Myriad alpacas ran through Yu Zhiye’s mind and he sat there stunned like the rest.

  But it took only a few ticks for the crowd to get rowdy.

  “Madaraka! It turns out to be that movie?!”

  “Not exactly. Looks like it’s a game that got an RPG mod added on?”

  “Yep, seems like it! Man, and here I was worried we gotta survive on our own. Good thing we get a cheat! Hurhurhurhur! A blue skill, will you look at that!”

  Some people were happy, but others had frowns. Particularly, the four-eyes.

  Once people gained power, their ambitions will no longer sit still. That meant more competition.

  Of course, Yu Zhiye didn’t care about that at the moment.

  His entire focus was on exploring his own interface.

  Since he possessed nothing in his inventory, there wasn’t much exploring to do there. Leave that for later.

  Work his way up. Let’s see the… trophy tab?

  Tapping on that tab switched out the status interface above for another.

  [<] [Achievements] [>]

  That label was enough to explain what this interface was for.

  As for the arrow buttons? They currently did nothing. Kinda obvious why.

  After all, the rest of the window was… blank, save for the magnifying glass icon at the bottom left corner.

  Bet there were tons of hidden achievements. Seems like this is one of those explore-on-your-own type of game.

  As for what the magnifying glass button does? It was a switch for showing and hiding a search bar.

  But uh… there’s no need to figure out how this search works right right now because… there’s nothing to search for.

  Next was the book tab. A similar interface, but titled [Recipes].

  Finally was the smiley emoji tab. [Social Circle List]

  It didn’t differ much from the other two interface except this page had an extra pair of add and delete friends button.

  Pretty simple and straightforward.

  Moving on.

  Yu Zhiye re-selected the profile tab to check his status.

  Name, age, class was pretty straightforward.

  As for affiliation… Outpost #128A7193S? Not a clue.

  But from that and his ID, he can guess that they were not the only ones thrown into this game.

  Perhaps the billions of people from his previous world were all here?

  Well... he’ll probably have to wait until some global chat function opens up like in those survival genre light novels.

  Next. Stats.

  For those familiar with RPG games, they weren’t any conundrum.

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  (STR) Strength affects physical might and power of attacks

  (DEX) Dexterity affects agility and reflexes

  (INT) Intellect affects cognitive abilities like learning and is usually tied to MP or whatever magic system the game uses

  (CON) Constitution affects physical resilience and endurance. Super important for survival, no durr.

  (WIS) Wisdom is similar to INT, but revolves more around spiritual aspects like insight and intuition.

  (CHA) Charisma… social influence and persuasiveness.

  In RPG games, CHA is the prerequisite for unlocking hidden quests and dialogues.

  In reality? Simple. Want to stand out? Want to be a leader? Charisma is what you need.

  Yup, there’s not much going on with these stats. Not sure what the average standards was, but dang, some of his stats were low...

  As for how much these stats actually reflect on his self? Not a clue.

  Yu Zhiye didn’t know the accurate weights behind these stats.

  Every game has its own algorithm to calculate how much each stat affects other real-world variables like defense power and stamina.

  Those will be something he’ll have to explore on his own.

  Moving on. Next was… the interesting part.

  Gift: Fisherman's Hideout? A (F-) rank gift? Did he get a trash draw?

  Or is that just the starting point? Maybe the rank can get upgraded?

  Yeah… not sure. The garbles at the beginning and the code black at the end is also throwing him off.

  Guessing by what he just heard, the other players here should have skills as well, but obviously, of a different color.

  So, the color code should be the rarity.

  If the game logic from his previous world still applies, then…

  White (Common), Green (Uncommon), Blue (Rare), Purple (Epic), Orange or Gold (Legendary).

  But then… what does black represent? EX-rank? Glitch? Who knows.

  Should be quite… high for starters, right?

  Just hope it’s not ranked below white...

  As for how this Fisherman’s hideout skill actually works...

  Sensing the knowledge that was ingrained into his mind as if it were an innate instinct, Yu Zhiye resisted the urge to activate his power then and there.

  He didn’t fancy showing off his trump card to strangers.

  After swiping down to shut his system interface, he was left with the inventory hotbar. No hearts and hunger bar though.

  Life’s not completely a game. All the more exciting.

  But Yu Zhiye showed none of that excitement on his face.

  He calmly stood up and patted his flat tummy. “Uh… Jack, I’m gonna go use the restroom.”

  “Yeah?” The scruffy uncle, busy tapping away at empty air, didn’t even bother to spare him a glance. “Go ahead. I heard the stalls are at the back of the store, between the meats and fish counters.”

  “Thanks.”

  Yu Zhiye glanced around one last time, taking note that the last-to-awaken young man already disappeared to heaven knows where, then left the circle of loners behind.

  He went down an aisle, passing all the empty shelves until he reached the back of the store.

  Here was the seafood section, but now, the counters only featured empty displays.

  Further up to the right, the long counter’s corner gave way to a passage leading to the back hallway.

  That should be his destination.

  Following the counter, Yu Zhiye made his way over.

  But just when he passed by an aisle, he heard crunching sounds and looked in, only to cross eyes with a pot-bellied uncle snacking on chips.

  Noticing him, a slick grin decorated the man’s oily face and he tossed a bag of chips over.

  “There’s not much on the shelves. Have some while they last.”

  After single-handedly catching the small bag, Yu Zhiye nodded back and walked onward like he saw nothing.

  He gave the bag in his hand a little shake then thought about stuffing it into his inventory.

  In a blink, the bag vanished from his hands and appeared in his inventory hot bar.

  “Hmm… very convenient. The only question is if chip bags are stackable? Well, test it out later if I get the chance...”

  Arriving at the exit-way nested between the meat and fish counters, Yu Zhiye noted the common restroom and green exit signs.

  And as expected, all the way down at the very end of the hall, there was a backdoor emergency exit.

  But exploring what’s out there can wait.

  Yu Zhiye picked up his pace and soon pushed open the door into the men’s restroom.

  At a glance: A mirror. Two sinks. Two hand dryers. Two urinals. Two toilet stalls—one small, one big.

  Yu Zhiye didn’t hesitate to occupy the big stall.

  Clack. The toilet stall latch slid into place. Now, he was locked in, facing the toilet.

  But did he come to pee? Nope. Take a dump? No, no.

  His purpose was one and only.

  Yu Zhiye turned away from the toilet and aimed his hand at the flat tiled wall.

  [Confirm place Fisherman’s Hideout Entrance here?]

  “Yes.”

  His command barely finished when a glowing purple cube shot out from his palm and sunk into the wall…

  At once, ripples bloomed from the point of impact and a door branded with a mysterious eye gradually rippled into existence...

  Yu Zhiye rapped on the solid antique door that felt more real than his system interface then grabbed the ornate door handle.

  A light push and the door responded, creaking open inwards...

  Yu Zhiye took a step back, watching it open up to a portal of starry darkness that gave him zero clues of what lies beyond.

  “Well… here goes nothing.”

  A step forward and Yu Zhiye disappeared into the darkness…

  Creeeak. The door creaked back shut on its own—click. Then, the door rippled and faded away, leaving behind an empty wall.