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...
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The moment Harper returned to his room, he checked his panel.
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Indeed, compared to what he saw in the pure white space, the panel now had a lot more information.
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...
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Number: 18146
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Forum nickname: None
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Name: Harper
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Inherent talents: Luck (lost), Clear Mind
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Skills: None
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Character creation opportunities: 0
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And below this panel, a small panel had appeared.
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Life Occupant: Jerome
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Talents: Savant Syndrome
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Skills: Practical Mechanics Lv1, Mysticism Lv1
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Unsettled points: 128
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...
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Wait, Savant Syndrome?
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Harper furrowed his brows.
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It seemed that Asperger''s syndrome did indeed give Jerome some abilities that were different from ordinary people.
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Mysticism?
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Where did a 17-year-old kid come into contact with Mysticism?
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Harper immediately thought of that contact named "Thanatos".
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Mural... what exactly did it refer to?
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It seemed that under the cover of social anxiety, there were many mysteries to explore in Jerome.
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It was just surprising that the son of a mechanic had not mastered the skill of mechanics until now.
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Harper took a deep breath.
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He needed to find a way to quickly integrate into this town.
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Making the mechanic''s son also a mechanic apprentice was a good way.
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He leaned on the bed, flipping through the thick book.
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【''Practical Mechanics'' experience +1】
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【''Savant Syndrome'' bonus activated, you will gain an additional 1 point of experience on top of the base experience bonus.】
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【''Practical Mechanics'' experience +1】
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【...】
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Bit by bit, slowly filling the skill bar''s groove, Harper''s slightly restless mood gradually calmed down.
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The father and son spent the night without a word.
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...
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The next morning, when Harper woke up, Jefferson was already sitting in the repair shop, busy.
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Sunset Town was not small, and Jefferson was the only mechanic in this area.
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Harper peeked out.
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Jefferson seemed to sense something and looked back, "There are energy bars in the kitchen, remember to eat breakfast."
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"Oh."
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Harper responded.
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It didn''t seem like he didn''t care at all.
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Although the energy bars were hard to swallow, at least they could fill the stomach.
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At 17, it was the time to grow the body. After a night, his stomach was growling with hunger.
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Harper walked to the kitchen, and sure enough, he found a can of energy bars among a pile of pre-packaged meals.
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A small energy bar as thick as a thumb could make people feel full for several hours.
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Harper put one in his mouth, turned his head, and suddenly noticed the rice cooker placed on the side of the stove.
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This rice cooker was very different from those in the first world, more like a pressure cooker.
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But it seemed to be broken, revealing the messy wires inside.
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Broken?
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No wonder yesterday''s rice was cooked like porridge.
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Harper stared at it for a while, then walked towards the shop.
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"...What''s up?" Jefferson lifted his head from his work and asked bluntly.
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"The rice cooker is broken."
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"...I know, I''ll fix it when I have time."
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When will he have time?
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Jefferson''s worktable was already piled up with appliances waiting to be repaired, and customers kept coming in.
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It might take a very, very long time for him to actually have time.
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"I''ll fix it."
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"...Ha?" Jefferson expressed doubt.
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Harper didn''t explain much, walked up, and started rummaging in Jefferson''s toolbox.
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Surprisingly, Jefferson didn''t stop him, just looking a bit puzzled.
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Repairing a rice cooker was the first chapter of the first volume of the "Practical Appliance Repair Manual" he read yesterday.
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If Jerome had carefully read that book, then completing the repair wouldn''t be a difficult task.
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But...
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Hadn''t he always looked down on the work of a mechanic, wanting to be a cyber folklorist?
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...
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【Repair completed, ''Practical Mechanics'' experience +100】
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【''Savant Syndrome'' bonus activated, you will gain an additional 100 points of experience on top of the base experience bonus.】
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【''Savant Syndrome'' activated multiple times, you obtain the negative bonus ''Fatigue'', duration 1h.】
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【''Practical Mechanics'' level raised to Lv2.】
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【Talent unlocked: Nimble Hands】
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Harper put down the screwdriver in his hand and looked at his palm.
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Soft, slender, flat.
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It seemed something had changed, yet it seemed nothing had changed.
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He just felt that the slender palm could now do some things more flexibly that he couldn''t do before.
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For example, squeezing into a small gap to fiddle with the connecting screws hidden deep inside.
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He straightened his back, yawned, and a wave of fatigue washed over him.
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Harper returned to his room and fell into the covers.
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Why did he repair it?
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Harper thought for a moment, this was a kind of surrender, but also a kind of probe.
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He was creating a common topic between himself and Jefferson.
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Harper couldn''t always not talk to Jefferson, nor could he always say meaningless things like "Hmm", "Oh", "Okay", etc.
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He needed to trigger some new conversations, some deeper content.
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Also, he didn''t want to pretend to be sick anymore.
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Social anxiety might have been a merit that helped him get through the hard times in the past few days. But in the days to come, it would be a stumbling block to his progress.
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He needed to start with Jefferson and remove people''s stereotype of him.
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Harper admitted that this was somewhat risky.
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Sudden changes could make suspicious people think more.
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What if they associate it with "Arrival Disease" and initiate another review?
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Harper felt that as long as he wasn''t subjected to torture, or the "brain-machine" type of black technology that directly reads brain memories in sci-fi novels, he might be able to make it through.
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Waiting quietly for the crisis to come - that wasn''t his style.
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At lunchtime, Jefferson put down his unfinished work and walked towards the kitchen.
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Taking care of Jerome - this was an important thing he wrote on his memo.
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He forgot to repair the rice cooker again today, Jefferson sighed, he was too busy.
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Endless repairs didn''t give him a moment''s time.
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His eyes swept over the rice cooker, and then stopped there.
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Repaired... it''s fixed?
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It looked... pretty decent?
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Jefferson''s actions were faster than his thoughts, he had opened the interior of the rice cooker with his screwdriver before he had even reacted.
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"..."
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It was indeed repaired.
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And... the repair was perfect, the wiring was neat.
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Jefferson was silent.
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He poured rice and the corresponding scale of water into the pot - obviously, he was so eager that he forgot to wash the rice.
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Connected the power supply, a beep sound.
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"Cooking in progress, please wait."
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"Gurgle gurgle, gurgle gurgle."
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Three minutes later, a pot of beautiful rice appeared in front of him.
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"Very normal."
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Jefferson said softly.
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"It''s just the content of the first chapter of the first volume of the ''Practical Appliance Repair Manual'', it''s expected to be able to repair it."
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He said so.
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It''s just that those eyes, which usually looked somewhat murky, were showing some sharp light at this moment.
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---