Energy Weapons: ◄26►

Guns: ◄35►

Explosives: ◄26►

Melee Weapons: ◄18►

Unarmed: ◄24►

Barter: ◄16►

Speech: ◄30►

Medicine: ◄45►

Lockpick: ◄26►

Repair: ◄30►

Science: ◄45►

Survival: ◄24►

Sneak: ◄20►

[15 Skill Points Left]

The time seemingly stopped as the prompt appeared on my pip-boy. Which point should I increase next? My Speech was rather decent for Level 3, to be entirely honest. 

Should I just dump it all at guns so I got some increase in my guns skill? Or should I put some into medicines so medicinal items would work better in my body for some unknown reason? I wouldn’t put points into sneak either. Well, let’s just dump it all at guns.

Energy Weapons: ◄26►

Guns: ◄50►

Explosives: ◄26►

Melee Weapons: ◄18►

Unarmed: ◄24►

Barter: ◄16►

Speech: ◄30►

Medicine: ◄45►

Lockpick: ◄26►

Repair: ◄30►

Science: ◄45►

Survival: ◄24►

Sneak: ◄20►

[0 Skill Points Left]

The prompt immediately disappeared and time continued after the prompt disappeared into thin air. I reappeared in reality again and continued to go to my next destination which was Goodsprings General Store to give him his revolver back. 

I entered the general store. The air was as hot as usual, making me sweat profusely immediately. I still had no idea how Chet got used to the air. I walked to him and asked about the revolver. “Hey, this is yours, right?” I gave him his revolver. 

“Ah, yeah, the good old lady. Here are the caps I promised, and I want that leather armor back,” Chet demanded. 

“Alright, here you are,” I took off the leather armor using my Pip-Boy and replaced it with the Vault 21 jumpsuit. It was a shame to say goodbye to that good piece of armor, but well, it was a necessity since I didn’t want to make enemies with him. 

[200 Caps have been added to inventory]

“Do you have a 9x19 bullet?” I asked him. 

“I have some in the back, how much do you need?” Chet asked. 

“Can I have 100 rounds of those?” I asked. 

“FMJ?”

“FMJ.”

“Alright, that should all be 100 caps, how much do you have?” Chet asked. 

I checked on my Pip-Boy. Including all the rewards that I had, there were 500 caps in total in my inventory. It should be enough to buy it. I gave 100 caps to Chet and he went to the back of the store to pick up the ammunition that I needed. 

It was a shame that I couldn’t get my hands on proper body armor, but well, it could wait. Right now, I’d only need the ammo to feed my guns, the rifle, and the pistol. The armor could wait, besides, the best defense is the best offense. 

Chet returned with several boxes of ammunition. I picked all of those ammunitions from the table and all of them immediately entered the inventory of my Pip-Boy. It should be enough. I had around 32 5.56x45 mm bullets and 142 9x19 mm bullets in my inventory. Unless I’d go fighting a Deathclaw, it should be enough against low-life and alike. 

“Excuse me, I have a place to run.”

[Quest Complete: Fixin’ Things]

[+300 EXP]

[Goodsprings: Liked]

No leveling up, huh? Well, it was only 50 exp left for leveling up so it wouldn’t take that long to actually level up. I went outside of the store and headed for the saloon to get some drinks, and probably some food. I was thirsty as well, hopefully, some purified water would be able to satisfy my thirst. 

Entering the bar, I saw Sunny sitting down on the side of the bar. Well, I was there to get food and water. I asked Trudy about it. 

“Do you have anything to eat?” I asked. 

“We do have Gecko steak if you don’t mind. It tasted like Brahmin’s meat, only a little bit tender and game-ish. Don’t worry, with my special sauce, it’ll be the best meal you’ve ever had,” Trudy said, seemingly overstating the taste of her Gecko steak by a certain margin. 

“What does it have? Just the steak, nothing else?” I asked since food in New Vegas literally consisted of meat and that was it. Like, there was no full-meal such as in an ordinary restaurant. The moment she mentioned sauce, I knew it would be different, so I wanted to know more about it. 

“Of course not, do you really think that I’ll sell just meat like a barbaric person? Of course, not. It’ll be accompanied by mashed potatoes alongside my special sauce. What do you think?” Trudy asked. 

Sunny then commented, “Just order, and see what you think.”

“How much is it?” I asked. 

“8 caps, give or take, so… what do you think?” 

To be honest, it was quite cheaper than what I previously expected. Then again, I didn’t know the conversion rate between caps and dollars. Well, there would be the time to think about that, right now, I just wanted to try that gecko steak of hers. 

“Sure, I’ll wait.”

I took my time waiting for the steak to cook. While I waited, I looked around the bar. There were a lot more liquors than when I previously entered this place, probably from the resupply run that I just made. Well, good for business, I guess? More boozes meant more drink, right?

“I heard you’ve been helping people around Goodsprings, right? Good job,” Sunny gave me praise. 

“Yeah, more or less. Say, this is my way of thanking Mitchell,” I said. 

“I see. Well, there isn’t much to do around here, you might want to go to Mojave Outpost or to Primm for more jobs, to be honest. I didn’t take you to be the type that stays around for too long,” Sunny said. 

“I guess?” I really didn’t have the memory of this old body. Even if I had, I really doubted I could fully comprehend where this body came from or how did this body end up in Goodsprings in the first place. I was just a mysterious man before the first battle of Hoover Dam. 

“Alright, here you go,” Trudy said as she served the steak on a plate. 

The smell immediately entered my nose. It smelled of mushroom gravy, and the steak looked appetizing. I never knew Trudy was a good cook. There was corn on the side of the steak, while the mashed potato was on the side of the juicy-looking steak that filled half the plate. 

“Please, enjoy yourself. What do you want to drink?”

“Water.”

“Alright.” 

The smell was amazing. I couldn't stop salivating and eventually had to give in to the craving. I grabbed the provided knife and fork and began to dig into the meat. The first bite was amazing, it was like the most tender meat I had ever eaten. I was rather speechless at how a creature like that became this delicious meal. 

And her sauce? It was savory, it was juicy, and it was spicy with the appearance of a mushroom sauce. I didn’t know what kind of witchcraft this lady just performed, but her steak was phenomenal. I took the third bite with the potatoes. 

‘Holy shit…’ I muttered as I ate the mashed potato. I didn’t know but did she put something in it? It was like potato mixed with the heaviest cream alongside cheese, it was so smooth. Was it the radiation that caused all of this? It just felt too good to be true. 

“I know you’ll enjoy it. I’ll never be bored of that expression.” Trudy crossed her hands and looked proudly at the dish that just blew my mind. For 30 caps? I could eat this all day if it was healthy. Wish I could put one in my pip-boy, though. 

After I finished the meal, I washed it all down with a glass of cold purified water from Goodsprings well. It was so good, and I couldn’t believe that someone in Mojave could cook something this great. Nevertheless, knowing that I had done eating, it was time to search for another errand. 

“Hey, nice pistol, where did you get that?” Sunny asked. 

“Somewhere in the desert, literally,” I replied. 

“Why don’t you give your weapon a modification?” Sunny said. 

“Hmm? Can it even be modified, though?” I asked. 

“It can, do you want me to show you the way, kiddo?” Sunny offered. 

“Sure thing, if you offer me, I’d gladly accept.”

“Meet me next to Chet’s store, I’d show you the way.”