Still frowning, Jack walked around the CUEV one more time.
Almost every feature the system had mentioned was right where it should be, and the vehicle didn’t appear to be missing any essential components. Yet the longer he examined it, the stronger that nagging feeling became.
His gaze eventually reached the roof, where several small metal tabs were sticking out.
Jack stared at them for a few seconds.
Then it finally clicked.
The tent was missing.
Those metal tabs were clearly meant to secure the foldable tent, but the roof was now completely bare.
So that was what had been bothering him.
“LOSS, where’s the rooftop tent you mentioned? And what about the auxiliary cooling unit that came with it?”
“Unknown.”
Jack stared at the empty mounting points.
“Didn’t you say the main structure and drive system were intact?”
The system replied with open disdain.
“Human, if your knowledge is lacking, read more. The main structure and drive system have nothing to do with the rooftop tent.”
Jack opened his mouth, but no argument came out.
“What about the auxiliary cooling unit?”
“It was also part of the rooftop tent assembly.”
“So that’s missing too?”
“Obviously.”
Jack gave up.
He returned to the convenience store in a foul mood and found Megan still sorting medicine behind the checkout counter.
She took one look at him.
“You’re back already. What happened?”
“The rooftop tent is gone,” Jack said. “The auxiliary cooling unit that came with it is missing too.”
He repeated what the system had told him, including its smug little lecture about reading more.
Megan laughed.
Jack looked at her in disbelief.
“You’re laughing?”
“LOSS has a point,” Megan said, still trying not to laugh. “You heard that the main structure and drive system were intact and somehow decided that meant every accessory had to be there too.”
Jack could only stare at her.
Megan made no attempt to comfort him. Still smiling, she returned to the medicine behind the checkout counter.
Jack could only sigh and head for the door.
“Wait,” Megan called.
He looked back. “What?”
“When are we going to get my car?”
“Let’s wait until the CUEV is fully charged,” Jack said after thinking it over. “We’ll test it nearby first. If everything works properly, then we can make arrangements.”
Megan considered that and nodded.
“Fine.”
Jack left the store, only to find Hal hurrying toward him with Gordon close behind.
The moment Jack saw them, he knew exactly what they wanted. They had to be here to rush him into retrieving the remaining seeds and supplies from the agricultural supply center.
Hal reached him first.
“Jack, I—”
“Hal, I know you’re in a hurry, but first, you need to stop hurrying.”
Jack cut him off with a perfectly serious expression.
“If you’re in too much of a hurry, you’ll rush what you’re trying to say. If you rush what you’re trying to say, I won’t understand why you’re in a hurry. And if I don’t understand why you’re in a hurry, then hurrying over here was pointless. So stop hurrying, take your time, and when you’re no longer in a hurry, you can tell me what the hurry was.”
Hal’s urgency slowly gave way to complete confusion.
He stood there, trying to untangle what Jack had just said.
Jack gave him no time to figure it out. The moment he saw that Hal was thoroughly confused, he turned and quickly walked away.
Gordon reached Hal a moment later. He hadn’t noticed Hal’s blank expression. All he saw was Jack leaving, which only made him more anxious.
“Why did Jack suddenly leave? I still need to tell him something urgent—”
Hal turned to him.
“Gordon, I know you’re in a hurry, but first, you need to stop hurrying.”
Gordon stared at him.
Hal repeated Jack’s words exactly.
“If you’re in too much of a hurry, you’ll rush what you’re trying to say. If you rush what you’re trying to say, I won’t understand why you’re in a hurry. And if I don’t understand why you’re in a hurry, then hurrying over here was pointless. So stop hurrying, take your time, and when you’re no longer in a hurry, you can tell me what the hurry was.”
Gordon stood there for several seconds, trying to follow the twisted logic.
“What… what the hell was that?”
Cass had watched the entire exchange from nearby. Seeing Hal repeat Jack’s nonsense with a perfectly straight face while Gordon struggled to make sense of it, he finally burst out laughing.
The sound drew several people’s attention.
Only then did Hal realize that Jack had deliberately talked him in circles.
He looked toward Jack, who was already some distance away, but before he could go after him, a notification sounded from the CUEV beside the convenience store.
“Battery level has reached one hundred percent. Have a pleasant drive.”
Hal immediately shouted after him.
“Jack! The CUEV is fully charged!”
Jack immediately turned and ran back to the CUEV. The instrument panel showed a full charge.
Hal’s shout drew the others over, and before long, another crowd had gathered around the vehicle.
Jack disconnected the charging cable, moved the portable energy cell aside, and eagerly climbed into the driver’s seat. He examined the controls, touched a few switches, and even nodded from time to time as if he knew exactly what he was doing.
Everyone waited for him to start the CUEV.
Instead, Jack climbed back down.
He found the entire group staring at him.
“What?”
Elias looked at him. “Aren’t you going to drive it?”
“I don’t know how.” Jack sounded genuinely surprised. “I don’t even have a driver’s license. Were you all waiting for me to drive?”
No one answered.
Jack looked at Elias.
“What about you?”
“I know how to drive, but I haven’t driven anything since the disaster,” Elias said. “Besides, this is a utility vehicle. Even if I took the wheel, I’d still need some time to get used to the controls.”
He gave Jack a pointed look.
“And at my age, do you really expect me to be the driver?”
Jack looked around, but no one else volunteered.
Megan soon came outside after hearing the commotion.
“What’s going on?”
Jack explained that the CUEV was fully charged, but no one knew how to drive it.
“I’ll try,” Megan said.
She walked around the vehicle once, then climbed into the driver’s seat and examined the controls around the handlebars.
The CUEV resembled an ATV, and although its controls were different, they weren’t difficult to understand. Forward, reverse, acceleration, and braking were all clearly marked.
After familiarizing herself with the layout, Megan looked up.
“Everyone move back. I’m going to test it.”
The people around the CUEV moved back, giving Megan plenty of room.
She started the vehicle and applied the accelerator gently. As soon as the CUEV began to move, she tested the brake and brought it to a stop.
Megan repeated the process several times. Once she had grown familiar with the handlebars and the vehicle’s response, she gradually picked up speed and drove a full circle around the convenience store.
A short while later, she brought the CUEV back to where everyone was waiting.
“The vehicle is fine.” Megan switched off the power and climbed down. “The controls aren’t complicated either. Anyone can learn with a little practice.”
She looked around at the group.
“If any of you want to learn, I can teach you.”
Her gaze eventually settled on Jack.
Jack immediately shook his head.
Before he could refuse, the system’s voice sounded in his mind.
“Human, a hidden mission has been detected.”
“Hidden Mission: Efficiency Is Life.”
“Time limit: Three hours.”
“Success: The success rate of the first brick-firing attempt will increase by twenty percent. The success rate of every subsequent brick-firing attempt will permanently increase by five percent.”
“Failure: The ability to learn how to operate any vehicle will be permanently revoked.”
The system paused before continuing,
“Human, you must master the basic operation of the CUEV within three hours and independently complete straight-line driving, turning, reversing, and safe parking.”
Jack immediately protested in his mind.
“LOSS, aren’t you just causing trouble for me? You expect someone who has never driven before to learn all that in three hours. How is that reasonable?”
“Mission countdown: Two hours and fifty-nine minutes.”
Jack nearly choked.
Once he calmed down, however, he began to reconsider.
He already didn’t know how to drive. Even if he permanently lost the ability to learn, it didn’t seem like much of a loss. Megan could drive, and Cass or one of the others could always learn later.
There was no reason Jack had to become a driver himself.
He could simply do nothing and let the mission fail.
Then he remembered the reward.
A twenty-percent increase in the success rate of their first brick-firing attempt was already tempting. On top of that, every attempt afterward would receive a permanent five-percent increase.
The reward had hit him exactly where it hurt. Hal and Mort were preparing to conduct their first burn test, and Elias had just made successful brick firing their highest priority.
Jack was beginning to suspect that the system had chosen the reward specifically to force him into accepting the mission.
“LOSS, are you doing this on purpose?”
“Mission countdown: Two hours and fifty-five minutes.”
Jack gritted his teeth.
“Fine. You win.”
Meanwhile, Megan asked if anyone else wanted to learn. Vane, Cass, and Gordon all showed interest.
“I changed my mind,” Jack said immediately. “Teach me first.”
Megan looked at him.
“Didn’t you just say you weren’t interested?”
Jack gave her a meaningful look instead of answering.
Megan understood.
“Fine. Get on.”
Jack took the driver’s seat, while Megan sat behind him and walked him through the basic controls around the handlebars.
Once he had memorized them, she asked, “Got everything?”
Jack nodded.
“Then start slowly. Keep the handlebars steady and ease into the accelerator.”
Jack followed her instructions—or tried to.
The CUEV suddenly shot forward, forcing several people nearby to jump out of the way.
“Brake,” Megan said from behind him.
Jack quickly stopped the vehicle.
“You accelerated too hard. Try again and get used to how sensitive it is.”
On his second attempt, the CUEV finally moved forward at a manageable speed.
Megan let him practice without rushing him, only speaking up when he was about to make a mistake. After several attempts, Jack could finally keep the vehicle moving in a straight line.
Turning took longer. The handlebars moved easily, but Jack had trouble judging how sharply the CUEV would respond. More than once, he drifted outside the route Megan had marked and had to start over.
Eventually, he managed to drive forward and complete a turn without losing control.
Reversing was even more troublesome. Jack had to watch the space behind him while keeping the rear of the CUEV moving in the right direction. At first, he either went off course or stopped nowhere near the position Megan had marked.
The countdown continued to run.
With little time left, Jack made one final attempt. He drove through the marked route, completed the turn, repositioned the CUEV, and slowly reversed into the designated space.
The vehicle stopped exactly where it was supposed to.
The system’s voice sounded at once.
“Hidden Mission completed.”
“Reward granted: The success rate of the first brick-firing attempt has increased by twenty percent. The success rate of every subsequent brick-firing attempt will permanently increase by five percent.”
Jack finally let out the breath he had been holding.
Megan noticed.
“What happened?”
Jack told her about the hidden mission and its reward, expecting her to be pleased.
Instead, Megan gave him a strange look.
“You actually fell for that?”
Jack’s smile disappeared.
“What do you mean? Isn’t the reward useful?”
“The extra twenty percent for the first attempt is useful,” Megan said. “But the permanent five percent afterward sounds better than it really is.”
“What?”
“Hal and Mort already know the basics of firing bricks. Give them enough time, and they’ll work out a reliable method on their own.”
Megan pointed toward the brick kiln.
“Once they can produce bricks consistently, what difference will another five percent make?”
Jack fell silent.
He had been so focused on the words “permanent increase” that he hadn’t stopped to consider whether the bonus would still matter later.
After a long moment, he spoke through gritted teeth in his mind.
“LOSS, you tricked me.”
The system answered immediately.
“Human, the mission reward contains no misleading or deceptive information.”
Jack remained seated on the CUEV, unable to come up with a response.
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