Chapter 6: Driver Skills

Mark kept reading the description of the <Standby> carefully, trying to find any kind of clue.

'It seems I need to recharge him in some way? But how can I recharge something that isn't here?'

If that Voice came from his truck, which definitely wasn't in the room, as even if it was supposed to be, it wouldn't fit. Besides his encounter with it in the mysterious tunnel, the last memory of his truck was pretty damaged, which could be the reason for the lack of energy.

'Its stats are lower than mine, but it seems they are connected to this thing.'

He had noticed that the Truck Stats were 30% of his which was similar to the Driver Sync value, so the truth should be related. So, after closing the <Standby> panel, he pressed <Driver Sync> to see if there was a description of it, too.

As he expected, a panel appeared.

____________________

DRIVER SYNC

Description: The representation of the harmony between the System's user and [?????-???].

Note: If it reaches 0%, it will lead to the end of the contract with [?????-???]

____________________

'That wasn't too helpful. So what's with the question marks? Do I need to research first or finish some kind of quest to unlock the name? Is it really like a video game? And what contract is it talking about?'

Mark wasn't a great gamer, at least not as much as he used to be before getting exiled. Back then, he had spent a lot of his time playing different video games, with the majority being MMO or single-player RPGs, but now he had barely the time or the money to spend on playing that kind of game or any game, to tell the truth.

Even if he didn't know what the contract mentioned, something inside him told him he didn't want it to end.

'I already tried to check if there was a quest log or something, and only [Journal] worked, and it was empty. Could it be I need some other command?'

He accessed [Journal] one more to make sure it was still empty, which, unfortunately, was the case. That made him somewhat depressed, as he noticed something. Next to his bed, there was a plastic bedside table, and on top of it was a mobile phone.

Mark found the existence of the phone strange for a couple of reasons.

First, it didn't look like his mobile, mostly because he didn't have one, which had caused him a lot of trouble. Of course, Lylah or another nurse or doctor could have forgotten it here, but it was one of those old flip phones, and Mark was surprised there was one still around. Although some modern mobile flip phones, this one clearly has the old classic design.

Mark knew that nurses and doctors tended not to have phones on them, especially when visiting patient rooms, so the chance of the phone belonging to one of them was too small, in his opinion.

And finally, as he focused on it, some letters appeared over it. The letters formed the words ' Truck-Kun,' and they kept turning so they would always face him as he moved his head. They didn't change their position, just their rotation.

Mark kept staring at the phone and the hovering letters as he had an idea and reopened the description for <Driver Sync>.

____________________

DRIVER SYNC

Description: The representation of the harmony between the System's user and [Truck-kun].

Note: If it reaches 0%, it will lead to the end of the contract with [Truck-kun].

____________________

'It is a phone now? Does it just take over different machines? Of course, but its name is peculiar.'

As Mark finished that thought, he took a deep breath and reached for the phone. If that was the source of the Voice, he could start getting some answers.

He picked it up and flipped it open but soon understood that its battery was empty as nothing showed up on the screen no matter what he pressed.

'Well, there is a socket I could use, but I don't have a charging cable.'

Next, Mark tried to concentrate his sight on the mobile to see if anything would happen. A not long time passed until another panel appeared, this time though it was a red one.

____________________

ITEM UNAPPRAISABLE WITHOUT THE USE OF A SKILL

____________________

Reading that notification did not disappoint Mark, as it reminded him of something else. He opened his [Store] and pressed the <Skills> option, which opened another panel. It had a list of different Skills he could buy, with their name, description, and price; as for their price, each costed Truck Coins.

There were hundreds of Skills, but most were greyed out, similar to the <Truck Upgrades> option. At the top of the panel, there was a button with the word <Filter(s)> in it. Mark pressed it, and another panel popped up with different options.

Each Skill had a rank, and the ranks were D, C, B, and A-Rank, according to the filters he could see. However, he noticed that only the D-Rank ones weren't greyed out; just their <Buy> button that each had was red.

'It seems I can only get the ones up to my current tier. But how do I get those coins?' Mark thought to himself.

He picked to filter only the D-Rank Skills as he checked them out to see what he could use. Their price varied, with the cheapest costing a single Truck Coin, while the most expensive costing five Truck Coins.

At the top left, there was a number zero with the pic of a gold coin next to it, and in the coin, instead of the figure of a person or symbol of the currency, there was the shape of a truck. So he tried to press the coin image or the number to see if he could get any type of information about the Truck Coins and maybe how to earn them, but nothing happened.

But in the end, Mark found a Skill that would be what he needed.

____________________

APPRAISE (D-Rank)

Description: The user can unlock the secrets of anything he can see with this Skill.

Cost: 1 Truck Coin

____________________

Since the last notification told him that the phone was unappraisable unless he used a Skill, everything pointed to this. Still, Mark couldn't do anything about it, as no matter what, he had not even a clue how to gain those Truck Coins. The only thing he could do was stare at the Skill, which could lead to the get some answers.

____________________

DO YOU WANT TO CHECK THE CHALLENGE OF ACQUIRING THE SKILL?

YES / NO

Note: Checking the challenge will increase its difficulty unless you have completed it already

____________________

'So that is a thing? Should I risk it, though?'

Mark knew nothing about those challenges, but he didn't have any hope of somehow having fulfilled any of them. But then he had an idea. It wasn't wise to check the challenge for <Appraise> because it would make it harder to get it, but he could fit one of a Skill he didn't need. That way, he could understand how those challenges worked without losing too much.

And so he started going through all the Skills, trying to see if there was anything that didn't seem too helpful. Then, after examining them, he separated them into three types of Skills.

The first type was Passive Skills, which boosted a specific area. One example was <Lesser Physical Endurance>, which reduced damage from physical attacks. Some even allowed him to resist fire damage and other elements, which he had found interesting.

'Since there is the 'Lesser' type, there may exist stronger versions.'

Fortunately, part of the filters was also to check if the Skills title contained a word or words. So after putting the words Physical Endurance and picking to check on all Ranks, he pressed the <Apply Filter> button.

In his disappointment, though, only the <Lesser Physical Endurance> appeared.

'Could it be that they just evolve to the next state when passing a limit?'

Mark had played some games with Systems like that, but without having a way to test it, he couldn't know how close to the truth he was.

As for the second type of Skill, those were Active Skills, which allowed him to make different attacks. An example was <Bite>, which Mark didn't know if it would lead to making his teeth sharper.

The last type could be considered the same as Passive Skills, but Mark had separated them. Instead, he called them Knowledge Skills, which allowed him to gain experience in a particular field. One example was <Mechanic Mind>, which allowed him to learn how different machinery worked and how to build or repair them if needed.

<Appraise>, even if it was an Active Skill, Mark considered it partially a Knowledge one, although he had to see it in action first.

In the end, Mark decided which Skill he should check the challenge. Its name was <Feline Ears>, which was supposed to boost his perception when using his ears. Even if it sounded pretty useful, Mark couldn't think how useful it would be to him, and even if it would be, it didn't mean he had no chance of getting it. Its standard cost was 3 Truck Coins, which wasn't the most expensive among the D-Rank Skills.

So as Mark focused on the Skill of the notification asking him the same question as with <Appraise> appeared, this time after praying, he pressed the yes option.