Trash in the Apocalypse

Chapter 16: Blueprint Creation

Sheila finally caught up, just in time to see Jun put the gun in his dimensional storage. He turned to the two arrivals with a sharp gaze, then said, "Gather every food downstairs, I'll go down later. I just need to do something."

Sheila immediately went down, not daring to stay any longer. 

Adrian was a bit hesitant after seeing Jun's expression. He knows that this is Jun's home, and people that are staying here had to be his family or someone he had a relationship with. 

As he watched him enter the room, he felt a slight pang in his chest. They might be strangers and haven't known each other for long, but Adrian knows the feeling of losing someone special. And because he already experienced it, he knew that no amount of counsel could help alleviate the pain he's currently feeling. The best thing that he could do is to watch over him from the sides.

Adrian's not someone who easily gets swayed by his emotion. The main reason he felt concerned about Jun was that he knows that people can become insane and possibly die under intense grief. Losing a qualified leader who can maintain a clear mind to devise a plan and have the courage to fight a group of infected would surely reduce his chance of survival. He went back to the kitchen and saw Sheila already sorting cans of food in the table.

Sheila stopped when she saw him and asked, "Aren't you scared of him?"

"Why?" he replied as he searched for plastic bags.

"Well, you know... He acts like a hooligan and keeps bossing you around." Sheila said while making a small circle on the table with her fingertip.

Adrian sat down, holding two eco-bags that he found inside a drawer. He then replied, "Then, do you think he's bad?"

Sheila pondered for a bit, most of her interactions with Jun were initiated by him, and he always treated her gently. Even though she made some mistakes, he didn't even reprimand her and instead gave her another chance. "No, he's actually quite approachable and has lots of patience..." her voice trailed off and became a murmur in the end.

Adrian smiled, seeing her reaction. "People tend to get confused when they're distracted. I'm showing him that I trust him, that's why he's trying his best to trust me too. Try and talk to him sometimes."

"By the way, I'm going out for a bit. You can loot the whole place by yourself, right? Jun will probably take some time before he could come down."

***

Jun sat beside the bed. On his hand was his father's treasured item; a family picture of four.

His father always liked staring at the photo during his siesta. A beautiful woman was smiling charmingly, holding a little girl that seemed to be about six years old. Beside her was a stern-looking man holding a kid's hand. They looked happy in the picture as everyone, except for the man, was smiling widely. Holding the picture frame, tears kept falling from Jun's eyes. He hated his father, and that is a fact, but at the same time, Jun loved him the most. He spent his childhood admiring his father, and when their family separated, it hit him the hardest.

Besides him lay a book that emits a golden radiance. He got the book after looting his father's body.

At first, he deliberated if he should loot his father's body, since looting the body will cause it to disappear.

On the other hand, he thought of burying his father in their backyard, but his conscience didn't allow it. He knew that an infected tend to reanimate after a period of time, and if that happened, he has to kill his father once again. That's why even though it pained him, he still chose to loot the body.

He dazedly watched the twinkling stardust as they disappear. Then he placed his hand on the book with the intent to read it.

[Would you like to learn the skill book, 'Blueprint Creation'?]

[Yes/No]

Of course, Jun would learn the book. It was the right thing for him to do. For him, it was a precious item left to him by his father. Even if it turned out to be trash, he would still cherish it.

[You learned the skill book, 'Blueprint Creation'!]

[Blueprint Creation - Lvl.1]

[Description] Scan an item to save it to the blueprint library. You can make an item from the library as long as you have enough materials. Blueprint Creation is limited to 10 items. You can delete a blueprint slot to scan new items. Drains 10 energy after scanning an object.

The first thought Jun had when he learned of the skill book's name was that he would be following his father's footsteps and work as an engineer, but after reading the skills description, he was shocked and happy.

It turned out that the skill book his father left him had an incredible ability, and it might be of superior quality depending on how you use it.