The immediate thing that happened was the appearance of text floating above every single thing, and I meant everything. The interior of the car was just a mess of letters and numbers above every object.
Aid Conditioning Vent - Fragile 1/1 HP - Plastic - Material for armor, items, weapons
Windshield - Sturdy 8/8 HP - Glass - Material for armor, items, weapons
Even the french fry had text, for fucks sake!
French fry - Degradable 1/1 HP - Organic - Material for food, weapons
It apparently could also become a weapon? I thought about that while I looked at the fry, and more text appeared.
French fry - Craftable into food spears. Minimum stat level for successful crafting: 20 Wisdom or 45 Luck
I picked up the french fry and examined it closely. I can craft? How the hell do I craft? I was just taking in all this information when there was a noise at the passenger window. Jay had her head close to the glass, and she was saying something. I looked over and heard her say, "Max! What the hell are you doing? I think Church is dead! Come on!" I just stared at Jay. There was so much information, menus, and numbers floating all around her.
Jaylina Meris - Recording- Game Manual - Age: 172 - Current Race: Cephalagetti - Home Planet: Chumin
Below that was even more information about her height and weight, blood type, and even preferred foods. Those last two didn't apply since, you know, she didn't eat or have blood. At the bottom of the list was a series of buttons and menus, with one that read: Command. It opened as I looked at it and… none of it made any sense to me. It looked like that goofy font Wingdings, and there was a lot of it. I was about to close that window when I saw one lone word in English: Max. I took a closer look and to my surprise, the words began to translate into English. The section with my name was now readable, and it was instructions to Jay about me. To get me inside this house. I tried to read more, but was interrupted by a window blowing out upstairs with a chair being thrown through.
Glass shards rained down on the grass next to the car, and I heard some more yelling. Jay's tentacles went up in shock at this, and she ran into the house, calling after me to follow. I didn't know what to do. Hell, I didn't even understand what eating Jessica's hair even did for me beyond showing me details on everything. I didn't feel stronger. I checked my personal stats, and it was all the same. I got out of the car and noticed that even the freaking blades of grass had information. It was all too much to take in. I walked to the door while looking around, pocketing the french fry. This power that I was given seemed more like a curse than anything if I had to always see this information.
Jay was inside and halfway up the stairs as she waved at me to come up. I could hear Church screaming bloody murder and the pounding of feet as he ran around being chased. Patti was barking and chasing something as well. Knowing this was a setup, it made it seem almost like a Benny Hill sketch. Before I entered, I pulled out the Fuck Communism Zippo and struck it. I changed into my rotten form, and yup, I still saw information on everything. Church yelled out, "Jay! If you're there, please get Max!" Jay turned to call for me again as I took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold.
A few things then happened very quickly. First, Church was cut off mid-scream, and Jay was stuck running up the steps. Same for Patti and her barking. Secondly, I was frozen in place as well. I couldn't even blink, and I felt my eyeballs drying out. Even the text that was everywhere before was now gone. This was almost as alarming as the flashing red text floating in front of me that said, "Paused". All of that paled in comparison to the angel zombie that appeared at the top of the stairs. This one looked different then the one that appeared on my lawn. This one was glowing white, and as it walked down the stairs, it left an aftertrail of white light that was moving out of sync.
The creature was dragging a frozen Church by the foot, who bounced on each step of the stairs. He was taking small damage each time. The ghoul finally stopped in front of me as it reached the bottom. It dropped Church, and I saw his health was dangerously low from my peripheral vision. The zombie just stared at me, and then it spoke.
"You never should have come back," it drawled. I could see it better now. It wasn't just an angel zombie; there was also a ghostly apparition superimposed under it that was slightly out of time. I could see a masculine face, but not much else.
My mouth was clenched and stuck in place, but I still tried to croak out, "Who are you?" It came out as "Mm mmm mmmhmm" but I think the thing understood as it let out a low laugh.
It stepped right over Church and went back up the stairs. It approached Jay, turned to look at me, and ripped a tentacle off her face. I became white hot, and the noises I made scared even me. Then the bastard smiled. Jay stayed frozen in place as the creature continued up the stairs and went around a corner. I tried to look, and to my surprise, my eyes moved. Then I blinked. The tension holding my body in place began to loosen. The text that said "Paused" was still there, but the text above everything slowly began to reappear for me again. My lower half was still locked in place as I heard the footsteps coming back. I tried my best to recreate the position I was in as the zombie reappeared with Patti over one shoulder.
For a second, I thought the thing was about to drop her over the railing, but instead it came back down the stairs to stand in front of me. It was stroking Patti's head as it looked at me. My eyes were beginning to hurt from not blinking, but I powered through. I should have thought of a damn plan before coming inside, because I had no idea what I was going to do. I was stupid. I knew this was a trap and was unprepared.
"You will be made to suffer," it said. It produced a knife from somewhere and held Patti in the air by her collar. "Next time, you won't come back." It raised its arm into the air with the knife firmly gripped. It brought it down, and the knife only struck air. Patti was gone. She had just disappeared. The creature then looked down at Church, and he was gone as well. "Where?" it began to say. It looked at me and saw the "Get Into Jail Free" card in my hand. The zombie looked at me with such hatred, something I had never seen before in my life. It truly despised me.
I sent the card back to my inventory and pulled the french fry out. In my short walk to the front door, I figured out a few things. I don't know how I knew, but the knowledge came to me. Turns out, crafting needed tables and shit. However, whatever power Jessica gave me allowed me to bypass that and just craft away if my stats met the minimum, which my Luck stat did. Through crafting, the french fry became a Legendary Fry Spear. It had a bunch of crazy bonuses and stats I didn't get to really check out. I just knew it was good.
The angel zombie's knife struck out at me with such speed that I barely dodged in time. It missed my chest, but the blade tore down my side. I could feel my rotting muscles peel back from the knife's blade as it slipped past. It tried to go for another slash, but I had already brought the fry spear upwards in an uppercut. The pointy potato pierced the underside of the zombie's chin, and its head exploded gore everywhere. I turned away from the bloody mess, but a good amount got on my face, and some in my mouth. I hate that I recognized the taste.
I looked back to see the angel zombie standing upright, ooze still sputtering upwards. Where the head once was, was now the opaque, human face of an old man. He had deep, vertical scars on his cheeks and a thick mustache. I stared at the ghost's head as the angel zombie's body crumpled to the ground, knife clattering on the floor. Where the zombie once stood was now the full body of the ghostly man. He was wearing what appeared to be a mechanic's jumper. Something inside of me was frightened by this man. Did I know him? He just smiled at me, and then the smile became larger as his eyes went wide. That's when I saw the text over his head.
Othryn - Recording- Game Master - Age: Unknown - Current Race: Human- Home Planet: Unknown
"Othryn?" I said.
Othryn's face lost its glee as he looked at me. "Do you remember me?" he asked. He then looked to the side at nothing, like how Jessica's recording would do sometimes. He let out a growl before turning back to me. "It's a shame. I must go already. I can't waste this opportunity, though."
Othryn held his hand out, and the knife snapped up to it from the ground. He tilted his head forward and swung. This time I was too slow. The knife came at my face, and time slowed. Nothing froze in place like before; everything just slowed. Words appeared and flashed before me, saying "Lethal Damage Imminent". That made me panic, and I tried to move. Turns out, I was moving in slow-mo as well. I moved my head slowly to the side, but the knife tracked me. It was going to hit me directly in the face; there was no avoiding it. My thoughts raced as I watched the blade inch closer. Was Church and Patti going to be okay? What will happen to Jay after I die? Does she disappear? I wish she were here. Well, she was, but she was frozen in place still.
"Use your spell, you dummy."
That was Jay's voice, but I heard it in my head. How? Was she actually communicating with me? Slowly, I felt the tip of the blade pierce the rotting skin of my cheek. It hurt, and everything was still moving slowly while there was still text warning me of the immediate killing blow that was currently in progress. Wait… my spell? I pulled up my spell list, which was luckily instant and slowed down, and I scanned the list. Wailing? Regrowth? No. Then I saw it. I can't believe I had forgotten. The spell was called Resurrection. The effect only lasted one second, but this was the time to use it. As I activated it, time was no longer slowed down and went back to normal speed. The knife slammed into my face, and everything went black.