The voices of people all around flooded Sami’s ears.
He opened his eyes to see that he was back in District 7.
Like him, most people were returning from their Side Quests, while others were disappearing off for Quests.
At this moment, many questions began to run through his mind, like where the strange location of the quest had been. However, he suddenly got distracted as a notification flashed beside him. It was his inventory, which indicated that all the food he had received was in it.
’They all sound ridiculous. White Tiger’s Brain Soup?’
Sami didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. How had things gone from eating good food, like ramen, dumplings, or pork belly, to eating White Tiger’s Brain Soup?
He sighed and hung his crossbow over his shoulder.
Turning away from the screen displaying his inventory, he could see the rest of his teammates nearby. Michael looked like he had a lot of things on his mind, but after exchanging looks between Mia and Sami, he just gave both a curt nod before walking away with a weary expression.
Obviously, that friendly demeanor that he had displayed before the Quest was now long gone.
Mia, on the other hand, silently took a cigarette from its pack and stuffed it into her mouth. Then, as she pocketed both hands, she cast Sami a quick glance. A small, almost imperceptible smile touched her lips before she finally turned and began walking away.
"We did work great as a team," Sami mumbled to himself. After a beat, he rubbed his aching shoulder and added with a scowl, "For the most part."
He chuckled slightly as he put both hands into the pockets of his trench coat, and began making his way back to his Shelter.
’Though I have to say... that was somewhat thrilling.’
Indeed, for some reason, that life-and-death scenario was thrilling, just as much as it was terrifying.
However, truth be told, he was conflicted as to whether his current situation made him feel better than his past life as a regular convenience store manager.
Before the apocalypse, his life had been just a routine of three simple steps. Work, eat, sleep and repeat.
...but mostly the work part.
Honestly, that sort of life was normal for people like him. However, he hadn’t realized just how numb and miserable he actually was back then.
Now that things had changed, he was actually forced to feel alive for once, even if there was the possibility that every single day would come with the very real risk of getting brutally murdered.
Although, thinking about it, if someone were to appear before him right now and say something like: "Would you like me to return you to the world you knew before, or would you like to continue struggling in this nightmare?" Sami wasn’t sure what he would pick.
He rubbed his neck in thought as he contemplated his future.
After a moment, he could feel that he had expended more than half of his Prana reserves.
’I wonder how much time has passed,’ he thought as he dispelled the lie of being a 5 of Spades.
Just then, he could feel the agility and swiftness of being a rogue leave his body.
After walking a fair distance from the Stall, he realized that the crossbow on his back did not disappear.
’It seems that after we borrow something, we can take it back to the Shelter with us. I wonder how long we can keep it for?’
Reaching back, he touched the weapon and caused it to vanish into his inventory. After a bit more walking, he halted and his expression turned grim. ’I wonder how Kenji and the others are doing? I hope they are alive.’
Ever since the apocalypse yesterday, he had been worried about his friends, who were also the only family he had. However, he had not been able to go check on them due to a number of factors.
He resumed walking. ’I’ll go check on them later. I really hope they are fine.’
***
Less than twenty minutes later, Sami finally reached his Shelter. When he turned to the wall clock in the lounge, he confirmed that the Quest had indeed taken only one hour to complete.
’Ah... so that’s what it meant by the Quest shall not exceed one hour.’
Feeling famished, he immediately hurried over to the kitchen to pull out a meal. The first thing he summoned out of his inventory was the Cured White Tiger’s Flank with fat.
A thick slab of meat appeared on the counter. Looking at the glistening white fat and deep red muscle... well uh, it didn’t look that unappetizing.
In fact, if one did not see the White Tiger, they’d think this was from a high-end butcher shop’s prime selection of marbled beef.
’I pride myself on actually being a good cook. I’m sure I can turn this monster meat into something edible,’ he smiled as he took out a knife from the drawer and got to work.
After trimming off the excess gristle and slicing the flank into thin strips, he tossed them straight into a piping hot pan. After a few minutes of seasoning and frequent stirring, the savory aroma of seared meat filled the air. Sami couldn’t help but salivate.
His stomach kept rumbling like an angry engine. Unable to control himself, he took out a pair of wooden chopsticks to taste, and Gods! The rich, smoky meat was one of the most heavenly things he had tasted.
’Damn! This is good. To hell with instant ramen! To hell with dumplings!’ He moaned as the sweet savory juice melted over his tongue.
’If this is this good, then I’m sure the others would be great as well.’ He nodded to himself as he summoned the White Tiger’s Brain Soup.
Suddenly, a large bowl appeared before him, with a pale, marrow-rich center floating in a golden broth.
"Mmmmm." Sami hummed as he stared at the bowl, his face contorting as he had mixed feelings about the dish.
Don’t get it wrong, it was not that it looked bad, but eating an actual brain still felt like a hard cultural boundary he wasn’t quite ready to cross.
Eventually, he shrugged.
Well, food was food.
’There’s a first time for everything.’ Sami smiled as he heated up the broth in a small stainless steel saucepan over the stove.
After bringing it to a gentle simmer, his meal was ready. Taking out a spoon, he scooped up a bit of the rich soup along with a tiny piece of the soft center and tasted it. And wow, it tasted better than it looked!
’As long as I erase the memory of what the tiger looked like, this is basically just extremely expensive gourmet soup.’
Without delay, he poured the hot broth into the bowl, then took everything to his kitchen table, clasped his hands together, and muttered, "Thanks for the food."
Then, he dug in like a man who had not eaten in days. It took him less than four minutes to completely polish off every plate, after which he just sat there rubbing his stomach with a satisfied smile.
Finally, he summoned the White Tiger’s Spinal Fluid. A brown pouch of rough leather then appeared in his hand. Popping open the small stopper, he took a cautious sip.
To his surprise, the fluid tasted like syrupy berries.
’Okay, now this one is actually incredible,’ Sami thought, smacking his lips.
A few seconds later, he closed the leather pouch with the wooden stopper and sighed.
’I better use my free time to practice moving around while blind. There will come plenty of times when I find myself in a situation where I don’t have Prana, but still need to move around.’
He leaned back, staring at the ceiling. ’At least my awareness has increased a bit, thanks to my awakening.’
Having made up his mind to begin practicing how to turn his weakness into his strength, he stood up and cleared the dining table and the kitchen. The remainder of the Cured White Tiger’s Flank was sent into his inventory. What was left was enough to last him a few more meals.
Thank goodness for that.
Once he was done tidying up, despite having a bit of Prana left, he dispelled his lie and spent the remainder of the day blind.
Using a mop handle as a walking stick, he was able to move around a bit. It took him some time, but he felt like he was getting used to it.
At some point, he had picked up a black cloth strip and tied it around his eyes to feel a bit more comfortable.
...Just like that, minutes turned to hours.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, Sami, who was now lying on his couch in the lounge, suddenly heard a series of knocks on his door.
’Hm?’ Startled, he turned his head in that direction, though he couldn’t see anything.
’Who’s there?’
At first, he didn’t say anything, but then the knocks sounded again, followed by a familiar male voice calling out from the hallway outside.
"Are you in there, Sami?"