Cyberserk

Chapter 7 - Lunch with Tom

Dan Raven awoke to strange sounds. At first, he felt very uncomfortable and stressed. Someone alien was in his apartment! This thief was softly humming a silly familiar song.

"Happy birthday to me.

Happy birthday to me!

Happy birthday dear Tommy.

Happy birthday to me!"

The voice was familiar. There was recognition in Dan's mind and he regretted waking up.  He remembered that the world had changed. He didn't like the new conditions of life.

"Why did you choose the name Tom?" Dan asked when the clone stopped singing its song.

"Good day, Dan. I hope you're well-rested and ready for new adventures," smiled the phantom. "I thought I should have a name. A name should highlight the uniqueness and individuality of the Excellent Me. You don't want to admit it to yourself, but you've always felt sorry for poor Tommy Voldemort."

"I agree with you, the guy was a cool wizard. Too bad he lost his mind," Raven smiled.

"Don't worry. Creating a phantom doesn't split your soul," Tom said.

"You shouldn't start the day with statements like that! I want to go to sleep and not wake up. Damn freaks! I want to go to the bathroom. Unknown bastards have stolen our electricity and our water! It's going to stink in the apartment," Raven began complaining about life.

"I took care of you, you little asshole. I brought a bucket of water from the river. I don't know how the city sewer system works. But now you can flush your s**t down the toilet," said the clone.

"Thanks. you're a real friend," shouted Dan and quickly ran to the toilet.

The phantom began emptying his inventory of trophies. Tom carefully arranged the skill books into stacks. Phantom was able to accumulate a large collection of skill books.

Dan returned to the room and saw the wealth on the table.

"You had a good time," Dan smiled.

"Don't waste your time. Take one book from each stack and learn new skills. Any beginning skill can come in very useful. The fire arrow is a novice magician's weak weapon. But it's the best way to get fire in the wilderness," Tom scratched the back of his head. "I'm not sure you can use an ice arrow to quench your thirst. It's easier to buy water at the store."

"I'm thirsty," exclaimed Dan.

He quickly called up the store panel and bought a bottle of water. Ten experience points are a necessary petty expense for food.

The young man looked at the clay bottle in his hand with surprise. The clay was well fired and the bottle did not stain his fingers. The neck of the bottle was corked.

"What magnificent savagery," laughed Dan. He removed the cork from the throat and brought the bottle to his face. The young man sniffed the liquid in the bottle. A look of surprise appeared on his face. Dan took a sip. Then another. He couldn't stop and drank a liter of water all at once.

"It's just a miracle," Dan exhaled as he emptied the bottle. "I've never drunk water so pure and delicious! It's not water it's something miraculous. Water can't taste this good."

"The water in the river tasted ordinary," Tom remarked. "Greedy, I want to taste the magic water, too. My inventory is empty! Quickly renew me! Wait! Sit in the chair first. You'll get too many new thrills and experiences after thousands of fights with stinking zombies."

Dan Raven did not argue with this suggestion. He sat down in a cheap model of an office chair and activated the Phantom skill.

The next moment the player huddled in the back of the chair. His hands gripped the armrests tightly.

"Buy me a bottle of water. And a big sword. I want a katana!" Tom expressed his renewal simply. The clone began jumping around the room and striking with an imaginary Japanese sword.

Dan Raven shook his head. He remembered a funny moment in an old movie.

"I know kung fu," Dan whispered.

"You're not Neo and I'm not Morpheus. Unfortunately, we don't know kung fu, and it's even more frustrating that we're total kendo idiots," Tom countered. "The problem is that we both know nothing about swordsmanship. Sparring two worthless morons won't do us any good. Learn your skills quickly! These books could disappear at any moment. Zombie bodies disappear in a couple of minutes. Trophies can disappear much faster!"

"Yes! I want new skills!" Dan began a quick study of skills.

He added new skills to his collection and began quickly putting stacks of books into his inventory.

"I hope they don't disappear from the inventory," laughed Raven.

"The books are in a safe place in the inventory," said the phantom. "You got 26,000 experience! You're a rich man. No need to level up! Buy meat and bread. That's the food of real warriors. We'll eat and talk."

"I hope the meat and bread from the magic store will taste wonderful," Dan's mouth filled with saliva.

He quickly retrieved two large plates from the kitchen cabinet and bought food from the store.

The smell of a large loaf of bread and a piece of roast meat made it immediately clear that the game food was worthy of attention.

Dan broke off a slice from the big loaf of bread and tasted the new food. Then he grabbed the piece of meat with both hands and started tearing the meat with his teeth like a barbarian. The phantom broke off a piece of bread and chewed it with an expression of pleasure on his face.

"You're actually eating human food," Dan swallowed the meat and looked at his partner in wonder.

"I'm pretty sure I don't have to go to the toilet. I like the taste of this food. Buy some water! Don't be greedy," the phantom asked. "Thanks, I tasted it and it was delicious. I don't need to feed myself. But we have to get used to acting naturally. I'm going to play the part of a live player. A very greedy player. I don't have a store. I can't waste experience and pretend to be a rich and lavish player."

"You're beautiful without a store. You're as beautiful as this meat," Dan couldn't stop himself. He forgot the desire to get up and bring forks to the table. When the young man tasted the bread and meat it was as if he went crazy. He liked eating like an ancient uncivilized man.

Suddenly an important detail of the conversation flashed through Dan's mind.

"Why don't you want to raise levels? It's ridiculous and out of line with the rules of the game," Dan said.

"I did some recon of the territory. Then I started killing zombies in a quiet atmosphere. The citizens of the district turned out not to be as cowardly and cautious as I wanted them to be. Pretty soon a crowd of people came through the portal and everyone started killing these stupid and slow zombies. But then some players learned their first lesson from the Game. You don't have to rush and you don't have to level up fast! These idiots walked a couple of kilometers along the riverbank and encountered skeletons with weapons and armor. Far from the portal, there are level 2 warrior skeletons! They are smart and fast enough. They are just like humans. But can you imagine a man who has fought all his life with a sword in his hands? He is a master of combat, he is a great swordsman! And so this swordsman became a skeleton and met the players. Several people died there. All the players realized with horror that they had no chance against the skeleton warriors. No one knows how to fight like a master swordsman! People can kill stupid and slow level 1 undead. But if you increased your level you reduced the amount of experience you get and the chance of falling out trophies from the dead of level 1. This is an elementary basis of the game! Don't rush to gain a level if you're forced to kill level 1 monsters."

"You're scaring me," Dan put a large piece of meat on his plate. He stood up and grabbed a towel to wipe the grease off his fingers. "Now what are we supposed to do? 26,000 experience allows us to reach level 7. New skills will open up for us. We can buy stronger armor. A level 2 monster can't be an impediment. This is ridiculous. Those bastard Game Masters can't be that cruel to humanity!"

"Humanity feels great," the clone objected. "Humanity has gotten cheap excellent food and booze. You can't imagine how excited the players are praising the beer. Kill three zombies and buy yourself a liter of beer! It's the loudest advertisement for the new way of life."