.2
]
The stat gains were nothing to write home about but it was a start. He was sure these two skills would level a lot if he kept practicing them.
Laying down on his bed he made a plan for tomorrow. Visiting Elland to drop off body parts and dust. Then checking on the tailor Maryka if she is in.
Truth be told Duncan dreaded visiting Maryka more than going back into the mine or the woods. He made a fool out of himself the last time he went and he doubted he would do any better tomorrow.